Greetings,
I am a fairly new FEC-100 cooker and was just doing my third cook this weekend. I noticed two things very unusual with the thermostat. I will call CS on Monday but wanted to post in case others have also seen.
1) I had to set a temp much higher than the desired cook temp in order to get near where I wanted to be. So, for cooking at 230, I had to set it for 260. Even then, it didn't stay that close to 230 (see point #2)
2) I had HUGE swings. Here is an actual sequence of self-reported temperatures from the cookshack display. Note: These are all about 3 hours after setting it for 260, 2 hours after the meat went on, and without opening the door at all after adding the meat: 224-224-224-224-226-226-226-216-216-216-216-216-246-246-246-246-232-232-232-232
During the 30 minutes or so I was recording temps, I saw it get as high as 250 (only momentarily) and as low as 206 (again only momentarily). It never got anywhere NEAR 260.
I was using a flue vent (5" angle with attached pipe).
Anyone seen anything like this? I've seen other comments on the forums about big swings, and some suggesting the cooker will overshoot, but never so much error on the "cold side".
First contest is in 2 weeks and still trying to get the kinks out.
Thanks to any who can offer insight! I love the potential of this cooker as long as I can get it figured out!
Ken Ramaley
http://www.catchafire4q.com
bbq@catchafire4q.com
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