# Maverick Probe Wire Placement?



## smoknastro (Feb 10, 2014)

Just got a Traeger Lil Tex for my birthday (I think it's my wife's way of telling me I should be doing the cooking!).

Been cruising these forums looking for info and decided to buy a Maverick 733.

Haven't received it yet but I'm curious as to how most of you route the probe wires?

Do you just run them across the grill and out under the cover?

Does anyone drill holes for the wires?

Also curious from the Traeger owners, where do you place the transmitter?

Thanks


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## woodcutter (Feb 13, 2014)

I route my probes thru my exhaust vent.


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## smoknastro (Feb 14, 2014)

Thanks.. just got my Maverick last night.. I was considering the vent..  having the transmitter hanging off the top off the stack should give it the best transmit range. Just not sure if the 3 foot wires will be long enough.. will check it out this weekend.


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## dirtsailor2003 (Feb 14, 2014)

Lots of heat comes out the vent. I'd be a bit conserned about damaging the transmitter.


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## smoknastro (Feb 14, 2014)

Yes.. good point.. but with only a 3ft wire, there's a lot of heat everywhere. Maybe buying a 6 foot wire is in order.

That's why I started this thread... seems a remote probe is an essential tool.. but what to do with the transmitter?

Not thrilled with the concept of running the wires under the cover - seems like a good way to damage the wires and let cold in (heat out) of the smoker. I'll be messing with it this weekend and will post my solution.


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## dirtsailor2003 (Feb 14, 2014)

SmoknAstro said:


> Yes.. good point.. but with only a 3ft wire, there's a lot of heat everywhere. Maybe buying a 6 foot wire is in order.
> 
> That's why I started this thread... seems a remote probe is an essential tool.. but what to do with the transmitter?
> 
> Not thrilled with the concept of running the wires under the cover - seems like a good way to damage the wires and let cold in (heat out) of the smoker. I'll be messing with it this weekend and will post my solution.


For my Mav 732, I have the 6' wires. On all of my smokers I have drilled holes to accommodate the probes. One of the main advantages to drilling holes is it allows for precise placement of your probe where you want it. An easy way to seal the hole when not in use is to place a magnet over the hole for steel smokers. Or a piece of cork for aluminum or stainless.


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## smoknastro (Feb 23, 2014)

Well.. for now.. my solution is to use the hole in the lid that is supposed to hold the dome thermometer.

I used a small flexible magnet to cover the bulk of  hole where the leads pass thu.

I tried hanging the transmitter off the stack.. but dirtsailor was right.. way to much heat there.  So I created a hanger from some stainless wire I had laying around so that the transmitter hangs down below the stack.

Also tried running the wires thru the stack but they got caught up in the lid hinge and also used up more of the leads than I liked.

I agree that the right way to do this is to get 6 foot leads and drill holes.

Here is a pic of the setup













IMG-20140221-00160.jpg



__ smoknastro
__ Feb 23, 2014


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## smoknastro (Mar 1, 2014)

been pok'n around the forums and ran across these two links that have info on probe ports for those looking..

I'm still not ready to start hacking into my Traeger yet.. but I'm sure it won't be long...

Show me Smoke talks about the Yoder Smokers Probe avail for 30 from All things BBQ website here

SmokinGrk shows a cheaper mod of the port here


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## smoknastro (Mar 2, 2014)

Update - got my 6 foot probes.... much more versatile than the 3 foots that came with the ET-733.

I took my wires out of the hole in the cover.. they were just in the way too much.

So for now.. out under the cover.. and hanging on the handle on the hopper... I like this set up better.. but still agree with dirtsailor that drilling holes is the best option.

here's the latest..













IMG-20140302-00178.jpg



__ smoknastro
__ Mar 2, 2014


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## frog1369 (Mar 3, 2014)

I started drilling holes in mine and using high temp rubber grommets.  If I want to plug the holes they make silicone rubber plugs to fit the grommets, also.  Much nicer than running leads through vents and such.

 













Maverick Mod 02-23-14.jpg



__ frog1369
__ Feb 24, 2014


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