TempSpike hate?

[Mosca]

We were talking about this in a different topic, and I wanted to split it off to keep them separate.

I’m curious why folks are down on the TempSpike. Up front: I don’t like it, either.

But I just tested it against my ChefAlarm. And they are both spot on. Water boils at 208.83° at my elevation; TempSpike read 209°, ChefAlarm read 208.9°. So the reasons I don’t like it have a lot more to do with not liking the app than not liking the thermometer itself. That, plus I have one working TempSpike and one dead TempSpike; but again, I only paid for one of them. But also, 50% failure rate. Small sample, but 50%.

As far as the ambient temperature reading, on a wireless insert thermometer that will be accurate, but not necessarily useful, regardless of the manufacturer. FireBoard warns about this in their documentation that accompanies the Pulse: “Lab testing shows that the external sensor’s readings vary from ambient grill temperatures by 10-30°F, depending on insertion depth.” They call it the “heat sink” effect; I’ve also seen it called a “meat shadow”. Basically, the temperature is lower near the cold meat. Huh. Go figure. So having an ambient reading is a feature that doesn’t help, and actually causes confusion.

So I’m going to keep mine. It should be useful for sous vide and rotisserie cooking, as long as it keeps working.

[Jfrosty27]

I have two.

Poor range, terrible app, unreliable temps. No I don’t like them.

[DennyWoo]

Ditto, ditto, ditto, and ditto.

[Alan Brice]

Ambient is a separate animal with a cable and does what it is supposed to do.
Glad I waited for the ThermoWorks RFX Gateway. No wires was the intention so Ill settle for one out of five temp probes with a hard wire.
Never tried the freeze/boil test. Never felt the need. I cannot say enough good things about this product.

[klflowers]

I have 2 sets. One of the probes in the first set failed almost immediately. Customer service was great. They sent me a second set quickly. The meat temps were spot on. But the range sucks. I lose the signal from all of my grills as soon as I close the lids and walk into the house. On all of the pits. And it is maybe 25, 30 feet at most. Through a window. So it is useless. Never had that problem with my XR50. The probes are wired, but the transmitter/receiver work every time. Even when I take the receiver into my office which is at the other end of the house.

This is from my dining room table. I lose the signal from this distance. I am a hater

[Alan Brice]

I think yer gettin interference from the slats on the window. 8-O!

[LA Pork Butt]

Wireless thermometers that read ambient temperature are not reading the temp at grill level like wired probes, but are rather reading the ambient temperature near the meat. That is why there is difference in the readings. The exterior meat temperature and the internal meat temperature is what they use to calculate remaining cook time. My experience with estimated cook time is that it is not constant but is constantly changing. I use a MEATER Plus.

[klflowers]

I never thought about that but you are right. Another reason to stick with my xr50

[Mosca]

I turned the ambient reading off on my TempSpike app. That was a feature that I didn’t need.

[Mosca]

I spent a while with my non-working TempSpike, and after a deletion of the app, and a reset of the base, I re-paired the spike to the base, and then the base to the reinstalled app, and now I have two working TempSpikes. I tested it against the ChefAlarm, and it’s as accurate as the other probes.

At least for now, I’ll use these indoors. I get a good signal from the oven to the living room, anyhow!

[realdocBBQ]

I spent a while with my non-working TempSpike, and after a deletion of the app, and a reset of the base, I re-paired the spike to the base, and then the base to the reinstalled app, and now I have two working TempSpikes. I tested it against the ChefAlarm, and it’s as accurate as the other probes.

At least for now, I’ll use these indoors. I get a good signal from the oven to the living room, anyhow!

Poor app, lots of signal dropping.

The biggest issue was that 2 of the 4 I've had lost their ability to communicate with their own base, to the point that they wouldn't charge, I guess. The only way I knew which one went to which base, because apparently they were serial-paired and wouldn't even recognize to charge in the incorrect base, was the put each one in each base and see if it would start charging. When I had 3 at one time, one stopped charging and wouldn't communicate. When I contacted ThermoPro, they immediately sent me a replacement. I inquired about a way to get it to 're-pair', but they had no answers, only a replacement. Then one of them (not sure if it was an original or the replacement) did the same thing a few cooks and a few months later.

Add to that that poor app experience (which admittedly is better than it used to be with some added features like single probe graphing but still not the most ergonomic of apps) and the frequent disconnects while cooking, even when sitting right next to the smoker, and I eventually just threw them away. I didn't want to give them away and have someone out there cussing me for 'gifting' them with a lemon. <sigh>

Also, when I found out 3 was as many as the app would EVER be able to monitor at one time, I gave up on them at that point.

<edit> The ambient temp reads I wasn't worried about. It seems that's an issue with all wireless thermometers, which I understand.

[HawkerXP]

I have two TS that work fine for me. Yes, I had to fiddle with the positioning of the base to get max range with my phone. I also know, thanks to AR that the ambient temp is not to be trusted as it is too close to the meat. In the beginning my probe charge wasn't making it through a cook. I apparently wasn't cleaning the end cap good enough after use. Since then, no problems.

[realdocBBQ]

There ya go... Mosca's always in the know!

[Mosca]

I found out when I was looking up the instruction manual. The series is on the bottom of the base,

[HawkerXP]

Ok, my model is the 960. realdocBBQ

[RichieB]

As I mentioned in a previous thread, unreliable connection, the app has a lot to be desired and ambient temperature is useless. One broke and I was provided another, so no issue with customer support. The RFX appears to be a game changer. I've only used it once, indoors with a spoon roast in a slow cooker. I'm going tomorrow to get the protein needed to do Texas Red Chili on Tuesday. I'll get something to do on the PBJ later this week. Weather looks favorable. I like the idea of using TS for SV.

[Mosca]

I put one of mine inside the Weber Kettle and the other inside the BGE, shut the lids, and came inside and sat in my TV chair. I have readings for internal and ambient on both probes. The bases are in the kitchen, about halfway between the probes and my phone.

[realdocBBQ]

I was usually able to get connection - but it would just randomly drop out. Really frustrating, sometimes for minutes or an hour or more. And if I remember right, it would restart the cook sometimes, requiring me to choose my settings again, like the target temps and alarms, etc.

[Mosca]

Well that would stink.

I’ll try a few cooks with them, but I really think they’ll be best for sous vide and indoors. I have the FireBoard Drive2, and Mrs Mosca got me a Pulse for the holiday. With almost all of the cooking just for the two of us, this is more than enough food monitoring.

[tstalafuse]

Mine just works. I don't experience dropouts, inaccurate readings, etc.., but I am using it strictly on the pellet grill when using the rotisserie, so ambient temp is what whatever the grill says it is. I guess I just got lucky in that it wasn't produced on a Monday or Friday.

[shify]

My hate is 100% related to connectivity issues. My PBC/Kettle are probably less than 5 feet away from my house. When using the TempSpike, I am only able to connect if I prop my phone up on my window ledge closest to the PBC/Kettle which is literally slightly more than arms length away. If I move even a foot or two further in my house it disconnects. I have put the base next to the grill, inside the house, nothing works.

Being it won't connect to my phone and thus I cannot monitor the temp unless I'm literally staring at the grill from a window 5 feet away it is practically useless to me. I guess I can use it in my oven but if its indoors, I might as well just use my Thermoworks Dot or any of the other probes I have being I can hear the alarm or see the screen if I'm in my house. So the TempSpike just takes up space in my drawer and frankly should probably just toss it.

[J-Melt]

I bought one back when there was still a lot of praise for them. I returned it because I was hoping I could use it all by itself on a cooker for ambient. That plan was quashed very quickly. Bought the SNS-500 instead and it has done its job quite well, though not with the 2/3 city block range as the Somke x2!