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What\'s the deal with the Mav et-73..

Weekend Egger
Weekend Egger Posts: 14
edited November -1 in EggHead Forum
Alright let's debate this again for me please.It seems just as one says they love the Mav a dozen more say trash it.I would love a dual probe like it ,but also
want reliable product.So the question is what do I buy????

Comments

  • fishlessman
    fishlessman Posts: 32,657
    its a love hate relationship, they are poorly made and some are broken right out of the box. they replaced my first one as i broke it turning it on day one. the replacement i have is several years old on the same batteries, i wannas say maybe 5 years old now. the logic to set it up is rediculous, not beer friendly at all, still it has every feature you would need for a low and slow so people like that. other units dont have all the features
    fukahwee maine

    you can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it
  • Mark0525
    Mark0525 Posts: 1,235
    I bought one but I wish I didn't. Not sure which one I should of bought. They are sending me a new probe but never addressed the problem. I was going to buy the PT 100 but I don't think I will now. I'll see what they say.
  • Have you or anyone not heard of another brand that is better a does same stuff?
  • WessB
    WessB Posts: 6,937
    I ordered one from amazon based on the post here recently...haven't got it yet so I can't debate it...but will be happy to tell ya what I think of it once it arrives...had a couple of the talking ones and they all died prettty quick...none of them seem to last more than a couple of years...at least in my experience..
  • Honestly I find it kinda brings out my inner cave-man getting up a zillion times a night checking on my meat that I will then serve to woman I drag home by hair one day and call wife........but a frigging remote thermo would be nice cause this cave man is lazy!!!!
  • Kenny 13
    Kenny 13 Posts: 321
    I've never had a problem with mine. It will be 3 years old in May, and on the original batteries. As fishlessman mentioned, it can be a pain in the butt to set up, but it has all the features you would want in that kind of thermometer.

    The majority of problems I've heard of were related to the probes & probe wires, and most of them seemed to come from those that were allowed to get wet, exposed to high heat, or caught in pinch points. For those reasons, you do have to be really careful when cleaning them and running the probe wires. I always wrap my wires in heavy duty foil for some protection from the heat.
  • AZRP
    AZRP Posts: 10,116
    I think the one I bought about 4 years ago came from a bad batch. It wouldn't transmit over 25 feet. There were a number of posters here that had that same problem. Then the second time I turned it on the switch broke off. If they were all as bad as mine there wouldn't be so many here that love it, hence my bad batch theory. -RP
  • Well, they ain't perfect, that's for sure, but overall, I've been happy with mine. Haven't seen a good alternative, yet.

    The process of turning it on is a little strange.

    The cables could be longer. I like to remove the dome thermometer, and put the smoker probe in the dome hole, but the short probe cable means I can't open the dome without some trouble (I don't have a table or eggmates).

    I did have one night where it lost its signal. If I hadn't woken up at one point, I would've slept right through, and not known when the meat was done.

    However, every other night, I've been able to just pop my eyes open and check the temps without getting out of bed. It alarms when smoker temp gets out of control, so no setting alarms to get up and check the egg. And it's a whole lot cheaper than a guru or stoker.
  • I should add that mine is about a year old.

    It transmits from my deck in the back of our condo unit, to the bedroom in the front, through several walls.
  • Kenny 13
    Kenny 13 Posts: 321
    AZRP wrote:
    I think the one I bought about 4 years ago came from a bad batch. It wouldn't transmit over 25 feet. There were a number of posters here that had that same problem. Then the second time I turned it on the switch broke off. If they were all as bad as mine there wouldn't be so many here that love it, hence my bad batch theory. -RP

    The transmitting distance, or lack thereof, is another problem I forgot about. I can certainly understand being unhappy with that issue.
  • RRP
    RRP Posts: 25,880
    I bought mine 7 years ago and right out of the box the reception couldn't even reach 6 feet. I registered a complaint with Maverick customer service twice and never heard back so that p*ssed me off. Next I found their corporate HQ and wrote to the President and the next 7 corporate suits on down. Within a day I got two apologies and one email asking for my mailing address so they could send me a replacement which they did. But the funny thing - when I asked where to return the defective one...the reply was throw it in the trash! That told me they knew their product quite well!
    Re-gasketing America one yard at a time.
  • skwerl
    skwerl Posts: 29
    I have had mine for a couple of years now, never had a problem and love the fact that I can monitor my cook from a ways away.
  • gregegg
    gregegg Posts: 68
    Mine has been reliable on about 20 cooks.

    I think the problem is that

    1) The device is small
    2) but requires many functions (highs and lows etc)
    3) so the button system is not intuitive

    I think the requirements for controlling the device using the limited form factor and buttons peeves a lot of people.

    Greg
  • 500
    500 Posts: 3,177
    I just bought mine from Amazon too. It is being shipped as we speak. I was torn the same as you, but for what it does for the price, you can't beat it. I'm taking my chances. I have the single probe one and have had signal issues, but overall it is good.
    I like my butt rubbed and my pork pulled.
    Member since 2009
  • My cave woman would lock my cave butt out of the house like Fred Flintstone if I got up and down all night and woke her up! my et 73 works great but I did mess up the food probe and bought two more for $20. worth it
  • So I feel kinda stuck still, it is def a lot of love and hate ...who knows what I'm gonna do
  • smokinsop
    smokinsop Posts: 180
    Have had one for about 4 years and in the last year it has not transmitted 10 feet. Just ordered another. Here's hoping for the best
  • EggTurner
    EggTurner Posts: 108
    I must have one of the "good batch" ones; so far, so good. Since my egg is down half a flight from the deck it is a convenience to monitor the two temps from the deck.
  • Grandpas Grub
    Grandpas Grub Posts: 14,226
     
    Mine works great. Love it.

    GG
  • How long you had one??I guess i'm makin it a big deal,but I'm into this egg so much I'm thinking bout campin in it when I'm not cookin in it.I just want a good thermometer
  • mb168
    mb168 Posts: 265
    I bought one after I woke up one morning to find a charcoal burn through at about 3AM one day on an overnight cook, just a charcoal doughnut in the firebox. Fortunately the meat was still over 140. At the time I didn't sort my lump at all, just dumped it in so I attribute it to my inexperience early on with the egg. I don't spend much time sorting really now even, I just have 2 big rubber tubs from Wally World and when I open a new bag I throw the biggest pieces in one and the rest goes in the other. I save the biggest pieces for overnight cooks so I put several on bottom, then dump the rest on top so I figure I'm right in the middle on the Naked Whiz sorting scale :)

    The Mav worked great once I figured how wide to set that alarm window so it wasn't beeping all the time. I pretty much timed my meat so it was climbing out of the plateau when I woke up the next morning so I was never really concerned about my meat being done while I was still asleep. If I needed it done earlier I'd set my alarm clock and get up when I needed to. My egg always cooked overnight right outside my garage and my bedroom is on the exact opposite side and corner of my house so it was as far away as possible and going through every single wall and still worked so no complaints about reception distance. Then one day the indoor unit quit receiving, or maybe the outdoor quit transmitting, battery swap on both didn't help. I finally said screw it and ordered a Guru DigiQ2 and have slept like a baby ever since. The Mav outdoor unit still works on both meat and pit so I use the meat probe when I'm cooking multiple pieces of meat now but the indoor unit is just sitting in my tool box for nearly 2 years now.

    So my recommendation is, for the money they cost and reliability seen just right here among eggers, put it towards a Guru and forget about the cook at night because it'll be doing exactly what you want it to do, you'll get more sleep. The Guru makes the actual Q'in process almost boring because it's right where it should be every time I look at it so I finally just quit getting up at night. If I wanted to Q with the extra work I'd go back to a Brinkman Water Smoker ;)
  • Misippi Egger
    Misippi Egger Posts: 5,095
    I've had mine close to four years - same batteries. I have replaced the meat probe once - my fault as I let it get too hot. I rarely use the pit probe as I also have a BBQ Guru for long cooks. The alarm system setup is not user friendly, but it may be because I rarely use that either.

    It is great for inclimate weather when you can go inside a watch for when your steak or pork roast or whatever is ready - then run out and bring dinner in! :woohoo:

    Many times I will use it on a butt, but only turn it on intermittently to check the temp, especially if I have more than one butt cooking a t the same time - I will put it in the smallest and the Guru probe in the largest.

    I have and will continue to highly recommend the Maverick E-73. I also think one's first thermometer should be a Thermapen, though.
  • I have one and it is a constant fight with the food probe. I am on my second probe and it has problems as well. It constantly reads the dome temp or is affected by the dome temp instead of readig the meat temp.

    I would pay good money for a heavy duty remote therm that had probes that would not burn up and would read the temps the way they are suppose to do. I think they have skimped on the quality of the ET-73 to keep the price down. Surely somebody can build a better thermometer than this.
  • Just ordered my second one. First one was 12 degrees off from my DigiQ and then the probe went. This one will be better or it will be the last.