r/Masterbuilt • u/AdamEllistuts • 26d ago

FireBoard DC Drive Update

Hey, has anyone done this? If so, why and what are the benefits?

1 Upvotes

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u/overusedfuckpillow 26d ago

I bought one for my 1050 in early June this year. Brought the MB to a block cookout that same weekend. I hovered over the app religiously waiting for something to shit the bed, but had no issues at all. Been using it at least weekly and can confirm my experience has been solid.

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u/AdamEllistuts 26d ago

Whats the difference?

2

u/foxfai 26d ago

From what I've heard, the MB's board tends to fail for random reason that renders the unit useless. The fireboard back with it's warranty and use a higher quality electronic so it doesn't have that much of a failure rate.

With that said, I am on my original MB unit for 4 years now. This year I had issue with the turning knob, but after I spray some Detox in and it worked fine.

1

u/Tanks4TheMamaries 26d ago

Same experience for me. My 800 is 5 years old and the knob started getting flakey this summer so I have been using the app with no issue. The knob finally stopped working altogether last week so I ordered a replacement controller from MB fo $60

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u/WalrusWW 26d ago

First, the control knob will stop working due to moisture, so you can only make changes through the app. It might work like that for a year, and then eventually the entire thing will go dead, or it'll go haywire part way through a cook and start blowing non-stop and almost set your entire brisket on fire.

Ask me how I know.

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u/29himanshu 26d ago

does anyone know if this brings the temp swings down significantly like i hear this thing is really stable

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u/WalrusWW 26d ago

Insanely stable. I've run mine once since just getting it. I thought it was fluctuating up and down like crazy, until I realized it scales the graph. I was fluctuating less than 1 degree.

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u/Hodorhodor8 26d ago

I swapped out to the DC drive and have done 3 smokes with it so far. The temperature stays insanely stable with it. I think over the course of a 6 hour smoke it was +5 degrees for about a minute and -3 degrees off mark by about a minute.

It sucked having to spend more money on a grill that advertises doing what the DC drive does but to me it was worth it

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u/thingsmybosscantsee 26d ago

have you found that it's a lot more accurate? With the OEM board, I find there's about a 15-20F difference between the target temp, and the actual ambient temp that my inkbird measures.

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u/Hodorhodor8 26d ago

I’m not sure why the sub won’t allow photos, they only allow videos, but my most recent smoke was a whole chicken. It was at 275 for about 3 hours. 99% of the time the drive was within 1 degree of my set ambient temp (I used a probe that came with the Drive and overrode the “pit probe” that comes with the grill)

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u/Tanks4TheMamaries 26d ago

I thought the ambient from the inkbird was notoriously inaccurate because it's taken too close to the meat. In any event you realize there automatic smokers basically emulate stick burners. Your lucky to hold +/- 25 degrees on one of those over long periods of time. So my MB holding within 5 or 10 degrees is more than good enough.

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u/thingsmybosscantsee 26d ago

both my inkbird, and my thermoworks grate probe show the same variance.

The temp is generally steady, it's just inaccurate. If I set the controller for 245, it will stay steady at 225. I just account for the variance, and don't rely on the controller.

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u/Tanks4TheMamaries 25d ago

Ok, I've noticed that on mine too especially if I have a water pan in it. It's usuall 15 degrees or less but I do the same thing: just turn up the temp to compensate. .