Tel Tru Help

[j biesinger]

I'm ready for a permanently mounted therm in my lid. I've tried every other option out there, and I'm at the point where I'm basically cooking by feel and just need a rough estimate of where the wsm is at. So being tired of corks in my vent holes, I'm ready to perforate my lid.

My q partner and I are up to 3 wsm's, and I figure it might make things easier if we have the same system when we run all three at a comp.

I'm not sure if we want to get 3 BQ 300's since that will set us back over $100. Partner's not sure he wants a 1/2" hole in his lid.

I was wondering if anyone has had any experiences with the BQ 250 or BQ 225. The 225 has a 1/4" threaded section and comes with a wing nut, and is about 10 bucks cheaper per therm.

Can you calibrate any of the Tel Tru's?

Does anyone know if their is a promo code for Tel-Tru kicking around? it seems like the link here has been removed.

 

[Brandon A]

Get the BQ 300's

He wont have a half inch hole in his lid when he gets the therm in it....seriously, they are beautiful therms and worth the money, think of the difference between a 2" (common looking) dial and a nice big ol 3". Worth 10 bucks imo. I cant help with the promo code, maybe its been discontinued?

 

[j biesinger]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Get the BQ 300's Smiler He wont have a half inch hole in his lid when he gets the therm in it....seriously, they are beautiful therms and worth the money, think of the difference between a 2" (common looking) dial and a nice big ol 3". Worth 10 bucks imo. I cant help with the promo code, maybe its been discontinued? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

they mentioned something on their site about calling in and order if anyone had a "valid code." and a rep mentioned that they were updating the site. It made me think that they were changing things.

I have to keep in mind that I'm buying 3 therms, a $10 difference is actually $30.

can you calibrate the 300?

 

[Pat McCreight]

I owned a couple of the BQ300, black model, and you could not calibrate them. I sold the 2 WSM's that those were attached to. The WSM I still have has a white, non-bbq themed (don't know p/n) tel-tru that IS able to be calibrated.

 

[j biesinger]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">and you could not calibrate them. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

according to the tel-tru rep, any model number with an "r" in it is capable of being calibrated.

How often if ever do tel-tru's need to be calibrated? sometimes I wonder if the ability to calibrate might mean they are easier to get off temp.

 

[Brandon A]

To me, having a dead accurate lid therm isnt that big of a deal, if it is +/- a few degrees nothing will change. I'm sure mine reads a bit off because its got a layer of bbgoodness and I dont bother cleaning it. Tel-tru's are well calibrated out of the box and they are pretty heavy duty which leads me to think they will stay calibrated.

 

[Eric G]

I have a non-bq300 tell tru themometer mounted in the lid of my WSM. basically I followed the instructions here on the site for mounting a thermometer. Basically I got the 3in dial with 4in stem bi-metal thermometer 50-400*F I think thats the range. Bascially since I have the maverick et-73 and the stoker I rarely look at it. But I am happy I got it.hth

 

[Pat McCreight]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by j biesinger:
How often if ever do tel-tru's need to be calibrated? sometimes I wonder if the ability to calibrate might mean they are easier to get off temp. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Probably not often. I use mine in the lid more as a backup, as I usually have a stoker pit probe in there as well.

I disagree that the models that can be calibrated are easier to get off temp. You need to insert an allen wrench into dial, right by the stem, in order to calibrate. It would be near impossible to do that by accident.

 

[j biesinger]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">To me, having a dead accurate lid therm isnt that big of a deal, if it is +/- a few degrees nothing will change. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I agree. that's why I'm moving to the lid therm, just for a little bit of extra data. However, one of the reasons for doing this is to get some consistency between the three cookers we use in comps. If one wsm runs cold or hot, I'd like to know that and not just be a bi-product of an off therm.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">I disagree that the models that can be calibrated are easier to get off temp. You need to insert an allen wrench into dial, right by the stem, in order to calibrate. It would be near impossible to do that by accident.

</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

the therms I'm use to have a small nut where the stem meets the dial. grasping the nut with pliers and turning the dial calibrates it. I just figured out the allen wrench deal and agree that would be hard to mess with inadvertenly.