HM / RD3 Update with Rain/Vent Question


 

Dominick A

TVWBB Fan
Having put about 6 or 7 low and slow cooks now under my belt since completing my build, I wanted to share that I think I've got it pretty well locked in and know what to expect. I've had a 13 lb full brisket on my kamado since 2pm today and just threw on a 5 lb flat for a late Christmas feast tomorrow afternoon.

In the cold pouring rain today, my HM/RD3 have been managing 225F very well. I even managed to configure Pushbullet messaging in no time to help manage alarms. All very cool stuff!

The one thing I thought I would ask, is that while 225 has been kept fairly steady, it seems when a stronger rain comes down, the temps are fluctuating wildly, 20-30 degrees, which is kicking off alarms. I have a long thin TC probe going in through the top vent of my kamado that is closed off on the wire. I think some rain may be dripping down the wire.

I covered the vents with a small bucket as a late night improv, but was wondering if anyone has made anything cool to block rain from a top vent while allowing proper ventililation?
 
I had the same thing happen during rain, it was caused by cold water hitting the probe. I changed over to inserting the probe at grate level and that solved the problem. The whole thing actually works better with the pit probe at grate level.

I use one of those Thermoworks clips to hold the probe in place, it is shaped kinda like an omega... it clips in between your grill grate and has holes in it to push the probe through, works great.
 
Ralph - Do you find the rain through the top vents causes any other issues with your cooks? It rained pretty good here overnight, but it looks like all my meat is fine. I like it through the top to save space on the grill grates with lots of meat. I wouldn't have thought of that before you mentioned it early on when discussing this project, but the rain does play tricks on it. Was up at 4am when my pushbullets started going nuts and just had to reset my high/low range to stay out of the alarms.
 
Ralph - Do you find the rain through the top vents causes any other issues with your cooks? It rained pretty good here overnight, but it looks like all my meat is fine. I like it through the top to save space on the grill grates with lots of meat. I wouldn't have thought of that before you mentioned it early on when discussing this project, but the rain does play tricks on it. Was up at 4am when my pushbullets started going nuts and just had to reset my high/low range to stay out of the alarms.

For a long time I just pushed the pit probe through the top vent because it was the easiest thing to do. I did have similar issues as you describe during heavy rain, water running down the probe causing rapid cooling. You can disable lid mode (set to activate 100% below setpoint) during unattended cooks, that will keep your fire from being choked out by lid mode but might result in some overshoot if the rain is persistent.

Running the probe in from the side at grate level is a much better way to go in my experience, I've had zero problem with rain when I rig things this way. My TC is the Thermoworks High Heat needle probe, and it is bendable. So I place the TW clip I mentioned above right near the outer edge of the grill and run the pit probe through it and generally bend it upward right after the clip so its very unobtrusive. You could also bend the TC down so it runs parallel with the grill grate right below it. Done this way water has no way of getting on the TC and you get more accurate readings of the actual temperature around your food rather than the temp at the top of the dome, so it's better on two counts IMHO....
 

 

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