Thermoworks RFX First Impressions

[ThermoWorks]

I left that second probe running after the first one died around 8 hours, it's still going this morning with 10% battery left. I'm running gateway firmware 1.1.29-46 and the probes' firmware are 1.2.1. Here are my serial numbers for reference.

Probe 1, 1 degree intervals, ~8 hours, M100006047
Probe 2, 3 degree intervals, ~46 hours (so far), M100015574

If you're still seeing issues after the firmware update, please give the tech team a call so we can resolve this for you!

801-756-7705 or [email protected]

 

[ThermoWorks]

Curios what others are seeing for battery life with the meat probes? What is a fair test? What should the settings be? I put a fully charged one in the refrigerator, it lasted 10 hours and was inactive. I left one on the table fully charged, it warned of low battery just under 12 hours? Refrigerator I can understand being a low number of hours, on the table I would have like to seen 4 times as long.

Fewer than 0.2% of RFX MEAT probes reported reduced battery life.

On Wednesday, November 13th, we fixed a software bug that was causing a limited number of customers to experience shorter-than-expected battery life with their RFX MEAT probes.

• This was a software bug, not a hardware issue. There is no defect in the physical battery.
• The bug was triggered when settings were adjusted while the RFX MEAT probe was off and in the charging block. This resulted in the RFX MEAT probe transmitting more than once per degree change, leading to accelerated battery depletion.

The fix was made in the ThermoWorks cloud. If you are still experiencing battery life concerns, give us a call 801-756-7705 or [email protected]

 

[jimboc22]

ThermoWorks" data-source="post: 2550331" class="bbCodeBlock bbCodeBlock--expandable bbCodeBlock--quote js-expandWatch">

If you're still seeing issues after the firmware update, please give the tech team a call so we can resolve this for you!

801-756-7705 or [email protected]

These results were from the latest firmware update, unless there is something newer than 1.1.29-46. What is the latest firmware version? I'm getting tired of removing my device and adding it back just to force a firmware update with the hopes that a new update has been released, so I don't know what the latest is at this point.

I've been in contact with tech support via email for over a week now. Glad to see someone from ThermoWorks has finally reached out to this thread and is addressing what we've been experiencing.

 

[jimboc22]

ThermoWorks" data-source="post: 2550331" class="bbCodeBlock bbCodeBlock--expandable bbCodeBlock--quote js-expandWatch">

If you're still seeing issues after the firmware update, please give the tech team a call so we can resolve this for you!

801-756-7705 or [email protected]

And while we have your attention, why does the cloud give options for 0.5, 0.7, 1, and 2 degree intervals but the app shows 1, 1.5, 2, or 3 degree intervals?

 

[schlotz]

With the RMA - are you shipping them back and getting a refund?

If not, is there an expectation that the new Gateway and/or probes will perform differently?

If so why?

You mentioned the cloud sight, I have been calling that the web interface, the app and the web interface are both dependent on the cloud and use the same data.

I had pointed out the web interface interval setting inconsistency you mentioned earlier.

1. The web interface implies it is for all devices.
2. The app interface implies it for the probe attached to the RFX Gateway.
3. If you change it to 5 on the web interface, that setting becomes available on the app interface.
4. I have asked tech support 3 times about what is true and received 2 different answers 1st and 3rd being the same. One answer is it is for how often the gateway reports data to the cloud, the answer and the one that I got the 1st and 3rd time is it is for the probe attached to the gateway. My best guess is they know what it is supposed to do per documentation, but since they have made some wholesale changes, it is probably doing something else and there is not a definitive answer.

I have recorded a number of inconsistencies between the web interface and the application. Some are annoying, some are unexplainable, some are a real problem. To date the ones I have shared I am told have been documented and turned over to development. With my latest test I have noticed more issues that I will be documenting and sharing.

My current test with all set to 3 is at 66 hours, well that depends on which probe you look at, 1 probe has magically lost an hour, can’t even phantom how the data could change in the middle of a session. 1 probe still at 20% the others are at 10%.

The 3 second reading is confirming for me that there are much bigger issues related to how often the probes are reporting and they are not working as intended.

They are going to need to convince me these things are going to work as marketed or mine will be going back for a refund before that window closes.

Don

I'm of the belief that TW is genuinely interested in why my RFX is not performing as expected. Only the probes and gateway are being sent back for them to evaluate and my expectation is they will be sending replacements. This might take a few days upon receipt but I'm in no hurry. Still have my Signals to use if needed.

No question there are discrepancies in their RFX system and that, IMO points to different people in charge of certain aspects that do not talk & coordinate their combined efforts to ensure the users are presented with a straight forward process. Distasteful for users to say the least but I can mostly get past this if the product worked. Obviously what I got doesn't. Now if the replacements bomb, I'm immediately done and will demand a complete refund.

 

[bwana_don]

ThermoWorks" data-source="post: 2550334" class="bbCodeBlock bbCodeBlock--expandable bbCodeBlock--quote js-expandWatch">

Fewer than 0.2% of RFX MEAT probes reported reduced battery life.

On Wednesday, November 13th, we fixed a software bug that was causing a limited number of customers to experience shorter-than-expected battery life with their RFX MEAT probes.

• This was a software bug, not a hardware issue. There is no defect in the physical battery.
• The bug was triggered when settings were adjusted while the RFX MEAT probe was off and in the charging block. This resulted in the RFX MEAT probe transmitting more than once per degree change, leading to accelerated battery depletion.

The fix was made in the ThermoWorks cloud. If you are still experiencing battery life concerns, give us a call 801-756-7705 or [email protected]

Thermoworks

Would it surprise you have been in contact with tech support since the day I opened up the box and could not set up the Gateway because of the application "Next" button placement issue. Maybe I have even spoken with you.

After the above issue that you are responding to too, I experienced the "zombie" gateway related to the firmware push. It was literally because I tried to use it for an actual cooking situation - 11 minutes. Evidently, I turned off the Gateway in the middle of a firmware update I had no idea was occurring. That led to a call where I was told to let the Gateway sit for 24 hours with the hope that it would be discharged and upon plugging it in it would reset itself. 24 hours with tech support on the line that did not work, tried multiple things to make it work. That led to an RMA and waiting for a new gateway. While waiting for the new gateway and watching what people were seeing with their testing I tried plugging in my first gateway again. It lighted up after jiggling the cord. That is when I realized the USB-C connection was falling apart. It is now in three pieces. Maybe that is why my gateway did not come back up after the first 24 hours, maybe not. I generated a long email to tech support to try to understand how these things are supposed/expect to work due to the lack of documentation and obviously the change/cover-up in the documentation. That was during my first test on 1.1.26-49. I was seeing longer battery life of 14.75 hours up to 23.5 hours, that was with 4 probes all set to 1, 1.5, 2 and 3. The response form tech support - identifies an undocumented requirement of how to try to configure the probes - something I expected based on the current test I am running - there are a "magic" undocumented sequences that will cause the RFX solution to act differently.

"This is all good information. Thanks for letting me know about your RFX GATEWAY and the battery life for your RFX - MEATS.

One thing that you may need to do to get the battery life correct for your RFX MEATS is to make a change to the configuration. If a change is not made then there is still the probability that the battery issue for the RFX meat has not been resolved. So if you will momentarily change the transmission interval from the current setting (3° F) to something else, wait 2-3 minutes for the change to be updated to the RFX - MEAT and then change it back to 3° F. That should take care of the issue.

If that doesn't work, please let me know."

What was missing from that response was a response was answer to a question which gateway I should be shipping back - is there a difference between the first one I received and the second one.

As far trying the above recommendation, I have still not had a chance to test that because I am waiting for my second test on 1.1.26-49 to complete. I expect it will complete today. 3 out of 4 probes have gone inactive 1 at 64.75 hours, 1 at 66. .50 hours, 1 at 82.08 hours, 1 still active after 90.5 hours. Sadly, I thing I will be told this is an invalid expectation/test because of another "magic sequence" issue. All probes were set to a temperature interval of 3 while in the battery charger. That has led to the probes reporting on 3 second intervals. Evidently, based on somebody else repeating the sequence I shared and talking to support it is a surprise to tech support that this behavior with the probes occurred.

Some where in the middle of all this, I responded to the marketing email Early RFX Reviews Are In . . . Chefs Love It, with a short email about battery issues and where can I post my review.

The first email response

"Thank you so much for reaching out. You are welcome to post reviews on the site or the RFX Page if you would like to, though we are doing our best to make sure that the issues that everyone is seeing are understood and solved as quickly as possible, so we do hope you'll give us a chance to do that.

We are currently looking into the issue with the batteries that some have been seeing on the back end, and we should be able to provide a proper fix for it soon. Unfortunately there are always growing pains when releasing a new product as our testing can only go so far.

Thank you again for your patience as we get this sorted. I can take down your name and let you know once we have a fix for the battery issue?"

I responded to that email with with a lengthy email about the issues I had experienced to date, the bugs I had uncovered and a number of questions.

That led to a 30 minute call. I appreciated time and came away with some hope that this could all work out and shared on the forum accordingly.

I have not been contacted that the battery issue is resolved yet, and I have been told to try different things and if it is sill not working to contact tech support.

Again, I am in the process of documenting all the issues I have seen to date. Once this current test completes I will try a few more things to verify what I am believe I am seeing based on tests to date and the "magic sequence" fix that has been recommended.

I have been on the forefront of innovation and delivering new products, I am probably more patient than most as an early adopter. As some have mentioned they have or would have already sent theirs back for a refund by now. Hopefully, my next email to Thermoworks Tech Support will generate a response that will give me the confidence there is a path to RFX being viable product sooner than later.

For context of the next item, I worked for an amazing company that had 5 values, the first and most important value was Integrity. Integrity is much more than telling the truth and doing the right thing when people aren't looking. It is about doing what you say you are going to do, delivering to expectations accordingly.

At this point in the spirit of this thread my "Thermoworks RFX First Impressions" after 3 weeks of testing and the definition of integrity above I am finding the RFX Solution lacking integrity and unreliable to the point I cannot trust it for smoking some of my most precious meats I smoke.

Does anybody else's lips get tired reading my reponses?

Don

 

[schlotz]

Nope not tired at all. You've done a yeoman's job documenting your experience with the RFX and for the most part I concur with your findings. My take at this point, their QC, engineering and marketing departments are not joined at the hip. As such, they have created inconsistencies coupled with not properly verifying probe batches to ensure the roll out of a new product met both the design spec's and ultimately customer expectations. I seen this happen all too often and from different sized companies. Most times it comes down to a simple lack of expertise within the ranks to properly manage the deployment of their product(s). Regardless, I'm still hopeful TW will eventually get to a workable solution after the mess they've allowed to occur.

 

[ThermoWorks]

Thermoworks

Would it surprise you have been in contact with tech support since the day I opened up the box and could not set up the Gateway because of the application "Next" button placement issue. Maybe I have even spoken with you.

After the above issue that you are responding to too, I experienced the "zombie" gateway related to the firmware push. It was literally because I tried to use it for an actual cooking situation - 11 minutes. Evidently, I turned off the Gateway in the middle of a firmware update I had no idea was occurring. That led to a call where I was told to let the Gateway sit for 24 hours with the hope that it would be discharged and upon plugging it in it would reset itself. 24 hours with tech support on the line that did not work, tried multiple things to make it work. That led to an RMA and waiting for a new gateway. While waiting for the new gateway and watching what people were seeing with their testing I tried plugging in my first gateway again. It lighted up after jiggling the cord. That is when I realized the USB-C connection was falling apart. It is now in three pieces. Maybe that is why my gateway did not come back up after the first 24 hours, maybe not. I generated a long email to tech support to try to understand how these things are supposed/expect to work due to the lack of documentation and obviously the change/cover-up in the documentation. That was during my first test on 1.1.26-49. I was seeing longer battery life of 14.75 hours up to 23.5 hours, that was with 4 probes all set to 1, 1.5, 2 and 3. The response form tech support - identifies an undocumented requirement of how to try to configure the probes - something I expected based on the current test I am running - there are a "magic" undocumented sequences that will cause the RFX solution to act differently.

"This is all good information. Thanks for letting me know about your RFX GATEWAY and the battery life for your RFX - MEATS.

One thing that you may need to do to get the battery life correct for your RFX MEATS is to make a change to the configuration. If a change is not made then there is still the probability that the battery issue for the RFX meat has not been resolved. So if you will momentarily change the transmission interval from the current setting (3° F) to something else, wait 2-3 minutes for the change to be updated to the RFX - MEAT and then change it back to 3° F. That should take care of the issue.

If that doesn't work, please let me know."

What was missing from that response was a response was answer to a question which gateway I should be shipping back - is there a difference between the first one I received and the second one.

As far trying the above recommendation, I have still not had a chance to test that because I am waiting for my second test on 1.1.26-49 to complete. I expect it will complete today. 3 out of 4 probes have gone inactive 1 at 64.75 hours, 1 at 66. .50 hours, 1 at 82.08 hours, 1 still active after 90.5 hours. Sadly, I thing I will be told this is an invalid expectation/test because of another "magic sequence" issue. All probes were set to a temperature interval of 3 while in the battery charger. That has led to the probes reporting on 3 second intervals. Evidently, based on somebody else repeating the sequence I shared and talking to support it is a surprise to tech support that this behavior with the probes occurred.

Some where in the middle of all this, I responded to the marketing email Early RFX Reviews Are In . . . Chefs Love It, with a short email about battery issues and where can I post my review.

The first email response

"Thank you so much for reaching out. You are welcome to post reviews on the site or the RFX Page if you would like to, though we are doing our best to make sure that the issues that everyone is seeing are understood and solved as quickly as possible, so we do hope you'll give us a chance to do that.

We are currently looking into the issue with the batteries that some have been seeing on the back end, and we should be able to provide a proper fix for it soon. Unfortunately there are always growing pains when releasing a new product as our testing can only go so far.

Thank you again for your patience as we get this sorted. I can take down your name and let you know once we have a fix for the battery issue?"

I responded to that email with with a lengthy email about the issues I had experienced to date, the bugs I had uncovered and a number of questions.

That led to a 30 minute call. I appreciated time and came away with some hope that this could all work out and shared on the forum accordingly.

I have not been contacted that the battery issue is resolved yet, and I have been told to try different things and if it is sill not working to contact tech support.

Again, I am in the process of documenting all the issues I have seen to date. Once this current test completes I will try a few more things to verify what I am believe I am seeing based on tests to date and the "magic sequence" fix that has been recommended.

I have been on the forefront of innovation and delivering new products, I am probably more patient than most as an early adopter. As some have mentioned they have or would have already sent theirs back for a refund by now. Hopefully, my next email to Thermoworks Tech Support will generate a response that will give me the confidence there is a path to RFX being viable product sooner than later.

For context of the next item, I worked for an amazing company that had 5 values, the first and most important value was Integrity. Integrity is much more than telling the truth and doing the right thing when people aren't looking. It is about doing what you say you are going to do, delivering to expectations accordingly.

At this point in the spirit of this thread my "Thermoworks RFX First Impressions" after 3 weeks of testing and the definition of integrity above I am finding the RFX Solution lacking integrity and unreliable to the point I cannot trust it for smoking some of my most precious meats I smoke.

Does anybody else's lips get tired reading my reponses?

Don

Don,

We have been keeping a close eye on any reported issues with RFX throughout the launch and our entire team is very familiar with your case. Based on the information that you provided in this most recent post, it sounds like your battery life issues have been resolved with a minimum of 65 hrs runtime.

The fix implemented on November 13th does not require any user actions or "magic sequence" to activate. Our Tech Support team ran you through that as a troubleshooting step, but it is no longer necessary.

We appreciate your patience and the feedback you have given us as we worked through this with you. We are continually working to improve the RFX product and experience. Rest assured that we are not done and there are many new and exciting thing on the horizon.

—The ThermoWorks Team

 

[bwana_don]

ThermoWorks" data-source="post: 2550464" class="bbCodeBlock bbCodeBlock--expandable bbCodeBlock--quote js-expandWatch">

Don,

We have been keeping a close eye on any reported issues with RFX throughout the launch and our entire team is very familiar with your case. Based on the information that you provided in this most recent post, it sounds like your battery life issues have been resolved with a minimum of 65 hrs runtime.

The fix implemented on November 13th does not require any user actions or "magic sequence" to activate. Our Tech Support team ran you through that as a troubleshooting step, but it is no longer necessary.

We appreciate your patience and the feedback you have given us as we worked through this with you. We are continually working to improve the RFX product and experience. Rest assured that we are not done and there are many new and exciting thing on the horizon.

—The ThermoWorks Team

The ThermoWorks Team

I respectfully disagree related to the battery life statement you are making that it has been resolved for me. I think you missed a key detail. While they are lasting longer than the advertised battery life, they are not reporting as often as they should.

Technical specifications state's

Data Transmission

• Minimum transmission rate of 1 second
• Maximum transmission rate of 60 seconds

The current test that are exceeding the battery life (barely for 2 of them) shows the transmission rate at 180 seconds. I saw this early on(after 24 hours) in this test and was able to calculate very closely, simply by multiplying my previous test results for each battery by 3 and the current percentage each probe had left. In the previous test I was seeing a transmission rates of 60 seconds. Sadly, in that test I had each thermometer set to different temperature interval and still only saw 1 transmission rate of 60 seconds that was time based, not temperature based

If you have changed the technical specifications to allow for a maximum of 180 second transmission rates, I guess you could state that the batteries are performing as expected. I sure hope that is not the case.

I am in the process of documenting my last test, with more questions and observations. One of the bigger questions: Why I have I not seen any transmission rates under 60 seconds, other than in the first 2 minutes of a test. Seem like an issue for doing sears.

Don

 

[ThermoWorks]

The ThermoWorks Team

I respectfully disagree related to the battery life statement you are making that it has been resolved for me. I think you missed a key detail. While they are lasting longer than the advertised battery life, they are not reporting as often as they should.

Technical specifications state's

Data Transmission

• Minimum transmission rate of 1 second
• Maximum transmission rate of 60 seconds

The current test that are exceeding the battery life (barely for 2 of them) shows the transmission rate at 180 seconds. I saw this early on(after 24 hours) in this test and was able to calculate very closely, simply by multiplying my previous test results for each battery by 3 and the current percentage each probe had left. In the previous test I was seeing a transmission rates of 60 seconds. Sadly, in that test I had each thermometer set to different temperature interval and still only saw 1 transmission rate of 60 seconds that was time based, not temperature based

If you have changed the technical specifications to allow for a maximum of 180 second transmission rates, I guess you could state that the batteries are performing as expected. I sure hope that is not the case.

I am in the process of documenting my last test, with more questions and observations. One of the bigger questions: Why I have I not seen any transmission rates under 60 seconds, other than in the first 2 minutes of a test. Seem like an issue for doing sears.

Don

It appears that there is some confusion due to an outdated image on our website which we have now corrected. Transmissions from RFX MEAT are triggered by temperature changes, not a set time interval. You should not expect to see transmissions at set time intervals. For example, when you are cooking a steak with a 1°F interval setting, you will receive updates every time the temperature changes by a single degree. This could be as fast as once every couple of seconds depending on the thickness of your steak and how you are cooking.

On September 10th we sent out an email to all RFX preorder customers announcing the change from timed intervals to updates based on temperature change. We believe that this has a lot of advantages to the overall experience and we are not trying to hide the fact that this changed. Hopefully this helps clear things up.

– The ThermoWorks Team

 

[ThermoWorks]

And while we have your attention, why does the cloud give options for 0.5, 0.7, 1, and 2 degree intervals but the app shows 1, 1.5, 2, or 3 degree intervals?

The interval setting on cloud have been corrected to match the app. Are you still seeing this?

 

[schlotz]

ThermoWorks" data-source="post: 2550510" class="bbCodeBlock bbCodeBlock--expandable bbCodeBlock--quote js-expandWatch">

It appears that there is some confusion due to an outdated image on our website which we have now corrected. Transmissions from RFX MEAT are triggered by temperature changes, not a set time interval. You should not expect to see transmissions at set time intervals. For example, when you are cooking a steak with a 1°F interval setting, you will receive updates every time the temperature changes by a single degree. This could be as fast as once every couple of seconds depending on the thickness of your steak and how you are cooking.

On September 10th we sent out an email to all RFX preorder customers announcing the change from timed intervals to updates based on temperature change. We believe that this has a lot of advantages to the overall experience and we are not trying to hide the fact that this changed. Hopefully this helps clear things up.

– The ThermoWorks Team

FYI, as of 3 days ago the reporting is still in seconds using 1.1.29-46. Reviewing my probes in the cloud shows the consistent time intervals. The latest on 7/18 show 3 minutes apart with the probes set to 3º. Earlier results with the temps set to less than 3º reveal that the reporting was every 60 seconds. While I do agree that reporting based upon a temp change is a good process there is still value in minimally reporting based upon time as well, but the time should be user selectable with a maximum setting of 5 minutes, not just 60 seconds. Both the app and cloud should provide the user the ability to set temp interval and time interval reporting.

Meanwhile my gateway and probes are on their way back for evaluation after a good discussion with Wes, RMA #283233. Hopefully these were just outliers and looking forward to their replacements that will perform as advertised.

Matt

 

[bwana_don]

Mostly good news!

I started my 3rd battery life duration test on 1.1.29-46 last night. Basically, a repeat of the 1st test with each probe set differently. I am seeing unique behaviors to each one that relate to the related setting. This is really good to see from my perspective, wished this is what I saw on the 1st test, would have saved me going down a bunny trail. But of course, I now I have more questions. In a nutshell, I am seeing reported readings based on the Temperature Based Interval Setting (TBIS) relative to the temperature setting. When the temperature is constant I am seeing reporting that time based. That time-based reporting appears to smaller time based intervals based on the lower settings. When this test is done, I will have more details, but this is what I can see now for Average Reading Interval when temperature is Constant ARIC

Probe, TBIS, ARIC, Remaining Battery Reported @ 14.5 hours

1, 1, 27 seconds, 10%
2, 1.5, 56 seconds, 60%
3, 2, 117 seconds, 60%
4, 3, 178 seconds, 100%

The scenario for the above test is a 5lb Sirloin Tip Roast, Sous Vide for 24 hours, then sear over open fire in fire place. Probes fully charged - charger stopped blinking.

Basic question is why is the ARIC different for each setting/does it need to be different? If reports on a temperature change or a time interval, why don't they all have a long-time interval?

Before TW changed to TBIS, we could choose a setting based on how long a cook was going to last. At this time there is no guide on which setting to use depending on use.

Also, I have not verified if the changes are dynamic or not while in use. Assuming they are and that I will find out when I sear this evening.

From a searing standpoint, I curious what professional/commercial chefs need to see for TBIS when searing - is 1 degree the appropriate granularity?

I also did a battery charging test prior to this test, the results lead to more questions:

Charging test 1

Serial # Temp Interval Battery charge duration % Charge Reported additional time to full charge -stops blinking

Probe 1 M100005699 3 10 minutes 80% 37 minutes

Probe 2 M100009080 3 10 minutes 60% 31.5 minutes

Probe 3 M100006601 3 20 minutes 100% 29 minutes

Probe 4 M100006598 3 20 minutes 100% 38.3 minutes

Notes fully discharged prior to starting charge

Questions

How much difference is there between a 100% charge at 20 minutes and the additional charging time it took to get to the point when it stopped blinking, basically topping it off? That will take a few more tests to understand.

Why do I see a difference of 20% at 10 minutes between 2 probes? The probe that reported has been an underperforming probe in all my tests

That is what I have for now, the most encouraging results I have seen so far.

Don

 

[SmoqueBBQ]

An update on my testing and battery life issues.

First, thank you to ThermoWorks for joining the discussion, even if you’re a bit defensive. lol. I appreciate the effort that’s been put in to resolve the issues some in the BBQ community have been experiencing. I hope the effort continues to improve the product and get everyone on here up and running smoothly.

Second, thank you to all who have given their feedback and spent valuable personal time testing the probes and Gateways. It’s always nice to get others perspectives and experiences on new products like this.

The last battery test I reported on was on my desk and it went for 19.5 hours with a little battery life left. I’ve done consecutive overnight tests since then with probes in brisket and pork in 2 different SPK-500 smokers and the results have been positive. Tuesday night, all probes made it through the night, but I did have range issues in one smoker.

Yesterday I moved the Gateway to be closer to the smoker that was not in range (it was only 25’ away) and all probes stayed connected all night. Last night was the best battery life tin the near 3 weeks that I’ve had them. All probes made it 12 hours and all still showed 60% battery life left.

Whatever software changes they are making on the back end are working. I have not gotten close to this before and the one probe that was regularly anywhere from 3-9 hours also lasted the entire run, which it had never accomplished since I received it.

As of right now, I can live with those results if they stay consistent. I am a bit concerned about the range issues, but will test that more in the coming days. I’ll have 3 gateways measuring ambient temps in my smokers and 6 probes to start with. I plan to get more probes, but I don’t want to have to assign them to specific smokers issue to range issues.

My second order with additional Gateways and probes arrives on Saturday so I’ll be testing these against what I have now and see how they compare. I’ll report back how that goes.

For now, I’m cautiously optimistic.

Chris

 

[bwana_don]

An update on my testing and battery life issues.

First, thank you to ThermoWorks for joining the discussion, even if you’re a bit defensive. lol. I appreciate the effort that’s been put in to resolve the issues some in the BBQ community have been experiencing. I hope the effort continues to improve the product and get everyone on here up and running smoothly.

Second, thank you to all who have given their feedback and spent valuable personal time testing the probes and Gateways. It’s always nice to get others perspectives and experiences on new products like this.

The last battery test I reported on was on my desk and it went for 19.5 hours with a little battery life left. I’ve done consecutive overnight tests since then with probes in brisket and pork in 2 different SPK-500 smokers and the results have been positive. Tuesday night, all probes made it through the night, but I did have range issues in one smoker.

Yesterday I moved the Gateway to be closer to the smoker that was not in range (it was only 25’ away) and all probes stayed connected all night. Last night was the best battery life tin the near 3 weeks that I’ve had them. All probes made it 12 hours and all still showed 60% battery life left.

Whatever software changes they are making on the back end are working. I have not gotten close to this before and the one probe that was regularly anywhere from 3-9 hours also lasted the entire run, which it had never accomplished since I received it.

As of right now, I can live with those results if they stay consistent. I am a bit concerned about the range issues, but will test that more in the coming days. I’ll have 3 gateways measuring ambient temps in my smokers and 6 probes to start with. I plan to get more probes, but I don’t want to have to assign them to specific smokers issue to range issues.

My second order with additional Gateways and probes arrives on Saturday so I’ll be testing these against what I have now and see how they compare. I’ll report back how that goes.

For now, I’m cautiously optimistic.

Chris

What setting(s) do you have the probes set too?

 

[jimboc22]

ThermoWorks" data-source="post: 2550512" class="bbCodeBlock bbCodeBlock--expandable bbCodeBlock--quote js-expandWatch">

The interval setting on cloud have been corrected to match the app. Are you still seeing this?

Thanks, the cloud now matches the app.

Also, it looks like both my probes are finally acting similar. They are lasting 50+ hours when set to 3 degree intervals.

One last comment. Please let Mr. Owen know that one of the main reasons I keep giving him my money is the ThermoWorks support team. Every time I've contacted them with an issue, whether it be for the RFX or any of the other ThermoWorks devices I own, it's been a good experience and they've taken great care of me. I would guess that the majority of the people that have held on to their RFX devices, took the time to test, retest, and troubleshot over the last month would have just returned them straight away if it was any other company (I would have). Please don't ever outsource your support.

 

[ThermoWorks]

Thanks, the cloud now matches the app.

Also, it looks like both my probes are finally acting similar. They are lasting 50+ hours when set to 3 degree intervals.

One last comment. Please let Mr. Owen know that one of the main reasons I keep giving him my money is the ThermoWorks support team. Every time I've contacted them with an issue, whether it be for the RFX or any of the other ThermoWorks devices I own, it's been a good experience and they've taken great care of me. I would guess that the majority of the people that have held on to their RFX devices, took the time to test, retest, and troubleshot over the last month would have just returned them straight away if it was any other company (I would have). Please don't ever outsource your support.

Thanks for the update and the kind words. I will absolutely pass this message along!

 

[bwana_don]

The solution is definitely on the right track and I will be happy to recommend it and/or buy as a present for family and friends. With continued fixes to known/discovered issues it will work really well (assuming my upcoming distance test work as advertised). With some enhancements to their application for preconfigured cooks, etc. This will be amazing.

Third battery life duration test on 1.1.29-46 completed over the weekend.

It was a repeat of test one on 1.1.29-46, with much better results.

Temperature Based Interval Setting (TBIS)

• Unique behaviors based on setting (did not see this in the first test).
• Average Reading Interval when temperature is Contant (ARIC) is lower with lower settings ranging from 27 – 178 seconds.
• Dynamically able to change during the test – important for doing a sear after Sous Vide.

Probe, TBIS–1, TBIS-2, ARIC, Battery use 1st setting , Battery use 2nd setting, Total Battery life

1, 1, same, 27 seconds , 17.91, na, 17.91
2, 1.5, 1, 56 seconds, 24.51, 2.44, 26.94
3, 2, 1, 117 seconds, 24.52, 4.63, 29.15
4, 3, same 178 seconds, 88.26,na, 88.26

The scenario for the above test is a 5lb Sirloin Tip Roast, Sous Vide for 24.5 hours, then sear over open fire in fire place. Sous Vide temperature 134 degrees F. Probes fully charged - charger stopped blinking.

TBIS 1 is not adequate for a 24+ hour Sous Vide Routine

Poor signal strength was observed on all probes, even at 9 feet, same room no obstructions. Playing around with this, I realized placing the RFX Gateway on magnetic surface, in one case a 55 cal ammo box and the other large coca cola cooler (sidewalk vending version) were the cause. When I moved the RFX Gateway to wood table or window sill further away I was seeing readings of good and excellent. I also noticed the same results if I moved RFX Gateway so that the antenna was sticking out form the metal surface – vertical or horizontal did not matter, just needed to be at an edge so the antenna was no longer parallel with the metal surface. Intuitively we want to take advantage of the magnets, but it appears that causes some signal interference. I still need to do some long range testing, and I will add this to the test.

When moving my RFX Gateway around I used it unplugged for the first time, it did not last 12 hours and that was with no probe attached and only 1 RFX Meat reporting to it.

The probes cleaned up nicely after searing on an open fire.

I also did a battery charging test prior to this test, the results lead to more questions:

Charging test 1

Serial # Temp Interval Battery charge duration % Charge Reported additional time to full charge -stops blinking

Probe 1 M100005699 3 10 minutes 80% 37 minutes

Probe 2 M100009080 3 10 minutes 60% 31.5 minutes

Probe 3 M100006601 3 20 minutes 100% 29 minutes

Probe 4 M100006598 3 20 minutes 100% 38.3 minutes

Notes fully discharged prior to starting charge

Questions

How much difference is there between a 100% charge at 20 minutes and the additional charging time it took to get to the point when it stopped blinking, basically topping it off? That will take a few more tests to understand.

Why do I see a difference of 20% at 10 minutes between 2 probes? The probe that reported has been an underperforming probe in all my tests

That is what I have for now, the most encouraging results I have seen so far.

Upcoming tests

Multiple battery charging of RFX meat probes at 10 minutes, 20, minutes and blinking stops and then seeing how long the RFX meat probes last. Also need to verify if there is a significant difference in how long each of my 4 probes last, 2 seem weaker than the others. It will be interesting to see how they do on a 20 minute charge.

Battery duration test of RFX Gate way

Distance and penetration tests.

There are still difference between the Cloud Application(web interface) and the TW mobile application. Most notable is from the dashboard on the mobile app, when a thermometer has gone inactive, states “inactive”. On the Cloud Application it still shows temperatures. This can lead to a false assumption at a quick glance the probes are still active. Need to look at last connection time to verify. Sadly, for the RFX Gateway connected probe, it will state a current connection time and temperature even if the probe is not connected.

The RFX Gateway has additional setting options for the ambient temperature probe compared to the TW application.

Not quite sure how this would be done, but it would be nice to have the probes automatically change from one TBIS to another based on temperatures reached or time in session reached. Maybe a quick change button would work, just a bit of hassle to go in change through the current process.

Don

 

[Fraser]

Note to ThermoWorks: If ever you decide to include “some enhancements to their application for preconfigured cooks, etc.“, PLEEEASE provide a simple way to turn it off. Please, I’m begging you. Do not turn your product into a Meater2+. I have one and it’s a pain to ‘trick’ it into working around their stupid, supersecret carryover algorithm to allow me to cook the way I want. One of the reasons I leapt on the TW early-adopter bandwagon (among other reasons) was to have the freedom to not be forced to choose my protein and have my pull-temps dictated to me. I just want an accurate instrument to measure cook temps and the ability to set my own alarms thank you very much. I’m perfectly capable of determining how to cook my chicken.
Please, I’m begging you.

Suggestion: Please change the app to be more ‘Signals-like’ where you can see and control each probe(s) on the same screen. Even better would be to add RFX probe(s) to Signals screen, that way we could conveniently see, monitor and control a mix of your products, wired and/or wireless.

Thanks for listening!
-Fraser

 

[SmoqueBBQ]

What setting(s) do you have the probes set too?

My probes are all set to 3 degrees on the Temp-Based Transmission Interval setting.