heating issues

rickne

rickne

New member
Something isn't right.  My maverick or my thermostat are not working correctly.  I think its the thermostat.  I can't get this thing above 210.

Its cold out but not that cold.  And this should push thru 18 lbs if cold meat easily.

The question is do I call and get the thermostat replaced or just buy the PID?  Or both?
 
Sorry to hear you're having problems, Rick.  I'd call Steve and see what he thinks.  Good guy, and he'll take care of you.  He'll probably replace the controller.  You might want to check the box temp with another thermometer also.  But hey, if you want it dead-on, get the PID.  ;)  Analog controllers are not that accurate, but should get hotter than 210.
 
I can live with swings.  My variance is pretty tight.  I'm 7 hours into to pork butts.  The swing is between 197 & 210 consistently.  I have it dialed up to 250 though.  I repositioned two probes in the unit and they are both within 1 degree of each other.
 
I too learned quickly how mighty the temp swings can be. But with a water pan it evens out a bit more, but the main temp never really got up to 250F even here in AZ while being only 64F during the day. I feel that the rheostat is to blame here. I am switching to a custom built PID controller to give me more control. Hopefully that will be the best option. I am a tech guy so I do like to see what is actually going on and have more control.
 
So I was able to limp through my cook.  I'm cooking lunch for a small hockey team today.  Two 8lb pork shoulders.  Knowing this thing stuggled to get to a decent temp on Thanksgiving, I put the butts in early.  23 hours in advance.  Like I said, temp was consistent 197-210.  The highest temp I recall seeing was 214 and lowest 189.

The good news...  you can cook a pork butt low and slow at 200 degrees.  It just takes time.  I put them on at 2pm yesterday.  15 hours (7am) I wrapped them in foil and put them in the oven at 235 too push them up to 203 degrees.  They came out of the oven at 9am and frankly looked and felt really nice.  I wrapped them in plastic, foil, and towels and they are resting in the cooler until 1pm.  I threw a large pan of beans on the cooker this morning.

I'm glad I was able to limp through and still come out with a good product.

The turkey's on Thanksgiving weren't so fortunate.  I really pressed the DANGER ZONE (145 degrees in 4 hours).    I ended up finishing the breast in the oven and it turned out good.  The bird didn't fair so well.  I ended up throwing it out because it took 6 hours to get to 145 degrees. 
 
Sorry to hear about this.  You can test the Maverick with some boiling water, but my guess is that the controller on the unit may be off.  Did you try raising the temp on the dial?  If that did not work, then I would suggest calling Steve to see what he thinks. 
 
Had the dial cranked both times.  The weird thing is when I did my beans, it ran 215-230.  That's with a pan of six 22 oz cans of cold beans.  I will call on monday.  I may just end up with a pid and bypass tye analog stat so that I can push 20lbs of mear on a winter night. 

I did check all my probes in boiling water.  My maverick probes read 214 and 211.  My polder read 212.

 
I feel your pain. I can't understand why a rheostat that can go up to 250F wont go there is working properly. Thus why I am going the PID route. Today my smoke with a TB never reached the 250F temp, just around 230F. It was a decent 70F outside, so should have met that temp easily.
 
Rick and Ben - are either of you using a large drip pan on the bottom shelf?  In the past, we've had several people placing a drip pan between the smoke box and box temp probe, and they've experienced low temps.  Just curious... 
 
My wife gave me her crock pizza pan . About twelve by eighteen really helps keep temp up and more even. And still use water pan helps even more.
 
My last two smokes I have not gotten the temperature inside the box higher than 235 degrees.  I have the temp at 250.  It was under 45 degrees outside temperature.  I am not sure if that is the issue or not.

The smokes came out very good but just concerned about not getting above 235.

Maybe we can get Ben to ask Steve if the weather plays a role in the temp inside the box.

Tony, maybe worth a global question.

 
DM- yes I have a pan on the lowest shelf but not quite up to the temp probe. Plus I have a maverick probe up a few shelves to get a more accurate reading.  The pans are Weber aluminum pans so they shouldn't be blocking too much heat.
 
Ben, try a smoke without a pan below the meat.  Nothing but smoke box, water pan and meat.  Let us know if you see any difference.

Ed, good idea on the outside temp issue.  I'll get a post on that right away.
 
DivotMaker said:
Rick and Ben - are either of you using a large drip pan on the bottom shelf?  In the past, we've had several people placing a drip pan between the smoke box and box temp probe, and they've experienced low temps.  Just curious...
Click to expand...

Oddly, some say putting a pan in there evens out the temp swings.  But it sounds like it can kill your heating capacity.

I suspect this was part of the problem with my turkeys.  I had two small pans beneath my turkey's to catch drippings.  I put a little water in both.  I figured it was killing the heat by trapping heat beneath the pans, causing the thermostat to kick off the element when the temp above the pan was only 180 degrees.  To fix this, I removed both pans and stuck my 6lb breast in the oven.  I left the 12lb turkey on there but the temp never did get above 215.  Weather was in the twenty's with a stiff north wind.

The next day, I cooked 2 butts.  15 lbs total.  No pans at all.  I placed them on two different shelves and staggered them with the lower butt placed nearer the door and the top butt placed in the rear.  Never got above 210 degrees in the cooker.  Weather was in the 30's and 40's with a light south breeze.

Oddly, I smoked the beans on Saturday.  A 12x12 pan with 130 oz of cold beans from the fridge.  The cooker did get as high as 230.

Every cook, I had the dial pegged at 250.  I find it hard to believe it's the weather.  My element is kicking off.  If it were weather related (lack of insulation), the element would continually run but mine does not.  If it did, I wouldn't have this issue.

I'm thinking the pans can kill your heat transfer.  But my bigger concern is that this unit should push 45lbs of meat and from what I'm experiencing, anything over 12lbs causes it to labor.

I'm placing a call right now.  I'd order the PID but my discretionary income is going to keeping my dog alive right now. We have a creek at the back of our lot and my retriever loves to get down in there and hunt around.  Sunday, he came across and ate a rancid carcass and has a stomach full of bones now.  $750 at the emergency vet yesterday.  He's back at our normal vet all day today.  I hope I don't lose him.  He's an incredible dog.
 
I really hope your dog is doing ok. Hate to hear when pets get ill, they are another member of the family.

I just got parts to make a temporary PID setup that I want to experiment with, only cost $34 from ebay. I will post pics elsewhere.
 
The dog is doing a little better.  They induced vomiting on Sunday, got 2 lbs of the carcass out, mostly bones.  They figured they got 70% out.  He came home Sunday night but under the condition that he was to go back to our regular vet on Monday.  He spent the day there pushing the balance of it through and giving him enemas.  He's home again but not so spunky.  I can't blame him.  I wouldn't be so thrilled with induced vomiting and enemas.  He still has some bones working through is digestive track and until they pass, we aren't really out of the woods.  But it's certainly better than where we were 48 hours ago.

Back to the topic... I spoke to Steve today.  He had me pop off my controller knob and turn it 90 degrees to the right.  I'm I missing something or does this not really fix my problem?  Yes, the actual temps in the cooker may resemble what the knob is pointed at now, but I'm not going to get any hotter temps.  I'm still cooking at 180-210 degrees. 

I'm starting to think the only way to get this thing to run hotter than 225 or be able to push 20lbs of meat is to invest in the $200 PID.
 
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