New MES 40 failure

[desertjake]

Last week I got a Sams Club MES 40. I proceeded to try my first cook with a brisket and two pork butts.

Everything was rolling along great. The brisket got to temp first and I pulled it out. Then for hours the pork didn't seem to rise much. Finally the temperature of the meat actually dropped a bit. I swapped probes and they both read the same thing. Then I tried leaving the probe out to see the temp inside the box. It read 150-something even though the MES thought it was at 230! I cranked it up to maximum and the element came on and raised the temp, but still was reading about 80 degrees different from my probes.

Since the brisket got up to 195 with no problems, all I can figure is the thermostat went haywire about 12-14 hours into my very first cook! This isn't common, is it?

I finished the foiled pork in the oven. It was about 24 hours total, but surprisingly it was pretty awesome. The brisket was good too, especially the burnt ends. Not bad for my first smoke, but I'm a little wary about the MES reliability now.

 

[ronp]

Do another test run empty is ok, then watch the temps. If it does that again, take it back to Sam's. Or call Masterbuilt maybe they can help. Sometimes, not often, unplugging the unit for 10 seconds will reset the controller. Good luck.

 

[placebo]

Check to make sure you didn't accidentily bump the brisket or something against the thermostat getting it gunked up and distorting the reading. If not I'd say your spot on and the thermostat bit the dust. If that's the case I'd take it back to SAMS and get it replaced. They replaced mine some time ago with no hassles at all and I'd had it for quite awhile before the control box went out.

Good luck and let us know how it turns out.

 

[desertjake]

Hmm... there's a thought. Although I'm not sure how gunk would make it read hotter than it is. I would think it would do the opposite. But I'll check it out, along with the reset tip.

 

[desertjake]

Okay, no gunk on the sensor, but the reset did the trick. There's still a 15 deg differential from probe to thermostat, but that's within reason.

My question is, will this happen often? If I have to keep checking to make sure the thermostat is working it defeats some of the "set and forget" beauty of the electric smoker!

 

[spg1]

I have had mine for a few months or so and have not had any problems. All I have done is the RONP Tile Mod[emoji]169[/emoji]

 

[chisoxjim]

lol,

hopefully you can get that thing working right.

 

[skillet]

Mine temp guage on the built in sensor has been off since the day I got it. It read about 20* warmer than it really is.

I've had 3 different probes in it at the same time and they all read lower than what the internal sensor says.

Once I figured that out, I now set my MES at 240-250. Not sure why they are off. But I can say it's at least stayed consistent, so far.