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Theoretical Question

PostPosted: May 8th, 2019, 8:50 pm
by RustySocket
I'm new to the forum and am waiting on delivery of a new 640 grill. I've been doing lots of reading and trying to familiarize myself with how this unit works.

One thing I read a bit of is that the main thermocouple can and most likely will fail at some point. Is this an item that is recommended to keep a spare on hand? If it were to fail is there a way to continue cooking for the run until a new part could be ordered. I'm not going into this expecting trouble, but rather being prepared how to handle the situation.


The new yoder is replacing a pre-china Traeger with the very simple low/med/hi controller. It has served me well and lived a long life. I learned how to replace many igniters over the years, how to fix a plugged auger... even how to weld a bit here and there. I'm really excited to get my new grill.

Thanks for your help.

Re: Theoretical Question

PostPosted: May 9th, 2019, 8:26 am
by curly
Congrats and welcome to the forum. I personally do not have a spare thermocouple on hand but there are members here that do. Unlike an ignitor, the smoker won't operate correctly without a thermocouple. When the new controller is available to purchase as an upgrade I do plan on getting it, the ceramic ignitor and an extra thermocouple just in case....

Just my $0.02

-Curly

Re: Theoretical Question

PostPosted: May 9th, 2019, 4:31 pm
by westhemess1
I always keep a spare thermocouple on hand. Nothing worse than having company and having a breakdown. Seeing as though the bulk of the smoking or smoke ring are done in the first 2 hours the only solution if you do have a breakdown is to bring the meat and/or side dishes inside to finish in the oven. If however the breakdown happens at the beginning of the cook (if you have one on hand) it only takes about 20 minutes to do a quick changeout.

That and the fact that considering what day the breakdown happens on most likely the pit is out of commission for about a week!

Re: Theoretical Question

PostPosted: May 9th, 2019, 11:53 pm
by RustySocket
Thanks for the replies. I will make sure to order a spare thermocouple just to have one on hand. We do like to entertain and I'd rather have a spare in the rotation rather than be down for a week. I also have an egg and wsm as well so we would still eat in the end....