Getting the (old) Smartfire Controller 4.0 online and ready to cook requires installing the app, pairing it to your wifi, applying basic smoker preferences and applying any updates.
This guide applies to the discontinued Smartfire Controller - versions 1 to 4 that had a hard red plastic shell. It does not apply to the current generation 5.0 with a silicone sleeve.
End of Support was announced March 2022, it will keep working but we no longer provide interactive human support
What you'll need to proceed
- Smartfire v1-4 controller
- USB-A power cable
- A USB wall charger to suit your cable. A 1 to 2 Amp recent generation smart phone charger is ideal.
- Wi-Fi network with a 2.4ghz radio channel and Internet access. Note the v4 requires 20Mhz bandwidth / channel width to be set to avoid drop outs.
- Your Android or iOS smart device, within one major release of the current operating system. IE if Android 11 is the current, then we'll definitely be supporting Android 10.
Background knowledge on Smartfire status lights and sound
It's extremely useful to understand the Smartfire Controller 1-4 status lights so you can interpret it's state and if there is an issue, what it may relate to.
Smartfire Operation
Status Light
Smartfire Controller features a status light that communicates whether its online or having issues, here is a handy guide:
- Breathing (slowly in and out) Cyan: Happily connected to Internet, everything is perfect!
- Blinking Green: Attempting to connect to Wi-Fi with stored credentials
- Blinking Blue means its in setup mode. It will create a Wi-Fi hotspot for 4 minutes so you can connect your phone/tablet to it and perform the Smartfire app setup process
- It will do a loop if it’s not configured with new credentials, just to see if the wireless network now is available/
- Blinking Orange or Purple: DO NOT REMOVE POWER while Purple blinking (firmware update) Occasionally the Smartfire cloud needs to update the firmware on the Controller. Sometimes we'll reach out and tell a Controller to perform a quick update to get the latest software, this takes less than 3 minutes and then it'll reconnect and go back to business!
If the purple light stays on for longer than 10 minutes get in touch with the support team for some assistance. - Red : This is a sign that the Controller firmware has crashed. Try powering off and on and give it a few minutes within range of its normal wireless network to see if it can fix itself. Otherwise reach out to our support team for help.
- Blinking rapidly White without proceeding to Green or Blue indicates a power issue, try another USB power source, preferably a recent smartphone charger or laptop port
The normal bootup process is: Rapidly blinking Green for 2-3 seconds, rapid blinking light Cyan blue for 2-3 seconds and then the slowing breathing light Cyan blue which means you’re connected.
Another common bootup sequence is steadily blinking Green that doesn’t change to light Cyan blue after 5 seconds, but keeps blinking green for 60 seconds (and depending on generation, up to 8 minutes) and then changes to a steady blinking dark Blue. That means it couldn’t find a wireless network that it knew and is now in listening/pairing mode waiting for you to tell it which network to connect to.
Install the Smartfire BBQ App
- Go to your App Store and install the 'Smartfire' app
- Start the app and accept all the permission prompts for Bluetooth / Location Services / Push Notifications. We only request the services necessary to use Bluetooth and send you alerts!
- Choose a social login method like Facebook so that your password management is easy to manage through your social media provider. We only request the most basic profile information (like name, email and photo). You can otherwise create an account via your email address.
- It will then welcome you to the app and prompt you to do initial setup
Getting your Smartfire online
We recommend to pair the V1-4 hard red shell via Wi-Fi hotspot. Follow these steps carefully.
Critical preparation steps
- Make sure your wifi network name and password doesn't have special characters ( spaces, hypens etc). Only letters and numbers are allowed.
- Make sure automatic time sync is enabled on your phone/tablet in your Date & Time settings, and make sure the correct timezone is chosen. If your Smartfire is paired, glowing cyan but showing up in the app as offline this is your most likely culprit!
- Make sure your 2.4Ghz radio on your router is configured to use 20Mhz bandwidth /channel width. Consult this guide for a walkthrough.
Pairing
- Unpack the Smartfire Controller and set it out in a convenient location near a power outlet within range of your home Wi-Fi
- Plug your USB wall charger in
- Unpack the Smartfire USB power cord from the packaging and plug into the USB power source and the Controller
- Plug a probe into a port to make it easy to know it's online
- Turn off mobile data 3g/4g if you have an Android so it doesn't cheat with the wifi connection
- Turn it on and wait for the dark blue blinking mode (setup). If it has known wifi credentials it will try for ~7 minutes. The dark blue blinking mode lasts 4 minutes in which you need to start and complete setup. Then it loops again.
- Start the app go to the setup screen
- Connect via phone wifi settings to the advertised Smartfire wifi hotspot. Accept any 'no internet' prompts
- Go back to the app and proceed through setup, it should detect it as nearby
- Choose your 2.4ghz Wi-Fi network. If the scan didn't find the network, wait 5 seconds and click the refresh and see if it finds it next time.
- Enter the password for your Wi-Fi network and continue setup
- It'll prompt you that setup is finished and that your device should be restarting.
- Once online and connected to the cloud it will be breathing cyan in/out and will show up in the app.
- You’ve successfully completed setup!
Smoker preferences
- After setup, the app will prompt you to choose your smoker type. This helps tune the algorithms used by the Smartfire Controller.
- You can choose a pit target and also pit alarm thresholds. The low and high thresholds are there to let you know if the pit is operating outside of what you'd expect. In particular, the low alarm is most useful to know when the pit is running out of fuel and our experience is that a good alarm point for that is about 200F. The high alarm will rarely trigger as the Smartfire will be controlling temperatures, but it's useful to prevent accidents such as leaving vents wide open, so we recommend at least 50F above target. You'll find that the low/high alarms are relative to the current target so once you set them and change the target later they will proportionally change along with the target.
Wi-Fi Credentials Reset Process
- The v1-4 stores the last 5 configured name/password combinations from performing the setup process
- Make sure to hardware resets on a low static surface like wood or paper.
If your v1-4 is happily connected to an existing wifi network and you wish to pair it with another network, such as a wifi extender, it's necessary to reset the wifi credentials.
Version 1
To reset wifi credentials on the very original (from 2018!) Smartfire V1 generation:
- Power on the Smartfire
- Hold the little round black SETUP button till it blinks dark blue, then continue to hold it down for about ten seconds longer, until the RGB LED blinks blue rapidly, then release.
- Test by power cycling it on and off and it should startup quickly to dark blue blinking (setup mode)
- A video walkthrough: Smartfire Version 1 Wifi Credentials Reset Video
Version 2-4
RESET button is closest to the power socket, SETUP is to it's left.
- Press the right RESET button
- Then press and hold the SETUP button on the left. Use a fingernail to hold the actual button down firmly. It’ll start blinking dark blue within 2 seconds. Keep holding.
- Wait about 8 seconds for the rapid dark blue blinking and release.
- Press the RESET button to power cycle and check that it goes to dark blue blinking.
- Done!
- A video walkthrough: Smartfire V2-V4 Wi-Fi and BT reset process
March 29, 2022 EOL announcement
The current generation Smartfire 5.0 was announced September 2020, bringing to an end the Smartfire hardware generations 1 to 4 that are easily identified by the hard red outer shell. It had been a great hardware platform that had survived bbq tough conditions for many years, and we're actively hearing how well they're still performing. 18 months later we're formally announcing end of hardware and software support for generations 1-4.
What this practically means for owners:
- We have limited hardware components remaining (ie cases, fans, USB cables) and when depleted it will be up to owners to move to the current generation hardware or DIY parts sourcing.
- Device setup and support will be limited to online knowledge bases and guides with no active technical support provided. There are well established guides available that provide easy walkthroughs of the common hurdles such as Wi-Fi setup. V1-4 Support requests will be directed to our knowledge base
Advancing BBQ technology is our business, and we're focussed on the 5.0 hardware and software platforms to bring new features to Smartfire Owners!