Dan, probes, whether Auber, Maverick, or any other brand, and inherently sensitive. The bulb/capillary design makes them that way. Until someone comes up with temp probes that move past that technology, they have to be treated gently. I make every effort to treat my probes with care, and never submerge them when washing. Any water introduced into the probe will cause it to fail. In 3 years of using Auber PIDs, both stand alone and integrated, I have only experienced one meat probe failure. But, that's why probes only carry a 90-day warranty. Also, these are scientific-grade probes, so while they are better quality (accuracy-wise), that may also make them more sensitive to abuse (unintentional, of course).
Believe it or not, the units really aren't that "delicate." Like I said, various Auber PIDs, and hundreds of smokes, and I've never had a failure, except one meat probe. We'll get through this, together! Thousands of happy owners, and we'll get to the bottom of why you're having issues! One thing you will find here is lots of folks willing to help, and collectively, we usually figure it out!