Need help finding leave-in thermometer with long leads...
I've been searching and searching, but all of the cables on the leave-in thermometers max out at 78". My smoker is 60" long, and to be safe, I think I need at least 85" of cable (i.e., not counting the probe itself) to be inside the cooker. That takes me to the feedthroughs, so it would be nice to have another 30"-36" from the feedthroughs until the cable plugs into the unit. I'd love a unit that talked to my phone/tablet (distance is short), but the thing needs to be long enough. I've checked with every company I can find - no dice. Needless to say, I'll have to be willing to pay for this, and I am. What good is having the awesome new stick burner if you can't monitor food temps?
Scotch: Current favorite- The Arran (anything by them), Glenmorangie 12yr Lasanta, sherry cask finished. The Balvenie Double Wood, also like Oban 18yr, and The Glenlivet Nadurra (Oloroso sherry cask finished) among others. Neat please.
About meReal name: Aaron
Location: Farwell, Michigan- near Clare. (dead center of lower peninsula)
Occupation:
Healthcare- Licensed & Registered Respiratory Therapist (RRT) at MyMichigan Health, a University of Michigan Health System.
I second finding a different path. I go under my lid, just be careful not to slam the lid. My probe wires have held up fine but I know some don't like the sound of this idea.
Also, Meater is a new company coming out with the first ever double-wireless food & cooker probes. Check 'em out!
I'm cooking on a brand new stick burner made by the guys at Shirley Fabrication in Tuscaloosa (highly recommended). I guess I could cut into my brand new to and weld new ports on, but there's not much room. I'm loathe to run the wires under the lid - the seal is tight and I don't want to screw that up.
I called Thermoworks and spoke with them at length (no pun intended). Their best solution was custom probes, with a 4-6 week lead time. When I asked them for a quote, I never got one. 😒 Disappointing.
I've seen he Meater products and chipped in for their Kickstarter campaign. Just waiting on delivery, but I don't know if that signal can get out of my cooker...
Scotch: Current favorite- The Arran (anything by them), Glenmorangie 12yr Lasanta, sherry cask finished. The Balvenie Double Wood, also like Oban 18yr, and The Glenlivet Nadurra (Oloroso sherry cask finished) among others. Neat please.
About meReal name: Aaron
Location: Farwell, Michigan- near Clare. (dead center of lower peninsula)
Occupation:
Healthcare- Licensed & Registered Respiratory Therapist (RRT) at MyMichigan Health, a University of Michigan Health System.
Huskee - The problem is that the last 3' of wires (practically) need to be outside the cooker. The end of the wire is (generally speaking) not designed to be extended, so is plastic or rubber or something else that won't taste good. That means that the "plug" and some length of cable (to connect to the unit) needs to be outside the cooker; I estimate that to be 3' or so. That leaves almost nothing for inside the smoker -- and certainly nothing for food near the firebox...
You can see the two ports for the main cooking chamber on the left of the picture; the other two ports are for the warming chamber (above the firebox). There's a stainless steel shelf that runs in front of the unit (I'm waiting on the support bar for it). Does this help?
Maybe you just have to cook with the probe 8" away from where it should be.
I know that's not a good answer but sort of looks like the hand youve been delt : (
@​abkaye, Dang that is a sweet cooker, One idea would be to remove a gauge from the lid and use that port and mount the digital to the counter weight. Or drill a couple holes and run a pipe tap in the center under where your shelf will mount, I'm sure the material is like 1/4" thick so there would be enough material to tap for a fitting without welding.
It just seems counterintuitive to me that the solution would have to be resorting to modifying this pit. After all, all of the leads we're talking about are simple thermocouples. Instead of cheap plastic ends, you could use alumina ends (a little brittle, but would take the heat with zero difficulty). Extending the thermocouple wire is really easy. Part of me wants to make my own, but I'd have to sacrifice the nice probe ends (the part in the meat).
It's not like these cables are rare and exotic things...
Its not really about the pit is it? Its about the BBQ right? I mean the art is not in the cooker but what comes out of the cooker. The pit no matter the cost is just a tool.
Here's the deal. You cant find a longer cable so you have to settle or modify what you got. End of the day its all about the meat.
I think the solution you want is going to have to come from your hands.
I wont lie. I cant wait to follow that cable build. Teach us something. This is going to be awesome!
So I finally received some components to start making my own thermocouples, and I was quite surprised with the results.
A thermocouple (k-type) is simply two wires of differeing composition, when welded together, create a voltage. This voltage varies with temp, and it's this voltage that the HM...
This thread is located on the HeaterMeter sub-forums. I highly recommend the HeaterMeter. It is extremely flexible and powerful. You might not need it for the temperature controlling functions with that sweet rig, but it can do all kinds of reporting and alerts/alarms for you. Web based output. Wifi Connected. Android and iOS apps. Some of the members of the community have built them with 4 K-Type thermocouple connections. So you can monitor your pit very well. Check it out.
Armored Meat Temperature Probe Cooper-Atkins Model 50361-K For insertion or immersion applications where enhanced durability and a flexible armored cable is desired.
Rfuilrez - This looks pretty cool. I'll check it out. I'm in the middle of making the thermocouples - that's the easy part. If you have the 4-channel wifi iOS part done, I'd love to talk about it.
One of the best parts about this project is the community that's grown around the HeaterMeter device here at TVWBB. Everyone wants to help each other build the best grill controller they can, solving problems, sharing ideas and inventing mechanisms. Some of the most difficult help to find though...
And see if some one can hook you up with an all thermocouple version.
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