New FE-100 DIED!

I've been fortunate that all the FEC models, I've used over the years,took off right out of the box.

Tech is not my strong suit.

I'm thinking maybe the reset button,or the spare fuse.

Fast Eddy,or Smokin',or one of the more tech guys may jump in soon.

Good to have you with us.

I feel your frustration,but hang in there.

Service will handle it quick.

Tom-Fl

Unless they've changed with the new IQ4s, if you remove the four screws on the side of the pellet hopper and look straight in where the hopper attachs to the smoker, you'll see a reset button for the high limit switch.

It doesn't happen often, but mine has tripped a couple of times. Once right after I got the smoker and then on my last batch of babybacks.

Also, Unplug it for one hour (It has a memory) and reboot.

The new high limits are under the control box. Take the screws out of the top of the control box and hinge it toward you. You'll see a poped out button with some black wires hooked to it. Push it in to reset it. Make sure you have your rack holders setting in the top holes of the side rails. If they are in the bottom holes it exposes the high limit to, to much heat.

Great post,Eddy.

We all appreciate it.

Tom-Fl

I just had my first smoke on my new FEC100 and didn' have a problem....I also didn't know there is a "high limits" reset button. Cookshack should let customers know these things.
Thanks for the info.

A lot of these things are being "field tested" and hopefully shared "realtime" by all of us.

As Eddy and Stuart,make improvements/adjustments,the printing would always be behind.

About the time the printed material gets out,it could be retracted/changed.


I agree,not the perfect world,but hopefully we can all keep each other up ,out here in the field.

A good reason for all of us to stay active sharing info on our forum.

Tom-Fl

Thank you to one and all for the input.
EZ's tip about the high heat switch helped but you can only see it if you know where to look if you open the SIDE panel. Eddy, you were sure right about having the rack support on the high setting. It sure puts the limit switch in the wrong place if you do.
Anyway, my wife bought a couple slabs of babybacks for the christening and they're in right now. All is going well.
Thanks again to Eddy and everyone for the help and the welcome.

Richard

I'm glad Eddy and the others could help you pretty quickly.

I'd be losing my mind if my new toy went out before I could get any product from it. Good on you for just asking the folks on the board and not ranting and raving about your "broken product".

I'm hearing this limit switch info for the first time also. I see it now on the schematic but I don't understand how the placements of the rack supports effect it.

I may be wrong but I believe that with the hangers in the higher position, the drip pan/ heat deflector is placed above the heat limiting switch thereby exposing it to higher temps - more likely to trip.

Tamck, you are exactly right. Its height maybe a holdover from before the seven rack system was available, but that is just a guess.

The ribs are about to come off and I'm sorry I can't offer you all one.

Richard

I was preheating my FEC this morning do cook some chicken wings. It was doing fine, climbing out of 200 degrees heading up to 350 so i went inside to get the wings. When I came back out my FEC was completely dead. Nothing on the display, and I powered it off and it wouldn't power back on. Could this be the limit switch?

In case it was, I unscrewed the four screws on the front of the control panel, but it appears to be sealed in place at the top with silicone or something similar. Before I try to break that seal., is it OK to do this, and is the reset switch behind the control panel an an FEC with the IQ4 controller?

I've gone to plan B for the wings, but the Shannon, IL competition is next weekend and I don't want to have problems with it for the comp.

Unscrew the end (left side), not the front, of the control panel. The red reset button will be right in front of you

quote:

Originally posted by tamck1:
Unscrew the end (left side), not the front, of the control panel. The red reset button will be right in front of you

I'll check that in the morning, but Fast Eddy's post on March 1st in this thread made me think that it was behind the control panel on the newer units...

quote:

The new high limits are under the control box. Take the screws out of the top of the control box and hinge it toward you. You'll see a poped out button with some black wires hooked to it. Push it in to reset it. Make sure you have your rack holders setting in the top holes of the side rails. If they are in the bottom holes it exposes the high limit to, to much heat.

When he said "under" he meant behind. There's nothing to work on with the electronics.

Open the side and get to it from there.

Thanks, Smokin'. I'll look in a bit. I guess I took the part about taking out the four screws at the top of the control panel too literally. There are four screws across the top of the area where the controller is mounted so I assumed that those were the ones that Eddy meant.

Woo hoo! My FEC Lives!

I talked to Bill at Cookshack support and he guided me to the limit swich and I reset it and my FEC is back among he living.

Technically, both Eddy and Smokin' were right The body of the limit switch is in the area under the pellet hopper but the button itself is in the area behind the control panel, but you can reach it from the side panel. For those who haven't had to find the switch yet, here is a picture. (BTW, the button on mine is green, not that that matters.)



To reset the switch just reach in and stick a finger into the square cutout in the panel that the switch is mounted on and you will feel the switch button.

Also remember to set the side rails (rack holders) to low. High setting exposes the probe to more heat.

Thanks, Larry... I noticed that in Eddy's earlier post so I checked and mine are hanging from the upper holes.

I smoked 20 racks of baby backs at 224. During the last hour I kicked my FEC100 up to 450 to carmalize the Q sauce. After a half hour it quit working. Had hit the reset button. I had the rack holders on the top holes (making the racks lower to the firepot)and had the ribs on the bottom two racks...had beans and spuds on the other two. I don't understand why it quit.

When you refer to the "TOP" holes, do you mean placing the racks in the lowest position? Seems that the lower holes raise the racks up higher and exposes the sensors to more heat. I have not tried using mine in the lower holes due to the limited space up topwhen its set up that way.

No, they mean just the opposite.