RTD sensor replacement on Pit Bosss Titan model PB1600CST

[John.H]

Pit Boss has been of NO help. They don't have instructions for reolacing the cable, only the sensor and it is complicated. I like the features of the Titan but the customer service from Pit Boss leaves a lot to be desired. An expensive grill and little support.

If I could be of any help anyway please let me know, if nothing else maybe I could compare something I'd see in mine compared to what you see in yours?
I'll be working later today to remove the hopper box so I'll have that same sort of view. Please do stay in touch and let us all know how you resolve this. I sure am hoping this is not a case of Chinese construction but it certainly seems problematic to operate without instructions and try to accomplish reinstallation of the RTD.

I was electrician for many many years and when we were replacing wire in a conduit or circuit one of the techniques is to tie the old wire to the new wire and pull it through. Not sure if that would even be an option here but if you do decide to try that please reach out and I'll try to give you some detailed instructions on how to tie the wires together i.e. new and old. It's important that the wires be tied strongly so they don't come undone and strand you while you're in the process trying to pull them through

One other option occurs to me, not desirable but it might be possible, is to drill straight through the grill wall and simply mount a new RTD centreline left, the way they are mounted in the older models i.e. 1100 850 et cetera.
Having said that, it might also be possible to drill through a mount a new RTD where the existing one is now, it would be a bit ugly, but with high temperature wire and sheathing you might be able to do it. You'd have to fab a bracket to hold the RTD but that's not a big deal either in my book.
If you were to contact an RTD manufacturer you could probably get direct purchase of a replacement part in the right temperature range that is designed for high temperature application. I spent 30 years working in an oil refinery on electrical and instrumentation so I understand the issue pretty well and I can provide a lead to an RTD manufacturer if you would needed one.

Ultimately I sure hope none of this is needed!
Best of luck!

John Herbert

 

[John.H]

Hi Pitman#193
I want to share some additional information with you, I just got off the phone with the PitBoss people, customer service. I called to ask about the auger motor but also asked about the RTD, knowing your issues that you're having right now and the fact that I own a Titan and I'll probably face the same issue someday.
In talking to the PitBoss rep, they read me off the instruction for replacing the RTD and that instruction, which I've attached a picture of along with the picture of the instruction number from the email they sent me, shows that when you go to replace at RTD, you simply lift the cover off and there are connectors right there under the cover that lets you connect the replacement RTD to the wires that are running back through the barrel to the hopper so it's not a matter of pulling new wires, I was totally off base.
Obviously, this will be great news if it's just an RTD that is broken, but if for some reason the wires after the RTD that run through the barrel to the hopper are somehow broken or bad, then it looks like you're kind of screwed 'cause they don't have any way to pull wires through. I would guess it's set up as a one time installation and the wires buried inside the barrel wall are not replaceable or actionable once the whole barrel is built.

I'm not sure that helps with your situation, not sure how far you've gone, but I wanted to add that. My previous comments about drilling straight through the side wall and adapting if you can't fix it still apply. You could still consider doing that if it's your wires themselves inside the barrel that are bad.

Again, best of luck!
John Herbert

 

[Pitman#193]

If I could be of any help anyway please let me know, if nothing else maybe I could compare something I'd see in mine compared to what you see in yours?
I'll be working later today to remove the hopper box so I'll have that same sort of view. Please do stay in touch and let us all know how you resolve this. I sure am hoping this is not a case of Chinese construction but it certainly seems problematic to operate without instructions and try to accomplish reinstallation of the RTD.

I was electrician for many many years and when we were replacing wire in a conduit or circuit one of the techniques is to tie the old wire to the new wire and pull it through. Not sure if that would even be an option here but if you do decide to try that please reach out and I'll try to give you some detailed instructions on how to tie the wires together i.e. new and old. It's important that the wires be tied strongly so they don't come undone and strand you while you're in the process trying to pull them through

One other option occurs to me, not desirable but it might be possible, is to drill straight through the grill wall and simply mount a new RTD centreline left, the way they are mounted in the older models i.e. 1100 850 et cetera.
Having said that, it might also be possible to drill through a mount a new RTD where the existing one is now, it would be a bit ugly, but with high temperature wire and sheathing you might be able to do it. You'd have to fab a bracket to hold the RTD but that's not a big deal either in my book.
If you were to contact an RTD manufacturer you could probably get direct purchase of a replacement part in the right temperature range that is designed for high temperature application. I spent 30 years working in an oil refinery on electrical and instrumentation so I understand the issue pretty well and I can provide a lead to an RTD manufacturer if you would needed one.

Ultimately I sure hope none of this is needed!
Best of luck!

John Herbert

Thanks John. I tried tiying the string to the end that connects to the contro board afterdisconnecting it and pulling it back into the deum but it was stuck tight. The double wall insulated feature is a big advantage with the Titan but a hinderance when it comes to replacing that cable. Pit Boss can't offer any instructions specificaly for the Titan. All of their instructions and videos are generic for other models and doesn't help. They want to do a video phone call to try to walk me through it. I will let everyone know how that goes. Never thought of the drill through and relocation idea, something to consider if nothing else works. If I could figure out how to get that hopper off I a sure I could then replace the cable. I like the features of the Titan, but man the repairs are a nightmare.

 

[Pitman#193]

Hi Pitman#193
Thanks for the information regarding your adventures with your Titan. I also own a Titan and have a post up in the threads about my auger not working. Today I drilled in and found out quite a lot. I was having issues with the hopper removal and you really cleared the air so thank you!
Just as an FYI to share with you and anyone else on the forum here that might have a Titan, I ended up getting wet pellets somehow in my auger and basically seized it which in turn sheared the pin / screw but the interesting or annoying thing is that when it sheared, it spun the auger motor, which is free floating at the end of the auger shaft, so hard into the hopper drain assembly for the pellets that it actually bent the plate and now my hopper dump mechanism will not work because it's misaligned. So I have further work to do there too. Just passing it on as a heads up, not much you can do the auger motor has to remain free floating on the end of the auger.

Best of luck!!
John Herbert

Thanks John. I got an inexpensive shop vac from Harbor Freight and after empting the pellet hopper after a cook I vacuum the pellets from the augar shaft from both ends, then reverse the air flow on the vac and blow out any remaining pellets. I never leave pellets in the hopper or auger mainly because of damp air at night. I don't ever want to deal with a stuck auger. Replacing the RTD cable is bad enough.

 

[Pitman#193]

Hi Pitman#193
I want to share some additional information with you, I just got off the phone with the PitBoss people, customer service. I called to ask about the auger motor but also asked about the RTD, knowing your issues that you're having right now and the fact that I own a Titan and I'll probably face the same issue someday.
In talking to the PitBoss rep, they read me off the instruction for replacing the RTD and that instruction, which I've attached a picture of along with the picture of the instruction number from the email they sent me, shows that when you go to replace at RTD, you simply lift the cover off and there are connectors right there under the cover that lets you connect the replacement RTD to the wires that are running back through the barrel to the hopper so it's not a matter of pulling new wires, I was totally off base.
Obviously, this will be great news if it's just an RTD that is broken, but if for some reason the wires after the RTD that run through the barrel to the hopper are somehow broken or bad, then it looks like you're kind of screwed 'cause they don't have any way to pull wires through. I would guess it's set up as a one time installation and the wires buried inside the barrel wall are not replaceable or actionable once the whole barrel is built.

I'm not sure that helps with your situation, not sure how far you've gone, but I wanted to add that. My previous comments about drilling straight through the side wall and adapting if you can't fix it still apply. You could still consider doing that if it's your wires themselves inside the barrel that are bad.

Again, best of luck!
John Herbert

I got those same instructions which is all they had. I replaced the RTD sensor, that was easy, It didn't solve the problem, temps were still reading all ovet the place so I figured I would also replace the cable which came with the package and that is where I am at. Any on line instructions just say pull it through but it isn't that simple with the Titan. With other models the sensor is located on the inside left wall but the Titan is located in the middle of the back wall and has a fairli long cable. Then it has to pass between the narrow openin between the double wall. I can't get the hopper separated enough to see where it comes out of the barrel and enters the pellet box to the control board. I will keep you posted if I go with the phone video but probably won't be for a few days, Spent about four hours today undoing every screw I saw without success and then putting it all back together again. Fun day with the Pit Boss!!

 

[John.H]

Hi -
I wrote a response discussing some of what we've been talking about and I'd stopped to look and do some research - and I just came across a thread from 2025 here on this forum where the guy talks about successfully replacing the wires inside the barrel.
So I scrapped scrapped / parked my original letter to you and I'm writing this one directly to share this information with you

I've attached a picture of the thread title. If you end up on that path possibly he could be of help?
I still have to have my hopper off so I'm still pursuing that but my discussion with CHATGPT centered around verifying that it actually could be taken off. I'm still not entirely sure that. That sounds stupid at this point but do you or have you seen information that a Titan hopper can actually be removed all the way? It comes pre-attach to the barrel, as he probably remember so that kinda has me thinking too. Please let me know if you find out anything a value for us!

Thanks
John Herbert

 

[John.H]

Hi Cowboy -
I was just researching through CHATGPT about this issue and it reference a post that you actually had made from 2025. I have attached it here, I was sending you a direct email but it's very difficult and confusing to me about how to attach something not nearly as simple as it is here on the public forum
I just wanted to ask if in fact this is accurate and taking off the bottom plate reveal two screws that allow the Titan hopper specifically to be removed? Can you verify that? Thank you very much!!

John Herbert

 

[Cowboy1955]

Hi Cowboy -
I was just researching through CHATGPT about this issue and it reference a post that you actually had made from 2025. I have attached it here, I was sending you a direct email but it's very difficult and confusing to me about how to attach something not nearly as simple as it is here on the public forum
I just wanted to ask if in fact this is accurate and taking off the bottom plate reveal two screws that allow the Titan hopper specifically to be removed? Can you verify that? Thank you very much!!

John Herbert

Yes it is

 

[John.H]

Yes it is

Thanks!!