wiring up thermocouple to jack - just cut and screw wire on? or solder?


 
R

RKHanso

TVWBB Fan
I just received my yellow thermocouple jack from China/ebay. The connector screws are much smaller and a tighter fit than the probe connectors will fit into. Do I simply cut the lug/connectors off the probe, strip the wire and screw them under the terminals on the connector?
Should I try to solder them on?

I see there's a tiny spot on the jack to put something around the wire for a strain relief, but I'm not sure what will fit in there. I think the smallest zip-tie I have won't fit in there.

What have others done for this? I checked the build instructions on the wiki and didn't see anything.

IMG_20160325_104816.jpg
 
Just cut the wires, strip off some insulator and screw them on. Red will most likely be + and blue -
 
Steve_M said:
Just cut the wires, strip off some insulator and screw them on. Red will most likely be + and blue -
Click to expand...

Thanks again Steve_M - as always.

I did as you suggested. A tight fit but it is together. I may put an extra zip-tie around the plastic cap on the jack.
 
Thermocouple wire colors

Steve_M said:
Just cut the wires, strip off some insulator and screw them on. Red will most likely be + and blue -
Click to expand...

Red on a thermocouple is Neg and the other color... White/Black some times blue.... will be the Pos.

If both of your wires are black insulation then just take a guess and test it out.

Simple test..stick the probe under the cold water out of the sink.. If it reads backwards.... switch the wires.

Also. try to connect the wires directly to the connector ... as.. If it's a good connector, the pins are made from different metals.
Connecting the wire directly to the new connector will give you a better reading.

Type K (chromel – alumel) is the most common general purpose thermocouple.

Hope this helps.

Matt
 
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Also, through some recent tests, I have found that it is a good idea to ground the SS braid of the cable to the ground side of the plug. Alot of cheap 12v power supplies can put out quite a bit of noise, and I have noticed that by doing this, it eliminates almost all of it. Some thermocouples are grounded in the sleeve themselves (junction touches sleeve inside) but wouldn't hurt to ground at the plug as well.
 
Good point.... My father... GRHS was an electrician and told me always to ground ONLY one end of the shield... If you ground both ends you make a ground cable and not a shield.
He told me to ground the meter side.... not the sender (TC's) in this case.
In other words... I had a killer radio in one of my cars with shielded speaker cables and the ground was at the Radio only. This helped so I did not hear the spark plug noise in the speakers.
 
WBegg said:
Also, through some recent tests, I have found that it is a good idea to ground the SS braid of the cable to the ground side of the plug. Alot of cheap 12v power supplies can put out quite a bit of noise, and I have noticed that by doing this, it eliminates almost all of it. Some thermocouples are grounded in the sleeve themselves (junction touches sleeve inside) but wouldn't hurt to ground at the plug as well.
Click to expand...

Can you elaborate on this or provide me some pictures? I've been having and continue to have what appears to be probe noise issues that I cannot get to the bottom of. My thermocouple appears to generally work good but the probes go nuts near the start of my smoke sessions (electric smoker with SSR control).

For example:
r0YahWW.jpg
 
Tony L-Iowa said:
Can you elaborate on this or provide me some pictures? I've been having and continue to have what appears to be probe noise issues that I cannot get to the bottom of. My thermocouple appears to generally work good but the probes go nuts near the start of my smoke sessions (electric smoker with SSR control).

For example:
r0YahWW.jpg
Click to expand...

I just do this on Thermocouples, as that is where I was having my issues. Seems you have found the problem, though (other thread)?
 
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