mooncusser2k
Well-known member
Someone else mentioned the colored rings are likely to discolor during cooking and get hard to tell apart. It's happened with the colored boots on my Inkbird probes.
Signals vs. Fireboard 2
- Thread starter Bif Hunkly
- Start date
Thanks @mooncusser2k, good info. Is your Inkbird weather resistant and backlit? Can one of the meat probes do ambient temp too? Do you know what the difference is between these two models?
https://inkbird.shop/products/ibbq-...xG6n2wzeBc0nSn-uELmq55uYU5WxqkCKfq_AhgIvisOjM
https://inkbird.shop/collections/wi...ts/wi-fi-bluetooth-grill-thermometer-ibbq-4bw
mooncusser2k
Well-known member
The main difference I see is that the second one (IBBQ-4BW) has Bluetooth + WiFi and a larger battery.
For my purposes, Bluetooth doesn't meet my needs. I already had a Bluetooth unit and it didn't reach far enough inside my house. (I keep meaning to list it for sale, too.)
I bought the IBBQ-4T back in September when it was on sale for $50. I'd been thinking about the Thermoworks Signals, but couldn't overlook that price. I've used it a few times including and overall it's been fine for the money. The app has room for improvement but OK for my needs (I'm not huge on studying or saving graphs, etc). I'm not sure a temp alarm would wake me on an overnight cook.
The unit is backlight and you can use one of the probes for air/ambient temp. It comes with a couple of clips to put probes on the grates. And probes are color-coded at each end of the wire. The probes pictured with the 4BW unit look the same as what came with mine.
Inkbird runs discounts on Amazon during the year. I wouldn't be surprised to see another round of them happening soon if you aren't in a hurry to get something.
Thanks for the info. Sure is a good price. I went ahead and ordered the Signals. Should have gotten the Inkbird. I never get things right. LOL. Thanks again.
mooncusser2k
Well-known member
I don't think Signals is a mistake. I like Thermoworks products and it's what I planned to buy until that sale price happened.
popawalker
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What kind of horrible experience did you have with Fireboard?
popawalker
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Thanks fellow Texan.
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Can you simply plug in the signals when the battery is running low and still use it monitoring your cook?
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I did that as well. It was sure handy to use the built-in outlet on the 1250.
Curiously enough I did have an issue mid-cook this weekend with my Signals. It said it lost WiFi with an "unknown error". After fussing with it a bit, it returned to normal. It sort of remined me of the non-existent notifications some days from the RT app. I'm just glad I was home this time. My last long cook I was monitoring the Singlas and the RT from 25 miles away.
I did another cook the next day and everything was rock solid with the WiFi connection.
Battery life on a Signals seems like an easy thing to resolve. Just wire up a 12V USB Power Adapter to the grill and keep it plugged in. In my case, I use a cheap inkbird. I'm in agreement with the grill does the cook, not the thermometer. If I want to remember my grill curve, I'll screen shot it. lol
Count me as part of the 5% then! Especially when cooking meat, if you want it done to perfection, you use a thermometer.Inkbird, a 1/3 the price and gets the job done as well as the others. The smoker is doing the cooking, not the thermometer.
I would bet 95% of the people on here never even use a thermometer in their oven. Not a big difference.
I have not used the Fireboard 2, but do have the Signals. If the provided link to Fireboard 2 is correct, the price is $189 with two probes. Adding two more probes to bring it to the four that you get with the Signals makes it $223. The Signals retails for $239 and frequently shows up on sale for significantly less. Seems to me that price is a non-issue.
I have never had a battery life problem with the Signals and mine doesn’t take 12 hours to recharge; more like 3-4. And, I always have power at my grill, so it is easy to plug in the charger while in use. Again, I don’t find this to be an issue.
Since I haven’t used the Fireboard 2, I can’t speak to quality of the unit. The Signals is a top-quality unit. One of the big differences appears to be that you must use the app for most control functions on the Fireboard 2 while the Signals can be controlled either manually from the unit or via the app.
Finally, the customer service from Thermoworks is phenomenal. Fireboard will have its work cut out for it to match that…and, maybe they can.
So, there may not be as much difference between the two as it might appear. Then, again, I have several Thermoworks products and they have never failed me. And, when I have a question, I always get an answer quickly and efficiently.
The ball is in your court.
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I’ve not had a problem with the battery life of my Signals, so that might be worth a call to ThermoWorks support to diagnose. On the subject of the Signals and it’s battery, I discovered that it is picky about what charger you use. I tried to charge it with the charger and cable for my iPad, and it flat didn’t work. Most devices will still charge on a lower power charger, just more slowly. The Signals wants the factory charger.
I have the MEATER+ and it’s a nice wireless option. If you have a spare phone/tablet to leave near the base station, it works like the WiFi MEATER Block. The thing I dislike about it is it leaves a huge hole in the meat, which is not attractive on the plate. This can be minimized by inserting the probe against the grain, so that when you slice against the grain, only one slice will have the probe hole. Also, it’s predictive cook time estimates, especially for low and slow cooks, is worthless.
There is another wireless option coming this summer from Combustion, Inc. that looks like it could be a real winner. I have one on order, even though the last thing I need is another thermometer. The company was founded by Chris Young, author and the inventor of the Joule sous vide circulator, so I felt pretty safe about investing in the product up front.
I have the MEATER+ and it’s a nice wireless option. If you have a spare phone/tablet to leave near the base station, it works like the WiFi MEATER Block. The thing I dislike about it is it leaves a huge hole in the meat, which is not attractive on the plate. This can be minimized by inserting the probe against the grain, so that when you slice against the grain, only one slice will have the probe hole. Also, it’s predictive cook time estimates, especially for low and slow cooks, is worthless.
There is another wireless option coming this summer from Combustion, Inc. that looks like it could be a real winner. I have one on order, even though the last thing I need is another thermometer. The company was founded by Chris Young, author and the inventor of the Joule sous vide circulator, so I felt pretty safe about investing in the product up front.
Nice find.
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