70 degree probe swings - they aren't real, but why are they happening?


 
M

Mark Lowpensky

New member
I currently have 2 pork butts on a WSM 18. I have pulled one and is sitting in a cooler and I am seeing 70 degree temp swings. I have an HM 4.3 with thermoworks thermister meat probes with a thermoworks extension. I removed the extension and see the same behavior. My initial through is a probe that has gone bad. (It is only about 2 months old...) Other ideas?
 
Do you see a little jagged line icon in the corner of the temperature box of the probe when it is having problems (indicating a noisy input)? Maybe also check and see if the probe wire is coming in contact with something that can carry current and create a false reading. The thermoworks probes are pretty robust and I've not seen them fail like this, and especially not in the first two months.

You can try swapping the probe between jacks with the other working meat probe and seeing if the error follows the probe itself or the jack it is in. If it is the probe itself and there's no other indicator that something else is going awry, I believe they have a 6 month warranty on the probes, maybe it is a dud?
 
Bryan - thanks for responding. I saw the noise icon at the beginning, but it went away. I will probably wait till I am done with this cook and then do an ice bath test on both meat probes with and without extensions. The meat 1 probe and corresponding pork butt are currently wrapped in foil in a cooler, so it could be touching the foil, but the foil is in a plastic lined cooler in towels... I do have the AC noise filter turned on and at 60 Hz.
 
I have seen this exact behavior. The problem stayed with the probe when swapped.
The Thermoworks probe was only a month old and had been used once before. They replaced it with no problems.
New probe worked fine.
 
Thanks. Unfortunately, I was 't paying enough attention at the end of the cook. I will test both my meat probes. Did you notice it all the time, or was it sporadic once it started happening?
Thanks,
-Mark
 
If I remember correctly, the probe temperature floated high/low in jagged rolling arcs. It tracked the actual temperature if you averaged it out, but continuously floated +/- 30 degrees. It did periodically stop and read correctly for short spells, but it was a long cook.

Happened when cooking two 8 lb Butts.

Swapped ports, Butts, and probes. Problem stayed with one probe.
 
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