Auber start up temp swing

[Carp210]

First cook on SI#2 with Auber and by-pass.  One small rack baby back ribs (Tyson 2.17 lbs) on top rack.  Foil pan filled with hot water next to wood box.  3 oz of hickory in a foil boat at rear of fire box.  Oustide temp was 50 degrees.  Program set for a 235 degree cook.  Temp ramped up but did not stop at 235.  Continued to climb and when it hit 290 I panicked and turned Auber off. Over shot by more than 55 degrees and not sure how high it would have climbed.  Re-checked my setting and it was fine.  Turned Auber back on and watched temp drop till it bottomed at 210.  Then it climbed to 235 and stayed there for the remainder of the cook. Never varied more than 1 degree.  Total time to stabilize at 235 degrees was 1 1/2 hours.  Is this temp swing normal or should I redo my autotune? 

 

[NDKoze]

I'm not an Auber owner yet, but from what I have read/heard this doesn't sound normal.

Having a relatively empty smoker (one rack of ribs) could have affected this a bit too.

I think I would do another autotune and see if that helps.

 

[Carp210]

I did another tune and changed a few things.  On my first tune I used two solid paving bricks soaked in water about 7 lbs each.
P=68  I=623  D=155
Next re-tune I used 8.5 lbs of wet sand in a foil pan.
P=57  I=826  D=206

I'm going to do a simulated cook later today and report back on my findings. 

 

[Carp210]

I used a foil boat with 2.75 lbs of wet sand to simulate one rack of ribs on the top shelf.  The new tune seems to have corrected my problem.  Don't know if it was a glitch in the Auber or the solid bricks I used for the first tune that caused my temperature swing.

 

[jbauch357]

I know the instructions say not to, but I included wood in the chip tray when I did my auto-tune.  The heat created by the smoldering chips can be substantial, and should be included in the equation while performing an auto-tune.  What you may be seeing is a huge amount of heat soak/climb due to the Auber not predicting the impact of the smoldering wood, this is assuming you didn't use wood with your auto-tune.

 

[Carp210]

Josh,
I understand what you are saying about the heat from the hickory and I wish I had opened the box immediately and looked at the wood but I did not.  I did not use wood for either of my tunes as per the instructions.  The only change I made between the two tunes was from bricks to sand and that changed my PID numbers quite a bit.  On the simulated rib smoke after my second tune I used wood in the box the same as my baby back cook and the temp ramp up stopped right at 235. 

 

[DivotMaker]

Sounds like you have it worked-out now, Dave.  You might have experienced wood combustion on that first cook, which would have explained the spike.  I've done several autotunes, and have never used wood during the tunes.  It may have a minimal effect, but I know the results I've experienced have shown it doesn't matter. 

 

[es1025]

Dave
I start all smokes at 170 for 30 minutes and then to the finishing temp. I dont use a foil boat. This method has not failed yet. It actually takes about 45-60
Minutes to get to full temp.

 

[Carp210]

Tonight will be a good test. Starting a pork butt at midnight so we'll see how the new tune does on a larger piece of meat and a longer smoke.

 

[Carp210]

This is how the new tune did on a 8.63 lb pork butt.
Temp 32 degrees to start.  Calm wind.
Smoker took 58 minutes to ramp up and hit 225 degree target.
(over shot by only 3 degrees then settled back on 225)
Temp locked on 225 for the remainder of the 16 hour cook, did not vary even one degree.
I'm very pleased with my Auber. 

 

[NDKoze]

Well, you can't complain about that. It sounds like you new autotune got things straightened out.

Glad to hear that things are working better.