Are thermometer probes brand-specific?

[SherryT]

So I decided to smoke a rack of baby backs as my inaugural smoke in the OJ Rambler...

As you might (or might NOT) know, the Rambler is a tabletop grill, so even though there's more cooking space than on, for example, the Smokey Joe, it's still small-ish.

Anywho, I set it up for smoking (2 zone, meat's under the stack) and when I went to clip the temp probe onto the remaining rack, it was too long (I ended up using my trusty old oven thermometer, so all is well in that regard).

So, my question, as alluded to in the thread title, is if I wanted a SHORTER probe, would a different brand probe work with my Thermopro therm?

I have a feeling they're not...just wanted to make sure.

Thanks!

 

[JLeonard]

great question. Wondered that also.
But....How'd the ribs do?
Jim

 

[DemonPit]

Most all temp probes ive seen all have the same size plug. Iirc it's a aux jack plug.

 

[SherryT]

great question. Wondered that also.
But....How'd the ribs do?
Jim

They're wrapped...51 minutes to go, then back in unwrapped for another hour. I chose to do the 321 method today as I've smoked only one rack before AND it's a new-to-me grill/smoker AND it's charcoal (I'm used to a gasser so I'm basically having to learn all over again...ugh!).

I can tell you this about this unit, though...it holds temp very, VERY well! Once I got the temp steady, the chamber therm is at about 275 and the grate temp is dead-on 225 and has held that for the last 4 hours, so YAY!

 

[02ebz06]

Not all probes are created equal.
Even thought jacks may be the same, the impedance (resistance) in the probe may not be the same.

 

[anonamith]

No, not all probes are created equal.
Even thought jacks may be the same, the impedance (resistance) in the probe may not be the same.

That's correct. If the plug is the same size and the resistance is the same, they will work and are interchangeable. I buy replacement probes on line based on this criteria and they work flawlessly regardless of thermometer brand.

 

[DougE]

Plugs are not all sized the same either. The plugs for the probes on my inkbird therm are smaller than the ones that fit my camp chef.

Got blurry after cropping, but one is smaller in diameter.

 

[DemonPit]

Iirc
Top is a phono jack (like for a pair of big headphones)
Bottom is a normal aux jack

 

[DougE]

DemonPit The top would be what used to plug into phones when they still had jacks for headphones and the bottom one is smaller. Th top is nowhere near the size of a phono jack like on a home stereo.

 

[DemonPit]

I have 2 audio input jacks on my 5.1dts home theater reciever. This is the larger jack in the 1st pic The other Jack is a smaller jack for a normal sized headphone (like an aux jack for car, mp3, iPad, etc-see 2nd pic).

 

[DougE]

I have 2 audio input jacks on my 5.1dts home theater reciever. This is the larger jack in the 1st pic The other Jack is a smaller jack for a normal sized headphone (like an aux jack for car, mp3, iPad, etc-see 2nd pic).
View attachment 673686View attachment 673687

Ok, but the larger plug in my pic is a standard aux plug ....... it fits in the headphone jack on my laptop.

 

[DougE]

The other is too small.

 

[radioguy]

There are basically 2 types of temp probes. Thermocouple, this is 2 made of 2 dissimilar metals, many sub types, K junction Thermocouple being the most popular. RTD probes are resistive, some have a negative coefficient, some positive, resistance increases or decreases with temp changes. Thermoworks can help with getting you the right one. Contact them with your model number.

RG

 

[DougE]

There are basically 2 types of temp probes. Thermocouple, this is 2 made of 2 dissimilar metals, many sub types, K junction Thermocouple being the most popular. RTD probes are resistive, some have a negative coefficient, some positive, resistance increases or decreases with temp changes. Thermoworks can help with getting you the right one. Contact them with your model number.

RG

Interesting that you mention that. I just finished up a cook, and just for the heck of it, plugged an inkbird probe into my camp chef controller. The plug is smaller than the AUX plug on the camp chef probes, but it still made contact and read within 1 degree of the inkbird sending unit.

 

[SherryT]

I found a set on Amazon that says it's compatible with my TP20...regular long probe and a shorter "grate" probe and ordered it.

The probes that came with the therm are still good...basically what I wanted was the short, blunt-tipped probe for the grate, so this seems to fit the bill...if it doesn't work, I'll send it back.

Thanks for the replies!

Sherry

 

[anonamith]

Plugs are not all sized the same either. The plugs for the probes on my inkbird therm are smaller than the ones that fit my camp chef.

Got blurry after cropping, but one is smaller in diameter.

View attachment 673685

One is 3.5mm (headphone jack) and the other is 2.5mm which is common with many thermometers. The resistance on the probe itself will determine whether the probe will work or not if the plug itself will fit your thermometer. Auber has used 1/4 inch plugs in the past but their newer PIDs use 3.5mm and their probes are a different value from the rest. I've interchanged maverick, igrill (Weber), thermopro and inkbird probes without a problem although I had to remove the rubber seals off of the inkbird thermometer to get the other probes to fit because the others were shorter in length. Auber probes are around 1K ohms whereas the others are 110K ohms.

 

[SherryT]

Just to update...the new probes work well!

As you were!

 

[mr_whipple]

As you were!

Heard that a few times before!

 

[SherryT]

Just to update...the new probes work well!

As you were!

That's my code for "what I said is of no consequence, but my incessant need to share superfluous information demanded I say it anyway!"