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Maverick ET-732 Wireless Thermometer Review

jflewis88
jflewis88 Posts: 2
edited January 2012 in EggHead Forum
Hey, All -

I just posted a review of the Maverick ET-732 on Amazon, where I purchased it.  Thought I'd post it here as well, as there seems to be a fair bit of discussion about it and like products on this site...  

**********
Purchased this item with high hopes, based on mostly good reviews here.

I grill with a Big Green Egg. My (wonderful!) wife got me the BBQ Guru temp control unit for Christmas. Love the Guru, but it's not wireless, so I've been using the Maverick ET-732 in conjunction. The Guru is meant to maintain the correct temp, I used the Maverick to alert me in case something went wrong.

Got the grill set at 250 degrees. Had the temp probes for the Guru and the Maverick in the same exact spot. Both had been calibrated properly. For the first four hours of an 18-hour smoke, the temps registered within 1 to 2 degrees of each other. Everything working perfectly! Woo hoo!

About 4 hours in, the Maverick alerted me to a temperature spike - it shot from 250 to 302 in a matter of about 2 minutes. I ran outside to see what was happening. The BBQ Guru temp probe was still registering 250. The dome thermometer on the Egg was about 240. I peeked inside to see if the Maverick probe had come loose and moved closer to the fire. Not the case - everything still in exactly the same spot. 

Within about three hours, the two probes were back in sync - momentarily. Now the Maverick was showing a swing to the low side. The alarm went off when the Maverick hit 210. Dubious, I went outside to check. Guru said 245. Egg dome registered 240. Maverick at 206.

This continued throughout the cook. For 18 hours, I had a steady temp, according to the BBQ Guru (which, by the way, is an AMAZING piece of equipment!!) and the dome thermometer on the Egg, with both registering plus or minus 5 degrees of desired temp. The Maverick was the only thermometer that didn't stay in the same range the entire time, swinging wildly from temps as low as 194 to as high as 306.

Long and short, I love the wireless capabilities of the Maverick - but it doesn't do me an ounce of good if it's not accurate. I'm willing to accept that any given thermometer is going to have a margin of error. However, the Maverick's margin of error appears to be plus or minus about 50 degrees, which is simply unacceptable.

Do yourself a favor and forego this inaccurate piece of junk.
************

All's well that ends well, tho - 17 pounds of pork butt now resting at the cooler, both pieces having hit 197 internal after 18 hours.  Seems that the Guru got the job done on my first overnight cook!

Cheers!

Comments

  • ChokeOnSmoke
    ChokeOnSmoke Posts: 1,942
    That's concerning.  Seen many reviews and have never heard this before.  Personally, I'd send it back, there's a flaw with your particular unit.  If they were that bad, nobody would buy one.
    Packerland, Wisconsin

  • Shiff
    Shiff Posts: 1,835
    I've used my ET732 for about 4 cooks and haven't seen any behavior like you have described.  Have you contacted the manufacturer?  Your unit must be defective.
    Large BGE
    Barry, Lancaster, PA
  • gte1
    gte1 Posts: 379
    Just used mine got the first time today, worked perfectly.
    George
  • MGOBlue
    MGOBlue Posts: 12
    I used mine for the first time yesterday and it seemed fine.  The grate temp was reading about 25 degrees less than the dome. (which I think is normal) 
  • joe@bge
    joe@bge Posts: 394
    I wonder if maybe there is an issue with the grill probe?   I have seen a friend of mine have a similar issue with pit temps being way off with the BGE remote and he returned it and the replacement worked as expected - has to be a defective unit.
  • bill_b
    bill_b Posts: 13
    Maybe the tip hit a void in the meat.   Have you tried again after inserting probe in a different spot?
  • Cowdogs
    Cowdogs Posts: 491
    edited January 2012

    I find it odd that you would take the time to write such a lengthy (and negative) review without knowing if your 732 is faulty.  It's a well written review, but not particularly useful in my opinion.

    All electronic devices have the possibility of being faulty or broken.  There are plenty of reports of Guru's with faulty probes that lead to similar problems.   I have both a Guru and a Maverick 732 and the 2 devices work great, and they are great compliment to each other.

  • BOWHUNR
    BOWHUNR Posts: 1,487
    I used my Guru and Maverick this weekend on a fifteen hour cook and they were never more than +/- 5 degrees the whole cook both meat and pit.

    image

    image

    image

    Mike
    Omaha, NE

    I'm ashamed what I did for a Klondike Bar!!

    Omaha, NE
  • Mine arrived yesterday and I used it for a 3 hour cook.  Had some goofy temp readings and some "HHHH".  I fiddled and fussed with it a bit unplugging this and that and plugging them back in.  Turned the units offf and on a few times.  Then it seemed to settle in and work fine.  I'm chalking it off to "rookie inexperience".  If it continues to work as well as the first try I'll be pleased.  Only downside is, since I'm not a smart as I used to be I can't lose the directions.  Lots of push this and that to set it up.
    My actuary says I'm dead.
  • jflewis - i just saw your post but had in fact just written Maverick yesterday with a very similar technical issue.  Though mine was with the meat probe not the bbq.  The bbq probe stays consistent with the egg probe but the meat probe has wild swings.  I was pretty ticked off as it had been working flawlessly until Thanksgiving dinner.  Two 20lb birds.  They came out too dry by my standards though my guests didn't complain (i moistened them with more wine).  I figured the probe had maybe been damaged by direct flame or something so i bought a new probe.  Then I did a prime rib - fortunately I was paying better attention and had to go manual on my temperature readings so the food was good but it created quite a bit of stress.

    To their credit the folks at Maverick got back to me pretty quick by email and I am going to try some troubleshooting later today.  Hopefully if it is defective they'll do the right thing as its not that old and i've already invested in one new probe.  I'll let you all know.

    But contrary to Cowdogs I did find your post informative so that I know I'm not the only one out there having a very similar experience.  If nobody posted - nobody would know.  If you don't want to read it.  Then stop reading.

    ps: great pics Mike
  • genwmull
    genwmull Posts: 61
    edited January 2012
    I used mine this past weekend on a 17 hour Boston butt smoke and it worked perfectly.  After the egg stabilized temp, both the maverick bbq probe and the egg thermometer read the same.  When the Maverick meat probe hit 198, I double checked the meat with the $19 Thermoworks thermometer and it read 197.  I am very pleased with both the Maverick and Thermoworks units.

    image


    Large BGE Dyersburg TN
  • Cowdogs
    Cowdogs Posts: 491
    edited January 2012

    Huskies,

    The original poster wrote "Do yourself a favor and forego this inaccurate piece of junk" This was based on a sample size of ONE thermometer making a SINGLE test.  You think that recommendation is useful to the buying public, and fair to the product and the company?

    The post was a page long, and the only thing you actually learned is something you should have already known ... that some % of Maverick 732's are defective out of the box.

    Here is an equally useless recommendation ... Everyone can rest assured that the Maverick 732 product is 100% reliable because mine works fine.

  • Next to the egg, mine is one of the best investments that I've made. It's so nice for overnight cooks.
  • Disappointed to say I received my Maverick 732 last night and using on a briskit cook and meat temp is off by 35 degrees but BBQ temp seems to be accurate -  any hints on troubleshooting?  This thing was right out of the box and I set it up correctly
  • Shiff
    Shiff Posts: 1,835
    @kmcadillac44

    First thing I'd do would be to put the probes in boiling water and ice water to see what they read.  If the probes are off, I'd call the company to ask if there is any adjustment you can make and, if not, exchange it for a new one.
    Large BGE
    Barry, Lancaster, PA
  • Mighty_Quinn
    Mighty_Quinn Posts: 1,878
    edited January 2012
    Also @kmcadillac44

    Are you certain that the other thermometer that you used to check the meat with is calibrated? Did you calibrate your dome thermometer to know that your BBQ probe really is accurate? A lot of people report that the temp at the grate is about 25 degrees lower than dome during low and slow cooks using thermometers calibrated to boiling water....especially during the early hours of the cook.
  • I find it odd that you would take the time to write such a lengthy (and negative) review without knowing if your 732 is faulty.  It's a well written review, but not particularly useful in my opinion.

    All electronic devices have the possibility of being faulty or broken.  There are plenty of reports of Guru's with faulty probes that lead to similar problems.   I have both a Guru and a Maverick 732 and the 2 devices work great, and they are great compliment to each other.

    Gee, thanks Cowdog - glad you find my well-written review useless.  I find your feedback equally so.

    Of course I'm aware that all electronics have the possibility of being faulty or broken.  Mine was clearly faulty.  I think it's completely fair to write a review on a product that's faulty.  What good would reviews be if nobody ever reported the faulty units?

    If you bought a new car and it broke down repeatedly, I suspect you might mention to your friends and family that it had issues.  Or would you simply return it for another just like it and say nothing but wonderful things about it????
  • This is why I write my own software and engineer my own electronics. You can't trust anybody these days. Get off my lawn!
    I finally took the plunge and bought my large Big Green Easter Egg from Roswell Hardware in Roswell, GA 03/31/2012
  • twlangan
    twlangan Posts: 307
    I think they should all be tested after they are built and before they are shipped to weed out the bad ones. Having said that, I also know that some will still slip through - maybe pass testing, but go bad almost immediately in the field. 

    I have always found both kinds of reviews useful - both positive and negative. When considering a purchase, I tend to consider the numbers of both and make a decision on other's opinions of design and reliability based on them.
  • dlk7
    dlk7 Posts: 1,053
    I have the digiq dx2 and the maverick 732.  I usually use them separately until this last weekend when I decided to use the Maverick for the wifi.  I put the two pit probes next to each other and started getting really big differences in the temps on both units.  Based on the trutemp reading it was obvious that the digiq was the correct temp and the maverick was way off.  After the cook I did the ice water test and the boiling water test and both units were within a couple of degrees of each other.  I'm starting to suspect that having the two pit probes close to each other is causing some sort of issue with the Maverick.  The next low and slow I'll put the two pit probes on opposite sides of the grill and see if the disparity happens again.

    Two XL BGEs - So Happy!!!!

    Waunakee, WI

  • MikeG
    MikeG Posts: 174

    With all the "I've used mine 3x and it works perfectly" comments on the 'net Maverick must sell a butt load of these things.  Mine worked perfectly for about 3x as well - then went to shite in accuracy and ability to keep synced up.  The benefit they offer is so alluring that Maverick will always sell lots of them, but they aren't a reliable device IMO.

    I'm headed over to Amazon where I bought mine to post a similar review.

  • Cowdogs
    Cowdogs Posts: 491

    I find it odd that you would take the time to write such a lengthy (and negative) review without knowing if your 732 is faulty.  It's a well written review, but not particularly useful in my opinion.

    All electronic devices have the possibility of being faulty or broken.  There are plenty of reports of Guru's with faulty probes that lead to similar problems.   I have both a Guru and a Maverick 732 and the 2 devices work great, and they are great compliment to each other.

    Gee, thanks Cowdog - glad you find my well-written review useless.  I find your feedback equally so.

    Of course I'm aware that all electronics have the possibility of being faulty or broken.  Mine was clearly faulty.  I think it's completely fair to write a review on a product that's faulty.  What good would reviews be if nobody ever reported the faulty units?

    If you bought a new car and it broke down repeatedly, I suspect you might mention to your friends and family that it had issues.  Or would you simply return it for another just like it and say nothing but wonderful things about it????



    I would not tell anyone to "forego this piece of junk" just because my car broke down one time. I would not fire one of my employees because they made one mistake. This is what you did.

    If you actually followed the type of advice you gave out here, you would not own any car, or any other item that contained electronics ... because for every one of these products there will be some person who will tell you to "forego this junk" based on a bad experience they had.
  • SteveWPBFL
    SteveWPBFL Posts: 1,327
    Welp. Knowing that every product has a percentage of failure before taking the manufacturer to task you normally would give them a fair chance at making amends before bbq-ing them, pun intended. Just me.
  • boatbum
    boatbum Posts: 1,273
    Use mine at least once a week.  Love it.   Do wish the alarm was louder..
    Cookin in Texas
  • Smoker_Guru
    Smoker_Guru Posts: 372
    Use mine a couple of times a week. A year old and no problems at all. Would not be with out it.
  • SteveWPBFL
    SteveWPBFL Posts: 1,327
    RE: 35 1 star reviews (mine included) vs 89 5 star reviews.  That's hardly an insignificant percentage.

    AGREE with that!
  • NightwingXP
    NightwingXP Posts: 448
    I used my Guru and Maverick this weekend on a fifteen hour cook and they were never more than +/- 5 degrees the whole cook both meat and pit.

    image

    image

    image

    Mike
    Omaha, NE
    Your Killing me Mike!! Your food AND your setup is eyepopping!! Love it!
    Only 3 things in life matter. Family, Steelers and my BGE!!