pbv4nx controller upgrade?

Kyle22388 · Friday at 8:40 PM

I have my 3rd pitboss onyx 1300 PBV4NX and I'm almost certain that my first one allowed for 5 degree temperature adjustment. For some reason the one I have now only does 10 degree increments. Could this be possible am I losing my mind?

Is there a pid controller upgrade available for this unit?

sparkyv · Friday at 9:11 PM

The walmarts Lexington model has 5-degree increments, but I has to look it up because I never had noticed. 10-degree increments are good enough for me.

Kyle22388 · Friday at 9:20 PM

I did purchase from Walmart https://www.walmart.com/ip/1160269772.

GeekChef · Saturday at 11:14 AM

I put a req req controller in my PB4

Kyle22388 · 2024-10-06T21:40:50-0400

GeekChef said:
View attachment 10204
I put a req req controller in my PB4

Why did you do this?

GeekChef · 2024-10-07T10:10:19-0400

Kyle22388 said:
Why did you do this?

I did it several years ago.....after working with the really bad Pit Boss controller for months. Now....don't get me wrong....the PB4 Pro vertical was one of the best mechanically for the price.....I mean it is not even close to value versus cost.....yes...there are better ones out there...but not in the same price range. It's a tank....just with a crappy PID controller. So below is why I changed my controller out....and also because I had a spare ReqTeq Controller.

1. The Pit Boss is Heavily damped in its response.....very very slow PID gain. Most of the times it would never get to temperature unless I put the setpoint up really high and then adjusted it back down.....at which point it would flame out.

2. The Wifi antennae was very weak....which I did end up fixing......due to it being attached underneath the PCB board. I moved it to the faceplate which did help....but it was still not very usable out in the driveway area.

3. The temperature it was reading was off from the center grate by over 30 degs....after I put in the Req Teq controller.....it has an adjustment that allows you to offset the main TC and so it is now perfect with the center of the middle grate. The Pit Boss controller lies to you.....by telling you a temperature that is incorrect....so that it looks as though they are controlling, but the inside of the smoker is all over the place. The reqteq doesn't do that....it tells you the actual temperature.....not one that is heavily averaged and incorrect.

Here is the link to my follow-up post: https://www.pitbossforum.com/threads/pit-boss-pro-s4-v2-controller-change.926/

Now my smoker temperature is perfectly aligned with the center grate.....no issues over or undercooking anything on this smoker.