Schizophrenic Temperature Probe

cgriz

Member
Messages
8
Anyone ever get a probe that just wildly fluctuates like crazy? In every direction?

it doesn’t matter if it’s plugged into port A or port B, and it’s not calibration issue, as it just jumps around wildly from 27 degrees to 181 degrees and 91 degrees to 226 degrees all in the span of 30 seconds. I just bought this thing so I’m sort of at a loss here. Praise god the other probe seems to be more consistent.

This is it in action —
 
Anyone ever get a probe that just wildly fluctuates like crazy? In every direction?

it doesn’t matter if it’s plugged into port A or port B, and it’s not calibration issue, as it just jumps around wildly from 27 degrees to 181 degrees and 91 degrees to 226 degrees all in the span of 30 seconds. I just bought this thing so I’m sort of at a loss here. Praise god the other probe seems to be more consistent.

This is it in action —
Yeah, I'v got one that does that as well, I suspect it is a short someplace in the prob itself, although it's been behaving pretty good lately. Also, thanks for the prob connection picture, I think I'm going to incorporate your "O-ring" method for marking the prob connections.....(was using electrical tape).....
 
One of my probes does the same thing. For mine, it's where the cable goes into the probe (a cheap design). There should be some sort of strain relief at that spot. At the moment, it's not too annoying, though will probably get a replacement at some point.
 
Bit off topic...regarding the "O" rings in the photo. I bought them from Thermoworks. The rings turn black after 2 uses in the smoker. I asked Thermoworks about this and their response is that they know that they turn dark and they don't have a solution for it. I'd love to find a way to identify these probes that doesn't discolor.
 
Bit off topic...regarding the "O" rings in the photo. I bought them from Thermoworks. The rings turn black after 2 uses in the smoker. I asked Thermoworks about this and their response is that they know that they turn dark and they don't have a solution for it. I'd love to find a way to identify these probes that doesn't discolor.
Unfortunately, anything that's put inside of the grill chamber will discolor (smoke), so I would just mark the ends that plug into the controller.
 
Sounds like a bad prob, make sure the little nuts on the controller prob ports are tight. Give RecTeq a call and they will make it right.
Yeah, I have mine tight, but I’ve noticed the issue happens regardless of which port it’s in, so it’s appears to be probe related rather than port related.
 
Yeah, I'v got one that does that as well, I suspect it is a short someplace in the prob itself, although it's been behaving pretty good lately. Also, thanks for the prob connection picture, I think I'm going to incorporate your "O-ring" method for marking the prob connections.....(was using electrical tape).....
I believe the probe jumps are related to stress on the probe line. I was having this problem a few cooks ago. During my current cook I inserted two probes into a whole brisket and they were even for hours. After I checked on it one jumped up about 10 degrees and when I checked an hour later I noticed one line was being pinched by the door. So I'm thinking the time it was real chaotic the string must have had a kink or a tight spot that kept getting agitated.
 
Are probes universal? I have a new pair Traeger sent me & never used.
 
I know the RecTeq ones will be replace for free if in warranty but I stopped messing with theirs and got the elgin probes off amazon which work with RecTeq and WAY more accurate.

https://www.amazon.com/Upgraded-Temperature-Probe-Recteq-Grills/dp/B09LMQ2Q8K/ref=sr_1_3?crid=3R2R46C9YERV4&keywords=elgin+bbq+probe&qid=1663784481&sprefix=elgin+bbq+probes,aps,382&sr=8-3
Those look great, if only for the strain relief where the cable enters the probe. I am going to pick up a couple of them myself.
 

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