Heat probe placement.

[Moneypit]

The problem is you and everyone else are really over thinking this and too trusting in the setting on your thermostat.
You use a non contact thermometer to get your actual reading and fine tune your stat settings to get the surface temps you want.
Its not that hard. You can place it on the outer side of the heat source too.
There is no service needed on the probe and if you use foil tape on your mat then there is no problem removing them for any reason either.

Agreed that we'd should all be frequently checking and verifying temps. To clarify, I am measuring temps using surface contact with an instrument designed specifically for that purpose (Atkins series330) and a non contact method (Raytek mini gun).

My concerns about probe placement are to minimize cycling and temp swings by probing the heated surface and not the heating element. Just seems that all the guides and posts refer to measuring the temp of the heating element.

I know the UTH won't be serviced. But, my thought was if the probe, thermostat, enclosure etc required some kind of interaction (clean, adjust, replace, etc) it would be better to have it easily accessible.

And yes, maybe we are all overthinking this.