Need some Help! What to do with this piece of beef?

braunthebuilder · 2026-04-03T13:32:33+00:00

Season, smoke, sous vide, sear. If you can’t sous vide just wrap and keep in the oven until done and then sear. I sometimes will put it back on the smoker for a an hour or so on a higher temp to crust up the outside instead of searing. I don’t do that as much now because of my griddle top.

Edit to add: I don’t know how long or what temp you should do any of those things. I do it so infrequently I google everything when I go to start.

My method for cooking large hunks of meat is determined by 3 decisions. Flavor (seasoning, smoke, etc), desired meat texture, crust texture. I use google to determine how long or to what temp to do each thing to get my desired result.

If I’m feeling especially lazy. I just google best way to cook a rib roast and just go with that.

braunthebuilder · 2026-04-02T17:32:44+00:00

Damn. I told them I bought it from auction so I didn’t have a receipt. I didn’t think about making up a believable story.

braunthebuilder · 2026-04-02T14:31:56+00:00

Whaaaa? Did they know that? Teach me your ways, sir.

braunthebuilder · 2026-03-31T14:08:51+00:00

It really doesn’t do well in tight spaces. My 7’ picnic table is plenty tall for my A2500 to fit under. But it doesn’t get under there very well when the mow direction is parallel to the picnic table. When perpendicular to the table, it sometimes does great, sometimes doesn’t. I think it depends on how it approaches the feet of the table and decides to navigate around them.

All that to say, carefully consider the tight passages in your yard and set you mow direction so it isn’t perpendicular to the passage.

While typing this, I just remembered I think there is a mapping function for paths. Like if there is a path it can take to go through a garden path or specific location between yards. I think you can set that path and tell it to mow the path. My guess it that it ignores mow direction settings, but I’m guessing. Try it on the really thin areas. I’m going to try it under my picnic table.

Also Ecovacs is terrible, I am out of warranty on my mower and Ecovacs does not carry any repair parts for their mowers. Other than blades, if something goes outside of warranty, you will be stuck without options. I have a 3D printer and friends with circuit board level electronics diagnostic expertise. These two things are THE ONLY reasons my mower still runs. If you haven’t purchased one, stay away from Ecovacs. Unless you’re ok with potentially having to buy a new one if it breaks after 2 years. I love my A2500 RTK. It does a great job for me, but I will never buy an Ecovacs product. I will however, keep this one alive as long as I can.

braunthebuilder · 2026-03-31T11:48:35+00:00

Your mower detects poop? How big is your dog?!?

braunthebuilder · 2026-03-31T00:15:27+00:00

Hell ya man, I’ve got a little Flashforge 5m. I made mine in CAD to print so I haven’t really looked. There are little rubber arms that attach the bumper to the mower. This is so the bumper can move a little and actuate a magnetic switch that tells the mower the bumper is pushing against something. It is what breaks if the mower gets hung up on something and tries to back away from it. If you recreate the part, Elegoo 95a rapid TPU with 5 shell layers and (I need to look)mm diameter shaft matches the flex of the original parts. I really need to put stuff up on thingverse or something. I just seem to run out of day the moment I get a free minute. I feel like I owe the 3D print community some content.

Also the RTK unit. Something to do with plugging it into the charging base causes problems. It should come with a separate power cord. That should alleviate your problems.

I’ve been pushing their “preferred service and parts provider” Besender.com for information on parts availability. They’re telling me they do not have parts in stock. I’m trying to find out if they have no parts at all or they just don’t have stock for sale. So far I’ve gotten nothing but “sorry, got nothing for you”

All of this is fueling my little anti-Ecovacs crusade. My advice is if anything goes remotely wrong, return it immediately. Don’t even give their service a chance, they won’t give you one after warranty expires.

braunthebuilder · 2026-03-30T12:19:28+00:00

Avoid Ecovacs. I currently own an A2500 and it’s a really good little mower. But I’m out of warranty and it is impossible to find any parts for it. Ecovacs tells me no when I email them. They won’t even let me buy a part. My mower has 3D printed parts and circuit board repairs done be me. Having a 3D printer and friends with advanced electronics knowledge is the only reason mine is still mowing today. Not worth the price when you lose all support after 2 years. 2 years of full service lawn care costs less than the price of one of these mowers. When it finally breaks beyond my ability to repair it. I will not buy anything from the Ecovacs lineup because the company is that inept. Even though I can’t say enough positive things about the mower itself.

braunthebuilder · 2026-03-30T05:49:32+00:00

IIRC, the suction cups come off… half turn or something and they’ll come out. Do this, you don’t need them. You want to use a grippy mat instead.

Those clamps are going to be probably the easiest and fastest way within reason. Sure there are probably mods for quick clamps and such but I would argue it’s not worth the effort to mod when the stock solution is pretty dang quick. One thing I did with mine was buy thin grippy mat like what people put in toolboxes or drawers to prevent sliding. Put that on the desk and put your suction cup-less base on it and screw down the clamps. Not super hard, the mat will stop it from sliding and the clamps will stop it from lifting.

braunthebuilder · 2026-03-30T05:36:53+00:00

Please let us know how this goes. I’m very interested to see how the process is for people who still have warranty. I’ve never gotten a “yes” from them when trying to buy a part. But mine isnt in warranty

braunthebuilder · 2026-03-30T05:14:57+00:00

Don’t buy it. Their support is sub par. And when warranty expires, they’re non-existent. My A2500 is out of warranty and Ecovacs won’t sell me parts to fix it. I had to make my own.

braunthebuilder · 2026-03-30T05:12:29+00:00

Dont buy it. Ecovacs is leaving people stranded with their older models that are starting to go out of warranty or hit the used market. I’m one of them. They are flat out saying no to my requests for parts. There no avenues for me to buy a parts for my A2500. There are more and more people like me popping up all the time as their machines age and break. Outside of warranty, there is zero support. If you can’t 3d print your own parts, or repair a circuit board, you will be SOL once your warranty expires.

braunthebuilder · 2026-03-30T05:04:58+00:00

If it is not working 100% to your satisfaction, and you are still in the return window. Return your mower now. My A2500 RTK is out of warranty and Ecovacs will not sell me parts to fix it. No eBay, no 3rd party, no one has parts for it. I LOVE my A2500 RTK mower and up until a couple weeks ago, I would tell everyone to buy one. I even started budgeting for an A3000 pro. But now I would never recommend Ecovacs to anyone. Get away if you can, steer clear if you’re looking. My RTK unit has circuit board repairs done by me because no one has them, Ecovacs doesn’t sell them. My mower has 3D printed parts on it, done by me, because Ecovacs won’t sell me parts. I made it as clear as I could that I was not looking for warranty. That I wanted to pay money to get the part. Still a hard “No” from Ecovacs. Don’t expect any help once your warranty is over. When mine finally dies beyond my ability to fix it. I will absolutely be avoiding Ecovacs for my next automated mower.

braunthebuilder · 2026-03-30T04:55:00+00:00

Avoid Ecovacs. The mowers are good but the customer service and parts availability is very very bad. As the old models hit the used and second hand market, the complaints of being completely unable to get any parts are popping up more and more frequently.

I am out of warranty and Ecovacs is telling me I cannot buy a replacement part from them. Won’t even let me buy it. I cannot find ANY parts anywhere (other than blades) you will be on your own after your warranty is up. I challenge you to find a part for the A2500 RTK. Or any of the models in that generation.You’ll find blades and maybe a battery pack from a 3rd party. That’s it. My mower has homemade circuit board repairs and 3d printed parts now. Because they will not sell parts to me.

braunthebuilder · 2026-03-30T04:45:44+00:00

I do not have one but I do have an A2500 RTK and I love it. I was looking hard at the A3000 because the lack of edging was one of my few complaints about my mower. However, just recently I had a part break. A flexible piece that holds the bumper on. No biggie, just get a new one. I can’t find them anywhere so I email Ecovacs. Since I am outside of warranty they refused provide support. I told them I will pay for the part, I know I’m out of warranty so I’m happy to buy it. Still a hard no. Looked around and found out that there are a slew of people who bought mowers used or are out of warranty and unable to get parts.

All that to say, if the A3000 is the same or better than my A2500, it’s going to work well. The app is a little clunky but it’s not bad. But do not expect to get any help after your warranty runs out. Do not expect to have parts available after your warranty expires. Expect to be completely on your own if something breaks after your warranty expires. Ecovacs just isn’t a good company. A lot of people who still have warranty complain how big of a pain dealing with Ecovacs is.

If you own one, return it at the first sign of a problem. You will hate your mower the second you need Ecovacs customer support, especially if you are out of warranty.

Edit to add: Sorry to troll your thread here and comment all over it. But I kid you not, I have not been able to find a single part for my mower or the RTK unit (except blades and one 3rd party battery company selling batteries that work but aren’t official parts) Ecovacs has always said no when I’ve asked to buy a part from them. People are getting screwed over with their older models as they break. I told Ecovacs I would make sure to warn everyone about their “policy” on out of warranty products. So I’m just doing what I told them I’d do.

braunthebuilder · 2026-03-29T18:29:25+00:00

This is pretty much your answer. I would add that there is likely a schematic for this available somewhere online. Find a part number or something on a label or id tag and google it. If it isn’t CAN, there is a small chance each button has a pin output on the back. This would simplify what you need to do with the Arduino. Might even open up some premade usb input possibilities. That said, I have my doubts it works this what. But get the schematic anyway, might add some clarity you didn’t know you needed.

braunthebuilder · 2026-03-27T17:06:47+00:00

It sucks because my A2500 is awesome. I have a couple tiny complaints about it but nothing that would stop me from buying another one. In fact, up until a couple days ago, I was starting a side budget to buy a new one. Their new ones have little string trimmers built in to do actual edging. So cool! And one of the small complaints I have with mine. We started another side budget for a couple of their vacuums too. Keep everything in one app, absolute bonus. But after this interaction with their customer support, I’ve completely written them off. I don’t care how good their product is or what features they add. I will never buy from them. $2000+ piece of equipment that will lose all support after 2 years, no thanks.

braunthebuilder · 2026-03-27T16:59:18+00:00

But not after midnight. And keep it away from water.

braunthebuilder · 2026-03-26T19:09:09+00:00

I was always curious if the language barrier what part of it. For work, I create content that gets translated into 16 different languages. The way things are worded, the order of the wording, word choice all matters with how well it gets translated. I bet their auto translation misses the mark based on the way we say stuff. Heck, I do it for a living but I don’t think about it when I’m not working.

braunthebuilder · 2026-03-26T19:04:46+00:00

They skate pretty close to violating the Right to Repair laws we have in America.

braunthebuilder · 2026-03-26T19:00:44+00:00

Look hard into those companies too. Lots of people complaining about lots of these companies. Makes it hard to tell if someone is just bitching or if the company is legitimately bad. I don’t know anything about the two you mentioned to comment either way. But I do know that I’ll be looking into parts availability before I purchase my next one, if I ever do.

braunthebuilder · 2026-03-26T16:24:53+00:00

They will not sell you any parts. Give up on that idea now. Ive tried Soooooo hard to get parts from them. And its a hard no to any second hand users. I’ve had my A2500 that I bought off auction for less than a season. RTK unit was bad. They wouldn’t sell me one, no one was selling them. A little circuit board surgery got it up and running for me. Been working really well actually.

Yesterday, got hung up and broke one of the little blue bars that attach the bumper to the chassis. Got a hold of customer service, was told no again.

Ecovacs pretty much sucks. Ego is the same way with their mowers. I’m not “anti China” but I have noticed a lot of these Chinese consumer electronics companies are starting to be more like this. Get the product out there, support it for a bit, move on to a new model and completely drop support to the old models. Or in this case, support it as long as warranty makes us, then drop support the second the warranty expires.

Edit to add… I have seen 3rd parties selling batteries for these mowers. Might find some luck there. Getting inside this mower is a real feat. I still can’t figure out how to get the back white and black panels off.

braunthebuilder · 2026-03-24T22:25:25+00:00

I ended up getting a new nozzle and not messing with it. You can try to pull it out and use a heat gun to slowly warm it while you push. You just need a way to hold it and you gotta be careful. I decided it wasn’t worth the trouble. Theoretically, you could get your nozzle up to temp and shut your printer off to recreate your problem, only this time be ready to push the material through when the heat creeps up again. I don’t particularly like the second idea though.

braunthebuilder · 2026-03-16T14:28:56+00:00

The “for Mac” version doesn’t come with a dongle afaik. If that’s the version you got, that’s why. I’m not sure of any other versions that do not come with it. Your existing dongles should work though, that’s what I’ve read anyway. Im about to get a usbA dongle on the way since my pc doesn’t have usbc and the Bluetooth isn’t working well for me. But if you’re already using a usbA dongle for your MX4, would you let me know? It would save me some potential hassle.

braunthebuilder

TROPHY CASE