Wire/Probe Protection

BoneDaddy's

So please tell me, what, if anything, folks use to protect the wires from a temp sensor (GURU/Stoker/etc.) as they go into the egg. My pit sensor wires are fried! I am not to worried as it was only about $20 at WallyWorld, but if I buy a more expensive one, whtat should I use!

AZRP

I don't use anything and have had no problems, but I don't use them at temps above 350. -RP

Biscuit

Wrap them in aluminum foil that may help. but they are to be used for low n slow.no more than 400 deg

fishlessman

there seems to be different opinions on covering with foil, i dont cover with foil. i only use the probes for low and slows up to about 300 max. if i were pushing the temps i might just put something under the wires, but not around them. my maverick is more than 4 years old, same probes, dont let anyone wash them, that can be a problem with water getting in

Firestarter21

There is a guy on the forum who bought some protector material in bulk. I don't think he would mind me putting his handle in the reply. His handle is WyleECoyote. Very nice guy, he gave me the option of buying how many ever feet I wanted for extremely cheap. I don't know if this will solve your problem, but it may help. I could see wires getting fried over a long time. I don't think I use mine for cooks over 250-275. If it is cooking much hotter, I will check the meat with the thermapen. Anyways, WyleE may have some of this protector material left if you want to email him through the forum.

RU Eggsperienced

The Stoker I bought cames with temp sensors good to 450F. Note 5CFM fan has been fine for me.

You can buy a high temp sensor for up to 1000F. Not sure what deal you can get on an initial buy, but the website shows std sensor at $30 and high temp at $45.

I have never protected mine and generally use it up to around 350. I rarely use the Stoker unless cooking more than 3 hours..

Jeffersonian

I don't wrap my leads, but I almost never use a probe on a direct cook anymore, just low-n-slows. On indirect cooks, I just route the wire so that it's never exposed to the radiant heat, i.e. along the plate setter leg out the side of the Egg.

Hatch

We now carry probes that are rated to 700degrees and are covered in braided stainless steel. They are available for all of our controls.
Give us a call,
Kenny
The BBQ GURU
800-288-4878

Grandpas Grub

Try this experiment.

Take a 2" by 1" piece of heavy duty aluminum foil. Get a cigarette lighter or match.

Hold the foil strip by the end and then hold a small flame under the other end of the foil.

If your holding finger stays cool then that would indicate that foil around a probe wire would be a good insulator.

However, if the holding finger gets hot then it possibly be that the foil is also a heat conductor.

I wouldn't try this but for a real good test take some HD foil and wrap your finger loosely. Now hold the flame under the foil protector and see how long one's finger stays cool.

I don't hold to the theory foil wrapping of a probe wire for a heat shield with one exception. If there is a short flash up of flame or heat it is possible the foil would defuse some of the heat on a short term flash up.

GG

RRP

Kent,
While I agree the foil is a good transfer agent for heat the reason I'm strongly in the wrap camp is the grease, smoke, yuck that builds up on the cable mesh making them become stiff. In time they even get brittle. Since they can't be cleaned of that build up then why allow it to happen in the first place!

It's like so many other things as well with your eggs and cooking methods - do what YOU want to do and like - not somebody else. So I'll stay a wrapper - that's not to be confused with rapper though! :laugh:

Grandpas Grub

Ron,

That is an excellent point which I had not even thought of.

I just looked at my probe wires, they are still pliable and smoke covered, but not greasy.

I think I will pick up some long length of heat shrink tubing to protect the smoke, some water, and grease from forming on the wires.

Thanks for bringing that issue up. Probes are not all that expensive but why not protect the initial investment.

Thanks, Kent

RRP

I bought a roll of that 7 years ago and made several for myself and sold the rest.


While it worked to an extent I still fried cables! It is dense, but actually not bulletproof - and given even more surface to collect goop, smoke and grease they became gross to look at! Also the tubing has a tendency to unravel by merely looking at it, so I resolved that issue by making small ferrules from brass tubing. I'd slip the ferrules over the material, slip the probe through that and then using electrician's pliers crimp the ferrules to hold in place. Upshot of it was more trouble and expense than what it was worth...so I went back to strips of foil.

WileECoyote

I did a lot of research and tested several solutions:

- standard probes that came with my Maverick ET-73, insulated with stainless braid, rated up to 410 F

- standard probes that came with my BBQ Guru Competitor, insulated with TFE teflon, rated up to 400 F (newer Guru probes now have stainless braid and optional higher ratings)

- laboratory grade thermocouple sensor that I purchased separately, insulated with fiberglass/ceramic coated fabric, rated up to 2,000 F

During my testing I exposed all of these wires to a variety of low and high temperatures including 500 F for at least 30 minutes and 300-400 F for at least 1 hour. Because the laboratory thermocouple had a much higher rating I also cooked it for several hours directly over the hot coals with the egg running at 650-800+ F.

The probe wires were placed straight into the egg between the felt gaskets with the probes extended horizontally over the steel cooking grid and a direct fire. I filled the cooking grid with a variety of foods including turkey, pork butt, steaks, ABTs, and shrimp. The probes were often exposed to food juices, fatty drippings, sauces, spices, and smoke.

After testing each probe set I disassembled the probes including full removal of the thermocouples from the stainless covers. I also stripped the wire insulation away to examine the wires. My findings were as follows:

- All probes functioned properly within their design specifications, but when the Maverick and Guru probes were taken beyond their rated temperatures the TFE insulation on the Guru probes melted in several spots. This allowed the wire conductors to break easily as soon as the wire was bent or pinched in those areas.

- Both the Maverick and Guru probes used cheaper thermocouple junctions which were formed by two very thin, single-strand wire conductors being twisted and soldered together by the tiniest bit of what appeared to be ordinary solder.

- The laboratory thermocouple also had thin single-strand wire conductors but the wires were just a bit thicker and the junction was a solid round ball the size of a BB that appeared to be formed by welding which makes for more accurate and reliable performance especially at the highest temperatures.

- All of the probes became quite dirty such that they looked terrible and I was reluctant to run the wires in contact with food or over top of certain foods for fear that the gunk would rub or flake off into the food.

- All of the probe wires were less flexible once they became soiled, thus they were harder to coil up for storage and they would wear out sooner if washed repeatedly.

I then did some research on the best methods for protecting the probe wires. Kent is right that metals like foil or stainless braid are excellent conductors; however they can still be used to protect wires from heat when properly installed. Stainless braid has small air gaps between it and the interior wire such that it will reflect and dissipate some of the heat away from the wire and it also provides durability to protect the wires from being pinched or cut. Foil provides less durability but it offers much better insulation from heat as long as you wrap the probe wires loosely and leave air pockets on the inside. This is because the outer foil layer reflects heat and the inner air pockets provide excellent insulation. If you wrap the probes tightly in foil then the heat resistance is minimized but you still gain some protection.

So I used foil for a little while but it gets dirty fast and it rips easily. It also made the probes harder to store so I ended up replacing it each time and this was just one more step in the cooking process which I could do without. I then did a lot of research into alternative wire insulation materials and I determined that the best fire and heat resistance was provided by fiberglass and/or ceramic coated sleeving. Fiberglass is considered unsafe for use around food under certain conditions, and ceramic coated sleeving can be fairly rigid and expensive so I kept looking. Nomex sleeving was a good second choice because it has fairly high heat and flame resistance and it was food-safe / more flexible, but it was outrageously expensive and difficult to find in small quantities.

I did more checking on the fiberglass safety issue. It turns out that fiberglass is only a problem around food if you use or handle it in such a way that the fibers are in direct contact with food such that they break off and fall into the food. In the case of our temperature probes, the wires are rarely in direct contact with food and the wires are rarely handled or moved around while in use. Plus the best fiberglass sleeving is made in such a way that it does not fray or degrade so this was a non-issue. I went on the hunt for the best quality high temperature fiberglass wire sleeving that I could find, in reasonably small quantities and for a low price. I ended up selecting a product that is made to protect automotive wires from hot engines. I specifically chose an inside diameter that was large enough to accommodate the probe wires with room to spare so there would be air gaps inside the sleeving for further insulation.

When applying this sleeving there was no need to use ferrules, tape, or adhesive because it does not fray or pull apart when cut. I simply cut it to size with scissors, slipped it over the probe wire, and tied it to the metal probe cover with a thin piece of stainless steel wire (a picture hanging wire or the center of a garbage bag tie will do nicely). I have used my protected probes for months now and they do not show any signs of burning or fraying. The sleeving comes in many colors but I selected black to hide the egg gunk the best. This particular material doesn't really get as dirty as the stainless braid did and it won't hold a lot of gunk because it has a flat smooth sealed surface unlike the sleeving shown in the post above which is made of large loose rope strands. I don’t have to worry about washing the sleeving unless the buildup gets extreme, in which case I could easily rinse the sleeving off or replace it cheaply if needed.

The sleeving I used is Mr. Gasket 6326 and it comes in six different colors, 25’ to a roll. You can get the specific part numbers from page 116 of their catalog here. It takes anywhere from 1’-5’ to protect each probe wire depending on how much of the wire you want to cover. I covered almost the entire length except the last 5 inches near the plug. I knew that some others would want to do the same thing so I purchased 75’ of sleeving and sold the extra at my cost. Unfortunately the last order that I filled was for 16’ and that used up all of my spare sleeving. You can find it yourself on ebay or at some auto parts stores but be advised that not all sleeving is created equal. There are many different types of fiberglass sleeving and some won’t have the same level of protection so I recommend you stick with this specific product unless you do your own research and find something better.