Pit boss / Traeger feud

[GA Smoker]

I have a PB Platinum Series Laredo 1000 and the controller works well. How can I find out which series controller I have?

 

[david_ski]

I have a PB Platinum Series Laredo 1000 and the controller works well. How can I find out which series controller I have?

I am not sure, but from information on this forum, the Laredo series seems to be the best controllers that Pit Boss ships

 

[jf831024]

We have the PB Sportsman 820, was a Christmas present from my daughter & son-in-law. Son-in-law said he researched this unit and was satisfied with it's review performance, he also has a bud that has the same one and was very happy with it.
So far, I have had two "burn outs" but I think that may have been my fault, other than that working fine.
Reading this it has me concerned, is this unit the same as the 850?
How do you tell just what controller you have?
Please excuse my ignorance, I am doing my best to learn as much about the unit I have as I can.

Appreciate any input and for the original poster, I do hope you find some positive solution to your issue.

 

[david_ski]

We have the PB Sportsman 820, was a Christmas present from my daughter & son-in-law. Son-in-law said he researched this unit and was satisfied with it's review performance, he also has a bud that has the same one and was very happy with it.
So far, I have had two "burn outs" but I think that may have been my fault, other than that working fine.
Reading this it has me concerned, is this unit the same as the 850?
How do you tell just what controller you have?
Please excuse my ignorance, I am doing my best to learn as much about the unit I have as I can.

Appreciate any input and for the original poster, I do hope you find some positive solution to your issue.

The Sportsman 820 controller is different from the ProSeries 850 at Lowe’s.

The Sportsman uses a old school time based controller where you have to adjust your “P” values based on outside temps and your burn type (smoke low or hot) to help to get to your desired set temperature.

The Pro series has a PID controller with WiFi. The PID is supposed to track the set point temperatures much better because it is using a temp based feedback control loop to control the feed rate and fan speed. However
he Pit Boss PID controllers have had many bugs that have caused the unsatisfactory customer experience with the Pro Series models.

Most pellet grill companies are promoting their PID controllers that allow keeping he temps much closer to the set point. Most PID controllers have a 1-5 degree set point granularity.
If a controller has knob with fixed settings for the temperature settings, that is a good indicator that the controller is an older style timed based controller.

If a controller has knob with fixed settings for the temperature settings, that is a good indicator that the controller is an older style timed based controller.

The flame out you have experienced is probably due to an incorrect “P” setting. You probably need a lower P setting to keep the low and slow burn from getting a pellet oversupply to the burn pot.

 

[jf831024]

The Sportsman 820 controller is different from the ProSeries 850 at Lowe’s.

The Sportsman uses a old school time based controller where you have to adjust your “P” values based on outside temps and your burn type (smoke low or hot) to help to get to your desired set temperature.

The Pro series has a PID controller with WiFi. The PID is supposed to track the set point temperatures much better because it is using a temp based feedback control loop to control the feed rate and fan speed. However
he Pit Boss PID controllers have had many bugs that have caused the unsatisfactory customer experience with the Pro Series models.

Most pellet grill companies are promoting their PID controllers that allow keeping he temps much closer to the set point. Most PID controllers have a 1-5 degree set point granularity.
If a controller has knob with fixed settings for the temperature settings, that is a good indicator that the controller is an older style timed based controller.

If a controller has knob with fixed settings for the temperature settings, that is a good indicator that the controller is an older style timed based controller.

The flame out you have experienced is probably due to an incorrect “P” setting. You probably need a lower P setting to keep the low and slow burn from getting a pellet oversupply to the burn pot.

Good deal!
Appreciate the feedback, the burnout's were caused by a gap in the pellet feed (my fault).
BTW, I see you live in Auburn, my crew live just outside of Sac.

Glad I don't have to deal with this issue they are talking about.

#smokeon #happysmoking

 

[david_ski]

Good deal!
Appreciate the feedback, the burnout's were caused by a gap in the pellet feed (my fault).
BTW, I see you live in Auburn, my crew live just outside of Sac.

Glad I don't have to deal with this issue they are talking about.

#smokeon #happysmoking

I was really interested in the PB Pro 850 from Lowe’s, but I was curious about their controller and WiFi APP. Thats when I stumbled onto this forum. I am a techie guy and so I wanted a PID controller in my grill. PB needs some organizational change and product line simplification. Reduce their controllers to 3 (timer, PID, and PID w/WiFi) across their entire product line. This year Camp Chef has just two, PID with and without WiFi. PB also needs to enable customers to do firmware upgrades without returning the controller (either over the air or a laptop dongle).

Grills with solid controllers are: Camp Chef, GMG, and Rec Tec. Also, Smoke daddy has an aftermarket controller that seems to work well.

I am going down the path of getting a Camp Chef 24” with their Gen2 controller. It is a couple of inches smaller than PB Pro 850. That is my only regret right now

 

[jf831024]

I was really interested in the PB Pro 850 from Lowe’s, but I was curious about their controller and WiFi APP. Thats when I stumbled onto this forum. I am a techie guy and so I wanted a PID controller in my grill. PB needs some organizational change and product line simplification. Reduce their controllers to 3 (timer, PID, and PID w/WiFi) across their entire product line. This year Camp Chef has just two, PID with and without WiFi. PB also needs to enable customers to do firmware upgrades without returning the controller (either over the air or a laptop dongle).

Grills with solid controllers are: Camp Chef, GMG, and Rec Tec. Also, Smoke daddy has an aftermarket controller that seems to work well.

I am going down the path of getting a Camp Chef 24” with their Gen2 controller. It is a couple of inches smaller than PB Pro 850. That is my only regret right now

Roger that, good luck with the new unit!

 

[MKinHB]

I was really interested in the PB Pro 850 from Lowe’s, but I was curious about their controller and WiFi APP. Thats when I stumbled onto this forum. I am a techie guy and so I wanted a PID controller in my grill. PB needs some organizational change and product line simplification. Reduce their controllers to 3 (timer, PID, and PID w/WiFi) across their entire product line. This year Camp Chef has just two, PID with and without WiFi. PB also needs to enable customers to do firmware upgrades without returning the controller (either over the air or a laptop dongle).

Grills with solid controllers are: Camp Chef, GMG, and Rec Tec. Also, Smoke daddy has an aftermarket controller that seems to work well.

I am going down the path of getting a Camp Chef 24” with their Gen2 controller. It is a couple of inches smaller than PB Pro 850. That is my only regret right now

I am happy with my 850, although I had to do a couple mods to fix some temperature issues.
The only thing I can think of that would make this grill great would be the temperature increments, too big of gap.
It should have at least 10* increments or less.
The app is working fine for me, it does what it is supposed to do.

 

[Elfcane]

I am happy with my 850, although I had to do a couple mods to fix some temperature issues.
The only thing I can think of that would make this grill great would be the temperature increments, too big of gap.
It should have at least 10* increments or less.
The app is working fine for me, it does what it is supposed to do.

Same here although most of us had to replace the controller at least once to get there. Also, would love Some of the USEFUL side attachments Camp Chef has...

 

[BurntOfferings]

I'm out of the Pit Boss "Shadow", returned today.

 

[david_ski]

I am happy with my 850, although I had to do a couple mods to fix some temperature issues.
The only thing I can think of that would make this grill great would be the temperature increments, too big of gap.
It should have at least 10* increments or less.
The app is working fine for me, it does what it is supposed to do.

Having finer granularity in the temp control would make many folks happier.

I looked at the 'couple of mods' that you have done. I like what you have done to improve the grill/smoke experience. Both the sliding heat deflector and the flame broiler plate mods are great changes.

It is unfortunate that we have to do backyard engineering to fix a product that to make it work the way it should from the factory.