Adding extra heat element to MES?

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gellfex

Newbie
Original poster
Sep 7, 2016
23
10
My 30" unit heats fine in moderate weather but if it's cold and windy out can't maintain 250. Without going all in and doing a PID and new elements, I was thinking I could add a simple 'always on' element to give it the lift it needs. One thought is a simple 1500W element on a Variac controller, and just dial it up till the internal controller can maintain setpoint. I was considering the $10 water tank elements at the Depot, but wonder if they're not designed to work unsubmerged. Maybe a small stove element. Thoughts?
 
Water heating elements will burn out without water surrounding them.
Have you tried adding an insulated blanket like a welding blanket from Harbor Freight? OrHome Depot? Or even a cardboard box?

You might be able to use an element from a Big Chief smoker the way you want to.
 
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Even the 800 watt mes 30 and 1,200 watt mes 40 will fry ithe foam insulation in the right rear corner where the element is in close proximity to the right and rear corner walls. People take off the back and it's a charred foam crunchy mess. I think a member has a 1,200 watt element from a mes 40 in the mes 30. Some of us that went PID in the mes 40 have flipped the mes 40 element to center it to more easily even heating that isn't necessary in the 30, being such a smaller smoker but with the 40 the flipped element can't fry foam insulation in the middle of the smoker.
 
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My 30" unit heats fine in moderate weather but if it's cold and windy out can't maintain 250. Without going all in and doing a PID and new elements, I was thinking I could add a simple 'always on' element to give it the lift it needs. One thought is a simple 1500W element on a Variac controller, and just dial it up till the internal controller can maintain setpoint. I was considering the $10 water tank elements at the Depot, but wonder if they're not designed to work unsubmerged. Maybe a small stove element. Thoughts?
Hi there and welcome!

As dr k dr k spoke of, if you get the MES40 1200watt element and install it but flipped around so the element is more centered then that should do the trick.

Also a 1500watt element could very well flip your breaker depending if anything else is working on that electrical circuit within your house at the same time. The 1200watt element gives you a few more amps in wiggle room so this may not happen.

This options means you do about the same amount of work or less then what you were originally thinking and it should be very compatible and fit your MES30 with just a small amount of effort or hole drilling.

You may also want to get some high temp RTV silicon to seal everything up as you replace it :)

I hope all this info helps :)
 
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