Locking nut on outside of kettle lid safe?

[hawtsauc3]

Long story short I have a kettle I’ve restored with wing nuts inside the lid. However, with me finally finding the thermometer shroud, the thermometer can’t sit fully in place as it bumps up against the wing nut. I’m wondering if I inverted the setup so the bolt head was inside if it’d then clear but if I do that a locking nut makes more sense. Does anyone know though if the heat on the lid with that would cause any issues?

 

[Brokenhandle]

They make two different styles of lock nuts...one has the nylon insert in which not sure how much heat it would withstand but they also make lock nuts without the nylon insert. I usually get them from our local blacksmith. Not sure how many hardware stores carry them.

Ryan

 

[chef jimmyj]

A Split Lock Washer and regular Nut will work and can take the heat...JJ

 

[thirdeye]

I'm not getting a clear picture.... without a picture. But on all of my smokers and grills my thermometers are not fully tightened down. The reasoning is that I like to spin the thermometer so my target temperature is at 12 o'clock, and ideally the pointer should be at 12 o'clock. This way, when I glance at the cooker from afar, I immediately know if I am higher or lower of my target temp.

 

[hawtsauc3]

I'm not getting a clear picture.... without a picture. But on all of my smokers and grills my thermometers are not fully tightened down. The reasoning is that I like to spin the thermometer so my target temperature is at 12 o'clock, and ideally the pointer should be at 12 o'clock. This way, when I glance at the cooker from afar, I immediately know if I am higher or lower of my target temp.

So on my kettle the handle was held on by pop rivets which were broken. I drilled them out so I could reattach the handle via some small stainless bolts. I have a 96 master touch which has the thermometer going on at an angle and it was bumping up against the Bolt. I inverted it to fix it but the nut im using on the bolt isn’t locking. Here’s what the design looks like on a similar grill.

 

[thirdeye]

Gotcha. Is going back to a rivet an option? Or would the internal projection of a pop style rivet interfere with the thermometer stem like the wing nut did?There are several options for the head style, like a wider flange, a dome head and even a countersunk head.