I just got a new Lexington and had temp control trouble with it right away. I wanted to smoke a biscuit at 225 and the grill just wouldn't get there. I kept turning it up and once I turned to 300 deg it worked fine. I turned it back down and it wouldn't hold temp.
I explained to them that the controller was regestering the temps between 200 and 250 but wouldn't regulate to them. I also told them that I suspected that they had a software problem.
They sent me a new controller and I had the exact same trouble.
I decided to look a little deeper and this is what I found. I used a volt meter to tell me when the auger was on and off. I used a stopwatch to determine the time. The method isn't perfect but these are my results.
1. There is a 20 second loop that the controller uses to control the auger.
2. At 200 deg the auger was on about 2.75 sec and off for 17.25 seconds.
3. At 225 deg the auger was on about 2.75 seconds and off for 17.25 seconds
4. At 250 deg the auger was on for about 3 seconds and off for 17 seconds.
5. As soon as I turned it to 300 degrees the PID started to work. It ramped up to 5.5 seconds, then over several cycles it was running 8 seconds out of 20. It then ramped down as it approached the set point. That is the way I expected it to work.
I explained this to a customer service supervisor, he agreed to discuss this with the engineers. They came back and told me that they were not going to modify the software or the board to fix the problem.
So that said, how do you get a message to the company owner to tell him that he is selling a product that doesn't work as advertised, (won't hold temp) because the engineers don't want to address the issue.
I would even gladly fix the software for them (I am a retired programmer) if they were willing to work with me.
I really like the size of the grill but want the controller to actually control.
As I see in the forum this is a very common complaint.
May 12, 2021
I thought that this was supposed to be where you got help. So far 12 days and no reply.
I explained to them that the controller was regestering the temps between 200 and 250 but wouldn't regulate to them. I also told them that I suspected that they had a software problem.
They sent me a new controller and I had the exact same trouble.
I decided to look a little deeper and this is what I found. I used a volt meter to tell me when the auger was on and off. I used a stopwatch to determine the time. The method isn't perfect but these are my results.
1. There is a 20 second loop that the controller uses to control the auger.
2. At 200 deg the auger was on about 2.75 sec and off for 17.25 seconds.
3. At 225 deg the auger was on about 2.75 seconds and off for 17.25 seconds
4. At 250 deg the auger was on for about 3 seconds and off for 17 seconds.
5. As soon as I turned it to 300 degrees the PID started to work. It ramped up to 5.5 seconds, then over several cycles it was running 8 seconds out of 20. It then ramped down as it approached the set point. That is the way I expected it to work.
I explained this to a customer service supervisor, he agreed to discuss this with the engineers. They came back and told me that they were not going to modify the software or the board to fix the problem.
So that said, how do you get a message to the company owner to tell him that he is selling a product that doesn't work as advertised, (won't hold temp) because the engineers don't want to address the issue.
I would even gladly fix the software for them (I am a retired programmer) if they were willing to work with me.
I really like the size of the grill but want the controller to actually control.
As I see in the forum this is a very common complaint.
May 12, 2021
I thought that this was supposed to be where you got help. So far 12 days and no reply.
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