Tel Tru Therms seem like a rip off

tgstrang

tgstrang

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I'm kind of a cheap a$$ farker. I don't mind spending money on things I really want but I've always got to be able to justify that something is worth the money. I've got a Shirley Fab trailer on order. While it's a lot money for a cooker it's still a bargain if you ask me for what you get for your dollar when compared to other pit builders. I've built a couple of UDS's and I've always used River Country therms. I think they are great, they are accurate, adjustable, well built and cheap. After seeing some of the SF builds with the Tel Trus, I decided I liked the look of the white faced Tel Tru gauges. It's a small detail but hey I'm probably only going to buy one Shirley and will probably have it forever so might as well make sure every detail is to my liking. I went to Amazon and was going to buy 4 Tel Tru Therms (3in dial, 4 in stem), they are $45.20 each+9.50shipping:

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Tel-Tru-Barbecue-Thermometer-aluminum-degrees/dp/B0052EKQI0/ref=sr_1_25?ie=UTF8&qid=1422642208&sr=8-25&keywords=tel-tru+thermometer+3+in+dial+4+in+stem"]Amazon.com : Tel-Tru BQ300 Barbecue Thermometer, 3 inch aluminum zoned dial, 4 inch stem, 100/500 degrees F : Bbq Thermometer : Patio, Lawn & Garden@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/514ZzebCayL.@@AMEPARAM@@514ZzebCayL[/ame]

Seemed way pricey for a couple of thermometers but was about to just pull the trigger when I noticed this.....

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Tel-Tru-Thermometer-Installation-replacement-thermometers/dp/B0055778PI/ref=pd_bxgy_lg_img_y"]Amazon.com : Tel-Tru Thermometer Installation Kit for replacement barbecue thermometers : Patio, Lawn & Garden@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41trHI6P-1L.@@AMEPARAM@@41trHI6P-1L[/ame]

They don't even give you the damn nut and washer:evil:! They sell it separately. Are you freaking kidding me? You want me to pay an extra $30 for 4 nuts and washers that should come with the damn therm to begin with? I mean I would just go to home depot and pay way less for the nut and washer but it just rubs me the wrong way. Did a little more searching and I found these guys from River Country:

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001D227G4/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=26D4OPR42PLKD&coliid=I3E1YDWPMD9KY4"]Amazon.com : 3" River Country Dual Display Range Adjustable BBQ, Smoker, Thermometer, (50 to 550 F & 10 to 285 C) : Barbecue Thermometers : Patio, Lawn & Garden@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61WY%2BH670eL.@@AMEPARAM@@61WY%2BH670eL[/ame]

$17.97 each, Free Shipping, and you get the hardware incuded! So the total for the 4 RC therms is $71.88 shipped vs $218.54 shipped for the tel trus. I'm going with ol River Country on this one.
 
Wow! Thanks for the post. I had been looking at the Tel Tru myself. Anyone else use RC therms?
 
tgstrang said:
You don't know anybody with last name GiaQuinta do ya? I live in St. Louis but half my family is from Ft. Wayne.
Click to expand...

Very well known name here...Phil & Mark, although i don't know them personally. Phil has shown up on my FB as someone i might know.
 
Lots of good reviews of RCs here on this site. I just bought 2 of the 5" RCs and 1 of the 3" ones. I think it was $91 shipped. The 5" RCs look huge on my cooker. I have a 5" Tel-Tru on my cabinet and really like it a lot but I was not going to pay over $300 for 3 therms.

edit: Since the Tel-Tru therms are on sale I am going to get 2 of the 5" and 1 of the 3" to go on my new cooker. Nothing wrong with the RCs as they will go on my existing cookers. Thanks Smokin J's for posting the link!
 
Last edited:
Fwismoker said:
Very well known name here...Phil & Mark, although i don't know them personally. Phil has shown up on my FB as someone i might know.
Click to expand...

They are my Uncles....the g in tgstrang is for GiaQuinta as it's my middle name. Although that does make my name Thomas G Strang....it wasn't until I was about 15 and got my first debit card that I realized my parents had named me G Strang.
 
The installation kit for the Tel-Tru thermometers is not needed for the Shirley cooker as I understand that Paul puts on a screw in flange for the therms, so no nuts and washers needed, but check with Paul on that to verify. I am planning on putting the Tel-Tru gauges on my Shirley Fabrication cooker as well.
 
bkshriner said:
The installation kit for the Tel-Tru thermometers is not needed for the Shirley cooker as I understand that Paul puts on a screw in flange for the therms, so no nuts and washers needed.
Click to expand...

Makes sense....wouldn't expect any different from Paul (just another example of how they go the extra mile for the customer, those are the people I like giving my money to), probably should have asked Paul first but I found it irritating that it wouldn't just come with it...just seems kind of cheap to not include it IMO. Anyway, I'll be sending Paul some River Country therms instead...lol.
 
i like the RC therm i use on my wsm mini..works great. and not foolishly priced lol
 
tgstrang said:
I'm kind of a cheap a$$ farker. I don't mind spending money on things I really want but I've always got to be able to justify that something is worth the money. I've got a Shirley Fab trailer on order. While it's a lot money for a cooker it's still a bargain if you ask me for what you get for your dollar when compared to other pit builders. I've built a couple of UDS's and I've always used River Country therms. I think they are great, they are accurate, adjustable, well built and cheap. After seeing some of the SF builds with the Tel Trus, I decided I liked the look of the white faced Tel Tru gauges. It's a small detail but hey I'm probably only going to buy one Shirley and will probably have it forever so might as well make sure every detail is to my liking. I went to Amazon and was going to buy 4 Tel Tru Therms (3in dial, 4 in stem), they are $45.20 each+9.50shipping:

Amazon.com : Tel-Tru BQ300 Barbecue Thermometer, 3 inch aluminum zoned dial, 4 inch stem, 100/500 degrees F : Bbq Thermometer : Patio, Lawn & Garden

Seemed way pricey for a couple of thermometers but was about to just pull the trigger when I noticed this.....

Amazon.com : Tel-Tru Thermometer Installation Kit for replacement barbecue thermometers : Patio, Lawn & Garden

They don't even give you the damn nut and washer:evil:! They sell it separately. Are you freaking kidding me? You want me to pay an extra $30 for 4 nuts and washers that should come with the damn therm to begin with? I mean I would just go to home depot and pay way less for the nut and washer but it just rubs me the wrong way. Did a little more searching and I found these guys from River Country:

Amazon.com : 3" River Country Dual Display Range Adjustable BBQ, Smoker, Thermometer, (50 to 550 F & 10 to 285 C) : Barbecue Thermometers : Patio, Lawn & Garden

$17.97 each, Free Shipping, and you get the hardware incuded! So the total for the 4 RC therms is $71.88 shipped vs $218.54 shipped for the tel trus. I'm going with ol River Country on this one.
Click to expand...


Did you check the Tel Tru site dirctly? That's where I got mine (a long time ago). I have 7 of them and really like them. Didn't need the washer and nut on my pits.. Amazon is not necessarily th cheapest.
 
My Tel-Trus came today. They shipped with the mounting kit if you can really call it a kit. The 5" size is going to look sharp on my Shirley when I finally go pick it up.
 
Last edited:
I'm happy with both RC and TT. I have RC's on my gasser and PBC and they're dead on just like the TT. I have TT's on my custom offset since that's what they came with and I added an extra one. My pit builder charged me a reasonable price for the TT which was cheaper than TT site, Amazon etc.

Both are really nice with TT made in USA and RC made in China. I would've gladly forked up the extra cash for TT on a custom cooker if I had to pay for every single one just to keep it MADE IN USA all the way but that's just me.

Bottom line both are great units.
 
tgstrang said:
I'm kind of a cheap a$$ farker. I don't mind spending money on things I really want but I've always got to be able to justify that something is worth the money. I've got a Shirley Fab trailer on order. While it's a lot money for a cooker it's still a bargain if you ask me for what you get for your dollar when compared to other pit builders. I've built a couple of UDS's and I've always used River Country therms. I think they are great, they are accurate, adjustable, well built and cheap. After seeing some of the SF builds with the Tel Trus, I decided I liked the look of the white faced Tel Tru gauges. It's a small detail but hey I'm probably only going to buy one Shirley and will probably have it forever so might as well make sure every detail is to my liking. I went to Amazon and was going to buy 4 Tel Tru Therms (3in dial, 4 in stem), they are $45.20 each+9.50shipping:

Amazon.com : Tel-Tru BQ300 Barbecue Thermometer, 3 inch aluminum zoned dial, 4 inch stem, 100/500 degrees F : Bbq Thermometer : Patio, Lawn & Garden

Seemed way pricey for a couple of thermometers but was about to just pull the trigger when I noticed this.....

Amazon.com : Tel-Tru Thermometer Installation Kit for replacement barbecue thermometers : Patio, Lawn & Garden

They don't even give you the damn nut and washer:evil:! They sell it separately. Are you freaking kidding me? You want me to pay an extra $30 for 4 nuts and washers that should come with the damn therm to begin with? I mean I would just go to home depot and pay way less for the nut and washer but it just rubs me the wrong way. Did a little more searching and I found these guys from River Country:

Amazon.com : 3" River Country Dual Display Range Adjustable BBQ, Smoker, Thermometer, (50 to 550 F & 10 to 285 C) : Barbecue Thermometers : Patio, Lawn & Garden

$17.97 each, Free Shipping, and you get the hardware incuded! So the total for the 4 RC therms is $71.88 shipped vs $218.54 shipped for the tel trus. I'm going with ol River Country on this one.
Click to expand...

Fwismoker said:
RC for me as well, can't beat the quality for the price.
Click to expand...

Bluebyyou said:
Wow! Thanks for the post. I had been looking at the Tel Tru myself. Anyone else use RC therms?
Click to expand...
My LSG pit came with Tel-Tru therms and I actually replaced them with RCs. I gave a couple of the Tel-Trus to friends and put the other two on other cookers.
I like to be able to calibrate my thermometers and even though Tel-Trus are accurate from the factory over time with any jarring, as well as expansion and contraction due to temperature changes they can lose their accuracy just like any thermometer will. I like to re-calibrate my thermometers once a year and with River Country I can.:wink:
I agree with others that Tel-Tru is over priced and River Country is about the best therm for the price that's out there!:thumb:
 
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