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29 replies

Why a Smokette 008 is better than my Amerique and all the new smokers

FM Former Member
Over the past 3 weeks, we've been having night time storms that are pretty typical around here during the summer. Over that time period I've awakened maybe 6 times in the morning to find the clock blinking on the microwave and the computer off, indicating that power went out at some time during the night.

Last night I had 4 butts in my Smokette, and 4 briskets in my Amerique. Care to venture a guess which one was in hold mode when I woke up this morning, and which one had finished it's cooking?

Since Cookshack has decided to go "digital" on all their products now, the least they could do is supply a 9v battery backup that would power the electronics through a few minutes of power outage. It would cost less than $1 per unit to add this during production.

I spoke to CS some time ago about this issue and they were very nice as usual, but didn't seem to understand that this really is a problem. If you cook 10 times a year, it's unlikely you'll be troubled by power outage issues. But if you cook 5-6 times a week like I do, the odds start to go against you real fast, and if you're a restaurant that depends on their cookers to work overnight WITHOUT FAIL, then .........

And even if you're a 10 time a year guy, think about how you'll feel the one time you get caught and have to trash your brisket, butt, etc and get takeout for that party you're having tonight because of a known issue that could have been remedied easily at the design stage.

Call CS and suggest to them nicely, that they fix this on new models and offer a retrofit kit for older models. I'd gladly pay a reasonable fee for a kit that would make my Amerique the safe, reliable cooker it was always supposed to be(although I'll probably fix mine myself anyway).
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T tomMember
Yep Todd ,I kept my smokette for several years,and now my boys share it .

Donna's family developed it a half century ago,and I gues meant for it to be basic.

It was one that the dial never really turned off,so you had to unplug it-when through cooking.

CS would have sent me another regulator,but I never bothered.

Especially important around burley tobacco drying barns. Roll Eyes

I worked it like a borrowed mule,and now my boys haul it around in pickups,over several counties and cattle spreads.

Maybe,since it was free,they treat it even worse than I did. Wink

No big deal,as it always works and is virtually indestructable.

Does have a few dents from rolling around the truck bed,if the bungee cords gave way.

They may have it cooking at one place,load it up and continue cooking at the next.

Most of us with FEC s use a small cheap inverter,and the $50 marine battery from Sam's and that gets us thru a 22-24 hr cookoff.

As you know,electric may go completely at an event ,or at breakfast everyone plugs in the coffe pots at once.

Or,the guy with the motorhome,next to you, needs 50 amps for his A/C and doesn't want to run his generator. Eeker

Some use a trickle charger,so the battery is charging,as needed.

We are in the second worst lightning area in the country,and Ribdog is in the worst.

Lots of power spikes/surges/blackouts,etc.
FM Former Member
quote:
Originally posted by Subman:
Can you plug your Amerique into a uninterruptable power supply like they have for computers?


No. All the CS smokers have just one cord that supplies power to the electronics and the heating element. I don't think there has ever been a UPS built that could power the heating element.

I did discuss with CS possibly doing a two cord unit, with the electronics being powered separately so you could plug that cord into a UPS, but I know from a design standpoint that this solution is flawed for many reasons and is just not practical.

The easiest solution is for CS to design a 9v backup into the next gen of cookers that will just power the electronics. Alarm clocks have had these for years. I saw a clock at CVS yesterday for <$5 that had this feature, so why can't my smoker have it too?

The rep at CS that I spoke to several months ago said he would email me the schematics for the Amerique, but I never got them. I think it would be an easy mod for all the digital smokers CS produces.

I had an earlier post about this same issue several months ago, so for those of you keeping count, that's two loads of food that has been trashed so far this year for want of a simple fix.

EDIT: This issue is kind of a rant with me if you can't tell. I've had my Amerique for several years now but rarely use it, at least during the summer, for this very reason. I would rather overload the Smokette and be sure it will cook reliably than to risk trashing a load of food in the Amerique.

This is also a primary reason why I have held off on ordering a larger CS commercial smoker.
Last edited by Former Member
T tomMember
Todd,I'm not wanting to get involved in the particular issue,since they suggested to us,how to solve ours.

My question is,did you talk to Stuart Powell, the President/partner/and chief engineer?

He has been quite responsive,in most instances,I'm aware of.

I have run across him at cookoffs all over the southeast,solving problems for Cookshack folks,and using his own toolkit.

Plus, he is a longtome bbq cook-even if he is from Kansas. Big Grin
FM Former Member
I didn't speak to Stuart. I did speak to a couple of different phone customer service people and they were great.

(Tom, you told me to call Stuart about something else once and I did. You failed to mention that time that he was president of the company. I don't have the same connections you do. I can't be calling the pres every time something comes up. Smiler)

My rant aside, this is really more of a very serious suggestion for the next run of controller boards. It should not require a redesign at all. No new approvals. And it would add little to nothing to the cost of a smoker.

Other than this one thing, I consider my CS smokers to be virtually perfect.
S skipro3Member
Funny you should mention this problem. I had the opposite happen to me. My smoker turned on with a power outage. Last time I used the smoker, I turned it off via the push button and left it plugged in. We had a storm, power went off for about 1 minute, then the power came back on. I walked around the house, checking things and setting the blinking displays on microwave and such. When I stumbled on the smoker and saw the display was lit up and it was heating up, I hit the power switch and unplugged it. I highly recommend unplugging when not in use and don't trust the power switch.

If you get a schematic and know how to read it, you should be good to go on how to back up the power to the logic board. Otherwise, get a UPS and plug the smoker into it. It isn't important that the UPS won't have capacity to run the smoker, what is important is that the UPS will have a loud alarm when the power fails and you are running off the battery. This should wake you and at least you can deal with the situation rather than finding out too late what occurred.
FM Former Member
I'm betting the my new Smokette, with no hold function and digital control, might just turn of in the event of a very brief outage. I wonder if you could run through a Furman Rack Rider power conditioner? It'll maintain power for a second or two if there's just a blip, which otherwise will shut off digital gear.

The Furman has 1800 watts capacity, built like a tank. I run my home theater through one, and the basic unit is currently 40 bucks or so. I love these people paying summink like $150 for some flash Monster brand spike protector. You think KISS run their PA through dinky Monster spike protectors or Furmans?
FM Former Member
I agree with the original poster. I almost had a Q disaster last year. I had 8 butts in my Amerique when we had a very brief outage. I happened to check the smoker before going to sleep and it had shut off. If I hadn't caught it in time quite a few folks' dinner plans would have been ruined.

I looked into a UPS but to handle the 1000 watt element a large and expensive backup is required. I have a backup generator on my house but it can take 90 seconds or so to kick in.

The 9 volt backup source would be an outstanding feature for me.
T taktezTo err is human, to smoke is divine.
The 9 volt battery option is probably the least expensive and easiest to implement, but there are inherent problems with that too. We have three clocks that are backed up by 9 volt batteries and the inherent problem is me. I forget that the batteries are there and invariably the battery is dead at the time of a power failure because it's not in my nature to do periodic maintenance on clocks. I suspect many others are the same way. It's probably just a guy thing.

I have a setback thermostat on our furnace/air conditioner and that is backed up by a lithium button battery and those things last a long time. Possibly a lithium battery option would be better, especially since the electronics shouldn't require massive current to back up.

Personally, I feel that the ultimate solution would be none of the above. The input settings should be saved in non-volatile memory (an eprom) so that upon recovery of power the original settings could be automatically loaded back in. This might be a more expensive solution but would ultimately result in far fewer problems. And as was previously stated, loss of a load of meat can be very costly, not to mention the inconvenience.

Just my opinion.

EZ
FM Former Member
I'm glad to see this thread getting some attention since I think it's an important one. Email CS and let them know. I've sent emails and called. They're always nice, but don't seem to think it's a big deal. They've apparently never lost a load of meat to a two second power outage that needed to go to a catering client in the morning. Mad Mad

The eprom idea is slicker and better, but I suspect that cost of re-engineering the MB would not be warmly received. I could be wrong, but it wouldn't surprise me if they had a bunch of these boards in stock too. It may be years before they get through their initial order.

The advantage of the battery idea is that a kit could be produced to allow a retofit. I think that two well placed solder joints could attach the battery leads and solve this problem easily.

And maybe it's just me, but the lack of this backup is also why instead of just buying a couple of SM360's, I've started looking at other brands that allow for more security when cooking at night. It's bad enough to lose 60# in my Amerique sitting on my back porch, but it's a whole other thing entirely to lose 500# of meat from my smoker that is sitting in a catering kitchen 5 miles away. IMO, without this one little thing, the commercial CS line loses much of it's "set it and forget it" appeal.
T tomMember
Todd,as to other cookers,someone like Randy might be able to speak to that end.

FEC 100 s and 500.

Being just an ol' country cook,ya'll are way over my head.

Heck,I'm barely able to trick a hawg into crawlin' into an FEC. Wink

You probably check the FEC forums,where we all carry marine type batteries,with a cheap inverter,and trickle chargers.

Comps are notorious for bad,or nonexistent power.

Your cookers need more power than ours,but does any of this crossover,that CS might utilize?

I still cook on a CS 160,along with my FECs,in the #2 lightning area in the nation.

I think?the boards are very similar? between the CSs and FEC.

I haven't had a problem with shutoffs,resets,etc in over a decade, and I run all the time in electrical storms at the ocean's edge.

I'm sure they are interested,and as you can imagine,manufacturing,and certifying agencies dictate many decisions.

Hang in there.

No one works harder at making their cookers satisfy.
FM Former Member
Summer is the worst time for these power blips, but they do happen year round. In the summer I've always assumed it was caused by excessive power demands caused by all the A/C use. In the winter I don't know. But I would say it averages at least once a week year round, with some summer weeks seeing it happen 3-4 days a week, and sometimes multiple times per day. It's not just me either, it's pretty much city wide.
P pagsMember
You know. After rereading this thread and skipro's post, it reminded me that every time I plug my Elite into to the electrical, it comes on to the last temperature setting I used. Even when I press the "off" button before unplugging it. So I went out to the smoker, plugged it in, and same thing.

I then left it plugged in and interrupted electrical service to the smoker by tripping the GFI. I then reset the GFI, and then same thing. The smoker started at my last temperature setting. Did it several times with the same results.

So if we're talking about the same issue, it seems Cookshack has resolved it with the newer electronics. This won't address a several hour power outage, but only backup generation can deal with that. But doesn't this solve your issue Todd? Or is this a concern with the units with a "hold function?"

So I never leave my smoker plugged in when not in use. If we should have a power failure, it will start. Don't figure it's really dangerous, just a waste of electricity. Trying to be "green."
Last edited by pags
FM Former Member
I don't know what voltage runs the controller but, if it is just DC low voltage, a $3 bridge rectifier and a battery would make the power outages a thing of the past as far as the smoker remembering to come back on when the city power returns. We did this all the time in the Carribean where the power goes away all the time. Simple and cost effective way to keep the memory going.

JimBob
FM Former Member
quote:
Originally posted by Brown274:
I wish they would offer the old turn style temp controller like the 009 has.


If you have such suggestions, call CS. They don't routinely monitor the forum (I do it for them, but I don't work for CS) If there are product improvements they really want you to call them. They're pretty good about it, just give them a call.

Smokin'
F fatsoMember
I just got a brand new Amerique and experienced this very problem. I found my butts half roasted. My calculations told me the cooker had been off for 2 hours. I took a chance and started the cooker again and everything turned out OK except my cooking time was extended at least 6 hours. It's going to be difficult to sleep at night from now on.

The battery backup sounds like a great idea to me. Some body said they used a bridge rectifier and a battery. any schematic available?
F fatsoMember
quote:
Originally posted by JimBob2258:
I don't know what voltage runs the controller but, if it is just DC low voltage, a $3 bridge rectifier and a battery would make the power outages a thing of the past as far as the smoker remembering to come back on when the city power returns. We did this all the time in the Carribean where the power goes away all the time. Simple and cost effective way to keep the memory going.

JimBob


You got plans for that JimBob?
S stuartMember
There are food safety concerns with battery backups. Depending on what you are cooking and when the outage accrued you could be holding the food in the unsafe zone and creating bacteria growth. There can be lots of arguments on short outages, but if you had multiple short outages in the cook cycle you could end up leaving the food in that unsafe zone longer than you would know about. A lot of states are requiring restaurants to have temperature recorders in their food if they are cooking when no one is there to make this does not happen.

For these reasons we have chosen not to put an electrical backup in our units. If it is a major problem I would suggest getting a UPS to run the unit during power outages.
tnqtnqMember
interesting that this thread is resurrected. anyone developed a way to solve your AmQ power bleep problems. Frankly the CS response is weak in that the design is inconsistant among various smokers; i.e. some come back on with power bleep and some don't. I understand the food safety issue; if the power is off too long it is the user's responsibility to address that.

I ask here since it does appear from the CS response above that they have no intentions of addressing. So please no suggestions to contact CS directly.

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