bbq1980
Knows what a fatty is.
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...
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...