Quick Maverick ET-732 mod question

[bbq1980]

I'm (finally) almost done with some mods to a regular ECB and installing the threaded rod for my Maverick ET-732 is among the last few things. So I dug up this thread:

http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?p=2025136#post2025136

I found the threaded rod at the local True Value, shown in the 1st attachment. However, after looking at the fine print on the back of the package, I noticed they were zinc plated and while I'd use one of the two smallest sizes for the thermometer mod, and only a small part of the rod would actually be inside of the smoker, I wanted nothing to do with the dangers of having food in the proximity of any potential zinc fumes (and I've used all stainless steel hardware elsewhere), so as an experiment, I took the suggestion of folks here to get rid of the zinc with household vinegar and the difference was striking. Some of the un-soaked rods are on the left, the vinegar-soaked rods are on the right, in the 2nd attachment.

Now the question is do I just use the rod as is or will it rust quicker now that I stripped the coating? These are relatively cheap so replacing it if it rusts out will only be a minor nuisance but I was contemplating get something like the Rustoleum for BBQs, but the $6/$7 paint costs more than the pack of SS nipples, though that's probably the cost of doing a job right the first time.

What have other folks done? I'm curious...

 

[hamiltont]

I just drilled a hole in the side of the smoker big enough for the probe(s) to fit through. To be honest I'm not sure what the actual benefit of the threaded pipe is. Seems like you'd have to bend the probe to get it through the pipe. Cheers!!!

 

[Jake the SSnake]

Keep it short and run the right size and the probe will fit right through the curve. I just installed them as is, didn't even know they were zinc. But I don't plan on them getting hot enough to do anything anyways, at least I hope.

Edit - The benefit is that you can easily cap them off when not being used.

 

[bbq1980]

Thanks for the input. Now for the lid...

So the Maverick worked like the charm. Drilled a hole that was 1/2" instead of 3/8" but the washers took care of that.

My latest question is now with the lid. I was cruising along with the other mods until I tried to attach the fiberglass rope to the lip of the lid to close the gap at the top of the smoker. I was afraid that it'd have a hard time sticking to I took the advice of others and attached the rope first with some screws, roughly 4" apart, figuring I'd have an easier time of adding the silicone if the rope was already more or less in place.

I didn't have any sandpaper or roughening device on hand so I couldn't rough up the surface, and I probably used too much having never worked with the silicone before, though it was also somewhat of a pain trying to get it to look good, while wearing gloves to guard against the obvious dangers of the fiberglass. And while I perhaps could have gotten away with not using the silicone, the lid now looks terrible.

So I could either try and remove some of the silicone, replace the gasket for a new one, replace the gasket and insulate with something else, or keep the gasket and perhaps wrap it in some tin foil, since that would keep the excess silicone (and any loose fiberglass shreds) away from any food.

Has anyone else butchered the rope? I'm just waiting on some stainless steel wire to attach my charcoal ring to my 13" charcoal grate, then I'll reattach the lid handle and I'm ready for a pre-Memorial Day maiden voyage to test it out this weekend with some Cowboy lump mixed with a few briquettes before I can hopefully cook it next weekend using Ozark Oak.

I'll post more pics, as I owe some folks here for suggestions to a newbie.