Thermoworks Dot flashes “No Probe”. How can I fix?

[Mike-GA]

Last night my Thermoworks Dot rejected the Meat Probe while indirect cooking my 1st beer can chicken in my 22” Kettle (using 2 Weber Char-Baskets flanking a drip pan in middle). I used probe about 8 times and started this cook reading perfectly. Well… the 7lb chicken toppled safely over the drip pan with probe still inserted into breast.

…But, some excess wire hovered closely over the grate above a side Char-Basket for about 15 seconds but wire did not touch grate. Dot started flashing "No Probe". I don’t see an issues visually on wire – no crimps, no frayed wires, nothing melted… First 10 inches of wire near probe end has normal soot and rest of wire looks new. The TW Dot works fine with an Air Probe I tested, so I think it is just the meat probe.

Is there any way to salvage the probe?

 

[Keith P]

Don’t know about salvaging probe but ThermoWorks is having a 20% off sale so a new one would be pretty reasonable. I have deep fried a probe or two over the years

 

[Randy]

To me it's either the battery or the probe. I try replacing whichever wants the cheapest first

 

[Mike-GA]

Don’t know about salvaging probe but ThermoWorks is having a 20% off sale so a new one would be pretty reasonable. I have deep fried a probe or two over the years

Good Idea -- that's a good deal. I made an ordered yesterday to get a Smoke at 40% off and got a back-up angle probe at 20% off. Lucky timing. Yeah, this was definitely my fault. I tried to stuff a slightly too large 7lb chicken into the Kettle. I used brawn over brains to make it fit which crumpled the beer can, beer spilled out, and the bird eventually fell.

 

[Mike-GA]

To me it's either the battery or the probe. I try replacing whichever wants the cheapest first

Thanks Randy, that makes good sense. It's the probe. I tried plugging in an ambient air probe and it worked so the Dot main unit is OK. Luckily I had ordered an angled probe.

I was hoping to fix this probe so I'd have a back-up for the next time I make a mistake.

 

[DanHoo]

spare probes are a good thing.

You can wrap the cord with some HD foil and it may help protect it and have it last longer. .

 

[Mike-GA]

spare probes are a good thing.

You can wrap the cord with some HD foil and it may help protect it and have it last longer. .

I'll have to get some spare probes. Will have to try HD foil. Thanks.

 

[David-B]

I like the thermoworks units but not impressed with the probes , had to replace mine already in less than a year so I am being extra careful with them now. My cheap taylor and maverick probes have worked for over a decade and I abuse them

 

[Mike-GA]

I like the thermoworks units but not impressed with the probes , had to replace mine already in less than a year so I am being extra careful with them now. My cheap taylor and maverick probes have worked for over a decade and I abuse them

I’m going to baby the new probe when it comes in since ThermoWorks probes seem pretty fragile. They are not cheap even on sale.

Has anyone heard of good alternative probes that work well with ThermoWorks Dot and Smoke?

 

[Chris Allingham]

I’m going to baby the new probe when it comes in since ThermoWorks probes seem pretty fragile.

ThermoWorks has an article about what NOT to do when placing probes in grills and smokers to extend probe life.

Probe Safety: A Guide for BBQ Smokers

If you want the longest life for your probes, you need to take care of them. Here we present four common mistakes to avoid in using your probes in the smoker.

blog.thermoworks.com

 

[Mike-GA]

ThermoWorks has an article about what NOT to do when placing probes in grills and smokers to extend probe life.

Probe Safety: A Guide for BBQ Smokers

If you want the longest life for your probes, you need to take care of them. Here we present four common mistakes to avoid in using your probes in the smoker.

blog.thermoworks.com

Very helpful, Thanks. I especially like the tip of probe placement over a water filled drip pan.

 

[BrianO]

I am Thermowerks fan. I have 4 of their head units. And 4 Thermopens. Some components are over ten years old. I have never had a failure of any part, including my probes. I do treat them carefully. In my case that means not letting them touch coals, go under water or crimp the cables. So far so good. I find the Thermowerks products to be highly accurate and durable with minimum care.

 

[Mike-GA]

I am Thermowerks fan. I have 4 of their head units. And 4 Thermopens. Some components are over ten years old. I have never had a failure of any part, including my probes. I do treat them carefully. In my case that means not letting them touch coals, go under water or crimp the cables. So far so good. I find the Thermowerks products to be highly accurate and durable with minimum care.

I really like ThermoWorks product too... so much so I bought more. My probe did fail likely due to my error though I don't abuse or push the products. Initially, I was hoping I could somehow remove damaged parts of wire and splice good parts back together. After the failure I saw no visible damage on the outside so I heated probe/wire in oven 2 times for 30 mins @ 300 degrees to clear out any moisture but that didn't correct issue. I couldn't see where it failed even after taking apart and inspecting internals of entire wire. I think the issue was in the probe transition (the pill shape area between wire and needle of probe)

After reading the link Chris linked above, I have the feeling that because I placed the probe transition over water filled drip pan rather than shielding it over the mass of chicken that steam may have somehow penetrated the probe transition. I think this was the more likely the issue rather than the chicken falling over alone. I will treat the Pro-Series probes more carefully going forward. ...like being more cognizant of placement of the probe transition and DanHoo's suggestion of using aluminum foil.