Loquitur Posted August 14, 2009 Report Share Posted August 14, 2009 I’ve been setting up the Stoker inside my house without having connected it to the KK yet. I hooked it into my home network and followed the instructions in the manual and don’t appear to be having any problems with obtaining an IP address and accessing an online webpage. I thought I was going to have to configure my router in some fashion for “port forwardingâ€. Do you think that is something I will have to do later or maybe I won’t have to do it at all? Will it be obvious to a non mechanical person if the door of my Stoker is sticking causing the fan to run too much? I’m hoping my Stoker will fit my KK without a further adapter. I don’t know if I have one of the new factory installed Guru inducer tubes or not. I’ll know soon enough - I’m hoping to pop out the plug tomorrow. Susan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdbower Posted August 14, 2009 Report Share Posted August 14, 2009 You shouldn't need to worry about Port Forwarding for most home networks, that's only useful if you want to access the Stoker from the Internet (for example, if you have a smartphone with a browser you can access the web page from it remotely or you can check in on the status of a cook from your laptop at a coffee shop). I'd recommend downloading StokerLog here. It shows you a nice graph of the Stoker status and if you don't see the temperature rise fairly quickly or don't stabilize at the right temperature you may want to check the fan - but personally I've never had any issues. You can also see the little flapper in action by letting the fan cycle on and off while it's in your hand (obviously if you're not wearing glasses you could get dust in your eye, have to warn people about these things when there are lawyers about! ). I use a program on my BlackBerry called RDM+ which lets me see my Windows desktop without needing to worry about port forwarding - it lets me use StokerLog remotely which is much cooler than just the HTTP interface I always leave the lower damper fully closed when I use the Stoker. The upper damper I leave open quite a bit when I'm first starting the fire, but then I close it all the way and open it a crack once things get close to temperature. Hope this helps! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mguerra Posted August 14, 2009 Report Share Posted August 14, 2009 2 different problems If the door sticks, it won't cause the fan to run too much. It just causes your effective bottom vent to be wide open. I have found that if you just barely crack the top vent, this isn't really a problem. Close the top vent and when your fan cycles on and starts blowing, crack the top vent just enough that smoke escapes freely. That is open enough. If the top vent is open more than that, you can get runaway high temps if the Stoker door hangs open. The fan running non-stop is a separate problem. So far as I know, the only fix is to have Rock's replace your unit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mguerra Posted August 14, 2009 Report Share Posted August 14, 2009 fix Also, I have posted a fix for the Stoker door hanging open problem: http://www.komodokamado.com/forum/viewt ... sc&start=0 Scroll down through the posts and see both pages. Rock's has said they will incorporate a version of my fix on future production, whether or not that has happened yet, I don't know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loquitur Posted August 15, 2009 Author Report Share Posted August 15, 2009 Thanks, Doc and Jeff. I was confused about the sticky door problem. I actually was hoping that they would hold my unit until the fix was in but I called for status on the order and it showed up a couple of days later. The tips about setting the dampers for Stoker control are appreciated. I have Stoker Log downloaded and have no problem getting it up online. I'm ready to give it a go today. Susan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdbower Posted August 15, 2009 Report Share Posted August 15, 2009 By the way, for the "fan stuck on" error condition I'd probably recommend the work around - just turn the unit on and off again and it usually clears. Rock's too small for the amount of business he does and it could be quite some time for a replacement. I'm also not convinced that it's actually a hardware issue; Kaytat is now has two priorities - fixing a StokerLog disconnect issue and fixing the fan bug (as per the 27 July post here) so hopefully a firmware update will get things running. My observations: 1. The fan stuck on only happens once in a blue moon for me. It seems to be related to having the Stoker powered on when I apply power, so now I just turn the Stoker off when I'm done and I don't turn it on until after the power strip has been on for a few seconds. 2. When you power on the Stoker make sure a fan is connected. The typical startup process should be that the fans all go on, then they all go off, then they follow the pit probe (usually they'll go on again, but I set my pit probes to 10F before I shut down since I've got two fans). If the fans don't go off for a few seconds you'll want to reboot the Stoker and try again. I usually keep a fairly close eye on things until I'm up to temperature just to make sure nothing funny's going on. As another tip, I've noticed that if my pit probe is touching the grate instead of the little probe holder it reads a much lower temperature so I end up with too hot a fire. This happens when the probe falls out of the holder, when I forget to close the firebox access door after adding smoke wood (only takes once to remember for the next time ), and when I'm using the Stoker for temps above the rated value. For this latter part, I just stick the probe itself through, not the Teflon coated wire that's the weak link. I've had no problems getting to 500-600F with this technique, but I also have a spare pit probe so there's less risk for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loquitur Posted August 15, 2009 Author Report Share Posted August 15, 2009 I'm on hold for a little while with the Stoker. I popped out the plug and the Stoker adapter doesn't fit. It's a little bit too large. Jeff - those a great tips for me as a first time Stoker user. I will definitely bookmark this page when I can use it. I do have one question about the pit probe and holder. Is it right that I should squeeze the spring part so it clips on the grill grate and is standing straight up with the hole on top? Then when I put the probe tip through the hole, should it rest in the hole on the bare part of the probe or should it rest on the part with the sleeve? I'm sure this is perfectly obvious to all the world except me!! It seems like if it is resting on the bare tip it could fall out very easily. I know I've seen pictures of the stoker in operation somewhere but I'll be damned if I can find it now! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loquitur Posted August 16, 2009 Author Report Share Posted August 16, 2009 Save your fingers, Jeff, it was the Naked Whiz website which has the good pictures of the Stoker. I get it - the clip holds the probe by the sleeve so the tip can be exposed to measure the air temperature Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loquitur Posted August 23, 2009 Author Report Share Posted August 23, 2009 I've used my Stoker twice now, at least partially used it on two cooks, and know that I am going to love it once we get the adapter so that it will fit in the KK. It's been falling out on me because I don't have good support from the three pieces of copper I'm using or good support from the ground up because the port is located over the leg, which is curved. I was using the T handle grill tool on top of a block which held it for a while but not through a complete cook. But now I'm thinking I will tape the pipe pieces together and set my Versagrill on blocks, which will go across the leg entirely, and hopefully give better support for the fan so that it won't fall out. On the first cook, I was looking for 400 deg. I was heating a baked dish to try the Stoker. I closed the bottom vent completely and had the top vent mostly closed as well. I could see from the progress on the computer screen that it was going to take a long time to get to 400 so I opened the top a few turns and then it started to come up fast. I knew this from manually setting the vents but it was really instructive to see exactly how the fire and resulting temperature were responding on the computer. Once it got to temp, I closed the top vent some. It held the KK at 399.7 for a half hour before it fell out and I disconnected it. The next cook I was looking for 250. Rain was in the forecast so I placed a plastic shield over it. It got the grill to temp and held it at 251.2. But, as soon as it started to rain, it fell out so I disconnected it right away, fearful it would get wet on the ground. I could tell from the 250 cook that the fan was not running all the time so I'm hoping I dodged a bullet on that. I was not able to get the Stoker Log up on the first cook, though I had no trouble with the regular Stoker program. I noticed that I couldn't type anything in the Sensor field and I remebered when I was playing with the Stoker in my house, I was able to type in that field. I didn't have the Stoker in long enough to try it with the second cook. I'll get to that later. I love being able to monitor the temp from my computers. It is soooo convenient for me because I spend a lot of time on the second story of my house. Running up and down the stairs constantly to check on the grill gets me tired and aggravated to the point where it starts to take some of the fun away. I have my fingers crossed that the adapter will be forthcoming shortly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loquitur Posted September 20, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 20, 2009 I'm finally Stoked - and I'm loving it!!! Rock's BBQ sent me the new Guru sized faceplate over two weeks ago but I haven't had time to use my KK. Finally, yesterday, I set it all up. Changing the faceplate was a cinch once I found a philips head screwdriver with a long point on the end. John included new screws with the faceplate but I just used the old ones. It fit in the KK port like a glove. I was doing "Roadside Chicken" at 400 deg. I followed Jeff's instructions of keeping the lower vent completely closed, the top vent open a few turns until getting close to temp and then closing the top most of the way. It worked perfectly. I had the Stoker program up on three desktop computers plus a notebook so I could glance at the progress from most anywhere in my big old rambling house. I do have a question. How do I get the Stoker Log up? I downloaded it on my computer but the regular Stoker program comes up when I call up the webpage. Should I have the Stoker Log program on my screen before I turn on the Stoker? Susan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LarryR Posted September 20, 2009 Report Share Posted September 20, 2009 Glad to hear you're finally "stoked." You do not need to have Stokerlog up when Starting your Stoker,in-fact, the majority of my cooks I don’t load Stokerlog on until after I’ve got my cooker loaded. When you “downloaded†Stokerlog did you install it? You should have a “Stokerlog†icon in your Start>Programs list. You need to start Stokerlog this way vs. typing an IP into your browser as Stokerlog is not a browser-based program. Once the Stokerlog page is up you enter you’re IP address in a diaologe box on the top right of the program. When running Stokerlog I have no use for the default Stoker web interface. Hope this helps. BTW, how did you like the Roadside Chicken? Be careful, the stuff is addicting! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loquitur Posted September 21, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 21, 2009 When you “downloaded†Stokerlog did you install it? You should have a “Stokerlog†icon in your Start>Programs list. You need to start Stokerlog this way vs. typing an IP into your browser as Stokerlog is not a browser-based program. Once the Stokerlog page is up you enter you’re IP address in a diaologe box on the top right of the program..... Thanks, Larry, I do think I installed it but I never typed in the IP address. Where does it go - in the Status box? The Stokerlog page is bigger than my computer screen and I can't see everything on the right side of the page. BTW' date=' how did you like the Roadside Chicken? Be careful, the stuff is addicting! [/size'] I love the Roadside Chicken. But I don't have it perfect yet. I don't think I'm quite right on the temp. Next time I'll do it at 350. Susan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LarryR Posted September 21, 2009 Report Share Posted September 21, 2009 Here's picture of the IP Location, click on the picture for a larger image. Yes, I prefer doing the roadside chicken at 325 - 350. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loquitur Posted September 21, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 21, 2009 Here's picture of the IP Location' date=' click on the picture for a larger image.[/size'] Larry, thanks soooo much for posting that Stokerlog page. On my screen I could see nothing to the right of the letters St in Status. So the IP address box was totally out of sight. And there was no arrow to scroll across. I thought I was just missing a little bit of the page but now I see it was much more than that. I just remembered that changing the screen resolution makes everything smaller and I tested it on the Stokerlog and now everything fits on my screen, though its smaller. Small price to pay. You are a lifesaver!!! Susan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loquitur Posted September 21, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 21, 2009 Correction On my screen I could see nothing to the right of the letters St in Status. That should be - On my screen I could see nothing to the right of the letters St in Start. Susan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loquitur Posted September 26, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 26, 2009 I've got short ribs on the KK with the Stoker and its doing a perfect job of keeping the temp at 240. But my Stokerlog is telling me "my telenet input stream is corrupt(1)" Other than this error message, all the values in the Stokerlog are within a couple of tenths of a degree of the values shown in the regular Stoker program and its graphing fine. Does anyone know what this means? I did a search for it on the Weber site that Amir frequents but couldn't get a hit on the search for the phrase. Susan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LarryR Posted September 26, 2009 Report Share Posted September 26, 2009 I found a couple hits on your error. Recently others got the corrupt error when using the Twitter feature of Stoker. Are you Tweeting your cook? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loquitur Posted September 26, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 26, 2009 No, Larry, I'm not using Twitter. The only thing I'm doing that might be a little weird is that I have both Stokerlog and the regular Stoker program up on one computer in two windows and I also have the regular Stoker program up on two other computers. Otherwise the cook is going fine and the Stoker is controlling my fire perfectly and the Stokerlog graph looks good. Susan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LarryR Posted September 26, 2009 Report Share Posted September 26, 2009 The configuration you're running sounds fine and wouldn't cause your error. So Stokerlog is communicating with your Stoker even though you're getting this corrupt error? Odd. Just out of curiosity, why so many sessions of Stoker's web interface open? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loquitur Posted September 26, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 26, 2009 The reason I have both both Stokerlog and regular Stoker on one computer is the learning curve for the Stokerlog software. It took me some time today to figure out how to do the Stokerlog settings and I needed to be able to check the KK temps in the interim so I used regular Stoker in a separate window. I read that the Stokerlog webpage can't be shared so I have regular Stoker up on the other two computers. I have a big, old rambling house, actually two separate houses that we combined into one, and I like to be able to glance at the Stoker readings from the various places I usually spend my time. So I have one computer showing it on my second story, one on my first floor and one in my office. And, if I'm somewhere else, I can call it up on my notebook. As I get more experience with all of this I think I will be less compelled to be checking it all the time. Needless to say, I just love it!!!! And, thanks tons for looking at this for me. Susan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
