Crimped Thermometer wires - any solutions?

michaelt1959 · Jan 29, 2016

Hi all. Santa was good enough to bring a new vertical and horizontal offset stick burner manufactured here in Houston by Pits by JJ. Love the unit and posted pics under a previous thread.

But .... the door on the vertical section is so tight it crimps the wires to my Acu-rite thermometers (model #03168). Love the fact the door seal is that tight. However, don't like the fact that I am unable to use my Thermometers.

Acu-rite tells me that if the door is that tight most thermometers are going to crimp and lose connection.

Short of drilling holes in the door (which even the manufacturer does NOT want to do) does anyone have any creative suggestions or fixes to such a problem?

Thanks in advance for any ideas and for all the knowledge we have gleaned from the contributors to this site.

joe black · Jan 29, 2016

I would drill a hole in the side of the upright and the end of the CC and insert an electrical cable connector available from Lowe's or Amazon for a couple of bucks. After it is secured in the CC, it has an outer nut with a rubber grommet that comes off and you can insert the probe cables all the way through and then secure them with the grommet and nut. It works great for me. Joe.

lamar · Jan 29, 2016

I would not recommend a hole in the door. The wires would always be in the way. Here I solved the problem using a small brass nipple and nuts from the lamp parts section of a hardware store. By putting the hole in the side, I run the probes in at the approximate level of the rack I use most of the time.

thermo hole.jpg

lamar
Jan 29, 2016

The bracket for the thermometers makes for a handy view. The aluminum is insulation. I used air conditioning fiberduct. Works excellent for me.

Lamar

daveomak · Jan 29, 2016

I have crimped and cut the wires to the probe... I peeled back the braid jacket and spliced, soldered and shrink wrapped the individual wires... then re wrapped with fiberglass electrical tape... worked.... a bit ugly but worth it....

pabstman80 · Jan 30, 2016

Well since I have always liked the the easiest solutions. It might be a pain in the butt but try to set a thin washer in beside your wires. That will stop the door from pinching

3montes · Jan 30, 2016

Here was my solution. The cheapest and easiest and most effective. I used the Mavericks etc. for a couple months. Quickly got fed up with crimped wires, snagging wires with tongs or or other tools and probe failures. You don't need to know the smoker temp every 5 seconds anyhow. Once you know your stick burner well enough you can tell by looking at the fire where you are at. I open the smoker to spritz every hour or so and a quick glance at these and I know where I'm at. Truthfully I could do without these even.

k2-_9cede85c-3844-4156-9de2-f4a4e5929e74.v1.jpg

3montes
Jan 30, 2016

aeroforce100 · Jan 30, 2016

Good Idea, but what do you do for the IT?

SmokinAl · Jan 30, 2016

Like Lamar said. The lamp part is what I use also. It's brass & hollow with threads all the way down.

Home Depot has them in stock in the lighting Dept.

They come in various lengths with nuts for each side

Al

3montes · Jan 30, 2016

aeroforce100 said:
Good Idea, but what do you do for the IT?

Thermapen. But I just ordered and received a couple of these dual therms. I'm anxious to see how these work out. Not that they will replace my Thermapen but I like the idea for real temp sensitive meats like prime rib where I really like to keep a eye on the temp.

dual-sensor-oven-thermometer.jpg

3montes
Jan 30, 2016

hopvol · Mar 15, 2016

I am looking to order a thermometer and I was wondering about crimped wires in my offset smoker. Would it be a problem to run the probe wires down the chimney into the smoke box?

daveomak · Mar 15, 2016

Drill a hole..... Grind a notch.....

hopvol · Mar 16, 2016

Yeah, I really didn't want to drill a hole in my new smoker but I guess that's what I'm going to do.

I've seen some drill the hole in the side of the box just above the grate and some that drilled the hole in the bottom of the chimney. Any advantage or disadvantage to either?

lamar · Mar 16, 2016

I drilled my hole approximately the center of the side. That way, the probes can go high or low in the racks. Here is mine along with a steel bracket that my magnetic thermometers sit on and real handy to see.

Thermometers.jpg

lamar
Mar 16, 2016

hopvol · Mar 16, 2016

Thats a nice looking setup Lamar.

buck1949 · Mar 16, 2016

I have a Masterbuilt dual pro, and use the Maverick 733 thermometer with the 2 probes. I drilled a hole in the back of the smoker at about the mid point that would fit a 1/2 or 3/8 inch brass water (can't remember the size) fitting. Using the water fitting - I knew it would be 'food grade' safe. I capped the fitting inside and out with brass nuts and it works flawlessly. By placing the hole in the center, the probes can reach most anywhere inside the box.

Since the Masterbuilt has a back handle I simply hang the sending unit on the handle. I also have a silicone hot pad that I put on top of the smoker for the sending unit to sit which I've used sometimes. I figured with the hole in the back no one would ever see it. Also I would not recommend drilling through the door.

image.jpeg

buck1949
Mar 16, 2016

hopvol · Mar 16, 2016

That looks like what I'm considering Buck1949 but I'm thinking I might drill the hole on the side since the side is flat on mine.

Crimped Thermometer wires - any solutions?

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