how to connect these parts

late last week I ordered a heating system for my brewing. it consists of a ferm wrap, a thermowell cap, and a two stage Ronco temperature control. now I know I have to tape the wrap to the carboy and plug it into the controller. but when I go to connect the controller's temp sensor to the thermowell I run into a bit of a problem. the sensor will not fit securly into the thermowell. the sensor is to thick. what am I missing?

I think you got the wrong Ranco, or the wrong thermowell. It should fit. Did you pick the parts yourself, or did you order them as a kit?

You didn't get the wrong controller. The OEM temp probe that comes with he Ranco will not fit in a standard 1/4" thermowell. If you want a temp sensor that can be submerged in the wort you need to find a slightly larger ss thermowell or order a prewired one from brewers hardware (about $15) and rewire your controller.

i ordered the Ronco and thermowell from two different sites. after reading your posts i went back and looked at the site i ordered the thermowell from and sure enough they say it will fit a particular model of Ronco they sell on their site. luckily they sell a "replacement" probe for that model. so i ordered the new probe and it should hopefully be here early next week.

What site did you purchase it from?

i ordered the Ronco from Ronco ETC Store. i ordered the thermowell, replacement probe, and other odds and ends form MoreBeer.com. getting the controller from the Ronco ETC site was cheaper and i had a code for a 5% discount. unfortunately as usual i have now spent more than that discount fixing an online order booboo.