Problem with ThermoWorks Signals

[JiveTurkey]

Fellow Brethren,
Quick vent/question for those of you who have a ThermoWorks Signals. This past Thanksgiving I took my Weber and Signals to my moms place to cook the family turkey. While setting up the signals with my moms wifi all seemed to connect well, no apparent issues, no errors or warnings.

Once the bird was on the pit I placed one probe (#2) in the breast and another (#3) in the thigh. The probe that was in the breast I changed in the app to show "Breast" and set temp to 160. I then set the probe in the thigh to show "Thigh" set at 170. The probe for breast was no issue but the probe for thigh kept changing to the previous setting for brisket set at 200. No matter how many times I changed it to "Thigh, 170" it would change back to the previous brisket setting.

Also when I would close the app and reopen it would alarm "Low Temp for Pit" for a probe (#4) that was not even in the pit! At one time I could not even stop the alarm since there was 1. no probe in the pit and 2. no way to access the probe via the app. It was incredibly annoying!

After about 1 hour of fighting the app I pulled it all out and just used my thermapen manually, glad I brought it. $200+ down the drain. I worked in IT for 20 years and even I couldn't fight this bug. Has anybody else had this happen? Where can I fix this for next time (hopefully not at a competition where money is on the line)?

Sorry but after $200 spent and having to resort to my thermapen I wonder why I spent the money just to be left hanging when I needed it most.

The good news is the turkey still came out great thanks to the Weber not the stupid tech that got in the way. Sorry but even two days later I'm still hot under the collar over this!

Cheers!

 

[Rusty Kettle]

Try inkbird instead. Much cheaper and very reliable.

 

[Hoss]

Ahhh yes.An instant read and vent management win again.Sorry for your troubles.Your post is another reason I stick to basics instead of "gadgets".Sorry I cannot help you with your "Tech" troubles.Good luck!

 

[SmoothBoarBBQ]

I don't have Signals but I have used Smoke for a few years and love it. What you're describing sounds like moisture in the probe cables, or maybe in the unit itself. I live in eastern North Carolina and it's humid all the time here, so electronics which sit outside often fail much quicker than they do in more arid places.

You'd really be better off contacting Thermoworks as they have a pretty solid warranty and can actually help you.

 

[Stlsportster]

I had issues with Signals. Features they had listed that I couldn’t get to work and they basically told me they were bugs that wouldn’t be fixed until after my return window.

So I returned it and got the Fireboard. Rock solid. Great app features. Not a single regret.

 

[jasonjax]

Mine has worked flawlessly for a while now including multiple contests.

Have you checked their help page? I imagine you may have needed a firmware update.

https://help.thermoworks.com/knowledge-base/troubleshooting-signals/

And while venting here is great, contacting Thermworks would probably yield better results, and then you could either vent here about a broken signals AND chitty customer service or give a testimonial to great customer service.

If you spent 20 years in IT you of all people know technology can and will fail. It's how you react to it that matters.

 

[savagebrood]

I had issues with Signals. Features they had listed that I couldn’t get to work and they basically told me they were bugs that wouldn’t be fixed until after my return window.

So I returned it and got the Fireboard. Rock solid. Great app features. Not a single regret.

+1 for fireboard. Best of the best imho.

 

[JiveTurkey]

Thanks everybody for the tips. I have screenshots I saved that I'm sending to them for review. Other than this little headache it worked well every time before that so it seems like a good product.

And yes tech can and will screw you when you least expect it for sure! That's why I always Plan B, thankfully the thermapen was there for the save!

Happy Sunday everybody!

 

[16Adams]

When I joined this site The Brethren pointed me in the direction of the Thermapen. I bought one and it came with a super fast human thermometer. Flawless. Almost 100% of my cooks I've used the Thermapen. My wife has had several major surgeries and I trust the super easy human thermometer with her life for post surgery infections. Recently I purchased two Thermoworks DOT Thermometers. Two Inkbird quick reads an Inkbird 4 probe and last year an Inkbird multi probe for my son.
I’ve been lucky. I usually don't probe until I know the answer. Guessing is not cool with some meats(though I've always guessed correct as nobody died). I’ve no desire to poke holes into the interior of raw meat. I enter the game in the 3rd or 4th quarter. It works for me. My tri tip game is much better. I've always cooked by look and feel. Even with an expansion of technology, it assists and confirms.
But that Thermapen- helluva piece of equipment. They're on sale today under 60$ if it's not already over or sold out

 

[Dustin Dorsey]

So I'm gathering the problem isn't with the device itself but the app. The temps were reading right otherwise on the unit? I've got the smoke gateway and it does seem like something is going on when you change a temp setting mid cook. I think it has to do with how it's communicating with the cloud. It seems to take a little bit for an alarm change setting to actually take.

 

[JiveTurkey]

Thanks Dustin. Yes the device itself seems to read fine, it's the connection to the app that is causing multiple issues. Usually there is a little bit of a delay when changing settings but this issue was only occurring on one channel, all the others were fine.

Today the problems from Thursday seems to have gone away but now there are other issues that I had not experienced before. New day new bugs.

Today Channel 1 is dropping and reconnecting every minute. It allows me to change channel names and temps but then drops/reconnects only Channel 1. The other channels are fine. It's not the probes, I switched them all around and same issue. I think I narrowed it down to the Bluetooth connection but I'm going to see what thermoworks has to say.

Worst case I just delete the app and update the controller manually. Not the end of the world.

Thanks again everybody.