NEW TOY!!! - Country Smoker Digital Controllers

HoDeDo

HoDeDo

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Here's what showed up on Friday for me!
controller1.jpg

Perfect swap for original analog unit
controller2.JPG

I mounted the Thermocouple about 5" above the grate near the rear of the cooker.
Controller3.JPG

You can view set temp or actual temp, and cooking mode...
controller4.jpg

Time for practice ribs and chicken!!!
 
impressive....thats to high tech for me, just figured out how to set the clock on the VCR
 
KCK.com has them in stock now... I believe he will have a brethren discount on them, like his other equipment and accessories.
 
Knothead said:
Whats the price on these, with the discount? I need one
Click to expand...

I think $185. Bob has been out of town, so I didn't nail him down on that! He'll be back on Tuesday... I'll let you know, or feel free to call him.
 
HoDeDo said:
KCK.com has them in stock now... I believe he will have a brethren discount on them, like his other equipment and accessories.
Click to expand...

discount? I need to go to his store, been meaning to, but, you know,,, never the time, maybe a CS demo
 
Plowboy said:
How did you end up setting up the Tailgator?
Click to expand...

I mounted it directly over the arm that holds the deflector plate in place. That arm shields it from direct heat, and it reads within about 10 degrees of the hood thermo. Should work out just about perfect.

As you can see I mounted the other two near the airflow out - should also give a reasonable facsimile, and recover quicker at the back of the cooker.
If I dont like it as well, I may move both of them to the same spot as the tailgator. The tailgator will be a chicken machine now baby!!!!

The controller is alot like the old FEC controller... about a 15 degree swing on either side of your set temp. It spikes initially as you preheat the cooker, then dials right in.
 
agentmichael said:
discount? I need to go to his store, been meaning to, but, you know,,, never the time, maybe a CS demo
Click to expand...

I have made the offer before I think..... but I am cookin all weekend doing practice cooks. Feel free to come on by. Piper has to be closer to Shawnee than 7th & KS AVE. PM me if you are interested!
 
Tailgator Install pics

Todd - as you can see.... the temps read very close.

You can see the probe, the other two pics....
TGC1.JPG

TGC2.JPG

TGC3.JPG

TGC4.JPG
 
Does Bobby have Tru Tel gauges that fit the tailgator? I almost tapped a bigger hole in mine today to drop in my 4" illuminated dial. Then I thought I'd better ask if there was something that could drop in before I go bastardizing a $700 stainless steel cooker.
 
Pretty cool. Gave mine a good cleaning today and just finished a chicken test run.
 
Plowboy said:
Does Bobby have Tru Tel gauges that fit the tailgator? I almost tapped a bigger hole in mine today to drop in my 4" illuminated dial. Then I thought I'd better ask if there was something that could drop in before I go bastardizing a $700 stainless steel cooker.
Click to expand...

I think he has a few different ones that fit. None with a 4" dial however.
You can see the one we installed in the tailgator I use. He seems to like those better than the small tel-tru's (these have a bigger range)... but I imagine he can get whatever you want.
 
HoDeDo said:
I think he has a few different ones that fit. None with a 4" dial however.
You can see the one we installed in the tailgator I use. He seems to like those better than the small tel-tru's (these have a bigger range)... but I imagine he can get whatever you want.
Click to expand...

The max on my Tru Tel is only 500.
 
These Therms go to 750, and have worked great -- but I believe he can order a 2" thermo that goes to 750 from Tel-tru. The Egg replacement he has from Tel-tru goes to 750.
 
Andy, I just saw your post about it holding temps. You dont need to mess with answering my PM.

Man am I fired up! Got call the Pellethead guru Larry tomorrow and get me two!

You like it so far Andy?
 
Cooking 300 and below... I'm at about a 10 degree swing. at 400 and above it is about 15 deg. swing. Works very well, considering there is no fan control. Having said that - an analog oven thermostat.... or the setup Dano has done with the fuzzy logic controller would likely yeild similar results. I have been playing with a PID controller myself... and need to figure out the resistence for a secondary trigger for the fan. I dont ever want it to kick off.... just down slightly. Once I figure that out... then I think it will be dialed in very tight.
 
HoDeDo said:
Cooking 300 and below... I'm at about a 10 degree swing. at 400 and above it is about 15 deg. swing. Works very well, considering there is no fan control. Having said that - an analog oven thermostat.... or the setup Dano has done with the fuzzy logic controller would likely yeild similar results. I have been playing with a PID controller myself... and need to figure out the resistence for a secondary trigger for the fan. I dont ever want it to kick off.... just down slightly. Once I figure that out... then I think it will be dialed in very tight.
Click to expand...

The fuzzy logic controller works good once the PID parameters are set to match the cooker. The proportional constant, integral offset, derivative, and cycle time require inputs. Also, the fuzzy logic computing of the device is so quick & sensitive, if you open the lid to access the food, the controller senses the rapid drop in temperature and attempts to recover by dumping a lot of pellets. I got around this by using a manual switch to kill power to the controller when I want to open the lid. It's also important to keep the controller "offline" when using manual control. Otherwise the fuzzy logic gets really confused.

Controlling the fan speed is a whole other issue. More experimentation required!

Here's what it looks like in action.
picture.php
 
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