Dome temperature gauge question

[hfw 4]

I bought a quite-used chargriller king kamado. It seems to work well—made one of the best pizzas I’ve ever eaten on it last night. The dome temp gauge Started at zero, but got pinned at over 700 when my remote thermometer was around 450F, also corroborated with infrared thermometer on stone. I noticed a small  (smaller than a dime) spot of condensation in it. Today, with no coals lit since last night (all dampers closed, hood latched) the dome temp gauge is reading 400. The gauge looks much newer than the rest of the grill, so I’m wondering whether it’s been installed improperly and I can fix it, or whether, despite its shininess, it’s toast. If it is, are there other dome thermometers I should consider besides the Chargriller?

[Irish Smoker 29]

My dome gauge lasted about a year then never went below 400. I now use a digital and alligator clip the probe to the underside of the old gauge.

[SmoovD 412]

Congrats on the new-to-you toy. If I were you I would look at a separate pit thermometer like a Thermoworks DOT or one of the myriad of others. You get a bit more functionality by not having it installed in the Akorn.

 

Happy cooking.

[lnarngr 263]

On 8/5/2020 at 11:43 AM, Irish Smoker said:

I now use a digital and alligator clip the probe to the underside of the old gauge.

This is what the Kule Kids are doing! 

[MikeRobinson 42]

I found a nice external probe thermometer for about $50 that provides both food temperature and oven temperature.  Very handy to keep the other thermometers "honest."