New build question lost the small copper thermocouple holder

Hello all, I built a 4.2 heatermeter and lost the small metal (copper) thermocouple holder piece that attaches in the middle of the thermocouple. (I thought it was a piece of trash initially) Is this needed or can I just use a copper wire or paperclip and solder it into either side over the thermocouple. To clarify it is not the ends of the thermocouple with the two prongs it is the staple shaped U piece. Pretty sure I need something there though.

You can use a piece of copper wire. It’s there to provide mechanical strength so that you don’t rip off the jack from the board when inserting or removing the plug.

Thanks , I did this and seems to be working. I am still having some issues with intermittent working of the thermocouple. I have tried washing the board, re-flowing all the solder joints, testing the thermocouple circuit checked out as good. I tested my thermocouple with my multimeter it works. At the moment I was able to get it the heatermeter to see the pit probe ( thermocouple) but it seems like to get the thermocouple to work I had to apply some mechanical pressure on the jack. Oh well its working for now just wish this circuit worked as predictably as my 3 other probes seem to be.

If you can open the jack on the themocouple, check the wires for shorts and retighten the screw terminals.