Pit Boss Copperhead ErL error code?

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It was exactly the same. Just check to see if it’s compatible with your model
Reply: I have a series 4 vertical smoker. The data sheet on Amazon says it’s compatible with series 7 smokers. However, the two smokers are identical except size & number of racks. I even went to the Pit Boss web site and looked at the manual for the series 7 and the parts diagram is exactly the same as the series 4. Guess I’ll find out when I get the part from Amazon. Hopefully it’s the same. Thanks again for your help.
 
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Reply: I have a series 4 vertical smoker. The data sheet on Amazon says it’s compatible with series 7 smokers. However, the two smokers are identical except size & number of racks. I even went to the Pit Boss web site and looked at the manual for the series 7 and the parts diagram is exactly the same as the series 4. Guess I’ll find out when I get the part from Amazon. Hopefully it’s the same. Thanks again for your help.
I hope that takes care of your issue. I took a chance on the part I ordered from amazon since it wasn’t expensive and it worked for me on the erl code so good luck.
 
A friend of mine wants to buy my campchef xlr pellet smoker and i been thinking about the pitboss 5 series, after reading all this i'm not sure now. Being in the 5th wheel the vertical would be nice.....But
 
I would still give it a try. Take your time and get one from Lowes that is undamaged. My replacement has been working great. You have 30 days to return it to Lowes. Just make sure you use it alot in those 4 weeks to make sure it's good. Just look at these pork butts from last weekend.
20190629_083137.jpg
 
A friend of mine wants to but my campchef xlr pellet smoker and i been thinking about the pitboss 5 series, after reading all this i'm not sure now. Being in the 5th wheel the vertical would be nice.....But
If you have patience you might wait a little while for the 5 to go on clearance at Walmart. I picked mine up in January for $109. I also got a Weber kettle for $40, a Barrel House for $45, and a WSM 18 for $100 at that time.

I also bought a Hunsaker and that is what I use most often, but the Pit Boss is awesome for jerky and other space consuming cooks.
 
It was exactly the same. Just check to see if it’s compatible with your model
I replaced the control panel and after 1 hour got the same error ERL. I did order a new temp probe on Amazon but I wanted to install the new control panel first. Now that the new panel is in and I got the same error code I’m going to install the new temp probe. So far the smoker is working again. It’s only been about an hour but no failure yet. We’ll see what happens after a few hours.
 
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I just had this erL problem for the first time today and I think I found a quick and cheap fix:
Step one: Pour a small (emphasis on small) amount of isopropyl alcohol on the temp probe inside the cabinet.
Step two: Light it.
Step three: Turn smoker back on while it's burning.
Smoker is back up and working again!

I should note this was a stab in the dark when I tried it. I think the probe wasn't reading correctly because I spilled a little water on it when I filled the water pan. I'm not sure if the fire simply warmed the probe back up or if it just dried it out, regardless it works now. If you try this, please observe good sense and caution because ya know, fire.
-Bob
 
Just smoke a brisket this morning, came out awesome, tender and juicy. I finally got my control panel in but i am going to save it for a spare part. Im sure your old control panel is good , it was probably you temp probe that was bad so I suggest you save it. IMG_0358.jpg IMG_0362.jpg
 

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Just smoke a brisket this morning, came out awesome, tender and juicy. I finally got my control panel in but i am going to save it for a spare part. Im sure your old control panel is good , it was probably you temp probe that was bad so I suggest you save it.View attachment 400464 View attachment 400465
I think your right. The new control panel I received failed too. It only started working once I put the new probe in. I hope this probe last more then two times. Thanks for your help.
 
I bought a 5-rack Pit Boss vertical pellet smoker 2 days ago and have started to get the ErL errors. The smoker design is pretty nice so I'm going to work with it a while before I give up. What I have noticed so far is that the error appears to happen when there is a rapid temperature changes especially up around 300F. This is problematic when you are following the instructions to pre-heat or do a burn-off after a smoke. If I adjust the temperature settings one notch at a time during heat-up, the problems seems to be less frequent. Also, I think going from high-heat to 'smoking' all at once is problematic as well since the auger appears to dump a few extra pellets into the pot (for smoke) and the flames/temp go up for a while.

At first blush, this definitely appears to be a temperature probe/circuit induced error. The probes could be shorting out or the sensor circuit get confused when there are rapid changes at high temp. If I remember correctly, the resistance in the probes goes down as the temperature rises. So the voltage fluctuations in the circuit will be more pronounced at higher temperatures. Perhaps the sample rate on the temperature circuit needs to be adjusted (are you reading this Pit Boss engineers)?

Next steps for me are to:
1) replace the temp probe (ordered from Amazon)
2) build a metal heat shield to surround the new probe (try and dampen the rate of temp change)
3) limit the rate of temp change by not turning the knob too fast
4) vacuum the bottom and burn pot after each use

I successfully smoked a pork butt overnight (10 hours) at 225F after experiencing an ErL error the day before. So, I think the smoker is probably OK in general.

I will post an update and pictures of the heat shield if anyone is interested. But it could be a few weeks.
 
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I bought a 5-rack Pit Boss vertical pellet smoker 2 days ago and have started to get the ErL errors. The smoker design is pretty nice so I'm going to work with it a while before I give up. What I have noticed so far is that the error appears to happen when there is a rapid temperature changes especially up around 300F. This is problematic when you are following the instructions to pre-heat or do a burn-off after a smoke. If I adjust the temperature settings one notch at a time during heat-up, the problems seems to be less frequent. Also, I think going from high-heat to 'smoking' all at once is problematic as well since the auger appears to dump a few extra pellets into the pot (for smoke) and the flames/temp go up for a while.

At first blush, this definitely appears to be a temperature probe/circuit induced error. The probes could be shorting out or the sensor circuit get confused when there are rapid changes at high temp. If I remember correctly, the resistance in the probes goes down as the temperature rises. So the voltage fluctuations in the circuit will be more pronounced at higher temperatures. Perhaps the sample rate on the temperature circuit needs to be adjusted (are you reading this Pit Boss engineers)?

Next steps for me are to:
1) replace the temp probe (ordered from Amazon)
2) build a metal heat shield to surround the new probe (try and dampen the rate of temp change)
3) limit the rate of temp change by not turning the knob too fast
4) vacuum the bottom and burn pot after each use

I successfully smoked a pork butt overnight (10 hours) at 225F after experiencing an ErL error the day before. So, I think the smoker is probably OK in general.

I will post an update and pictures of the heat shield if anyone is interested. But it could be a few weeks.
As probably read, I had the ERL error too. Pit Boss customer service sent me a control board but that didn’t fix the problem. So, I got a new temp probe from Amazon and so far (only 2 times) I haven’t had the error, yet. We’ll see if it comes back after shut down procedure. Don’t understand what’s different with the new probe, it looks exactly the same as old one.
 
I bought a 5-rack Pit Boss vertical pellet smoker 2 days ago and have started to get the ErL errors. The smoker design is pretty nice so I'm going to work with it a while before I give up. What I have noticed so far is that the error appears to happen when there is a rapid temperature changes especially up around 300F. This is problematic when you are following the instructions to pre-heat or do a burn-off after a smoke. If I adjust the temperature settings one notch at a time during heat-up, the problems seems to be less frequent. Also, I think going from high-heat to 'smoking' all at once is problematic as well since the auger appears to dump a few extra pellets into the pot (for smoke) and the flames/temp go up for a while.

At first blush, this definitely appears to be a temperature probe/circuit induced error. The probes could be shorting out or the sensor circuit get confused when there are rapid changes at high temp. If I remember correctly, the resistance in the probes goes down as the temperature rises. So the voltage fluctuations in the circuit will be more pronounced at higher temperatures. Perhaps the sample rate on the temperature circuit needs to be adjusted (are you reading this Pit Boss engineers)?

Next steps for me are to:
1) replace the temp probe (ordered from Amazon)
2) build a metal heat shield to surround the new probe (try and dampen the rate of temp change)
3) limit the rate of temp change by not turning the knob too fast
4) vacuum the bottom and burn pot after each use

I successfully smoked a pork butt overnight (10 hours) at 225F after experiencing an ErL error the day before. So, I think the smoker is probably OK in general.

I will post an update and pictures of the heat shield if anyone is interested. But it could be a few weeks.

Make sure the vent on the top is open ALL the way. My theory is that if isn't open all the way the smoker doesn't draw in enough air and overheating happens on the temperature wire/control board.
 
Make sure the vent on the top is open ALL the way. My theory is that if isn't open all the way the smoker doesn't draw in enough air and overheating happens on the temperature wire/control board.
Okay, I’ll give the vent a try. I have nothing to lose. So far today I’ve been smoking a pork shoulder for almost 6 hours and no error code. Still a few hours to go. The test will be the shut down procedure. Do you think a little dielectric grease on the connection would help at all. We shouldn’t have to work this hard to get a new smoker working. Might have to go back to my old wood burning smoker. Harder to maintain constant heat temp but sure did a good job without all these headaches.
 
Okay, I’ll give the vent a try. I have nothing to lose. So far today I’ve been smoking a pork shoulder for almost 6 hours and no error code. Still a few hours to go. The test will be the shut down procedure. Do you think a little dielectric grease on the connection would help at all. We shouldn’t have to work this hard to get a new smoker working. Might have to go back to my old wood burning smoker. Harder to maintain constant heat temp but sure did a good job without all these headaches.
Well, good news on the smoker. Ran it for 12 hours and no ERL error code. Did the shut down procedure too. The only thing that was a little confusing was I smoked a boneless pork shoulder 3.5lbs at 225 degrees. Thought at 2hours a pound would be a good estimate however, it took 12 hours to get the shoulder to 200 degrees. Seems a bit long but it is what it is. At least the smoker didn’t die.
 
Well, good news on the smoker. Ran it for 12 hours and no ERL error code. Did the shut down procedure too. The only thing that was a little confusing was I smoked a boneless pork shoulder 3.5lbs at 225 degrees. Thought at 2hours a pound would be a good estimate however, it took 12 hours to get the shoulder to 200 degrees. Seems a bit long but it is what it is. At least the smoker didn’t die.

No, at least not this time.
 
Bought the Pit Boss Series 4 Vertical Smoker from Lowes today... It seemed awesome until the ERL error kicked in while I was trying to do the smoker burn off.

Tried most of the fixes suggested in here (plugging and unplugging the probe wires, even tried the rubbing alcohol flamer...) but no luck so have ordered the replacement probe from Amazon. Thank you all for the link and suggestions. Fingers crossed it'll fix it.

I'm just sadly looking at all the wings and ribs I had planned to smoke this labor day weekend
 
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