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Maverick/ Digiq question....

NeilH

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I noticed on a recent cook the food probe for my maverick and digiq ran side by side, but for some reason the pit probes read about twenty degrees off and they were two inches apart. The maverick was showing twenty degrees cooler. I did the boil test with the maverick pit probe and it was 212 on the dot. Anybody else had this problem before?
 
There are many things that can effect temperature readings between different thermometers.

We must bear in mind that we are dealing with consumer grade electronics and not scientific measuring equipment capable of detecting nano changes in temperature.

With consumer grade electronics there is always a give and take in the design and the selection of components to keep the price affordable to the targeted consumer group. Different components, materials, and manufacturing processes will yield different products which will operate and respond differently to the same environment. Differences in materials used in the manufacturing process will also effect how temperatures are sensed and the time it takes to recognize that change and process it to the digital / analog display.

Two thermometers made by separate manufacturers can yield differences in readings even if both thermometers were calibrated on the same test equipment. Components used in the manufacturing process can cause some thermometers to take a substantial amount of time to display the correct reading. Some cheaper thermometers may take up to 3 minutes or more to register the proper temperature, while other more expensive thermometers have a very fast response time. There will also be differences between thermometers due to their reaction times, placement in the cooker, placement location in the meat, and even how the sensor responds to the relative humidity.

Placement of the pit probe near the meat or closer to the sides of the cooker can also reflect a cooler temperature reading.

If I had to trust one over the other, I personally would choose the Guru....

You can also try to reset the Digi-Q DX2 to factory defaults....
 
Now that you mention it. It seemed like once I got past the 'stall' the pit reading was reading the same for the most part as the guru. That was about nine hours into the cook. I had them both about 3" to the side of the meat. The maverick was in the clip they provide (metal to metal) and the guru was clipped to a wooden clothes pin. The maverick pit probe was on top of the grate and the guru was on the bottom. Still don't understand a 20 degree difference in the pit probes but like you, I tend to trust the guru.
 
Now that you mention it. It seemed like once I got past the 'stall' the pit reading was reading the same for the most part as the guru. That was about nine hours into the cook. I had them both about 3" to the side of the meat. The maverick was in the clip they provide (metal to metal) and the guru was clipped to a wooden clothes pin. The maverick pit probe was on top of the grate and the guru was on the bottom. Still don't understand a 20 degree difference in the pit probes but like you, I tend to trust the guru.

It could be as simple as the grate was exchanging temperatures with the meat sitting on it (heat is exchanged to the meat and the grate is being cooled by the meat) where the clothespin was allowing the guru to read the ambient air temperature being it was not touching the metal grate itself.
 
It could be as simple as the grate was exchanging temperatures with the meat sitting on it (heat is exchanged to the meat and the grate is being cooled by the meat) where the clothespin was allowing the guru to read the ambient air temperature being it was not touching the metal grate itself.
Makes sense to me. I'll use clothes pens on both next time and see what happens. Thanks for your advice on this. Sometimes the simplest things, I need laid out in front of me. :doh:
 
Makes sense to me. I'll use clothes pens on both next time and see what happens. Thanks for your advice on this. Sometimes the simplest things, I need laid out in front of me. :doh:

Sometimes the simple most obvious things escape us because we are looking for a more complex answer to our problems.

.
 
For the true test......

Now to mount them the exact same way in the same spot in your cooker.

There will be slight differences because of the flow of air, and response times, but they should not be off by 20 degrees..

Let us know how it turns out...
 
For the true test......

Now to mount them the exact same way in the same spot in your cooker.

There will be slight differences because of the flow of air, and response times, but they should not be off by 20 degrees..

Let us know how it turns out...
Thanks man. I'll get back with you after a slab of baby backs Saturday to see that pit temp. Gonna put both probes on the wooden clothes pin. I think they'll even out.
 
There are many things that can effect temperature readings between different thermometers.

We must bear in mind that we are dealing with consumer grade electronics and not scientific measuring equipment capable of detecting nano changes in temperature.

With consumer grade electronics there is always a give and take in the design and the selection of components to keep the price affordable to the targeted consumer group. Different components, materials, and manufacturing processes will yield different products which will operate and respond differently to the same environment. Differences in materials used in the manufacturing process will also effect how temperatures are sensed and the time it takes to recognize that change and process it to the digital / analog display.

Two thermometers made by separate manufacturers can yield differences in readings even if both thermometers were calibrated on the same test equipment. Components used in the manufacturing process can cause some thermometers to take a substantial amount of time to display the correct reading. Some cheaper thermometers may take up to 3 minutes or more to register the proper temperature, while other more expensive thermometers have a very fast response time. There will also be differences between thermometers due to their reaction times, placement in the cooker, placement location in the meat, and even how the sensor responds to the relative humidity.

Placement of the pit probe near the meat or closer to the sides of the cooker can also reflect a cooler temperature reading.

If I had to trust one over the other, I personally would choose the Guru....

You can also try to reset the Digi-Q DX2 to factory defaults....

Do you sell used cars?
 
No but you would make a great sales-person with the posting
 
Ok, I clipped the guru to the maverick probe yesterday but still got a -15 degree difference. The boil test shows them both at 212*. Thoughts on why??

 
Ok, I clipped the guru to the maverick probe yesterday but still got a -15 degree difference. The boil test shows them both at 212*. Thoughts on why??

Well you got me stumped on this one as they are both reading air temperature this time and not the grate temperature. Which one was below temperature?

Drop them both in a cup of ice water and see if there is a difference in temperature and if it takes one longer to even out. Then once they have stabilized at the same temperature, take them out and see how long it takes to read current air temperatures. might be a faulty probe.
 
Well you got me stumped on this one as they are both reading air temperature this time and not the grate temperature. Which one was below temperature?

Drop them both in a cup of ice water and see if there is a difference in temperature and if it takes one longer to even out. Then once they have stabilized at the same temperature, take them out and see how long it takes to read current air temperatures. might be a faulty probe.

They both leveled out at 35 then the maverick stopped at 73 and the guru at 71.
I'm confused as to what the heck is going on too.
 
They both leveled out at 35 then the maverick stopped at 73 and the guru at 71.
I'm confused as to what the heck is going on too.

Did one take a lot longer to respond to the changes than the other?

Try putting the Guru probe in a clothes pin without the alligator clip (like the maverick) on it on your next cook. The probe is just pushed into the alligator clip and can be re-inserted. My alligator clip was made of aluminum, but permanently mounted mine inside the cooker on a different style stainless steel clip.
 
I've got a Guru Party-Q and an ET-73. The maverick is always 17-20 degrees lower than the Guru. I've tested them, & even bought new probes. Always the same results, but always consistently the same. So I figured that as long as it's consistent, I'll live with it.
 
Did one take a lot longer to respond to the changes than the other?

Try putting the Guru probe in a clothes pin without the alligator clip (like the maverick) on it on your next cook. The probe is just pushed into the alligator clip and can be re-inserted. My alligator clip was made of aluminum, but permanently mounted mine inside the cooker on a different style stainless steel clip.
Ok, I'll try this next.
 
I've got a Guru Party-Q and an ET-73. The maverick is always 17-20 degrees lower than the Guru. I've tested them, & even bought new probes. Always the same results, but always consistently the same. So I figured that as long as it's consistent, I'll live with it.

It looks like you and Q*bert have the same identical issues...

He replaced with new probes and still had the same result..

Maybe something you have to live with but, for whatever it's worth, at least you aren't alone with this issue. Maybe going back to my first post the issue with components and manufacturing may still be your only answer.

Let us know how the clothes pin experiment works out...
 
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