Fireboard 2

[RemE]

Komodo Kamado can reach 800 - 900.
IMO, best cooker on the planet.
Can last 85 hours on one basket of lump charcoal, maintain temp of +- 1 degree, weighs about 1400 lbs, and the 42” model costs around 10k. I’d love to have one, but it would be instant divorce. Lol

Wow, I had no idea! Different world!

Reminds me of a vid I just saw of a highly detailed model car replica of a Rolls-Royce. It was about 18" long, fully functional lights, down to the dash level details, unreal. Price? $40k and up!

 

[Murphy's Law]

FB 2 was just delivered. I have it on my desk finishing a charge. Looks like a nice unit.

I was going to try and take ‘er out on the maiden voyage this evening but sounds like we’re going from the 60’s to rain/snow this afternoon and into the night (welcome to CO).

 

[dflaher]

Pretty sure the Traeger ambient probe is a K type thermocouple. Response time is way to fast for RTD or thermistor

I think you're right. At 30 seconds into this video a K-type thermocouple type connector is shown.
Does that mean buying a FireBoard 2 would be giving up ambient temperature capability, as opposed to Traeger's ambient sensor?

FB 2 was just delivered. I have it on my desk finishing a charge. Looks like a nice unit.

I was going to try and take ‘er out on the maiden voyage this evening but sounds like we’re going from the 60’s to rain/snow this afternoon and into the night (welcome to CO).

Congrats! Let us know what you think once you've taken it for a spin.

 

[RemE]

I think you're right. At 30 seconds into this video a K-type thermocouple type connector is shown.
Does that mean buying a FireBoard 2 would be giving up ambient temperature capability, as opposed to Traeger's ambient sensor?

No, the Fireboard is independent of the Traeger. The Traeger controller needs its fast K type sensor for the feedback to react to quick changes like door open, flare ups etc.

The Fireboard's RTD is slower but that's fine for monitoring and logging.

 

[Murphy's Law]

I had the chance to take it for a spin last night but have a question. Grill was set to 400, I had an ambient probe next to my Pro 780 probe and they are widely off. I also had an ambient probe in the front(ish) center of the grill (next to my chicken breast) and it's ready very close to the Traeger setting which has me thinking the other ambient probe is wrong, and my Traeger and 2nd (center) probe are close to actual temp.

If true, why would my top probe be so far off even though it's so close in proximity to the Traeger one?

 

[dflaher]

Thanks for sharing, Murph. I don't know the answer, but wondering what the Traeger temp display read when you took the screenshot? Was it 400?

 

[Murphy's Law]

Yes, target was 400 and the Traeger probe at the time read right at 400 or 401. The grill had been on for awhile so the temps were stable and not rising.

Not seen in this shot is another probe I had on the far left of the grill and it consistently recorded about 20 degrees higher than the center ambient probe.

 

[RemE]

If you look under the drip pan of your grill, visualize where the fire and heat flow up and around the drip pan. The firepot is like a blow dryer, driven by the fan, hot gasses blow up and out.

Timberlines have their drip pans suspended over firepot in a way to allow the heat to flow up and around all sides of the pan, then circulating in the upper chamber.

Other models have the drip pans set on a shelf to one side at a tilt, so hot gasses can only flow around the other 3 sides.

If you place the fireboard grate probes along the sides, they may be exposed to the hot gasses and read higher than they would if placed more in the middle of the pan etc.

I like my Fireboard probe clipped next to the Traeger probe and adjust the grill's temp to get the Fireboard temp where I want. Also, on my grill I would say this upper right spot is the coolest area in the grill, and the hottest is in the lower left area.

 

[Murphy's Law]

I did have a probe within inches of the Traeger probe and it read a lot lower than both my Traeger probe AND the Fireboard probe that was in the center of the grill (which both had the same reading).

So where I'm confused is what temp am I chasing? Seems to me the Traeger and center probe were accurate (both matched the 400 degrees of my grill setting) and the probe that was inches away from my Traeger probe is the outlier here?? So my question is why would this be?

 

[Timmy]

Yes, target was 400 and the Traeger probe at the time read right at 400 or 401. The grill had been on for awhile so the temps were stable and not rising.

Not seen in this shot is another probe I had on the far left of the grill and it consistently recorded about 20 degrees higher than the center ambient probe.

I had the chance to take it for a spin last night but have a question. Grill was set to 400, I had an ambient probe next to my Pro 780 probe and they are widely off. I also had an ambient probe in the front(ish) center of the grill (next to my chicken breast) and it's ready very close to the Traeger setting which has me thinking the other ambient probe is wrong, and my Traeger and 2nd (center) probe are close to actual temp.

If true, why would my top probe be so far off even though it's so close in proximity to the Traeger one?

View attachment 4024View attachment 4028

You may have found the "sweet spot" on my 780 its around 230f. If i go up to 400f its off by about 25 degrees lower. I cranked it to 500f the fireboard said it got to 450f but the grill said 500f.

 

[RemE]

I did have a probe within inches of the Traeger probe and it read a lot lower than both my Traeger probe AND the Fireboard probe that was in the center of the grill (which both had the same reading).

So where I'm confused is what temp am I chasing? Seems to me the Traeger and center probe were accurate (both matched the 400 degrees of my grill setting) and the probe that was inches away from my Traeger probe is the outlier here?? So my question is why would this be?

The deal is, the Fireboard probe located next to the Traeger probe shows how far off the Traeger probe is. Mine is non-linear, Traeger reads low below 200F and matches the Fireboard at higher temps.

Probably the gold standard would be to clip the Fireboard probe next to the meat. For me I just use the fireboard clipped next to the Traeger probe. Just pick your method, document your cooks, and develop a consistent way to cook so there are no surprises moving forward.

 

[dflaher]

@RemE @Murphy's Law and @Timmy - How are you guys mounting your ambient probe on the sides of the grill near the Traeger stock probe? Are you drilling into the side to mount a bracket?

 

[Murphy's Law]

The deal is, the Fireboard probe located next to the Traeger probe shows how far off the Traeger probe is. Mine is non-linear, Traeger reads low below 200F and matches the Fireboard at higher temps.

Probably the gold standard would be to clip the Fireboard probe next to the meat. For me I just use the fireboard clipped next to the Traeger probe. Just pick your method, document your cooks, and develop a consistent way to cook so there are no surprises moving forward.

The thing that is throwing me off is that I did have a probe next to the meat and that probe matched both my grill setting and Traeger probe (400 degrees). I had another Fireboard probe on the far left and it was a little over 400 degrees.

So I had 4 ambient probes - 1 Traeger and 3 Fireboard. The Traeger and 2 Fireboard (one center by meat and one left edge) registered ~400 degrees while the Fireboard probe that was inches from my Traeger probe was 40 degrees lower.

So which one(s) are right? The single probe that read 360 or the 3 probes that read 400? If you say the Fireboard that was near my Traeger probe was right because Traeger probes are notoriously wrong, then that would mean my other 2 Fireboard probes are also wrong, wouldn't it?

So yes, I am overthinking this!

 

[JamesB]

So which one(s) are right? The single probe that read 360 or the 3 probes that read 400? If you say the Fireboard that was near my Traeger probe was right because Traeger probes are notoriously wrong, then that would mean my other 2 Fireboard probes are also wrong, wouldn't it?

So yes, I am overthinking this!

Could just mean that your grill is cooler in the location that the Traeger probe is located. Place all three FireBoard probes in the same location, and that should tell you if one of them is defective

 

[magoo40]

Test all 3 Fireboard probes in boiling water, if they read the same then you have a cool spot in your grill. In my opinion the ambient probe should be near the meat thats what matters to me.