PSA for Masterbuilt Gravity Smoker owners

My 560 had issues coming up to temperature so I contacted Masterbuilt as it is still under warranty. They were quick to respond and told me I needed to update the firmware on my controller assembly unit.

However, following the steps provided via customer service (and the internet) I never got an option to update it. They sent me a new controller, but it too was using an older firmware version and I still didn't get an option to update it following their instructions.

Finally, after 11 days of sending emails back and forth, I get the following instructions for the first time:

quote:

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Your controller must be connected to wi-fi in order for you to see the 'update available' prompt. Since you are still running an older version, please make sure you are connected on a 2.4 GHz network, as it will not work on 5GHz. Your Wi-Fi SSID and password need to be no longer than 15 characters combined with no spaces or special characters included in either one. Once you update your controller's firmware, the wi-fi requirements will no longer include a limit to name and password.

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I changed my WiFi SSID and password to meet these requirements and the firmware update started immediately after I connected the smoker to it.

Yes, it was a huge pain in the arse and wasted 10 days when this was something they could have sent to me the day I submitted my warranty request.

I've also gone through my owner's manual detailing the initial setup steps and it does not say anything about insuring your network settings are set to the above character limits.

Just thought I would share in case anyone runs into a similar situation.