HeaterMeter working, however only when holding in my hand


 
PaulFisher

PaulFisher

TVWBB Super Fan
Hello everyone, I finally got my hetermeater put together today. It is the 4.0 with RaspberryPi. The only issue I'm having and I'm hoping it's something simple is that the probes only register and work when I'm holding the whole device in my hand. As soon as I set it down it says No Pit Probe. The only things I haven't connected yet are the button due to an issue I had and the LED's that were not in stock. Anyone know what the issue is?

Thanks

Paul
 
There are known problems with the ET732 probes and grounding (or lack there of) that sound similar to this. Do you know which probe you have?
 
Alan Erickson said:
There are known problems with the ET732 probes and grounding (or lack there of) that sound similar to this. Do you know which probe you have?
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I have the thermoworks probes. The probe works great as long as I am touching any part of the heater meter or raspberry pi but as soon as I take my finger off it says no pit probe.
 
Well small update, I had a different probe from my old iGrill and plugged it in and it seems to work fine. So there looks to be something wrong with the thermoworks probe. Does anyone else use these or know what might cause this?

Thanks
 
PaulFisher said:
Well small update, I had a different probe from my old iGrill and plugged it in and it seems to work fine. So there looks to be something wrong with the thermoworks probe. Does anyone else use these or know what might cause this?

Thanks
Click to expand...


I've seen someone else write something similar here :

JasonH said:
I have a couple of the thermoworks probes and they are pretty accurate w/ my HM4.0

I noticed that if I touch the metal braid on the probe or if it touches a metal bracket on my grill they read "OPEN" on the HM. It is like the signal is grounded out if something touched the metal braid. Does anyone else have this issue with the thermoworks or Maverick probes?
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I'm suppose to be getting my 4.0 board on Monday and I just happen to buy the Thermoworks probes as well. Hopefully I don't run into the same issues.
 
RBennett said:
I've seen someone else write something similar here :







I'm suppose to be getting my 4.0 board on Monday and I just happen to buy the Thermoworks probes as well. Hopefully I don't run into the same issues.
Click to expand...

I've got a couple ThermoWorks probes and I haven't had any issues like this with them, for what it's worth, been pretty happy with them actually...
 
Yeah that is bizarre. I also have a ThermoWorks probe and it doesn't do this. An ET-732 probe I got for testing displays this sort of behavior and is one of the reasons they're not so recommended. Wish I knew how to resolve this in hardware.
 
It's definitely weird and quite frustrating. I purchased two of the thermoworks probes and they exhibit the same behavior. When I plug back in the iGrill probe it stays connected. Is their any sort of ground that I'm missing? I would hate to not to be able to use the thermoworks.
 
PaulFisher said:
It's definitely weird and quite frustrating. I purchased two of the thermoworks probes and they exhibit the same behavior. When I plug back in the iGrill probe it stays connected. Is their any sort of ground that I'm missing? I would hate to not to be able to use the thermoworks.
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I just finished my board tonight and tested with the thermoworks probes. I used both kind of probes and each worked fine.
 
Paul, what model ThermoWorks Probes are you using? Are you selecting the ThermoWorks preset in the HM config?
I have used the ThermoWorks PRO Series "Needle Probe" (TX-1002X-NP) and "High Temp Cooking Probe" (TX-1001X-OP) without any issues at all....
 
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I'm using the 1001X-OP model. They only work if I touch the board with my hand or if I touch the probe to the board. If not it says no probe connected. Tried a maverick probe I had laying around and it works fine too.
 
PaulFisher said:
I'm using the 1001X-OP model. They only work if I touch the board with my hand or if I touch the probe to the board. If not it says no probe connected. Tried a maverick probe I had laying around and it works fine too.
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That's odd indeed, the Maverick 732's did a lot of this type of stuff but my Thermoworks never have. What temp is the probe while doing this? Perhaps warm it up a bit and see if it registers? Though from my experience the thermoworks probe held steady to a lower temp than my Maverick probes, they both do drop off eventually...

I have to deal with the drop off for winter grilling, sometimes the probes start out below freezing and I get NO PIT PROBE, so the HM wont power up the system to stoke the fire (which would raise the probe temp enough to register). When this happens I just switch the HM over to manual fan mode and set the fan to 100% until the pit warms up and the pit probe registers, then you can set the fan back to auto. Just make sure to monitor the pit when you have the blower set to manual mode...
 
I have HM 4.0 w/ the thermoworks probes.
If I touch the shield/braid on my probes it reads open/, "no pit probe".
If my probe braid touches the metal grate or other metal on the gill it can also cause this probe to read open.

Is this the same issue you are seeing?
 
JasonH said:
I have HM 4.0 w/ the thermoworks probes.
If I touch the shield/braid on my probes it reads open/, "no pit probe".
If my probe braid touches the metal grate or other metal on the gill it can also cause this probe to read open.

Is this the same issue you are seeing?
Click to expand...

Yah, I am pretty sure that is the same behavior reported in this thread... Though I also have a HM V4.0 and Thermoworks probes that work fine whether I touch them or not, and I often clip them to my grates with a metal clip and never have had a problem. I'm glad I don't have the problem but it is troubling that two people are reporting the same issue now....

If you tap the probe or it's braided wire to something grounded (like the metal shield on the r-Pi ethernet port) does it remain steady?
 
JasonH said:
I have HM 4.0 w/ the thermoworks probes.
If I touch the shield/braid on my probes it reads open/, "no pit probe".
If my probe braid touches the metal grate or other metal on the gill it can also cause this probe to read open.

Is this the same issue you are seeing?
Click to expand...

I just tried again a few days ago and the Thermoworks probe would only display a temperature on the HM when I was holding the probe in my hand. As soon as I would lay the probe down it would display no pit probe. I did this over and over 4 or 5 times and it working (displaying temp) would only occur when I was holding the probe in my hand. Seems to be some sort of grounding problem but I am not smart enough to figure it out. Every other probe I have used (Maverick, iGrill) has worked fine.
 
PaulFisher said:
I just tried again a few days ago and the Thermoworks probe would only display a temperature on the HM when I was holding the probe in my hand. As soon as I would lay the probe down it would display no pit probe. I did this over and over 4 or 5 times and it working (displaying temp) would only occur when I was holding the probe in my hand. Seems to be some sort of grounding problem but I am not smart enough to figure it out. Every other probe I have used (Maverick, iGrill) has worked fine.
Click to expand...


The 732 probes had a similar issue, that is why I asked, "If you tap the probe or it's braided wire to something grounded (like the metal shield on the r-Pi ethernet port) does it remain steady?" I am curious if this behavior is the same with your ThermoWorks situation?
 
I use both 72/73 and 732's at the same time. The only problem I have with the 732's are very low temps of 60+- a few or below. They still give a temp at those low temps, it just intermitted. Also, I do have the all the probes touch each other so their are grounded good.
 
RalphTrimble said:
The 732 probes had a similar issue, that is why I asked, "If you tap the probe or it's braided wire to something grounded (like the metal shield on the r-Pi ethernet port) does it remain steady?" I am curious if this behavior is the same with your ThermoWorks situation?
Click to expand...

Just tested and yes if I touch the probe or its wire to the shield of the Ethernet port it remains steady.
 
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