Flame Boss 300 temp probes


 
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Mark Combs

TVWBB Member
I bit the bullet and ordered FB 300. Have to say, I am halfway thru 1st cook, and so far I have been really impressed with the performance. Only issue is the temp probes that came with it.

These probes appear to be different than the ones that I see pictured on their website, and others I have seen in pics. As you can see in the picture, it separated, leaving the wires exposed from the shield, as I was feeding it thru the grommet on my WSM 22. I have emailed the company, but given it is the weekend, do not expect to hear back til next week.

Anyone have any experiences with their probes? Worried that I will go thru these will go faster than charcoal, if they are this fragile.

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On any of the probes from manufactures, do not put pressure or strain on the wire mesh covering or wire. Going thru the grommet the metal probe should be pushed from the out side and pulled on the inside at the same time. They when the wire mesh is at the grommet feed it thru the grommet, push on the out side first. Then pull & push both sides of the wire mesh/probe wire at the same time. Get enough inside the smoker to reach the grill/meat.

Looking at your photo, I'm thinking the outside mesh is compressed and can be stretched back over the metal end of the probe. The red jacket could be heat shrink and will match the contour of the probe when the cook is started. Start at the plug end of the probe assembly and gently push the mesh toward the probe end.

I see red & black thermocouple wire color? Could be Platinum Rhodium.

Craig,H in La Pine
 
Thanks Craig. Your description is pretty much how I fed them thru. As this was the 1st time using this, really did not pay much attention to the quality of the probe, until after I saw the exposed wires. Then compared the ones I received against the pics of the probes that are on the FB website, in addition to other online posts. The probes I have appear to be different than the other pics I see. While I can’t comment on the durability of the others, they at least appear to be more “robust” in terms of connections- more like the probes with my TW Smoke.

I have pretty much reassembled the cable, although it is really only being held on by the small red heat shrink- which is the same for all the other cables also. None of them are a “tight” fit, which makes me question how truly durable they will be if I am using this frequently.

Just wondering if if others have any issues with theirs, or if the probes I have are indeed different from what others have received.

Here is a pic for comparison of what I see on the internet for the Flame Boss probes. You'll see it appears to be different than the ones that shipped with mine.

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Hello Mark,

I'll post a jpeg of my food probe for a Flame Boss 100U later today. A brief description: The probe.......then a smaller diameter metal spring........then the smaller diameter wire mesh which covers the thermocouple wires.

Have not used the food probe for the Flame Boss. The Maverick ET732 takes care of that function in my WSM.
 
I got an email from Flame Boss this morning, and subsequently had a phone conversation with them. They confirmed it is a design change, and the probes I received are a new design. Here is the email I received:

“Hi Mark,


Sorry to hear you had an issue with your meat probe pulling apart when using your Flame Boss® 300 controller. The probe you received in your FB300 controller kit is a newer design probe. We are sending you a probe under warranty replacement. We are also sending you a prepaid return label to return the defective meat probe so we may have our engineers determine why it failed.

Disclaimer: We have determined that our probes should only be used on indirect cooks 475˚ F or less.”


 
No, you can’t post directly. Here is the link on the site that explains posting. https://tvwbb.com/faq.php?faq=vb3_board_faq#faq_postphoto

I think my question was answered by FB today, when I made contact with them. They confirmed that it was a change in design. They are sending replacement, hopefully, it will be a bit sturdier.

Supposedly, this is to help provide greater protection relative to moisture/steam issues. I am not an electrical expert, but I think their manufacturer did not get the cable sheath slotted correctly before crimping, and probably should have had at least double the length of shrink wrap to ensure a solid and tight seal. Not sure if they used some other type of sealant also, but all of the probes seem weakly constructed.

Here are additional pics of all of them. The one that separated is on top in the multiple photo. I tried to reassemble it a little, but still not quite together. They are sending replacement, and will be returning it to them.

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I stopped putting the probes through the grommet, which is a pain to use IMO and cut a slot on one of my WSM's and really liked it for ease of positioning and being able to quickly move the probes during a cook, especially when using both shelves. I got another WSM and just started laying the probe and pit wires over the rim where the lid goes and was told by Flame Boss it shouldn't cause a failure of the probe. Probably have about 30 cooks using it that way and they're still working great. I do lose a little smoke where the wires come out but not much and it works for me. I have the FB 300 and really like it.
 
A probe with a new design came apart on a 1st cook? Not good. I hope they revert to the previous design.
 
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