My Pit Boss 1150 Low Temp Fix

The Pit Boss 1150 can have temperature drops at 225* so we made a video on what works for us. 10 hours of 225*, had one drop but was able to recover and hold the rest of the way. I'm unsure if this is a fix for everyone but it certainly helped us with long cooks for us.
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[@justindressler3612]

Great tip man! I read about all these people having issues but got the 1150 anyway. It’s my first time smoking and like you said, you just have to figure out your grill. I did the exact same thing with doing the prime to get the temp back up and once it gets back to temp, it holds great. Good to know it’s working for other people.

[@ElSenorBbq]

Hell yeah thanks man! Honestly, we had no idea if this would work for anyone else. Check out our other video about the Temp Probe Mod. It works extremely well! Takes a bit for it to relearn the faster readings but its fantastic as well! Be sure to like and subscribe if you haven't already! I think our next cook will be some tomahawks cut like a sting ray :o

[@RossMalagarie]

Pit Boss is aware, they have a new firmware update. Give them a call and ask about it. It fixes low temp swing, adds 10 degrees of adjust from 200F-300F, and 25 degrees adjust from 300F - 500F. Its free give them a call

[@RossMalagarie]

@@ElSenorBbq Pit Boss is aware, they have a new firmware update. Give them a call and ask about it. It fixes low temp swing, adds 10 degrees of adjust from 200F-300F, and 25 degrees adjust from 300F - 500F. Its free give them a call

[@jborselli15]

Just assembled my 1150 the other night. Going to play with it tonight and see how it goes. Wish me luck, hoping I don’t have the temp issues!

[@RossMalagarie]

If you have temp problems give Pit Boss a call, they have a new firmware update for the 1150 to help with low temp swings, adds 10 degree adjust from 200F-300F and 25 degree adjust from 300F-500F.

[@ElSenorBbq]

@@RossMalagarie is correct. We just sent ours off this morning. They also are going to send us some rubs for our troubles since the only fed ex office that could take a non printed label (our printer broke) was about half hour away. Will do an updated video once it comes back.

[@RossMalagarie]

@@ElSenorBbq thanks let us know how it works as I have an Austin XL but am thinking hard about giving it to my dad and buying the 1150 Pro

[@jborselli15]

@@RossMalagarie thanks for the info. I returned my 1150 and bought a recteq590. Much much happier

[@RossMalagarie]

@@jborselli15 hope it works better for you. Enjoy 😎👍

[@dhansel4835]

Pit Boss 1150 temp Run-A-Way I purchased my Pit Boss last November when Lowe’s had their $500 off sale. I used it twice without any problem. The cooking temp was rock solid. Yesterday, Feb 14th I put some chicken leg quarters and hamburger meat on the Pit Boss. I had the temp set at 270 deg F. I have been watching the You Tube videos on cooking chicken leg quarters at 270 deg F. for about 3-4 hours. I was outside watching things when in about 2 hours my temperature went from 270 deg to 310 deg F. I hadn’t changed anything. I called Pit Boss and talked to Mr. Jo. He hadn’t had a clue. He ask what kind of pellets I was using and I told him Oak Kingsford pellets. He said he never heard the name Kingsford pellets or charcoal bricks. The pellets were new and dry so I don’t know what was going on. I always clean out all the pellets when I cook. This includes all the pellets in the auger tube. Anyone have this problem?

[@ElSenorBbq]

It happens every so often, sometimes out of the blue but if you give it enough time, the pid controller adjusts for it.

[@dhansel4835]

The food was large chicken leg quarters. I could see if I was using the probes it would give feedback to the computer. The grill was running for over 1 1/2 hour at 270deg without a problem then suddenly the temp started climbing. I called Pit Boss Customer Service and talked to Mr. John. He couldn't figure it out. He ask what brand pellets I was using. I told him it was Kingsford Oak. He said maybe there was a clump of pellets that got into the burn pot and caused a rise of temperature from 270 to 315 F. Anyway he made a note of what happened. I will have to see if things settle down.@@ElSenorBbq

[@ElSenorBbq]

@dhansel4835 that makes sense. I'm one that uses either lumberjack or bear mountain pellets. I've used b&b as well and they do great! I have seen some spikes every now and then but typically settle down. Clean the fire pot, give it another go and keep an eye on it. See how it goes next time around

[@user-fr2om7qf4u]

Great video. I also have the 1150 and have had the same issues with temps. Pitboss said they will send me out a new control board. After looking at your video I may hold on to it atleast until the control board comes and I play around with it.

[@ElSenorBbq]

One thing I wanted to point out is that the 1150 has no mods. Heat deflector is still present and no air gap mod. I'd say keep it. Once you get it to temp, it holds super consistent. I think the problem comes from 1) Not getting to temp fast enough causing it to never get to temp. 2) If the temp drops, it has a very hard time getting back up to it. Just needs a little help to get it back up there and it'll hold super consistent as you can see with that Meater+. But yeah, keep the 1150 and if it still doesn't hold, let us know and I'll see if I can replicate it on my end and come up with a fix.

[@ElSenorBbq]

@Manny Neo What are you monitoring the inside of the barrel with? I've noticed using the Meater+ those readings are a bit different than what the monitor is reading. Another thing is, how long did you let it try and recover without priming? When it dropped on me like it did on this video, I set it to 300, got it to go 5* over, not more than 5, just 5 and dropped it down. Temperature will still climb a bit but will begin the process to learn to control for the target temp is. I feel if you go too high and drop it, your fire will be close to dying before it starts feeding pellets again.

[@RossMalagarie]

Give Pit Boss a call, they have a firmware update for the 1150 PID which is supposed to fix low temp swing, adds 10 degrees of adjust from 200F-300F, and 25 degrees adjust from 300F-500F.

[@frankbezine]

Thank you. Confirmed my thoughts exactly. New to PID on my new Pro series vertical. I've chilled bro and relaxing now ;)

[@ElSenorBbq]

Haha, I've heard of some good stuff with the pro series vertical. From my understanding, Pit Boss will update your controller as well and you can enjoy 10* increments as well.

[@vjay445]

Good Video and I agree people have to learn their grills, however. Its not just that it wont hold temperature, its the fact that it wont even get to temperature. I smoked my first brisket xmas eve, put on at 200 at 10 pm, got up at 6am wrapped it, then turned temp up to 250 and fell back asleep. Got up a few hours later and noticed that it never got over 216. I called customer service and they said its a known issue with their PID controllers and theyre working on a firmware update that should be coming out in the next couple weeks (hopefully@!).

[@ElSenorBbq]

Completely agree and totally understandable. Personally, coming from a stick burner, I never trust any kind of smoker to the point where I go to sleep unless I get to know my smoker and trust it enough to do so. That being said, it being a PID, it takes a very long time to try and get up to temp. Most of the time it won't even do it unless it's at 300. This is why I informed people to over shoot it using 300, get above what you want by 5* (example being wanting 225 so overshoot to 230) and dial it back down. Some folks make it go up as high as 350 and then dial it down, however, when I tried to do that one time, it dropped the temperature once again. I feel that when you overshoot by alot, your fire is almost dying before it really starts to feed it pellets back again. By that time, the temps won't be able to recover. Try this method out and hopefully it gets you through until the actual fix comes out. Thank you for watching this video :D I'll probably do more testing to keep testing lower temps as we go along so be sure to subscribe!

[@RossMalagarie]

Pit Boss has the firmware update for the 1150 now, give'em a call, it is supposed to help with low temp swings, adds 10 degrees of adjust for 200F-300F and 25 degrees adjust from 300F-500F.

[@sirwilliam7988]

I don’t live as far south at you do, I’m actually 45 minutes from Matagorda. But never the less, it’s been pretty cool here. My guess is, once we get back to our warmer months when we do most of our BBQing anyway, the temperature swings won’t be an issue. The controller problem and both probes going out by the third cook, now that’s an issue I hope Pitboss will correct. Happy new year my friend.

[@ElSenorBbq]

Its definitely possible but I'd give pit boss a call

[@RossMalagarie]

Yeah give Pit Boss a call they have a new firmware update for the 1150 to help with low temp swing, adds 10 degrees of adjust from 200F-300F, and 25 degrees adjust from 300F-500F, also tell them your probes stopped working they may be able to fix it since you have to send in your PID to get the update. There are vids on youtube to see how to disassemble and remove your PID

[@TheGeargoesdown]

I do agree to learn your smoker!!!!! But!!! I had the pit boss 820 pro and learned all its quirks! Loved it!! Then they came out with the 1150 and I loved the easy ash empty pot! But this 1150 will not hold temp between 200-250! I’ve preheated it to 350 for 45 minutes then turn down to 250 to no avail. It will hold 250 for maybe 15 minutes then drop to about 200 (and no I didn’t open the lid at All!). Pit boss told me to exchange it but I will probably have the same issue! This thing is being returned to Lowe’s!! I have watched ALL of your videos on the 1150, I’ve removed the temp prob cover, and nothing made it difference. I’m super glad yours works perfectly! I changed it out for a Masterbuilt 1050 gravity! Been playing with it all day including cooking, and I’m loving it.

[@ElSenorBbq]

Hey Eric, pit boss is now sending return labels for the controller. They are reprogramming them. Call them and inquire about it

[@tamatoa8261]

This is the most sensible thing I've read or seen regarding the 1150. Get to know your grill / smoker. I understand one of the main reason people buy a pellet smoker is for the convenience of letting it do all the work and thinking. That's one of the reasons I bought mine. Yes it's a pain in the ass to do what he does to maintain temp, but I'll wait and see what Pit Boss does to fix this issue. I got mine as a scratch-n-dent at Lowe's for a steal. I can live with the inconvenience for now because I'm not willing to pay triple or more for another brand. I live in Hawaii and it costs a fortune to get anything shipped here. Good video brah 🤙🏾very informative. I appreciate it.

[@ElSenorBbq]

Thank you so much

[@RossMalagarie]

if you are still having problems, give Pit Boss a call as they have a firmware update for the 1150 to help with low temp swings, adds 10 degrees of adjust from 200F-300F and 25 degrees adjust from 300F-500F.

[@kfrancek]

Taking mine back. Had to bump mine to 300 every 20 minutes for 9 hours to get to 250, fell to 204 every time. This thing is a tank compared to “others” too bad the controller sucks! Might try the 850 as I have read it’s a different controller and works properly. You must have the only working controller out there cause mine only works at temps above 300. Also these should have better temp selections. Supposedly a PID, should be at least 10 degree increments. My electric brewery is PID and it’s right on every time. Once you “learn” the PID it knows what to do.

[@newerasportstraining996]

I had this issue with one went back to lowes to get another one and sure enough same issue on the second one as well

[@RossMalagarie]

@@newerasportstraining996 Pit Boss is aware, they have a new firmware update. Give them a call and ask about it. It fixes low temp swing, adds 10 degrees of adjust from 200F-300F, and 25 degrees adjust from 300F - 500F. Its free give them a call

[@1coolcajun]

Contact Pitboss and have your PID data flashed with the new update. You have to ship it to them to get it done but this should fix the low temp issues as well as adding 10 degrees increments below 300 degrees.

[@scottbrodhagen]

Great explanation- good video!

[@ElSenorBbq]

Thank you :)

[@gabrielcalderon7768]

Exactly.thank bud

[@michaelrau7003]

There are Great Mod parts you can buy or make yourself. Smokes like a Boss, try it!!!!

[@kevinrobinson1614]

Great video! My wife just got me this smoker for Xmas. How did you set it to 225? Mine only has 10 degree increments.

[@ElSenorBbq]

10* increment is what you want! The 25* increment was the first version of the controller and it had some faults behind it. The updated version is in 10* increments and that is absolutely what you want!

[@twoods555]

I have an 1150 as well not happy with it not getting up temp or it takes sooo long ... I have to raise the temp too... then went and pursued thermal blanket to help ... if I want to tend to a smoker all day I could have used my offset! I’ve thought about sending back and just purchasing something else, however I’m welling to see if the fix the PID controller to see if that helps!

[@RossMalagarie]

Give Pit Boss a call they have a firmware update for the 1150 PID that helps with low temp swing, adds 10 degree adjust from 200F-300F, and 25 degree adjust from 300F-500F, the email you the shipping info you have to print out, then you take your PID out, ship it to them, they "flash" the PID, updates it, and you get it back. Should be a 7-10 turn around.

[@Jordanfiend361]

Lol dramatic much? Tending to an offset is WAY more work bro lol. I have a 250 gallon offset and it has way more temp swings than this lol

[@Jordanfiend361]

Exactly!!! My huge $1200 offset smoker has way more swings lol

[@benjaminmarshall8119]

UPDATE: just called pit boss and they are shipping direct the new controllers to individuals who have their grills registered. They don’t require you to send it in first! And they don’t require you to send back the original. Hope this helps.

[@ElSenorBbq]

That is fantastic news!! Thank you for the update!

[@benjaminmarshall8119]

@@ElSenorBbq I know I’ve gotten a lot from your channel - may be worth a fresh video with the new procedure.

[@steerheadcattle]

Does the grill come with papers register?

[@ElSenorBbq]

You would have to go to the pit boss website and register it there. The serial number is behind the hopper

[@sergeypankin6276]

Did the new controller fix the temperature issue?

[@gregowee1984]

I agree about learning to use your smoker but the purpose of a PID controller is being able to set it and forget it. Most other pellet grills don't have this issue. The 1150 has the lowest rating of all pit boss grills on the pitboss website. This grill has a ton of potential but as of right now it's not worth it for the price. If you're impressed with this grill wait until you get the chance to use a good one.

[@RossMalagarie]

Pit Boss has a firmware update to fix the low temp swings, adds 10 degrees of adjust from 200F-300F and 25 degrees adjust from 300F-500F so hopefully it fixes the get to temp and hold temp also.

[@michaelrau7003]

Dude, you have your smoke stack open all the way. When you smoke, you close it down. All your heat and smoke is escaping!!

[@michaelrau7003]

I have the same grill and I Love it!! And no, I don't work for these people.

[@ElSenorBbq]

It's a great smoker for sure!

[@demondwilliams5779]

Thanks for the tip. That helped.

[@ElSenorBbq]

You welcome

[@greghargis8705]

Good info

[@jrancer66]

Remove cover over temp probe 2 screws. It will hold at 225 and 250. Try it you will be happy.

[@ElSenorBbq]

No kidding? Never thought about this one, figured it would give a false reading or no

[@jrancer66]

Yea i know makes no sense but it worked. Guy on facebook figured it out. Couple more guys tried it with success. So i gave it a try and man im glad i did. Worked great. I was considering returning it to lowes because pitboss is sending out new controller but it is on backorder 6 to 8 weeks.

[@ElSenorBbq]

@@jrancer66 Hey Rance, I just tried joining that Pit Boss group. My name is Luis Ortiz.

[@jrancer66]

@@ElSenorBbq Check out pit boss pro series 1150 owners on facebook

[@ElSenorBbq]

@@jrancer66 hey rance, I'm doing a video right now and decided to try it out. Wow! It works!! I'll make a 2 minute video of it to upload asap

[@michaelrau7003]

Hot air rises, and escapes through you smoke stack. Basic science.

[@Blackhawk556.]

You know what I did, I bought two oven thermometers and put one on the left and right side on the chamber. Every time I open to spritz water I look at them and i have an idea of the inside temps. $6 each. I let them hang from the top track Now I know the right side of my chamber is cooler by up to 25 degrees. I always cook on the left side now and put my water pan on the right. I’m using the KC combo smoker.

[@ElSenorBbq]

Awesome! Good to know!

[@hunterfranklin6321]

I was smoking a pork loin and the recipe was from how to BBQ right. It call for 140 temp but when the internal read 140 the center was still raw is that a misread from the smoker or did I not do something right? The probe was dead in the center of the meat.

[@michaelcarter189]

Why is your display not showing your temperature. It's just jump all over the place.

[@garrettwhitfield7409]

Hi great videos. I just purchased the 1150 and can’t get the temp inside the barrel to what the digital readout says. It’s running at least 30 degrees off. Any ideas?

[@ElSenorBbq]

What are you monitoring your internal temps with? Also, what's the temperature where you live? This video was made in the morning when it was in the 40s but by the afternoon it had gone up to the 60s-70s. When It's a bit colder, I have the vent cap at 2 finger width and when it warms up I put it to 3. Not sure if it works but let me know on the above and hopefully you can get rolling.

[@garrettwhitfield7409]

L&L Ranch thanks I’m monitoring the temps with the meat probes and after it’s held temperature for awhile with a infrared thermometer as soon as I open the lid. I’m in NC and the temp when I’ve used as been between 40°-50° . It seems to be measuring the temperature at the bottom of the probe on the left hand side and not the top according to where I put meat probes. With the meat probes laying together at the top of the rectangle where probe comes out there is a 30°-50° difference between meat probe and grill probe. Also I have to help it to maintain 250° with priming and that’s after going higher and coming down.

[@ElSenorBbq]

@@garrettwhitfield7409 If you look at our baby back ribs video, I experiment with 250 and had a similar issue with it. I had to help it prime up as well but the weird part is that towards the end of the cook, the monitor said it was at 250 but the meat probe said it was 235 so about a 15* difference. I didn't keep it there to see if it would come back up like it did on this video for hours. Have you tried 225 yet and see if it holds? I may end up doing another test at 250 and see how we can at least manage that and have it hold.

[@garrettwhitfield7409]

L&L Ranch yes I have tried 225 and it will hold there however the meat probes laying on the grate will read 180-195. I think I have a bad temp probe. I’m calling pit boss now to figure out. I tried this morning to get it to go to 300 and hold and it did according to control probe but meat probes held at 235°-236°. Which is quite the difference. It was 38° outdoor temp when I did this.

[@ElSenorBbq]

@@garrettwhitfield7409 I believe you are correct with the bad temp probe. If you had something like a meater+, you wouldn't have to depend on if the controller has everything calibrated properly. This is why I used mine to make sure the controller wasn't lying to me but my meat probes were close to what the meater+ said so I think your temp probe is bad since nothing else matches whereas on mine it did. Send them a PM on facebook if you have it, they respond decently through there.

[@michaelrau7003]

The front table shelf should be 3 to 6 inches longer. When you open the lid, you almost loose your meat on the floor! This is the only thing I don't like.

[@ElSenorBbq]

It would definitely help if it did!

[@Paulinthewyld]

My 1500 runs on high for an hour and never gets above 360… on my 2nd control board and the probes register no probe…. Just crap

[@ElSenorBbq]

Yow that's not good. I would call and ask for management at that point. No reason to not get a working smoker at all

[@reddog907]

How did you get the temp to set to 225 , I have the newer Pit Boss 1150- and that setting is not possible , I can go 210 220 230 etc. If you have an idea it would be good to know. Thanks

[@ElSenorBbq]

Hey Rob, it looks like you have the new controller and that one is 1000000x better than this old version. Got to keep in mind, I had their earliest version and the controller was not a good one. It did ok sometimes but not always. And those controllers had 25* increments but not a useable one. It went from 180 to 200-225-250-300. No options for 275.

[@reddog907]

@@ElSenorBbq Thanks for the feedback , Happy Smoking.

[@ElSenorBbq]

@@reddog907 Anytime!!

[@big_W]

Atleast you can put 225. I can only get 200 or 300 degrees

[@ElSenorBbq]

Hit up pitboss. They have a new firmware update. Works phenomenal

[@bigbejar]

I have an 850 that doesn't go higher then 285 in temp.... So disappointed.

[@ElSenorBbq]

Which pellets are you using?

[@bigbejar]

@@ElSenorBbq pit boss

[@ElSenorBbq]

@@bigbejar try and see if you can find some lumberjacks in your area. Pitboss uses fillers and sometimes they don't burn as clean as other brands.

[@bigbejar]

@@ElSenorBbq will do. Thanks for the insight.

[@Addison2580]

How does the Smoke iT app work with the new firmware update? Any problems?

[@ElSenorBbq]

Works the exact same way. Only problem is it hasn't updated for the 10* increments. Other than that it's fine.

[@tailwheelflier]

Turn mine on, set to 400, hit the f’n prime button at least a dozen times. Takes 30-45 minutes to get up to temp even if it does. Pretty disappointed in this unit. Finished up the meal in the oven

[@ElSenorBbq]

Have you sent out the controller for the updated firmware?

[@danielerevia6225]

$600 Bucks

[@sw48093]

lower your P setting it will fix it.

[@ElSenorBbq]

There is no P setting on these newer Pro Series smokers as they are PID. This was an issue a year back but has been addressed by Pit Boss with the updated firmware. I made an update on that as well! Cheers!

[@Jeremy-sf2xf]

GO COWBOYS. .😁

[@ElSenorBbq]

My wife is a cowboys fan, I'm an Eagles fan. Go birds!!

[@Jeremy-sf2xf]

@@ElSenorBbq I have a question. I may have asked you before but I don't remember. Is temp it says it is what it actually is? I've got three oven thermometers in mine and they are around 100 degrees low. I've tried a new oven probe and a new controller. It doesn't seem to be working. 100° difference seems to be pretty significant.

[@ElSenorBbq]

@@Jeremy-sf2xf personally, I'm not a fan of analog thermometers. They have a different way of reading temps vs digital that doesn't make them as precise. I use the inkbird probes and put them on the ambient probe temp holders and get accurate readings this way. What I get on the inkbird is pretty close to what I get on the Pit Boss probe temps when put in those same holders as well.

[@Jeremy-sf2xf]

@@ElSenorBbq TY for the response.

[@Outrunninaround.]

Yeah, complete trash. 13 lb brisket down the drain. Highly suggest you do not buy a 1150.

[@ElSenorBbq]

What happened to yours?

[@Outrunninaround.]

@@ElSenorBbq should have set up a separate probe to monitor the actual temp. Had it set to 250 but found it was only 200 actual. Dried it out.

[@ElSenorBbq]

@@Outrunninaround. That's the first thing I did with mine. I checked left middle and right zone. Right zone closest to the stack will always be hotter, center is just a dash more but if your searing grate isn't fully closed then some flames can get through but I never really had that issue, and left side is the coldest. I used that info to my advantage and put the point towards the stack. At 200* I wouldn't think it would dry out, it would dry out at higher temps but the brisket can't go higher internal temp vs what the ambient temp is inside the smoker. I recommend testing your heat zones, get some good quality pellets like Lumberjack, and use those heat zones to your advantage. Cheers!