Help with temp probes plz.

[Jeremy B]

First off, Im probably in the wrong sub-forum for this,so Im sry.

I'm relatively new to using smokers. I have an 18.5" WSM that I have used to smoke trout and pork back ribs a few times each. I have had great success each time with the help of these forums and general reading from the internet. Half of my cooks have been done with just the lid thermometer on the WSM. I quickly grew tired of constantly going outside to check the lid and bought a Maverick ET-733 unit. This is where my issues started...

The first few times I used this unit it worked great. I was smoking fish using the snake method with the briquettes and the temps were in the 100F and a touch above that range. Easy to use unit, cleaned as directed.. everything was great.

Now, the past two times I've used the smoker I've done pork back ribs I've smoked 4 pcs with 2 pcs per smoker rack and using 2 ET-733 probes. One on each rack to monitor the smoker's temperature in each rack. I do the 2-2-1 method.

The first 2 hours are great. I get the temp of the unit to 225 or so and it holds. The Maverick shows steady temps and I just glance at it now and then to make sure everything is good.

Here's what I can't figure out. The last two times I've done this 2-2-1 method the probes go completely haywire after the first 2 hours. I go out after two hours and the temp in the smoker is roughly 225. Probe #1 is top rack, #2 is lower rack.



I go out and take the lid off the smoker, unclip probe #1 and drape it on the outside of the smoker so that the probe isn't touch the sides of the smoker. I take the top rack out, then reach in and remove the meat on the lower rack without disturbing the lower probe. I replace the lid on the smoker and within 5-10 mins tops arrive back and put the meat back on for the next two hours. The meat is wrapped in individual tinfoil pouches at this point. The top probe is set back exactly as it was for the initial 2 hrs..

Now, this is what I don't understand because it has happened both of the last 2 times I've done this method at the exact same instance in the operation. When I put the lid back on the smoker the probes both start showing temps instantly in the 300-almost 400F range. Very quickly. I always freak out and take the lid off and check the probes. Neither are touching the tinfoil or the sides of the smoker. The are clipped a few inches in from the rack edges and are only touching the clips themselves.. Both instances of this happening have made me think something is spiking the temp of the coals and I start closing down vents very quickly... only to realize the lid temp on the smoker is still holding true to what it has all day..



There's no water getting on the probes. The only water is in the tinfoil covered bowl below. I have tried resetting the unit, switching the probes around, wiping the probes shiny clean with a slightly damp scrub pad.. nothing changes it. I ended up just taking out my 2nd probe and leaving my upper rack probe which I believe should be roughly 35-40F lower than the temp shown on the WSM's lid.

I end up just sitting there for the final 3 hours and using the lid thermometer exclusively and being totally frustrated. I can't figure out for the life of me what causes this to happen.

Later on I stuck the probes in my home over at 300F.



The oven was set to pre-heat for 300F. I don't know how accurate the oven itself is... Im not too concerned about the probes showing different temps since one was at the back of the oven and one was right near the door where Im assuming it just wasn't as hot. If I take the probes and set at room temp they give an accurate reading. So it just seems to go off the rails when in the smoker.. It makes me wonder if the meat going back on the racks now in tinfoil is somehow throwing the temps off? Can tinfoil do that? I'm hoping Im just missing something and it's an easy fix.

The wires on the probes aren't kinked, I clean the probes without direct water making sure to protect the spot where the wire enters the probe.. I know the probes are the weak point in the system. The unit itself has never given me any error codes. Just high readouts.

I should add that the transmitter part of the unit hangs from the smoker where the lid sits on. I kind of wedge the wire of the stand between the lid and the body of the smoker and it sits there held off the sides of the smoker. So it isn't getting hot.

I just hate how I start out nice and relaxed and happy the temp is holding for first 2 hours and then spend the next 3 hours beside the smoker because im getting readouts in the 350-400F range and playing with vents and trying to cool the coals when they don't seem to be the problem.. The meat turns out great. I know the temps aren't hitting over 100F higher than my lid is reading.

Thanks for reading.

 

[DCloin]

I had to order a replacement probe for my maverick, but that was because it quit reading completely. I'm not. Sure what the problem is but will be watching to see if you get an answer. BTW. Welcome to the forum, can't wait to see some of your cooks.

Darvin

 

[Randall S]

Have you tried the boiling water test? Also, in your 2nd picture, you don't show any reading for probe #2 yet you said you never disturbed it? Do you continue to monitor the probes the rest of the cook to see if the temps continue to register high?

 

[JBooker]

Any moisture ever run along the cable and get in to the plug in jack on the main body? I have had moisture run down the cables and in to the electronic box and cause all kinds of goofy things to happen.

 

[Jeremy B]

Have you tried the boiling water test? Also, in your 2nd picture, you don't show any reading for probe #2 yet you said you never disturbed it? Do you continue to monitor the probes the rest of the cook to see if the temps continue to register high?

I have not done the boiling water test. It seems to me that whenever I have issues with the probes reading wrong and I clean them and put them away for a few weeks, they works fine (at least initially) on my next cook. There is no reading on probe #2 in the picture because at that point I had given up on the probes. I had swapped them in the transmitter unit, re-set the unit, and cleaned the probes and when both were reading crazy high temps still I just ditched the lower one and couldn't be bothered taking out the top rack to hook it back on the lower rack.

 

[Jeremy B]

Any moisture ever run along the cable and get in to the plug in jack on the main body? I have had moisture run down the cables and in to the electronic box and cause all kinds of goofy things to happen.

I really can't say I've seen or noticed this. Both units are very clean and the only part of the cables that isn't shiny and clean is the bits going through the grommet into the smoker. Having said that, I guess the next time I run the smoker I will rig something up so that the transmitter doesn't sit/hang off of the smoker itself. Maybe keep the unit itself away from the smoker in general. Im aware that many people buy the replacement probes with longer wire but at this point I don't want to be throwing more money to Maverick if I can't pinpoint whether my probes are faulty of if its some form of operator error. I really am hoping its something I'm doing/not doing and not an equipment error. It's just odd to me that it always happens between taking the ribs off and returning them in foil in a 2-2-1 style smoke. Perhaps its a total coincidence. I'll just have to try it again.

 

[DaveW]

Yes, tin foil does reflect heat, so it's possible that it is having some effect. As for the temp probes against your oven, ovens do have temperature swings. That's the nature of thermostatically controlled equipment. Basically, with gas or electric ovens, you set a temp and the element or flame kicks on and begins to raise the temperature. They will stay on until the set temp is reached, then will turn off. BUT, the heat buildup kind of has momentum, like when you run real fast towards something and then suddenly try to stop. Same thing happens in ovens, leading to the temp overshooting just a bit. You also have the difference of where the temp probes of the Mav are located versus the oven's therm. There very well could be a 20 degree difference in the oven, at least in the beginning.