Hi there...I've been reading these forums for a while, but have recently run into an issue I need advice on.
I've had my WSM 18" for about 4 years now. For the first 3 I used a Weber iGrill, and was mostly happy with it. I only had to replace 1 probe during that time, and that was definitely user error when I let it drop into my water bowl.
This summer I took advantage of a sale on the Thermoworks Signals/Billows setup, and have been pretty happy with it...except...
I've now done three cooks with it and it looks like I've got issues with all three meat probes. One is definitely bad ("LLL" error, and has been replaced by Thermoworks) after the 2nd cook, and now after my cook this weekend, it seems that the other two L-shaped Pro-Series probes have issues. I'm clearly doing something wrong.
After discovering I had a bad probe, I immediately ordered a couple more (1 L, 1 straight). Those probes came today. I did an ice test, and the two new probes and the ambient probe all were pretty close to 32 (+/- a degree or two). However one of my original L probes never got below 60, and the other was around 50. I then did a boiling water test, with similar results. Two old = not good. A room temp test has pretty much the same issue.
My WSM has the silicon grommet but I'm wondering if feeding the probes through it and then removing them at the end of the cook might be stressing the cable too much. I'm also going to just live with the smoke residue on the cable/spring and only clean the probe portion from now on.
I've read all the tips on the Thermoworks site for caring for the probes and how to use them in a smoker...
My main questions are:
I've had my WSM 18" for about 4 years now. For the first 3 I used a Weber iGrill, and was mostly happy with it. I only had to replace 1 probe during that time, and that was definitely user error when I let it drop into my water bowl.
This summer I took advantage of a sale on the Thermoworks Signals/Billows setup, and have been pretty happy with it...except...
I've now done three cooks with it and it looks like I've got issues with all three meat probes. One is definitely bad ("LLL" error, and has been replaced by Thermoworks) after the 2nd cook, and now after my cook this weekend, it seems that the other two L-shaped Pro-Series probes have issues. I'm clearly doing something wrong.
After discovering I had a bad probe, I immediately ordered a couple more (1 L, 1 straight). Those probes came today. I did an ice test, and the two new probes and the ambient probe all were pretty close to 32 (+/- a degree or two). However one of my original L probes never got below 60, and the other was around 50. I then did a boiling water test, with similar results. Two old = not good. A room temp test has pretty much the same issue.
My WSM has the silicon grommet but I'm wondering if feeding the probes through it and then removing them at the end of the cook might be stressing the cable too much. I'm also going to just live with the smoke residue on the cable/spring and only clean the probe portion from now on.
I've read all the tips on the Thermoworks site for caring for the probes and how to use them in a smoker...
My main questions are:
- Has anyone else had similar issues with these probes? If so, how did you resolve them?
- Might it be better for me to cut a slot in my WSM and use it instead of the grommet?
- Has anyone found a good way to clean the probe rings when they come out of the smoker? I'm also thinking that removing them for cleaning could also stress the connection?