U26 software update from Yoder

[barkonbutts]

Thought I would share this being that we have a few Yoder users here and there....

What a great day today... 78* outside and a nice little breeze!!

Okay got the upgrade complete! Started at 10:45 and finished at 12:35. just under two hours... would have been faster but I got a surprise when I opened the door.... a good surprise that is...

So here is what I was sent... A new heat shield, Software, a fan and wiring, and a metal box to attach a fan to to slide under the hopper... High heat sealant...and a shirt!!




So I opened up the hopper... took a while as I did not have a drive that would fit the electric driver.... oh well hands work just fine..

Opened her up and here is what I see...



The metal housing is already in this one.... yeah... one task down but I need to call Yoder and make sure I have the right fan in the right spot and go from there... get a hold of Byron (on his cell phone... now that is service..) and he says all is good just proceed with everything like you would normally do.. okay fine I can do that.. in the mean time I open up the firmware part..





Connect the wire and in about 5 seconds it is finished.. put it back together and we are good to go....was going to get a pic but it happened to fast..

Connect the second fan and wires... sorry not pic here running out of hands at this point due to wires and not wanting to drop the cover...Ger the cover 1/2 way on with about 2 screws in and fire it up.... CRAP... only one fan working... call Byron again... he says open in back up and make sure of the connection.. did that and started it back up...no fan moving .. I kinda spin it and it wants to spin... So I loosen the screws and bit on the outside and zoom it takes off... guess I put a bit toooo much umph into tightening it.. oh well we are all good.. now back to getting the cover back on... turns out it will not go back on... CRAP now what... I try and try.. and fail and fail... then i pull out a picture and it turns out the clips go on the INSIDE... not the outside.. once I did this It went in pretty easy.. Had trouble finding the whole for one on my first try.. would have saved a half hour had I put it on correct the first time.. oh well.. fire it up and all works great... Set it to 350 and ran for an hour and pit temps went from 346- 363... that is fine by me... was a windy day here in Dayton.. took about 20 minutes to get to 350.. about the same as the U21 software.. big ol metal pit can only heat up so fast...

Well there you have it.. if you are thinking about doing this.. and you are the least bit handy you should have no issues doing this! Could have been done in a hour if I did not have to make a phone call and put the lid on correct the first time...

Have a good one!

[mismoke]

How do I tell which firmware is in my yoder? I bought it last spring; it only has one fan. Should I contact yoder to see if I should upgrade?

[barkonbutts]

How do I tell which firmware is in my yoder? I bought it last spring; it only has one fan. Should I contact yoder to see if I should upgrade?

When you turn it on what is the first number you see? Should be U#

That will tell you what you have. I got mine in Dec of 2011 and it was U21..

Email Don and ask him... he will let you know what you need to do..

[Richtee]

When you turn it on what is the first number you see? Should be U#

That will tell you what you have. I got mine in Dec of 2011 and it was U21..

Email Don and ask him... he will let you know what you need to do..

If you have issues... both Wingman and I have his phone number..

[gwapogorilla]

Great post. But why all the extra part...fire pot plate, chimney etc?

[barkonbutts]

Great post. But why all the extra part...fire pot plate, chimney etc?

They want the new chimney because they say it always needs to be run WIDE open.. he said people are closing trying to regulate things and that messes things up...so they took the rain cover off...

The new plate because he thought I had the old one... looks like I have an extra now.. which is fine by me..

[curious aardvark]

so was this a free update ?

[barkonbutts]

so was this a free update ?

Yes... everything in that picture came FREE of charge, did not even have to pay shipping!! Even gave a retrun shipping sticker so I do not have to pay to ship the software update back to them...

My unit was working just fine.. however they highly recommended these changes for a even better performing unit!

That is what I call exceptional customer service!

[Otis857]

After you get a couple of smokes on the new firmware, can you report back on what changes you notice over the previous version? My unit has the U24 firmware and works fine, but the temp swings are a little bigger than what I thought they should be at times. Curious if this update will improve it.

Lot of parts there. Other than the stack being non adjustable, which mine already is, is the new fan quieter? Mine has what some people are referring to as the hair dryer fan. Doesn't bother me, but Im wondering if the new addition is quieter?

[barkonbutts]

Lot of parts there. Other than the stack being non adjustable, which mine already is, is the new fan quieter? Mine has what some people are referring to as the hair dryer fan. Doesn't bother me, but Im wondering if the new addition is quieter?

Yes it was a bunch of part but only used half of them... as far as the fan noise... it is very quiet... honestly... it hardly makes a noise other than what a normal fan makes...

I will report back.. when I had it fired up I did not get swings.. but granted I only opened it twice... but that is normal for a cook if you ask me..


I will keep you posted

[Stogie]

Thanks for the post on the upgrade. Byron had sent me a couple E-mails to get what I needed for the upgrade and firmware upgrade, I have U-22.

[sdawson]

I have a Yoder YS640 competition model that I purchased in early 2012. It has never worked properly. After several calls to Yoder, I was sent a new fan for the cowling and a firmware upgrade. I am now using U26. The smoker still does not work properly. It will not achieve temperatures beyond about 380. I tested it this weekend and in 45 minutes I could not achieve a temperature beyond about 380. Also, there is a temperature differential of about 85 degrees from the left side of the smoker to the right side (right side is hotter). It seems to me that there is too much fan pressure that is blowing much of the heat out of the unit. I sent all test results to Don Cary on 12/29/12 and I'm waiting for a response.

[MossyMO]

Glad you joined us sdawson!

First up get on over to "New Member Introductions" http://www.smoked-meat.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=3 and tell us a little about yourself, let us know where you live, and lets see some pics of your YS640 with the comp cart! Don't have a comp cart on ours but sure wish we did!

Your experiences sound very irregular compared to many of us other YS640 owners, sorry to hear that. Sounds like you just sent the results to Don on a holiday weekend so hopefully you hear something back very shortly form him.

Again, great to have you here with us!

[gwapogorilla]

I have a Yoder YS640 competition model that I purchased in early 2012. It has never worked properly. After several calls to Yoder, I was sent a new fan for the cowling and a firmware upgrade. I am now using U26. The smoker still does not work properly. It will not achieve temperatures beyond about 380. I tested it this weekend and in 45 minutes I could not achieve a temperature beyond about 380. Also, there is a temperature differential of about 85 degrees from the left side of the smoker to the right side (right side is hotter). It seems to me that there is too much fan pressure that is blowing much of the heat out of the unit. I sent all test results to Don Cary on 12/29/12 and I'm waiting for a response.

Hard telling what it may be, right now I am having fan issues. If the fans aren't working properly, your pit just won't heat up.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ORAeToEsjE

Plus, it's damn cold here in Iowa, so a pit that big just doesn't want to heat up anyway.

[barkonbutts]

Fired mine up today... it is like 29* outside and heated to 245* in 25 minutes... I sure wish you all had the same luck as I do...Maybe MossyMo and I just got good units...must have been made on Tuesday or something like that....