Brinkmann SnP question - thermometer cables

[herkysprings]

Question for SnPers.

So my SnP lid is the top half of the smoker, and the front has a pretty good seal. My question is:

What is the best way to run the thermometer cables? Say if I had meat in the middle of the smoker, going all the way to the side where the rotissery holes were seems long.

I was thinking of buying some sensor grommets, but I dont see a good place to install them, unless it was UNDER the grill. I dont want to pinch my cables either.

Thanks in advance. I'm hoping to finish the majority of my mods this weekend. Afterburner is a week delayed, then pics will be up. Cross fingers its done in time for Superbowl Rib smoke!!!!

 

[tasunkawitko]

herky -

those rotisserie holes need to be plugged, dude! get some dryer vent tape or even some balled-up aluminum foil. those holes are murder on the heat efficiency.

what i've been doing with mine is run the probe through a potato and then set it wherever i want it on the grate and then run the cable straight toward and out the front. i've been VERY carefuly not to crush anything and this method has worked.

having said that, i always worry that sooner or later a mistake is going to happen and something is going to get crushed. i really like your grommet idea, but the problem as you say is where to put them as they would be a permanent fixture. one idea might be to put three in, one at the same position as the center of each grate. from here you can set the probe anywhere you want and have three choices of where to run the probe out. another option might be to put a grommet 1.3 of the way across and another at 2/3 of the way across. i think this would allow enoughroom. the only problem then would be to plug whichever hole you aren't using, which should be easy enough. if you can work with just one hole dead center in the front where the middle of the center grate is, that might be the best all-around choice.

i've tried running out the smokestack, but this was alway a distance that was pretty long, plus i would worry that the high heat going through there might skew my readings. if i remember right, there are a couple of other small holes around the body of the SnP, so you might try making any well-placed holes a little bigger.

let me say again that the procedure i outlined in my 2nd paragraph DOES work, but you ahve to be really careful and make the probe move with the curves you are asking it to make so that nothing gets crushed. it works, but a more permanent solution would be better.

and above all, plug those rotisserie holes!

 

[herkysprings]

Dont worry, they are plugged ;) My idea was the oven liner might be more forgiving than the metal lid on the cables.

Yeah I'm not sure what to do yet. The grommets being under the grills doesn't give me easy access, but I could put several in.

I also dont know what they look like, what size to get (I can find 3/8" or 1/4" options), or if they "seal" when they dont have a cable in them.

I may buy a few for my WSM (they come in pairs) and play with them to see what works. Maybe I can thread the probe through the grommet and grate and go from there.

Thanks for the heads up on being careful.

 

[smoking gun]

In the front left side and front right side, of the bottom section on my snp, there is a small notch (about 1/8") that is perfect for a thermo cable. Tis where I run mine. If I bring em out the front it smashes the cable. I can take a pic tomorrow.

On another note I don't worry too much about sealing. I did seal the rotiss holes but thats all. You have a 2" hole in the top. A small leak around the lid ends wont hurt.

Also...... Extending the smokestack down to grate level is one of the best mods you can do.
Good luck.

 

[ddave]

I run mine through the gap in the back. When the lid is closed, there is a pretty good sized gap on the back side between the lid and the bottom half of the chamber. When the lid is open all the way though, it rests against the bottom half.

I hold the lid open part way and feed the probe through, then put them through a block of wood and set them where I want them on the grate. I then route the cables underneath the smoker to the shelf on the front and plug them in to the units which sit on the shelf.

As I said, when the lid is open all the way though, it rests against the bottom half. If you are worried about this pinching the cable, you could drill a couple of holes along the line where the lid rests against the chamber, put in a couple of sheet metal screws for stops and this would provide a gap for when the chamber is open. I haven't done that but I've had no issues with cables and I've been using mine for almost 2 years now.

Dave

 

[tasunkawitko]

sg speaks the truth - if the chimney extension isn't already part of your mods that you are doing, it's worthwile. any questions, just let me know as it is simple and very efective.

 

[3montes]

I have the older style snp. The lid when closed actually overlaps the body by about 1/2" So there is no pinching per se between the lid and the body so I just run all my probe cables right through the front. I still am very carefull about making sure I let the lid down slow and easy everytime.

You could take a dremel tool and just cut a narrow slit in the body where it meets the door and rest your cable in there. A small cutting wheel on the dremel would cut a slit about as wide as the probe cable so you wouldn't need to be sealing up any additional space with grommets.

Another thought might be to use the grease drain hole on the bottom of the snp. I lay a piece of heavy duty tin foil along the length of the bottom of my smoke chamber so any grease never runs through the hole anyhow. The foil helps reflect the heat back up to your cooking racks and makes for easy clean up later.
Let us know what you decide to do. Good luck with the rest of your mods.