Has Anyone Fooled the MES Temp Sensor Before?

Yes. Setting alarms is a really good idea. Not only for safety, but also to keep from spoiling a good smoke! Catching a problem quickly can make a flare up, or other problem inconsequential.

It also makes sense to arrange the various parts of our smokers so that the chance of having a fire spread to anything else is minimized. Even though the smoker is electric, and may be reasonably safe by itself, I do run either a mailbox setup or an AMNPS directly in my smoker, and use pellets, so I'm playing with fire there!

We all have to consider worst case situations as we set up our systems, and try to do things as safely as possible. The remote controls on these smokers encourage us to run them without direct supervision, but that does create more danger, so we have to be especially careful.

FYI: I know of an MES that somehow got Fat drippings inside the door, and it lit up & went to flames. He was there & put the fire out without any other fire problems.
Masterbuilt gave him a new door, No argument, probably wanting to keep it Hush-Hush.

Bear

A CO2 extinguisher would probably work just fine especially as you could use it without attempting to open the door (via the vent or the chip loader) the other advantages are that they don’t make a giant mess with powder or other media, and they only cost a few bucks to refill.

That being said, the “right” answer for cooking grease fires is a type K extinguiser which uses an alkaline medium (at a low enough pressure to essentially turn the burning grease into soap, and thus smother the fire without spraying burning grease everywhere). They work well, if you can get them on the fire (think fixed extinguisher heads over a commercial cooktop or deep fryer), but the various alkaline agents are corrosive and make a mess out of shiny metal.

In any event, the best way to put out the fire is by removing the ignition source (unplug the smoker) and smother the fire (cover the air inlet and vent). I would strongly advise against opening the door, or spraying water on it. Needless to say, this is why the literature for your smoker says not to put it on, adjacent to, or under a flammable surface.
(I’m a Burn doctor who sees a lot of people who try to carry burning pans of grease out of their house)

If you have a Class B dry chemical fireextinguisher, you can use it as well. You canalso put out a grease fire with baking soda or salt. Keep in mind that it takes a lot, so it only works for small fires. But make sure you don't grab anything else by mistake—baking powder and flour will both make the fire even worse.

tallbm said:

This brings up a good point that I have been debating.
What is a better/best and reliable home or mini fire extinguishing unit to have on hand?
I have researched this a little and disappointed that the "recommended" (mainly Kidde) had so many issues, failures, and just lack of reliability. I am relying on my backyard water hose right now but would prefer something faster and located very near my smoker.

Anyone have any foolproof suggestions?
Any fireman or fire related professionals have any input?

Click to expand...

I just got rid of a bunch of bigger ones that were real old (from my old Cabinet shop).
Then I got 3 brand new 5 pounders that are A-B-C. Should handle anything I need them for.
I'm gonna hang one just inside the front door, for use inside or on my Smoking & Grilling Porch.
Another one just outside my Kitchen door to the garage, to handle the garage & kitchen.
The Third one will go in the basement near the Heating Room.
All 3 were only $84.

Bear

OK. Now I've got another thing to add to my control system:

A fire suppression system! ;)

My wife got a Halon extinguisher as a safety award from the hospital where she worked. We keep that one in the kitchen for grease or other fires there. The advantage of Halon is that you won't be reluctant to use it because it won't create an extra mess.

But as Bear points out: A good ABC extinguisher is a good thing to have anywhere. They're usually dry chemical, so they will make a big mess, but often the alternative is much worse! I like to have one near every exit because when you get to the extinguisher, you can look back at the fire and make the executive decision between returning to fight the fire and simply running out the door for your life!

Having one handy near your smoker would certainly be a good idea.

The garden hose might be good for putting out your porch or the side of your house, but unless you've disconnected your smoker from the electrical outlet first, spraying it or the area near it with water could be quite dangerous. Most water has enough mineral content to be quite conductive, and it will run into small openings.

Of course, this is one more reason to have your smoker plugged into a GFCI protected outlet.

Where I used to work, we did annual fire training, and everyone got to try their hand at extinguishing a burning liquid fire usually consisting of diesel fuel started with a bit of gasoline by the folks giving the training. I think it's great to have everyone get to actually use a fire extinguisher every so often so it's second nature and you don't have to read the instructions on the extinguisher as you're watching the fire get bigger!

It also gives you an idea of how much (or little) a given size of extinguisher contains, so you won't waste precious retardant, and will get what there is on target for best results.

Muscle memory is a good thing in an emergency.

PASS

Pull pin, Aim (at the base of the flames), Squeeze the trigger, and Sweep side to side to cover the burning material.

Not to belabor the point,
(but I'm gonna, because I'd rather teach people how not to get burned than to do their skin grafting)

ABC will work for Class A (normally burning solids, like wood, paper, etc. B is for burning liquids that are not self oxidizing, and C is for general electrical fires (based on the conductivity and corrosivity of the extinguishing agent).

Most ABC extinguishers are charged with Mono ammonium phosphate (because it's not very conductive), but some are just charged with baking soda.

Either charge will work to suppress common fires, but MAP is easier on electronics and harder to clean up.

Common "Consumer" (non-recharge,<10#)ABC extinguishers are essentially "One and Done" in that, once you activate the trigger, a lot of stuff is coming out in a hurry, and you can't effectively control volume or velocity. so if you're in a situation wherein there's a bunch of flaming grease in a puddle, you stand a good chance of spraying it all over the place. Unfortunately, Halon, which is really good at not poisoning, (though still good at suffocating, in fire-suppressive concentrations), you or your passengers (on a Boat or Airplane) or trashing your sensitive computer equipment, is a long way from optimal. Halon delivery systems are designed to flood areas with high pressure/high volume streams of non-fire supporting gas, and are, therefore, nowhere near as "Modulatable" in terms of putting out a mundane liquid fire with a minimum of rigamarole as is CO2, and this is because CO2 extinguishers are made with "variable speed" valves. (think PUFF (wait) PUFF (wait) PUFF...
They have that great big cone on the front so that they don't freeze, and also so, in order that they don't blow burning liquid all over everything you are trying to save, you can keep the velocity of the gas flow low, but still very turbulent and high-volume. (they also produce exponentially more extinguishing gas volume for a given weight than do other extinguishers.
Give Halon's exponentially higher costs and reduced utility for a potentially "mundane" fire environment, I would strongly recommend a 10# CO2 system for a fire-prone situation such as you describe, and just to make sure, go set some stuff on fire in the back yard, and put it out (for the $15 recharge fee) and you'll be much better prepared than before.