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YS Customer Service and the new ACS controller

PostPosted: May 5th, 2019, 12:07 pm
by Yoder_Herb
Customer Service (Joey and I) were each provided with one of the new ACS controllers, so that we could update our personal YS640 cookers, to provide feedback to the design and engineering teams, from a customer's prospective, as well as to get ourselves up to speed on the ACS product.

We were asked to install the ACS controller, test functionality, test performance, test all facets of the user interface (UI), and cook as we normally would. Along with the testing, we were asked to document the processes, so that we may provide help in creating documentation and other helpful information like we currently have available on this forum.

Joey was able to install his ACS controller before I was. His YS640 is a current production competition cart model (about a year old), and he found that the installation was very straight forward. Remove the end panel, remove the controller, remove the thermocouple from the controller, disconnect the wiring harness from the hopper and remove the old controller and wiring harness from the cooker. Installing the ACS is just as straight forward, with the exception of installing the Bluetooth antenna. There will be complete documentation available prior to the release of the ACS retro fit kits during the 3rd quarter of this year.

After installing the ACS controller, Joey fired up his YS640 to run a 2 hours temperature test, so he could get a feeling of how the cooker would perform with the new controller. After an hour or so of running, he found that his cooker was running a tad hot, and after some consultation with Joe Philips, Joey made a calibration change to his ACS controller (more on this later), so that the temperatures would settle to his desired temperature range. Joey did numerous cooks over the weekend, and reported stellar results and absolutely no issues at all.

I received my ACS controller a few days after Joey, and was anxious to get it installed. My YS640 is a competition cart model, made in early 2012. I found the install of the ACS controller the same as Joey, with the exception that I needed to switch from the long thermocouple on the lower left back wall, to a short thermocouple on the hopper wall. This wasn't hard to do, but does require using self drilling screws, and a template to mount the short thermocouple on the hopper wall inside the cooker. The instructions, and all parts required, will be part of the ACS retro fit kit, based on the build date of your cooker.

I fired up my YS640, and after a few adjustments, I got it running just as Joey did. In my case, my cooker is much older, has burned tons of pellets and cooked untold pounds of meat, so it is very well seasoned. I found that my cooker was running a tad cool, so I also made a calibration change to the controller to bring the temperatures inline with what I expected. I will run a few tests, and share them here, so that you can see exactly what Joey and I saw.

The ACS controller has lots of new features, i.e., Fireboard built in, 2 external meat probes, LCD screen with constant backlighting and black characters, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity for remote monitoring and management, multiple step menu cooking, and more. One of the most exciting things about the ACS controller, is that you can now calibrate the controller to your cooker. This means that you can do the factory temperature test, and based on the data, calibrate the controller to match your cookers personality.

ACS controller calibration is very straight forward, but is not something that needs to be done constantly, i.e., calibrate the controller to your cooker after running the factory test, and then verify periodically by again doing a factory temperature test. Or, if you would like to calibrate your cooker to use suspended air temperature, rather than physical grate temperature, you may calibrate your cooker to do so. The calibration process is simply looking at the controller temperature over time, and comparing it to the temperatures from probes lying on the physical lower grate surface, one probe at 11" and the other at 22" from the hopper wall, then telling the controller how many degrees +/- it is reading differently than compared to the 2 probes on the grate. In Joey's case above, his external probes were reading approximately 10 degrees hotter than the controller temperature, so he changed the calibration to +10 to tell the controller it was 10 degrees under what the probes were reporting. In my case, the controller temperature was approximately 5 degrees hotter than what the grate probes were reporting, so I changed the calibration to -5 to bring the grate temperatures up. There will be much more information on this coming soon.

Re: YS Customer Service and the new ACS controller

PostPosted: May 9th, 2019, 3:44 pm
by Asynchronism
Thanks for all the info - can't wait for them to start shipping.

Re: YS Customer Service and the new ACS controller

PostPosted: May 21st, 2019, 11:06 am
by BBQ Gary
Is the ACS controller a completely new design from the ground up or did you keep some of the original fire management system. I noticed the Wifi and Bluetooth are new, the temperature controller went from a button system to a knob and the backlighted panel is new. And now we have a built in Fireboard. I'm more interested if the ("Brain's) of the YS640 has changed? I'm asking if the fire management program is the same or has been updated as well? Thanks.

Re: YS Customer Service and the new ACS controller

PostPosted: May 21st, 2019, 12:25 pm
by Yoder_Herb
New and improved from the ground up.

Re: YS Customer Service and the new ACS controller

PostPosted: May 22nd, 2019, 2:26 am
by DevilsGrill
Will the new ACS controller still read grate temps or has it been adjusted for chamber temps as most are used to coming from stick burners?

Re: YS Customer Service and the new ACS controller

PostPosted: May 22nd, 2019, 10:01 am
by Yoder_Herb
You may calibrate the controller to whatever you desire: viewtopic.php?f=73&t=2033

Re: YS Customer Service and the new ACS controller

PostPosted: July 7th, 2019, 10:54 pm
by bosse
customersupport@yodersmokers.com is currently blocking emails. Can one of you assist with the new Fireboard?

Re: YS Customer Service and the new ACS controller

PostPosted: July 7th, 2019, 10:55 pm
by Yoder_Herb

Re: YS Customer Service and the new ACS controller

PostPosted: July 8th, 2019, 9:08 am
by bosse
Thanks! Your website has customersupport@yodersmokers.com all over it in the FAQ's, etc.

Re: YS Customer Service and the new ACS controller

PostPosted: July 8th, 2019, 8:13 pm
by Yoder_Herb
Fixed

Re: YS Customer Service and the new ACS controller

PostPosted: August 9th, 2019, 9:32 pm
by jrgnd77
Is the 3rd quarter release still on target? I getting a ys1500 that doesn't have the new ACS with the hope of upgrading it shortly after.

Re: YS Customer Service and the new ACS controller

PostPosted: August 9th, 2019, 11:21 pm
by Yoder_Herb
We will notify all registered owners via email when we have more information.

Re: YS Customer Service and the new ACS controller

PostPosted: October 9th, 2019, 9:36 am
by saborman
I noticed that the new ACS retro fit kit for the YS1500 does not include a fan but the kit for the smaller pellet smokers do include a fan. Does the YS1500 not need a change to the fan as the other units do?

Re: YS Customer Service and the new ACS controller

PostPosted: October 9th, 2019, 9:59 am
by Yoder_Herb
saborman wrote:I noticed that the new ACS retro fit kit for the YS1500 does not include a fan but the kit for the smaller pellet smokers do include a fan. Does the YS1500 not need a change to the fan as the other units do?


Correct

Re: YS Customer Service and the new ACS controller

PostPosted: October 9th, 2019, 10:20 am
by saborman
Yoder_Herb wrote:
saborman wrote:I noticed that the new ACS retro fit kit for the YS1500 does not include a fan but the kit for the smaller pellet smokers do include a fan. Does the YS1500 not need a change to the fan as the other units do?


Correct



thanks. looking forward to upgrading my unit and testing it out.

Re: YS Customer Service and the new ACS controller

PostPosted: October 9th, 2019, 7:12 pm
by Bondo
Yoder_Herb wrote:
saborman wrote:I noticed that the new ACS retro fit kit for the YS1500 does not include a fan but the kit for the smaller pellet smokers do include a fan. Does the YS1500 not need a change to the fan as the other units do?


Correct


Ok. So why is it 30$ more?

Re: YS Customer Service and the new ACS controller

PostPosted: October 9th, 2019, 10:25 pm
by Yoder_Herb
Bondo wrote:
Yoder_Herb wrote:
saborman wrote:I noticed that the new ACS retro fit kit for the YS1500 does not include a fan but the kit for the smaller pellet smokers do include a fan. Does the YS1500 not need a change to the fan as the other units do?


Correct


Ok. So why is it 30$ more?


It does not include a replacement fan, but does include a short thermocouple.