Masterbuilt Gravity Feed

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What you are not understanding is this is simply a $5 difference,or less, in the quality of a part. Now that I figured out the work around, I can change Temps, set timers, set meat probe alerts all from the comfort of the beach in Florida while my smoker is in cincinnati.

Bumping this as it wasn't answered before. @WorldFreeBase what was work around?
 
I am in a back and forth with MB right now. I don't feel it is fair to perform r&d for a company to improve their product that has a design deficiency and rewrite their user manual and troubleshooting guide without being fairly compensated.

What i will tell you is once everything works properly, you can truly control and monitor the cook remotely. For example, if i was cooking a brisket that hit the stall, based on temp from probe, I can go to the bar and have a couple and once it hits 190
I don't get it.
Why are you smoking your brisket in Cincinnati if you are in Florida?
Because I can
 
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I don't think the connectivity issues are so much hardware related as they are software, so not sure how a $5 part will help.

If I have the app connected it will stay connected for hours as long as the app is open. If I don't move the phone but go to a different app for a bit and come back it will have disconnected and have issues reconnecting. Same thing if I leave the app open but turn the screen off, when I turn it back on it has connection issues. It doesn't matter if I am standing next to the smoker or the other side of the house, it's the same every time.
 
I don't think the connectivity issues are so much hardware related as they are software, so not sure how a $5 part will help.

If I have the app connected it will stay connected for hours as long as the app is open. If I don't move the phone but go to a different app for a bit and come back it will have disconnected and have issues reconnecting. Same thing if I leave the app open but turn the screen off, when I turn it back on it has connection issues. It doesn't matter if I am standing next to the smoker or the other side of the house, it's the same every time.
The device you are using can also make a difference. Lots of variables with all the different smartphones out there. MB recently updated the iOS app. Not sure about Android.
 
The device you are using can also make a difference. Lots of variables with all the different smartphones out there. MB recently updated the iOS app. Not sure about Android.
You are very right that phone hardware has an impact.

The way I was thinking about it was hardware was the smoker (as that's the only hardware Masterbuilt can control) and software was app (including the phone as that's needed to run the app). Not the correct hardware/software delineation and quite confusing now that I'm trying to explain my thought process.
 
But, when everything works as it should, with my Fireboard, I can do this.............

2020-07-02 19.51.01.jpg
 
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On my Note 9, what fixed most of the connectivity issues is turning off all the power management on the masterbuilt app. turn off the 'this app can be put to sleep' in battery settings, and turn off 'battery optimization' in the app settings. The random disconnects went from every couple minutes to every couple hours, though the meat probe temp still lags sometimes.

It really is a shame, the idea of this grill is fantastic, but the materials/quality are lacking at best and you just can't trust the electronics. A 1050 made of 303 stainless and porcelain enameled steel with fireboard featureset/reliability would really be perfection.
 
What are you guys using for fire starters?
I've been using Fatwood sticks which work well but I've been cutting them in half which is a pain. Looking for options...
 
What are you guys using for fire starters?
I've been using Fatwood sticks which work well but I've been cutting them in half which is a pain. Looking for options...
I use the Kamado joe fire starters, just one square works every time. Snap out a square, slide it in, I try to light it 3 corners with a long nosed bbq lighter. Leave it going for 1m-2m or so w vents open, good to go. Turn on bbq. I understand similar squares work

 
So here is where I am at. Got a 560 yesterday morning at Home Depot after returning the Traeger my wife and kids got me for Father’s Day. I grill way more than I smoke. I grabbed the floor model after making sure everything looked solid. Got it home and went straight to work connecting. No problems whatsoever with BT or WiFi - I am on an iPhone XR and get solid WiFi even across the street.

Ran through the burn in process. Set it at 250 for an hour. Went to buy fireworks with my son. Was in line to pay when the timer went off. (Yes, I do things last minute like buy grills and fireworks on July 4). Cranked it up to 400 remotely. Biggest smile on my face. 4 miles away and I can watch the temp climb and stabilize. At this point I am the happiest I have ever been with a grill.

The first thirty minutes is almost done and the temp starts falling. I thought maybe I was out of charcoal since the fan was full blast when I went to check on it. Nope, still plenty. Powered the whole thing off since I was only a couple minutes shy of the 30. Let it cool then wiped it down real good. Started the seasoning process, set at 350. Control panel and app never showed temp higher than 132 and fan was running full blast. Gauge on the cover though steadily climbed all the way to sear after about 8 minutes. It has exhibited this behavior since.

I now have to turn it on and run the fan for about a minute to get the temp around the BBQ range, then let it sit for 30-45 minutes while it cools down to smoke and then repeat the process.

I have verified all cables are connected securely.
I have unplugged and let it sit for 20 minutes.
I have wiped down the temp probe on the side.

I finally opened a ticket with MB and will see what they say after the holiday break.

But I am not patient, so I am trying to smoke a pork butt using the above method.

Anyone come across this before? I read through this thread and a couple others with no luck. Does your temp probe have what looks like a 1/4 inch needle at the end? Any suggestions on using this as a manual smoker without the fan and temp control?
 
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ok ill bite. how do you connect to your grill from 4 miles away? Mine connects via bluetooth. It updated via wifi but I have no idea how you get the app to use internet.

Never mind. It appears if you just clsoe it when it asks if you want to turn blue tooth on it will just use wifi. lol
 
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