Alternatives to BBQ Guru?

[tony b]

23 hours ago, BARDSLJR said:

Tony B: what happened is that in the BBQ Guru the probe connects into the control unit through a sleeve, and that sleeve came loose and is rattling around inside the chassis of the control unit- so the meat probe can't connect. Other than that, my issues with BBQ Guru are minor: the blue-tooth connectivity could be be stronger and have better range; and occasionally I can't get the temp setting to update when I change it- some buggy software issues like that. But overall, I think the BBQ Guru is a good investment, and a real god-send when you are doing long cooks like brisket or shoulder.

Understand. If the chassis on yours is like mine (older DigiQ-II), I'm not sure there's a simple way to get inside it to do a repair. Mine is a "dumb" unit without Bluetooth or WiFi - and I'm perfectly happy with that! My MEATER+ frustrates me at times trying to get it to synch up to the transmitter unit. But, once connected, it generally stays connected (unlike the original MEATER unit, which sucked!) 

[Poochie]

My brother ordered the original Meater, returned it, and he's still cursing about it.

[tony b]

The MEATER+ is much better. They upgraded me for free when they introduced the Plus version. Folks seem to like the Block version. I just didn't need 4 probes. 

[C6Bill]

The +  has served me well. Except the time where I didn’t clean the probe well and it didn’t charge

[jeffshoaf]

My Thermoworks Signals got an update this morning; the update included open lid detection. The detection worked very well with my gravity feed smoker this morning.

[tony b]

That's a major upgrade. 

[BigO]

Here's a video I made of the Billows. I'm an old Big Green Egg guy and have used a few of these. This one takes the cake, but the air vol is an issue as others have said. Too much air for a KK. This is a big part of what the video is about.

 

 

[David Chang]

i emailed fireboard cs about a thermocouple probe with a loose connection. they tell me probes have a 6 month warranty but they will replace it as a courtesy. last time they also send me a replacement magnetic base, albeit it was the same crap base. 

this is all expedited dhl service from america to asia. that's pretty good support..

[BARDSLJR]

I am giving up on BBQ Guru and replacing it with Fireboard 2: long story that I will get into tomorrow. In the meantime, let me verify with the gang again: The Fireboard 2 works off a battery charge. The BBQ Guru works off a direct electric connection. The Fireboard will have enough juice to power itself AND the fan through a good 16-18 hour cook? Please reassure me....

 

[Poochie]

When I have a long cook...like brisket...I hook the Fireboard 2 to an AC outlet. I've never tried to do a battery test to see how long it would run with the fan going,

But to your other questions, YES the BBQ Guru fan will plug directly into the Fireboard 2 DRIVE. If you got the regular Fireboard 2 and not the drive version, you're going to need a drive cable ($79) to run any fan. 

I did go back and see if I said the drive version at the beginning, and I did. ("Cheesehead nailed it. Fireboard 2 drive. And the bonus is that you can still use the fan you have with it.")  So I hope you did get the drive version.

[David Chang]

21 hours ago, BARDSLJR said:

I am giving up on BBQ Guru and replacing it with Fireboard 2: long story that I will get into tomorrow. In the meantime, let me verify with the gang again: The Fireboard 2 works off a battery charge. The BBQ Guru works off a direct electric connection. The Fireboard will have enough juice to power itself AND the fan through a good 16-18 hour cook? Please reassure me....

 

for redundancy on longer cooks, i use a usb c power bank to power the unit. can't say i've ever ran it on battery alone with fan for 18 hours+. the manufacture says 30 hours but too many variables to consider, outside temp, fan speed, backlight on, etc. fb will default at 20% max fan speed off internal battery. to achieve higher fan speeds up to 100%, you need to plug in to a power source. 

[BARDSLJR]

I wrote the nice people at Fireboard and got this response back within an hour:

Alex Hurtado (FireBoard)  Mar 18, 2022, 2:56 PM CDT  Hi James, Thank you for your question! The battery by itself will not be enough to power the fan for a cook that long, you will need to keep the FireBoard plugged in with the supplied charger. Also, while we know that other fans will work with FireBoard, we do not do any sort of tests with them, just our own drive blower so we cannot verify or confirm any specific functionality, etc. Thanks, Alex FireBoard Labs

[Poochie]

But you can always get one of those power bricks that can charge a cell phone or other battery operated gizmo.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0899Z4YPZ/ref=ox_sc_saved_title_3?smid=A294P4X9EWVXLJ&psc=1

 

[BARDSLJR]

True, but I will probably just do what I have been doing with the BBQ Guru, run an extension cord over to the KK and plug it in from there.

Mar 18, 2022, 2:56 PM CDT

[tony b]

20 hours ago, BARDSLJR said:

True, but I will probably just do what I have been doing with the BBQ Guru, run an extension cord over to the KK and plug it in from there.

Mar 18, 2022, 2:56 PM CDT

That's what I do. I keep a cord nearby, as it is essential for many things - Guru, Rotisserie, and Cold Smoker.

[Cheesehead_Griller]

I have a quick question about the BBQ Guru fans. Do they fit into the port on the KK without need for an adapter. I assume so but I just wanted to very before I place my order. 

[5698k]

Yes, they do.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[BARDSLJR]

My 32" KK, which is now 4 or 5 years old, came with a port for the fan prepared in it. And yes, the BBQ Guru fan (which, BTW, works perfectly with the Fireboard 2), fits perfectly.

[David Chang]

3 hours ago, Cheesehead_Griller said:

I have a quick question about the BBQ Guru fans. Do they fit into the port on the KK without need for an adapter. I assume so but I just wanted to very before I place my order. 

fits exactly, and with a rubber gasket

[Cheesehead_Griller]

@David ChangThanks for the pic! I ordered the same fan that you have. Fireboard should be here tomorrow. Fan next week. Grill hopefully in the next few weeks.