Temperature Out of Control

E

Elliottbte

New member
My #1 is just more than a year old.  Today I am doing some ribs.  I have the #1 set at 225 and am monitoring smoker temp with my maverick.  Temps rose nicely and held steady at about 240 through the first three hours.  Then temp ran up to 282 in the next hour.  I turned the thermostat down to 200, but it didn't lower.  I thought maybe the probe was bad so I changed probes, but then I got the same temp result.  I lower thermostat to ~180 but no help, temp still 280 and rising.  I finally decided to turn the #1 off and will turn on/off as needed to control temp until the smoke is done.

Any idea what can be causing this temperature control issue?  Again, my #1 is just over a year old as I got it last Christmas and I've done probably a dozen smokes.  Any help is appreciated.

Brad
 
Brad, double check your temp probes. Maybe in ice water to see if you get 32 deg. I haven't heard of any of the analog controllers going bad but I guess that is possible. If it is, contact Steve at Smokin It. He will tell you what to do. The nice thing is that if a new part is needed, they typically aren't that expensive.
 
Someone else recently posted the same problem.  We thought it was a rheostat problem, which Steve sells for $30 if it happens to not be covered under warrantee.
 
Do any of you guys know... is there ever an issue with the built-in probe inside the box getting gunked up? Making the rheostat thinks the box is not as hot as it is, thus, turning on the element and making it run hot? I never really pay much attention to cleaning that other than wiping a little with a paper towel, but I've often wondered if I should be cleaning that better.
 
Thanks for all the replies.  I think I will do a test today without actually smoking anything.  First I'll check the condition of the temperature probe in the #1 and make sure it is decently clean.  Then I'll turn it on at 150 and monitor temp.  I know an empty smoker would normally have pretty big swings around the 150 temp, but they should swing, and not just go up and up and up.  We'll see what happens.
 
Elliottbte said:
Thanks for all the replies.  I think I will do a test today without actually smoking anything.  First I'll check the condition of the temperature probe in the #1 and make sure it is decently clean.  Then I'll turn it on at 150 and monitor temp.  I know an empty smoker would normally have pretty big swings around the 150 temp, but they should swing, and not just go up and up and up.  We'll see what happens.
Click to expand...

Ok, finished the test.  First, cleaned up the probe inside.  It really wasn't too bad.  No thick layer of anything, just a bit dark and cleaned off easily with mild soap.  Then turned on with thermostat at 125 .... two maverick probes I put inside settled at 234 and 235.  Then I moved thermostat to 150 .... temp rose to 300 on both probes, and were still rising so I shut it down.  Time to contact Steve I think.
 
I just had the same problem. Smoker got up to over 300 and it would not cycle on and off, it just stayed on. Called Steve and he was very helpful and nice. He sent me a new temp control under warranty. I changed it out this past weekend, tested it and problem solved. 
 
H3 said:
I just had the same problem. Smoker got up to over 300 and it would not cycle on and off, it just stayed on. Called Steve and he was very helpful and nice. He sent me a new temp control under warranty. I changed it out this past weekend, tested it and problem solved.
Click to expand...

I contacted Steve yesterday and he's sending one to me as well.  I hope the new controller is straightforward to install.
 
Brad, the controller is very easy to install.  Wear some rubber gloves when you take off the back, though - that fiberglass insulation is itchy! 
 
H3 and DM, thanks for the suggestion on the gloves, good idea.  I don't know that I would call the replacement easy, at least the first time, but it wasn't too bad.  Most annoying thing was my dropping the small screws and washers and searching for them in my garage.  I mention the first time above because after re-assembling, I didn't get any heat despite the LED light coming on.  Took everything apart and found one of the crimped wire connectors to the burners had come apart so I had to recrimp that connector and re-assemble again.  I'm pretty sure it came apart when working with the insulation at the back.  But now that I've re-assembled twice, maybe I can say it's easy now given the practice.  After getting it all together, I put some bricks in as a heat sink tested the #1 out.  Looks like the temperature control replacement parts from Steve did the job.
 
Good to hear, Brad!  Yeah, it's easy to say it's "easy," if you've done it before!  Sounds like you got it figured-out, though!
 
I'm replacing the controller on mine also. Instructions mention using silicone caulking. Any special type of silicone caulk?
Don
 
I've had my smoker about a month and my temp when smoking is about 20-30 degrees warmer than it should be.  When I turn it up to 250, it starts cooking at 300.  I've read this forum and see it's a temp. control or rheostat problem.  When I cook chicken, the skin feels like rubber....is this because the temp is jumping too fast or do I need to add water?
 
Sorry Don, I am not sure on your question. Where are you applying the caulk? If it is a high temp area, you can by the high-temp red silicone caulk at most hardware stores.

Chris, you are always going to get rubbery chicken in an electric smoker. Several of us have tried to find solutions, but most have either given up on getting crispy skin or pulling the bird a little bit prior to hitting internal temp and placing it in the oven or on the grill to crisp the skin up. You can do a quick search and you will see numerous threads about this.

Regarding your temperature control issue I'm not saying that this is the case with you, but I had the same issue and found that there was a small piece of packing cardboard around my internal temperature sensor that was causing my issue. I think it took me three smokes before I figured that one out.

Otherwise, you can adjust your temperature control knob via the following instructions:
http://www.smokin-it.com/v/vspfiles/files/HeatControllerAdjustmentInstructions.pdf
 
Well, adjusted the knob today (counter clockwise) and tried it again.  Still cooking really hot.  Had it turned to 175 and after fifty minutes (hamburgers inside) the internal temp got to 230.  Stayed between 210-230 until the hamburger temp. was reached of 165.  I've read some people say put water inside and others say not to.  I haven't tried the water yet.  I think, I'll just say screw it as long as the food keeps coming out good.  I'm just concerned about the times when the recipe tells me to put something in for several hours at a certain temp, that I won't be able to maintain it.
 
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