The Display

The display on the Lava Lock controller is a 1⅞" x 1⅝" LED display:

The display at power up, showing all elements illuminated.

The display during operation showing all the set and actual temperatures.

In addition, across the top of the front of the controller are three LEDs. The green LED will light up when your meat reaches the set temperature. The red LED will light up when the pit temperature is too high or too low. And the blue LED will light up whenever the blower is operating.

Connections

All the connections are on the two ends of the control unit. In the photo on the left you see the sockets for the Meat 1, Meat 2, Meat 3 and Pit temperature probes. In the photo on the right you see the sockets for power and the blower.

Power

The Lava Lock controller is powered by 12V DC. It comes with a power adapter that can be used with 100-240 VAC, 50-60 Hz. The power adapter has a 4-foot cord.

Since the unit has a standard 5.5mm 12V barrel socket on it, you also have a number of alternatives for powering the unit. You can use an automobile jump start battery with a cigarette plug to power the unit. And another alternative is the Auber Instruments 12V DeWalt Battery Pack Adapter that we recently reviewed.

Temperature Probes

The Lava Lock controller comes with four temperature probes, one for the pit and three for the meat. These probes have a thick high-temperature silicone sheath and should survive temperatures up to 450°F. (Note that the controller itself only supports temperatures up to 356°F.) Be careful not to kink the cables and it is probably wise to protect any junctions between cables and probes from moisture.

You may find that the probe cables are thick enough to prevent the lid from closing on your cooker. If so, you may need to cut a gap in your gasket, or route your cables through the top vent or other opening in your cooker.

The probe and the wire should be shielded from direct radiation from a hot fire. Do not let it come into direct contact with flames. If you need to shield the wire, you can place a layer of aluminum foil beneath it. Also, having the pit probe itself exposed to direct radiant heat can cause it to register a temperature which is higher than the air temperature in the cooker, and thus fool the controller into cutting back on the fire.

A grid clip is provided with the pit probe which you can use to clip the probe to your cooking grid. Also as you can see in the center photo, each probe comes with a convenient Velcro strap to help keep your probe cables organized.

One note of warning before we proceed. These probes are not interchangeable with other brands.

Temperature Probe Accuracy

To look at the accuracy of the Lava Lock temperature probes, we used our boiling point calculator to determine the boiling point of water in our location (212.6°F), and a calibrated thermocouple thermometer to measure the current room temperature (75.7°F). Here then is what we measured for room temperature and the temperature of boiling water with each of the probes:

Probe	Room Temperature	Boiling Water
Actual	75.7°F	212.6°F
Meat 1	75.0°F	213.0°F ↔ 214.0°F
Meat 2	75.0°F	213.0°F
Meat 3	75.0°F	213.0°F
Pit Probe	75.0°F	213.0°F

As you can see, all four probes recorded room temperatures that were within less than 1.0°F of the actual room temperature. Also, three of the four probes were within 1.0° of the actual temperature of boiling water. The Meat 1 probe kept going back and forth betwen 213°F and 214°F. Still this is less than 2.0°F off the actual temperature. So, all the probes are more than accurate enough for cooking purposes.

Calibration

There is no calibration procedure. If your probes all consistently read off by a significant amount, you should contact Lava Lock support to investigate.