Firmware Update for Pit Boss Pro Series 850?

[MKinHB]

Yesterday my grill had a hard time getting to temperature at low settings, 200, 225, 250.
heard some noise from the bottom of controller area and saw smoke coming out of the hopper.
I banged on the bottom where the fan is and the noise went away, so did the smoke in the hopper.
I think my fan motor is gonna go out.
Had to set it at 300 just to get it up to 225 then play with it for a while, after a couple hours things were like normal, no more noises and the temperature was doing good.
Called Pit Boss and they called back in 20 minutes.
I was in the middle of a cook so I couldn't do the test they want me to do, wire swap to check fan motor VS controller, (this is a new controller), I'm sure it's the fan motor because the sound I heard was from the fan motor, sounded like it was binding.
I'll do the test and report back to them. and here too.
Ribs came out very good by the way!

 

[MKinHB]

Ran the test and confirmed that my combustion fan is bad, running too slow to get up to temperature, also does not burn pellets completely.
Pit Boss is sending me out a new one, hope I get it before this weekend.
So far: 1) new RTD probe, 1) new controller, 1) new fan, maybe ignitor next. Thank goodness for 5 year warranty.
I will say that as of lately, I have had good response from Pit Boss.

 

[DQsmokes]

Yesterday my grill had a hard time getting to temperature at low settings, 200, 225, 250.
heard some noise from the bottom of controller area and saw smoke coming out of the hopper.
I banged on the bottom where the fan is and the noise went away, so did the smoke in the hopper.
I think my fan motor is gonna go out.
Had to set it at 300 just to get it up to 225 then play with it for a while, after a couple hours things were like normal, no more noises and the temperature was doing good.
Called Pit Boss and they called back in 20 minutes.
I was in the middle of a cook so I couldn't do the test they want me to do, wire swap to check fan motor VS controller, (this is a new controller), I'm sure it's the fan motor because the sound I heard was from the fan motor, sounded like it was binding.
I'll do the test and report back to them. and here too.
Ribs came out very good by the way!

How long does it normally take to get up to 300 ? Seems like mine takes forever , like 20 minutes or so.

 

[MKinHB]

oh yeah, it will take a while, 20 minutes sounds about right.
I don't normally cook that high unless it's chicken, or finishing something off.
But my fan was slow and couldn't build up heat past 190* until I set it to 300*.
my normal cook temperatures are 225* and 250*

 

[MikeInFla]

I think I am glad neither of mine have a PID controller. I can hit 300 in about 5 minutes. I'll just wait for the technology to improve (or wait for PB to make a better controller) before getting another grill.

 

[DaveDanger]

Has anyone found a work around for this in the meantime? Or an idea of how to adjust the cook time to match the temperature gap?

I did my first ever long smoke yesterday on a pork butt. The recipe called for 275 degrees for 8 hours unwrapped then 2 hours 290 wrapped until the internal temp reached 190 - 200. Problem is, with no way to consistently hold those temps I was juggling the temperature settings between 250 and 300 to keep it around 270. I failed at maintaining that, since I'm also working at the same time, and it spent most of the cook at 250.

End results were delicious but i had to work hard to pull the bone out and rip the meat apart. It wasn't dry or anything but the cooking process didn't break the fibrous tissue down well enough. I am assuming it is because it didn't get to spend enough time at a high enough temperature before the final cook. That is only my newby guess though.

Have any of you found a work around? like cooking at 250 for longer and make it up to a 14 hour cook?

I'm itching to cook again but all the recipes are asking for that elusive 275 area.

I've always done butt even lower, around 225 for about 10 hrs. (in my old Weber). Cooking for longer at 250 would be fine. Also, according to the gurus at Amazingribs.com the magic happens when the internal temp of the butt reaches 204. I’ve found this to be the case... it’s the temp where the collagen in the connective tissues start to melt, giving you even more juicy goodness!

I just set up and burned off my brand new 850 yesterday, and there’s a butt in the freezer that’s waiting for a low ’n’ slow 225 degree cook later in the week... pig porn next weekend, promise!

 

[Elfcane]

I've always done butt even lower, around 225 for about 10 hrs. (in my old Weber). Cooking for longer at 250 would be fine. Also, according to the gurus at Amazingribs.com the magic happens when the internal temp of the butt reaches 204. I’ve found this to be the case... it’s the temp where the collagen in the connective tissues start to melt, giving you even more juicy goodness!

I just set up and burned off my brand new 850 yesterday, and there’s a butt in the freezer that’s waiting for a low ’n’ slow 225 degree cook later in the week... pig porn next weekend, promise!

Us 850 folk will prey for you...

 

[MKinHB]

So I have a third controller on the way, should be here tomorrow.
This new controller fixed my Blue Tooth issues but it's having a hard time keeping the lower temperatures, S, 200*, 225*, 250*
and it overshoots 300* so Pit Boss is sending out a new controller and RTD temp. probe.
So that's #3 controller, #3 temp. probe and #2 fan, thank goodness for the 5 year warranty.
I hope they will eventually come up with a firmware fix for the 850 like they did for the 1150.
10 degree increments would fix the problem I am having.

 

[Avigland]

So I received my new controller for the PB850PS2 Pro Series 850.
Looks like the BT antenna has been moved (I think) to a visible spot on the board, I will install it this weekend and see if anything changes. My original displayed the L01 firmware version on start up, I will see if this one has a different code like L02 or whatever.
BTW, I think the guy on here that said he got a new controller for the 850 and it has 4 meat probe ports is just blowing smoke up our arses. There is no difference in these things.View attachment 853View attachment 854

So … that initial code on startup is the firmware version? My PB1150 has been displaying LL3 on power up and I opened up a ticket to find out what that meant - thought it was an error code. The support response was to call FireTech. No answer from them yet, either.

 

[MKinHB]

I think it's Flame Tech but yes it's the firmware version.
It displays for a second or two when you first plug it in.

 

[tacoman1287]

Update for anyone still wondering, I got the following reply to my support inquiry on July 7th:

Thank you for reaching out to us at Pit Boss!
We do have an update available for the PB1150PS2 and PB1600PS1 units, but we unfortunately do not have one for the PB850PS2 units. If that ever changes down the road or you see something online, you can always reach out to us to verify what information is up to date.

 

[Breeden850]

Update for anyone still wondering, I got the following reply to my support inquiry on July 7th:

Thank you for reaching out to us at Pit Boss!
We do have an update available for the PB1150PS2 and PB1600PS1 units, but we unfortunately do not have one for the PB850PS2 units. If that ever changes down the road or you see something online, you can always reach out to us to verify what information is up to date.

I don’t understand why Pit Boss has not been embarrassed enough to act on this flaw in the 850. Yet Lowe’s keeps selling them. It’s about their money, not their reputation.

 

[alanlosch]

Update for anyone still wondering, I got the following reply to my support inquiry on July 7th:

Thank you for reaching out to us at Pit Boss!
We do have an update available for the PB1150PS2 and PB1600PS1 units, but we unfortunately do not have one for the PB850PS2 units. If that ever changes down the road or you see something online, you can always reach out to us to verify what information is up to date.

M Pro 850 PS2 from Lowes has a controller that set 10 degree increments up to 300 degrees, I believe this is the new controller? Like the 1150?

 

[MKinHB]

M Pro 850 PS2 from Lowes has a controller that set 10 degree increments up to 300 degrees, I believe this is the new controller? Like the 1150?

Can you provide a picture to prove that the 850 has 10* increments?
If so then we can contact Pit Boss to start sending out the updated controllers.
You see, they say there is no such thing for the 850PS2.

thank you
MK

 

[alanlosch]

Can you provide a picture to prove that the 850 has 10* increments?
If so then we can contact Pit Boss to start sending out the updated controllers.
You see, they say there is no such thing for the 850PS2.

thank you
MK

Sure, when I talked to Pit Boss last week with questions one was about the controller and what if I got an old one. He said we'll send you an updated one he knew I was talking about the 850PS2 he Aldo said all controller after May will be the new version, Hope this helps