High Failure Rate

My Anova 1 died a few weeks ago. It’s been a good device. The Anova 1 was good enough that I purchased an Anova Bluetooth. This Anova died in the first month but was covered by warranty and replaced. The replacement died after 14 months but of course was off warranty so I bought and Anova WiFi this past summer. It has now started acting up. At this point I’ve purchased 4 Anova circulators and none have lasted much past the warranty period. I’m hesitant to buy another Anova product. They just don’t seem to be build to last and seem to be damaged by steam or high humidity. I’m curious to know what types of failures others have seen?

P, what an annoying experience!, I’d get on to Support ASAP.

I’m curious, just what is acting up?
I’d like to know so i can watch for symptoms of any problem with mine.

My first and only Anova is two years old and used weekly, sometimes even more often. That’s well over 100 cooks so far and it functions with total dependability. I rarely even monitor it in use. I also have another brand of cooker that i use much less frequently as the Anova is far superior.

I don’t observed “steam” (more likely it’s water vapour) or even any signs of high humidity such as condensation on the upper parts of my Anova in use. High heat and humidity can be deadly to electronics, but they ought to be well sealed in a appliance like the APC.

I use ping-pong balls on the water’s surface to reduce heat loss on long cooks and rarely cook at elevated temperatures, as in over 150F, so my experience may not be the norm. The balls allow the reduced amount of escaping water vapour to be dispersed evenly above the surface. After 24-hours on most cooks the water level is only 1/2-inch lower than the starting level and i find that acceptable, although it is a sign of wasted energy.

If you have aggressively sealed your cooking vessel that might cause concentrated humidity to flow up around the top of the device and into the controller if that’s the only gap. Just guessing.

Did you get any information on earlier possible causes of failure from Anova and receive any preventive steps to take?

Thanks for sharing you experience with us. I hope it gets resolved quickly.

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Chatnoir, my choice os containers are Cambro containers with cutouts in the lids for the Anova. Very little water is lost, even during long hot cooking sessions, but the lid cutouts do allow a bit water vapour to escape through space between the lid and the Anova. It’s usual to see some vapour condensing on the Anova but this would seem to be normal for a product designed to operate in hot, steamy, water for long periods of time.

Dealing with Anova support has been OK but I rather not have to deal with product failures that require support. In this case, sous vide circulators like the Anova are designed to operate in hot moist cooking environments. I have assumed that for both reliability and safety reasons, water vapour from cooking process should not damage the Anova Precision Cooker being used to do the cooking. Based on my experience this may not be that true.

As I’ve looked at the other comments on this site, including instructions from Anova I worry that vapour is a problem. In the hardware troubleshooting Annova actually states “…this means that steam may have already gotten into the head of your unit. Try unplugging your cooker, letting it dry out by putting in a bag of rice to help absorb the moisture. The next time you plug it in, it should no longer be beeping. If the problem persists contact support…”

So, if steam (actually water vapour) from what you are cooking gets into the Anova and screws it up you can hopefully fix it by putting it in a bag of rice! If that doesn’t work, you call support and if your Anova is still under warranty they may replace it. If it’s not under warranty you have to buy a new one as I have done in the past.

As I contemplate buying yet another Anova, all this leaves me wondering how good the design really is. If vapour from normal cooking can get into the unit and damage it, I even wonder if it is safe.

At this point, I tend to think that many of the problems with the Anova may be the result of steam or water vapour being sucked into the unit and condensing on the electronics.

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Agree with P_R_H. It appears that all the steam condenses on the electrics; poor design in my opinion. L-shaped is better.

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Testing for possible causes of a problem and taking steps to remedy them is the fundamental part of any rational problem solving process i’ve ever employed.

We know your situation and what you consider to be normal use.
What have you done about testing so far?

Consider the evidence.
FYI, i’ve only observed Anova corporate pictures of units being used on lidless vessels and i have never seen water vapour condensing on mine in use. What is normal use?

Drying the unit and repeatedly using the same cooking arrangement doesn’t strike me as a rational solution to your problem.

Have you previously cooked with your Anova without using a lid?
If yes.
When you did were there unfavourable symptoms?

If no.
Try it, but for a longish or blank cook.
What happens?

If nothing changes come on back.

If billion $ submarines can be plagued with leaks so can a $100 appliance. Always test for causes or additions to a problem.

It seems most folks here expect their Anova to be the performance equivalent of a $1,300 Poly Science cooker. There might be some difference.

I do expect it to not get confused by its own steam, especially when all the promotional material shows the cooker attached to pots without a lid.

Chatnoir, you’re correct about considering the evidence but sometimes it takes more that one failure to do that.

With my first Anova failed (actually the second unit I purchased) I just assumed it was a bad unit. It was replaced under warranty and I carried on. When that one failed after the warranty was over I started to think about what happened. I bought another one and it failed so I got more concerned. As you state, a fundamental part of any rational problem solving process is consider what circumstances caused the failure.

To shorten a long story — based on my experience, my Anova failures have occurred during or after preparing a recipe that required a relatively hot and long cooking cycle where water vapour condenses on the head of the Anova. I guess there are several ways to remedy this. I could avoid using my Anova at high temperatures, not use a closed container or use ping-pong balls as a cover or try using an fan to keep the steam away from the top of the Anova. Lots of things could work but is changing the way I have to cook because Anovas can’t take the steam the best solution?

While I don’t expect my Anova to be equal to Polyscience circulator but I do expect it to be reliable for regular home usage. So far, I don’t think Anovas have shown that to be the case.

A last comment, my fourth Anova started to act up last time I used it. I was cooking ribs at 68C for 24 hours, it stopped but I was able to restart it after it was off for a few minutes. My son wanted to use it for New Years recipe yesterday, when he plugged it in and it didn’t start. Just a dark dead face. This is my fourth Anova failure since my first purchase my first Anova in August of 2014. It’s still under warranty so I’ll return it but my confidence in Anova circulators of finished. I think it’s time to look for a better solution.

I have discovered that persisting in using a cooking method that results in unfavourable outcomes puts cooks at a disadvantage.

RTC, resistance-to-change, is fundamental to many of the Community posts seeking solutions.
I expect it and accept it as a significant part of the human condition. It’s the way it is.

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Chatnoir, I agree that resistance to change change can result in unfavourable outcomes. The question is what to change.

When I first purchased my Anova, it was the best unit available. Well, time moves on and so does technology. After doing a lot of research I purchased Joule from a company called ChefSteps. It arrive a couple days after I ordered it and my first impression was the size. It’s much smaller than my Anova which allow me to use it in smaller pots. In spite of it’s small size it’s more powerful and quieter the both models of Anova I’ve had. Most important and the real reason for buying it is because it’s completely waterproof. It has no fans or vents that will allow steam to enter the device and destroy the control electronics.

In my opinion, the Joule is really the next generation and better every way except one - I lacks a display and controls on the unit so you must use the app to control it. This was initially a serious flaw. I think the whole app things is really a distraction with virtually no real benefit. That said, I’ve used my Joule several times in the last few weeks and it’s OK. The app is actually very simple and will also control more than one joule which is nice because I do intend to buy a second unit.

Apart from the lack of a built in display, it’s a fantastic sous vide machine. I suspect that Anova has a new version in design to compete with ChefSteps and that when it’s released it be better than Joule. It’s just the way it works unless it’s Anova that resists change and fails to catch up. Anova could become the Blackberry of sous vide machines if they resist change.

These are some of the reviews I looked at.

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My Anova failed a few days ago but in a different way. After about 40 hours into a 60 hour cook, the target water temp and current water temp, according to the Anova were equal at 140F and the countdown was proceeding normally but the water was boiling. [This was distressing as I was preparing corned beef for a party of 40 guests.]

I’m replying to this thread because I noticed water condensing on the unit above the pot lid. I wiped it off and went on my way. Now the idea of the vapor messing with the electronics sounds good and concerns me because I don’t know how I would prevent this from happening during a future cook. I will ask Anova to whom I have already written but their several replies have not addressed the water vapor in the works issue.

I am also interested in your saying that the Joule does not have this design defect because I don’t see it in any of their advertising claims.
Best, Doug

Hi Doug. I suspect the Anova failures I had were all related moisture getting into the electronics. There is actually a small fan the sucks air plus any steam that gets close to the top of the Anova into the electronics. Obviously if you get moisture condensing on the body there is steam rising up that will get sucked into the unit. For long cooking cycles you need to make sure that any moisture is vented away from the Anova. This is something is difficult to guarantee.

The Joule is completely different design because it it totally sealed. There are no vents and the unit can actually be submerged in water. it also has the next generation of heater which is much smaller so the whole unit much smaller than the Anova. I didn’t think this would be a big deal but it makes a big difference.

The down side of the Joule is that it can only be controlled form the App. I don’t like this but it’s a small price to pay for the added reliability an better performance… Unlike the Anova App (as of the last time I used it) the Joule App will run multiple devices. I have purchased a second Joule and I am actually starting to like the App.

The Joule is just a newer generation of technology. For now, it’s clearly superior the Anova but is also more expensive. I’ll continue to watch for Anova’s nest gen product. Hopefully it will be better but for now the Joule is a much better product in all ways except for the lack of controls on the unit itself.

I see this as a really serious limitation. Chances are that, in ten years time, the device will physically still work. What are the chances that the company (if it still exists by then) will continue to port the app to new devices and continue to update the code to run on whatever version of iOS and Android is around by then?

Where is the motivation for the company to do all this? Continuing to update the code for a model they sold ten years ago is not in the company’s interest. They’d much rather sell more of the current model.

For that reason alone, I will never buy a device that cannot be operated without software on some third-party phone/tablet/pc/whatever.

I agree it could be but is not necessarily an issue. There is lots of motivation to keep the current if the company releases more products and is successful. Anova has poor track record releasing new products so I certainly would worry if it was an Anova product. I’m hoping ChefSteps does better and will be more successful. If my perspective the real life of these products is also about five years because there will be something much better by that time.

While this is a concern, I see it as a risk you take to get a vastly better product. At least that was my view. Based on my experience, it’s unlikely that many of the Anova circulators will survive if that actually are used by their owners. A dead Anova will be less useful than and joule with an out of date but functional app.

An out of date app will generally no longer be functional. See the vast numbers of iOS apps that will no longer run on the current iPhone,

Hey @P_R_H - I am genuinely curious by what you mean by “Anova has poor track record releasing new products.” Is it the pace we’re going at?

My concern with the Joule is that it MUST have a good connection to a phone to be used at all - and a Joule can have problems pairing just like an Anova. With the Anova not pairing (which has never happened to me fortunately) would be a minor inconvenience. With the Joule it is a showstopper.
If 10 years from now my Anova is still running I will still use it - heating and circulating water to a precise temperature is what I need for sous vide, all else is bells and whistles. I’m a little concerned that an app to run the Joule might not always be available.

Looks like this is still an active conversation so let me see if I can possibly add something to the conversation. I’ve read through a portion of the conversation and am impressed with much of what chatnoir has added.

First a little about me and what brings me to the conversation. I’m a Test Engineer in my late 50’s. I have had two Anova Sous-Vide bluetooth systems since about July/August of 2015. I have since purchased a Wi-fi model as well.

The other thing I did was purchase a couple Coleman coolers that I modified to use the Sous-Vide in to help reduce evaporation for extended cooks (24-72 hours). This helps greatly, but soon after I had one of the Anova’s fail. I stored the unit for awhile and later pulled it back out and gave it another try. It once again worked.

I have been through this cycle several times now where they fail, sit and dry out…then work again. I do have a habit of running these for weeks before I power them down. It’s when I try to restart that it fails and has to sit and dry again.

So I’ve been working on this for awhile now. Taking notes and observing what is happening and I think I have it possibly figured out.

With the cover of the Coleman cooler in place the steam is channeled behind the unit and up into the vents or what appears to be vents. I believe that the unit is subjected to a higher concentration of steam due to the lid design I’ve used. I have tried to upload a few pictures of my configuration, but am new to this page and am not sure if the pictures will show up or not. If they do there is one that shows the lid as I’m using it now with a pen marking showing how I want to alter it to possibly reduce the amount of steam being channeled into the Anova unit.

If this works I will come back with my results, but it’s going to take awhile for my two units to dry out and become operational again…hopefully they will return to operational again :worried:

Welcome to the community!! :slight_smile: Your comment “…running these for weeks before I power them down”. You mean you actually have them working for weeks at a time with no break? :fearful: Heh…that seems a little extreme.

Yes, the design of the APC leaves them prone to receiving hot water vapour into the head of the unit where the electronics are housed if they’re not used in a well ventilated area. If you have them in an enclosed space or a corner with little air flow, then that’s quite common.

As for fixing your vessel. You either need to find a soft grommet that will fit the hole or apply a few layers of electrical or duct tape to the opening to provide a snug fit for the APC. The diameter of the cylinder base is 2 3/8" - so I normally recommend people cut a hole that’s 2 1/2", so they have that extra room to apply a softer substance that would allow them to get a good seal to protect the head unit of the APC.

Cheers! :slight_smile:

Hi Mirozen:

Based on my experience it’s not the App life that is a concern it was repeated failures of the actual Anova. Most reputable companies keep their apps up to-date and compatible with current phone OSes. I think ChefSteps will likely do this because the app is an important part of the web based services delivery.

I’m not sure what you mean when you say a “good” connection. One thing I’ve learned about the Joule is the the app is much better, pairing with Bluetooth and Wifi is easy and it works well over cellular data so it always possible to access the Joule. I have two units now one app supports multiple units. In general it’s so easy to use that I’m warming up to it. Another good thing is the joule has seamless over the air updates so the firmware can be updated.

At least two products, that have been announced but not released or hugely delayed.

The Avova Oven announced in 2016 due be released in summer of 2017 now we may see it in 2018… Meet the Anova Precision Oven - Coming Summer 2017 – Anova Culinary

There was also another Anova called the Nano, opened for pre-sale but delayed and delayed, Maybe this year? An Important Announcement for Anova Precision Cooker Nano Customers – Anova Culinary

Plus the current Anova Precision is sure getting long in the tooth. Just my opinion…