Thermoworks Smoke Probes


 

Peter Ma

New member
Hi folks,

I've been using the new Thermoworks Smoke (http://www.thermoworks.com/Smoke?tw=VWB&chan=TVWBB) on a Green Mountain Grill pellet smoker and a Weber Summit S470 and it works very nicely. A couple questions for folks who have this thermometer:

1. The clip for the grill air temp probe doesn't grip the probe itself, which means it often slides out of the clip and potentially touches the grates (bad) if the cable gets tugged in the slightest. Any tricks for keeping that probe in the clip?

2. Anyone using the waterproof needle probe (http://www.thermoworks.com/TX-1002X-NP?tw=VWB&chan=TVWBB) on a grill or smoker? I bought it as a second probe for smaller cuts (and for faster response) and even though they say the cable/handle is rated to 500 degrees, that material of the cable makes me worried that having it rest against the side of the metal access hole in the grill is going to start to melt it (not to mention it slipping and touch the grate).

Cheers,
Peter
 
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As you know, the probe gets loose when the clip is compressed. I'd try to find a way to place the clip so it spans more rods on the grate, so it's not as compressed when clipped. Otherwise, you might need to use pliers to reshape the clip so it holds the probe tight when clipped to the grate. Kind of hard to describe in writing, but pretty clear when you look at how the clip compresses and attaches to the grate.

The challenge is that you've got two different grills with two different grate spacings, I assume. Optimizing the fit for one grill may screw it up for the other.

No experience with the needle probe, perhaps another member can comment.
 
As you know, the probe gets loose when the clip is compressed. I'd try to find a way to place the clip so it spans more rods on the grate, so it's not as compressed when clipped. Otherwise, you might need to use pliers to reshape the clip so it holds the probe tight when clipped to the grate. Kind of hard to describe in writing, but pretty clear when you look at how the clip compresses and attaches to the grate.

The challenge is that you've got two different grills with two different grate spacings, I assume. Optimizing the fit for one grill may screw it up for the other.

No experience with the needle probe, perhaps another member can comment.

Thanks, the issue for me is not actually the clip staying attached to the grate, but rather the probe staying in the clip. Since the probe just slides into the grate clip, it very easily slides back out with the slightest tug on the cable. The clip always stays nicely attached to the grate. In contrast, an older style of grill thermometer I had used a clip that tightly gripped the probe handle, keeping it in place...tried the old clip on the Thermoworks probe, but the clip is too small.
 
I wasn't referring to the clip being loose on the grate, rather the clip not holding the air probe tight.

On mine, it's hard to remove the air probe from the clip without squeezing the clip together...it's the spring action of the clip that holds the probe in place.

Tight when not squeezed - probe cannot be pulled easily from the clip; clip will not fall off the probe:

Bfsitdu.jpg


Loose when squeezed - probe fell out of the clip with the slight shake after taking this photo:

mPyYJ2g.jpg


In my earlier reply, I assumed that your air probe was held tight when the clip was in the uncompressed state, like in the first photo, but became loose when the clip was compressed while attached to the grate.

If you're saying your air probe is loose even when the clip is not squeezed, then your clip is not formed correctly. Maybe the shape is too narrow (not enough spring action) or the holes in the clip are too big. My holes are just slightly larger than the probe itself.

When the air probe is removed, it cannot be re-inserted through the second hole without the clip being squeezed to align the hole. It's that spring tension that holds the air probe firmly in place.

Unsqueezed:

QFs7BKp.jpg


Slightly squeezed:

9Vp3YLH.jpg
 
Ahh, great explanation and thanks for the photos. Indeed, mine does hold tight when uncompressed, but alas the grate spacing on both my smoker and gas grill are such that the clip needs to be compressed pretty well to hold in the grate. And then the probe is loose...but now I may try and fiddle with the clip a bit. Spanning two grates on the Weber summit s470 (where it get used the most) is not an option.

Now playing with a wad of aluminum foil with a hole poked through it to provide some additional resistance in the clip holes...
 
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