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Hey guys, I'm on my 2nd cookshack now. Upgraded for the bigger Super Smoker Elite. Over the past month, I've been noticing a "Prb" error. Initially, I thought this was something to do with the probe. I cleaned it several times, unplugged, replugged, etc. and I've come to realize that it is likely not related.

I called Cookshack on it and they mentioned that the connections may have come loose. I unscrewed the control panel and readjusted the connections, but it still hasn't fixed the issue.

After a few test runs and observing matters, I've actually been able to catch it in action. First of all, I set the temperature to about 230 degrees (I've tried other temps too so that's not the problem). I watch the temp climb. Sometimes I plug the probe in and just drape it inside the smoke hole so that I know the temp is semi-accurate. After about 10 minutes with the temperature climbing steady, I will observe the following on the therm (165, 167, 240, 260, HI, Prb). The numbers aren't important, but this is the type of spike I observe.

Does anyone have any idea what this is? The food is taking a lot longer to cook and I constantly have to reopen the door, which seems to fix the problem after five minutes or so open. Then 10 minutes later, same thing. I'm thoroughly frustrated.
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While I don't have any specific answers for you, maybe I can shed a little knowledge that I have learned.

1st...There is a warm up period to your new smoker that will let the smoker run on high for 20 minutes.

2nd... The food probe will not read very cold temps and will read "HI" if the temp is over 200*. Sometimes the plug gets caught on the flap when installing causing misreadings.

3rd...The smoker will take longer to cook if you are opening the door, apx. 30 minutes of extra time for every time the door is opened.

Please tell me that you haven't submerged the probe in water when cleaning it,either end?

I would contact CS customer service and voice your problems again and I'm sure they can help figure out what is going on, Guaranteed!

Let us know what you figure out and GOOD LUCK, I feel your pain.
Larry,

The FEC also has a probe.

Bubba is this for an FEC or others?

One issue is "just drape it inside". First and foremost, make 100% sure it's not touching anything or near the fire. Personally I wouldn't ever do that with these high tech probes. I'd put it in the meat and monitor for that. It's not made to monitor the smoker temp.
Thanks for your answers guys. First of all, I've never submerged the probe in water. I just hand clean it and make sure meat is not sticking to it.

SmokinOkie, It's just the stainless steel Super Smoker so I probably posted this in the wrong place. Oops! I should add that draping it in was just a test. This also happens when the probe is inserted in a piece of meat and EVEN when I'm doing ribs and the probe isn't even plugged in! Which tells me that it's not he probe.
NEVER soak your probes.

If there is ANY area where water can get into the probe, it will ruin the thermocouple. Real problem with the remote probs (like Polder, etc), not sure about the one you have.

Given the cost of replacing it, I'd treat it like gold. Clean manually and store protect (don't just put it in a drawer to bounce around)

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