I had a similar problem. I used high temp shrink wrap around the probe wire. This worked well for a couple of months.
All the probes from Guru now are the high temp stainless.
As a leaky WSM & Guru owner I would guess that there is a leak or that you need to close your top vent some more. If your charcoal bowl/main body has a leak you can take the bottom of an old t-shirt, cut two inches off and soak in water. You then put the wet t-shirt over the charcoal bowl and...
I noticed over the weekend at Home Depot, the gas Go-Anywhere has clearance tags now. They wanted $27 for them.
As to whether you "need" a Go-Anywhere, yes you do need one. Just like all the grills and smokers I keep accumulating.
John did you have any unrendered fat more than usuall? I did my first high temp butt over the weekend and had great results also. Not sure if there was more unrendered fat or if I was being picky.
Guru sells two different adpters. One hooks to a car battery and the other is for the cigarette lighter. I have both adapters. As to how long you can run depends on the power of the jumper battery pack. Never tried to see how long it will run.
Don't buy a cheap jumper battery pack, you will...
I have a Procom 4 and a Competitor. Definately go with the 10 cfm fan. Better to have more power than you need. The 6' extension is good to have if you wanted to mount the main unit other than directly on the fan. Go with 4 eyelets because the Procom has 3 meat probes.
I don't use the ramp mode often on the guru for the stated problems above. It is great for a cook you might not be close by on. With ramp mode you need to start with a higher initial temp. I used ramp mode on a brisket cook over the weekend with great results. The initial temp was 265.
I have a BDS and a UDS. Both are great. I use them with my WSM in competition. The BDS/UDS are unbelievable with chicken & ribs, my scores have improved a bunch.
I think the big advantage over the WSM is capacity and ease of transport.