Fireboard Drive Woes

[snadamo]

Hey Guys. A while back I replaced my Pit Boss 500 with the fireboard Drive 2 setup. I had extremely great results with my Pit Boss, but felt it was lacking in the stats/nerd department; hence the switch. I think i have done 1 cook where it just did its thing and worked as expected.

However, the last few cooks have been hit or miss, mostly miss. Most common symptom is the fan would kick on, and just continue to drop 5-10 degrees and then way overshoot; and the process repeated. Latest endeavor, the pit temp would actually DROP when the fan was activated. There's certainly a lot of different variables involved (charcoal type, brand, vents, damper type, fan speed, PID version, etc) but I have been consistently getting inconsistent results with that damn fan. For Saturdays cook for super bowl pork but, I finally just removed the fan from the equation and it was rock steady for the remaining hours of the cook.


I have done cursory good searches and haven't really found anything that describes my issue. Was looking to see if fellow brethren had some similar experiences. WTF am I messing up?

Oh and I am referring to my Chubby G3

 

[gfh]

What fan do you have, and what CFM rating?

 

[snadamo]

The FireBoard fan (gen 2 I think?). 20cfm

https://www.fireboard.com/shop/drive-blower-20cfm/

 

[snadamo]

I am contemplating trying the pit viper fan, as it seems to be very well liked in combination with the fireboard. Also, their adaptor kit for the backwoods smoker I like better than the current one. But holy cow, the'yre charging $95 for it!

Fan
Adaptor

 

[SmokinAussie]

I'm just wondering why you are considering a fan at all with this thing which (as far as I understand) is a fairly rock steady unit.

 

[JclinATX]

I'm just wondering why you are considering a fan at all with this thing which (as far as I understand) is a fairly rock steady unit.

I was thinking along the same lines. If it were causing me grief I’d just ditch it. Technology can be great when it works, but when it doesn’t …

 

[snadamo]

Weird. I thought I posted a reply but I tend to agree with you both. It’d be nice to have a backup option, but I’m gonna run it without the fan for a while. I mean, it'd be nice for overnight cooks, but I really don't do that any longer since I got my raster/holding oven.

 

[gfh]

I have a limo jr, which looks to be a bigger cook chamber, and I have to limit that same fan to 20-25% max speed after its up to temp. I think you're getting so much air flow it's initially cooling then really cranking up as combustion ramps up. Try setting max speed to about 20% and closing the fan damper about halfway to limit natural circulation.

 

[Inthewoods]

Well I learned a fire board is. IVS are pretty famous fer rock solid temps unless...
Ya use Char logs as a exclusive fuel..even stacked.

Start choking it down before ya should because ya have a errand ta run.

Return and wrongfully accept a sub 275* temp in the belief it can ride through the night.

Char logs...great on the grill, f'ing rubbish in the LSG.

And....the... f'ing....owls.

-D

 

[fatguy]

I use it at times on my yoder 640 and it has been pretty flawless. However I suspect Yoder and Fireboard designed the components to do so.

Only think I can think of is whether your fireboard app allows you to control the temp fluctuation. I know on my yoder I can adjust it say +/- 25*. 5*, etc. Maybe you are set to a fluctuation of +/-50*? Or maybe your fan/airflow of that smoker aren't jiving or a bad probe?

Good luck.

 

[patrickd26]

I'm not familiar with that cooker, but airflow is what comes to mind. I'm not sure what speed you have the max set to, and whether or not you have the fan choked at all. But, with that being (what appears to be) a smaller cooker, then I would suggest setting the max speed of the fan back and keep the choke wide open. The idea is to get more air hanging out in the firebox, and not shoot straight through and into the chamber. Just a thought.... Something isn't right if that unit can run just fine without fan control. I think it's a simple adjustment. The FB is solid as hell, and I had something similar on my Assassin. I have to max my fan out at 40% and choke back so that it's about 75% open.

Another thing... If you do as I mention above, you can start moving the choke back if you're getting too much air. Once you get a bit on the negative side, then the fan will kick on and get your temp up again. Hopefully, you understand what I'm saying. Fire away if you have questions. The small fan you have should provide PLENTY of airflow. I have an Assassin 28 and I have to choke the fan because of airflow.

Good luck!

 

[BBQLab]

I'm also considering the Fireboard with Drive and the pro probes. Currently, I have the ThermoWorks Signal with Billows setup. I also have the BBQ Guru with pit viper fans (I have 2 of these setups I used to use when I did KCBS tournaments). What are peoples feedback on the Fireboard drive vs ThermoWorks Signal?