Temp Probe thru Screw Hole?


 
H

Howard V

TVWBB Member
Hello all,

I have an older WSM that did not come with the built-in temp probe grommets. I use the Maverick temp monitor with 1 probe for meat temp and 1 probe for grate temp. I had been creative in getting them inside the WSM. I use the vent door for one (wires are smashed up when closed) and I go thru the vent hole on the lid for the other probe. Needless to say, it's a pain to work around this during the cook.

I was thinking of loosening up two of the screw holes near the top grate. I will lose some smoke thru them but I think it's minimal. This way, I have a dedicated place to insert my temp probes.

I also saw videos of folks drilling holes into their WSM. I am not very handy and don't have the special tools at home. I prefer a low tech solution!

Thoughts...advice?

Howard
 
I just put my Thermoworks probes between the lid and middle section. I haven’t had a problem with them yet.
 

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Take a Dremel tool and cut a small notch in the barrel rim, you won’t lose enough smoke for it to matter and it’s a really cheap solution. You can do it with a hacksaw too for that matter. Soon enough it will get gunned up and won’t rust.
The guy that I got mine from had already done that particular project. It works very nicely.
 
You don’t need to do anything to your WSM unless you want to. Thermoworks probes work great between the lid and middle section.
 
For simplicity's sake here's a link to Cajun Bandit's sensor grommet which they offer in either 1/4" or 3/8".

That said it's just a brass sleeve and collar, both of which are available at your local hardware store for a couple bucks. Do you have a drill? That's all you need. Get a drill bit the same diameter as the brass sleeve, drill your hole and insert sleeve from the outside, slide the collar over on the inside and tighten. I would go with the 3/8" grommet.
 
To be honest Jeff, you are right, you can simply run the wire under the lid...BUT, you do run the risk of damaging wires due to the contour of the lid to barrel fit. The notch is easy to do, it makes life easier. I have heard people on this forum mention probe wire problems fairly often, I have the original leads for my two probe unit and running them through the notch, no kink, no metal fatigue, no failure these are four years old. I do have a backup since they offer free replacements o figure having a spare is like having a synch cord when photographing a wedding! They are cheap(or free) and well worth stocking!
 
Howard V said:
I was thinking of loosening up two of the screw holes near the top grate. I will lose some smoke thru them but I think it's minimal. This way, I have a dedicated place to insert my temp probes.
Click to expand...

At first I thought no way will a probe fit thru a 1/4" hole ( at least my Thermoworks one won't)
But I checked my old Mav and yes they will. I was another one that used to put the meat probe under the lid. ( I never had a problem, doing it gently)
And I always let my pit probe dangle or hang out in the top vent.
I got away from using probes unless I really need to nail something like a nice roast.

Tim
 
Howard V said:
Does your wires get all smashed with the lid closing?
Click to expand...
Don't run the wire out perpendicular to the edge of the middle section. That creates a sharp 90* bend in the wire.

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Instead, run the wire out more parallel to the edge of the middle section. That creates less of a bend.

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I run two wires out from under the lid this way, no problem.
 
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This eyelet kit from BBQ Guru replaces one of the WSM screws while securing the grill strap. The eyelet does not work with ThermoWorks probes with plastic handles. It does work with handleless probes like those on Maverick therms.

bbqguru.com

Weber Smokey Mountain Cooker Eyelet Kit

Designed for Weber Smokey Mountain Cooker, these eyelets make it easy to run probes and wires into your cooker without having to use the access door or lid.
bbqguru.com bbqguru.com

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Well, I finally gained the courage to use my dremmel on my beloved WSM yesterday. I almost changed my mind when I first made contact with my blade on the WSM metal and the blade quickly bounced off and did not make an incision into metal. It just chipped some paint off....I started to panic. At that point, I thought I made a mistake on doing this project since I am not very handy. I was thinking maybe the BBQ gods were telling me to stop. I had to willed myself to try again.

There was a learning curve to cutting metal since I never done it before. I had to go slowly and work the blade to dig away at the metal. It took me about 10 mins of careful cutting but I was able to cut a notch about a half inch deep. I used my Maverick probes to test to make sure there's enough space and it was easily below the lid. Very happy with the results...no more bend wires under lid or clumsily hanging inside the vent holes. This was a practical and cheap solution.

Thanks to everyone for their insights and suggestions!
 
Howard V said:
Well, I finally gained the courage to use my dremmel on my beloved WSM yesterday. I almost changed my mind when I first made contact with my blade on the WSM metal and the blade quickly bounced off and did not make an incision into metal. It just chipped some paint off....I started to panic. At that point, I thought I made a mistake on doing this project since I am not very handy. I was thinking maybe the BBQ gods were telling me to stop. I had to willed myself to try again.

There was a learning curve to cutting metal since I never done it before. I had to go slowly and work the blade to dig away at the metal. It took me about 10 mins of careful cutting but I was able to cut a notch about a half inch deep. I used my Maverick probes to test to make sure there's enough space and it was easily below the lid. Very happy with the results...no more bend wires under lid or clumsily hanging inside the vent holes. This was a practical and cheap solution.

Thanks to everyone for their insights and suggestions!
Click to expand...
I am glad it was a success for you, I would have been as nervous as you were, I would just have to add that if I was, to have done that there would have been a lot of cursing involved! 😁
 
Anyone have an angle grinder I can borrow?

Because after this weekend's fiasco, I am 100% on team notch/slot. That grommet is just turrible!!

I finally sprung for a ThermPro and took it out Friday evening for the maiden voyage. Was looking forward to how "easy" it was going to be versus my prior low tech/old school method of using the lid thermometer and hand held thermometer. Think again.

Fired up the cooker and loaded up the pork butts. Then I started to learn what a completely lousy solution the grommet is.

Hmm, how do you get the probes up to the top grate when the grommet is located below? Oh, I guess you have to fish the probes up and around the top grate. Which is now hot and has pounds of messy meat on it.

OK, I guess you have to remember to put the probes through the grommet before you load the cooker up. OK but to do that you have to remember to not have the probes plugged into the base unit -- or else you'll have the base unit swinging around and banging into things. Many of which are hot metal.

OK, I guess you also need to remember to put the probes through the grommet before you fire up the cooker and put the barrel on. Since anything done after involves handling hot metal and also getting blasted right in the face with copious amounts of heat and smoke.

Also, you have to be vewy vewy careful and gentle when putting the probes through the grommet. Since the grommet can easily come out of the hole (mine did). And is crazy difficult to replace after becoming dislodged. Took me about 30 minutes to get it reset. Seriously thought of just cooking with smoke streaming out of a 2 inch hole from the side of my barrel.

And relodge-ing the grommet is made ever more tough when doing it surrounded by smoke, flame, hot metal and in darkness. One of the big benefits of using the digital therms is to make it easier to do overnight cooks. So it is going to be common for all this grommet-ing to occur in partial to complete darkness.

But I finally got it hooked up and working after about an hour of fire-ey, smoke-ey, dark grommet bumbling.

So what happens if I want to access the butt on the lower grate? Un-snake and re-snake.

What happens if I want to add water to the pan from the top? Un-snake and re-snake.

What happens if I want to rotate the grate as a way to turn the meat? Un-snake and re-snake.

What happens if I want to rotate the meat between top and bottom grate? Un-snake and re-snake.

Are you kidding me Weber? Did anyone actually bother to field test this thing before you made it standard equipment? Was it designed by the same engineer who made the water pan like five feet deep? The grommet is a decent solution if you only/always cook on the lower grate. Otherwise, it totally sucks. Sheesh!!!!

Until I lay hands on an angle grinder, I'm just going to pinch my wires. Or just revert to old school -- the lid therm for ambient and hand probe to check the meat. So much easier than doing the snake dance ten times a cook.

I'm actually looking forward to doing some metal violence to my otherwise great WSM 18. Revenge that should help me recover from my smoke inhalation and PTGD (post traumatic grommet disorder).
 
Just did the notch mod this week on my 11-year old 18" using an angle grinder. Made me a bit nervous, even though the WSM has some years on it. The job went well - did it in steps, checking with probe wires every time until the notch was deep enough (but not too deep). Looking forward to trying it out, if the rain would hold off long enough...
 
Borrowed my neighbor's Dremel this week to cut the notch. My cut was a little ragged and a little bigger than needed to create space for the wires. But it was way neater than if I'd used a hacksaw. And no fingers were lost in the process.

Did an overnight cook yesterday. Sooooooo much better than messing with the silly silicone grommet. Weber should just deliver these with the notch cut for you.
 
The notch is so easy and works so well I can't imagine why anyone would resist, lol
It's not like a new car with it's first scratch.... Just Do It!, lol
 
I think I'm going to convert to the notch. I have the threaded tube in the hole drilled in the middle section. It has worked great for me with two Maverick temp probes and the grate prober for my BBQ Guru. Just finished a cook of 3 10 lb. pork shoulders and a 16 lb. brisket. When I was setting up last night, the Maverick was; misbehaving. One temp channel had no reading. Also the remote would not turn on or off. I had to pull out a battery to turn it off.

The Maverick has given me years of service so I send it off to the great smoker in the sky happily. I'd like to replace it with the Thermoworks Smoke 2. But the probes won't fit through the tube. So it's time to convert to the notch and put the cap on the tube.
 
I did the notch at the far back of the WSM and it turns out to be just a bit too far from the nearby table so there is no place to sit the transmitter. Picked up one of these off flea-bay but haven’t made time to install it
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Not really sure where I want to put it yet.
 
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