Battery Backup Question

Jeff,

If there were an alarm, it would most likely require . . . . you guessed it, POWER. On the other hand, how about the Maverick ET-73 remote thermometer. It has two probes, one of which is blunt for the purpose of monitoring pit temp. The receiver has a "high" and "low" temp alarm for the pit probe and a "high" temp alarm for the meat probe. Even if you only used it for the pit, that would give you a battery operated remote sensor if the pit dropped below a certain temp. They are available online. I found mine at www.thegagdetsource.com Congrats on your finish.

Rod

I still haven't found an inverter that doesn't make the LED flash. What brands are you guys using?

Jeff,
http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/productdetail.jsp?xi=x...d=1613541253&ccitem=

I have used this unit for about five cookoffs now hooked to two deep cycle group 31 batteries. The setup has worked flawlessly. There is nothing to go wrong. You can set the perameters for the levels high and low for the inverter/charger to automatically switch to battery power when it needed.

Troy

Fred Smith...

I had a similar problem a few weeks ago with my FE100 and it acting very strangly using a low end 300 watt Xantrex. After talking to Ortech Ind., the original designers of the control card, we had concluded that the controller wants a real sign wave rather than a modified square wave.

With out getting to techincal look for an unmodified sine wave inverter. My suggestion is the Xantrex TS400, which is a 400 watt sign wave inverter. Or look for an inverter that states that it is usable for electronics such as TV, stereo, etc.!

I have found that the input from the battery to the inverter that I have, an Xantrex Prowatt 300, needs to be above 11.7 VDC. That is when the flashing starts of the LED's.

My inverter , the Prowatt 300, a cheapie with a square wave output,will cause irratic operation. Sometimes the 65 second auger off will only be 20 seconds, sometimes 40 seconds and other oddities when set to any other position except "Smoke". In the "Smoke" mode it runs properly, auger 15 seconds on and 65 seconds off. My controller is set to the #2 timing position...in this postion there aren't any "blow outs" and my "Smoke" mode temperature is 180*F. I find in the #1 position, 55 seconds auger off, the "Smoke" temperature runs at about 200*F!

In several previous post on this forum I have gone into a much more detail about this, battery sizing, and battery types and suggestions. I used to live aboard my own sail boat and learned a lot about obtaining, storing and converting electrical energy using solar, wind, water and engine driven power sources.

I am not sure if this and the several other posts I have written are of any help to anyone...I have never had anyone acknowledge that. Perhaps I have been to "far out"!

All the inverters I've tried have been the modified sine wave type. Thanks for pointing me to the true sine wave type.

Fred Smith...

There are some modified sine wave inverters that could work depending how modified the wave form is but to be safe spend a little extra for the true sine wave. I think the controller designers are the ones that fell a bit short, probably to save money! I understand there is someone else now producing the controller boards because of a lower cost! I certainly think they could have added a few more components to hold the voltage for a few seconds during a power glitch, which now kicks in the start cycle causing a heat peak!

The unit Gritsboy uses a modified sine wave that works. However, there are several board configurations out there. It maybe that a given modified sine wave inverter may work with one board configuration, but not with another.I agree with you, spend the extra for a true sine wave so you do not have to worry about compatability.