Another MES PID adventure starting...best practices?

  • Some of the links on this forum allow SMF, at no cost to you, to earn a small commission when you click through and make a purchase. Let me know if you have any questions about this.
SMF is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.
Good info all around . Nice heads up from tallbm tallbm on hole sizes . You could still use the stock mount and grommet . Just stick the temp probe thru up to the threads .
If you want to bolt it in place , I think I would fab up a bracket . Flat metal or a fender washer . Drill the holes like tallbm said , but bolt the probe to the bracket , then fasten the bracket to the smoker from the outside . You'd have to adjust the size of the outside hole to allow the nut to be let into the back .
You'll have to check , that threaded shoulder might be long enough to go through the case .

If you go back to the thread I linked , and look at post #5 . Something similar to that .
Good luck .
 
  • Like
Reactions: Danabw
I forgot to thank you for this info - I always wondered if it was hotter at the top of the smoker (heat rises) or lower (closer to the heating element. Thanks for clearing that up!

Well in honesty my statement may not be super accurate. I have seen an MES30 where the 2nd from the bottom rack was hotter than the bottom rack.

In my MES40 setup I removed all that element cover stuff and flipped my element, so my element is exposed and more evenly distributes heat in my unit. The lowest rack is the hottest in my unit UNLESS I do some weird stuff (lots of pans) and heat flows around stuff on bottom rack to make a higher rack hotter.

In my setup I alligator clip my probe to the mid-under side of my lowest rack because it gets the most heat therefore my PID can respond as fast as possible.

So in short, check where your hottest rack is and then I would mount the wall probe just under the middle of that rack :)

Finally, dr k is right about the safety rollout limit switch. With the simple no back removal rewire the safety switch is kept in the circuit. I replaced my switch with a slightly higher limit one so i could do fast poultry smokes at 325F but I NEVER run it over 275F unless its those fast chicken smokes where I want the skin to turn out good and edible.

I hope this info helps! :)
 
Last edited:
Good info all around . Nice heads up from tallbm tallbm on hole sizes . You could still use the stock mount and grommet . Just stick the temp probe thru up to the threads .
If you want to bolt it in place , I think I would fab up a bracket . Flat metal or a fender washer . Drill the holes like tallbm said , but bolt the probe to the bracket , then fasten the bracket to the smoker from the outside . You'd have to adjust the size of the outside hole to allow the nut to be let into the back .
You'll have to check , that threaded shoulder might be long enough to go through the case .

If you go back to the thread I linked , and look at post #5 . Something similar to that .
Good luck .

Yeah great points. I liked your simple and elegant solution a lot and if I did a wall mount that would be the way I would go.
 
I did the no back removal mod as well but have a cord ready as a back up. The limit switch keeps the smoker from burning up if the sensor fails or whatever and the PID keeps calling for heat so it opens the circuit to the element around 302. I always set one of my calibrated remote therm probes in the smoker chamber to a range of 145-290 so my alarm goes off before the temp gets too high or low. As long as you have an alert to go check it out.
Thanks for the confirmation of the potential issues/risks.

I was thinking the same thing, have a secondary warning set up via another of my thermometers. I don't like the idea of having to use the PID and a secondary unit every time, so I may just go the route of drilling out the six rivets and opening up the panel on the bottom on my MES30 to get at the wiring there and "do it right" so to speak. I'm usually not a belts and suspender kinda guy, but anything involving heat/fire makes me more cautious. :)
 
Thanks for the confirmation of the potential issues/risks.

I was thinking the same thing, have a secondary warning set up via another of my thermometers. I don't like the idea of having to use the PID and a secondary unit every time, so I may just go the route of drilling out the six rivets and opening up the panel on the bottom on my MES30 to get at the wiring there and "do it right" so to speak. I'm usually not a belts and suspender kinda guy, but anything involving heat/fire makes me more cautious. :)

The rewire is easy even with drilling out those rivets. I also list the type of sheet metal screw u can use to refasten that panel back once u drill the rivets out. I thin the 3/4" long work best for refastening that bottom panel but cant remember. Once you look at it you will know.

As for the rewire job it is literally cutting 4 wire ends and splicing together to make 2 wires and that's it. Super simple and once u take a look at it I think you'll feel much more comfortable with it :)
 
  • Like
Reactions: Danabw
Finally, chop is right about the safety rollout limit switch. With the simple no back removal rewire the safety switch is kept in the circuit. I replaced my switch with a slightly higher limit one so i could do fast poultry smokes at 325F but I NEVER run it over 275F unless its those fast chicken smokes where I want the skin to turn out good and edible.
tallbm tallbm - Shoot, now I'm confused. I thought the simple rewire (directly at the element connection point on the back) meant that the safety switch is not kept in the circuit. I thought that you had to do the rewire on the bottom (on my MES30 Gen1 where there is a plate w/six rivets you have to drill out) to keep the safety switch in play.

Have I been thinking backwards?
 
Last edited:
Yeah great points. I liked your simple and elegant solution a lot and if I did a wall mount that would be the way I would go.
Yeah, I do like the option to quickly remove and replace the probe that chopsaw chopsaw 's method provides. Plus it looks slicker than bat sh*t. ;-)
 
tallbm tallbm - Shoot, now I'm confused. I thought the simple rewire (directly at the element connection point on the back) meant that the safety switch is not kept in the circuit. I thought that you had to do the rewire on the bottom (on my MES30 Gen1 where there is a plate w/six rivets you have to drill out) to keep the safety switch in play.

Have I been thinking backwards?

I can clarify any confusion... I think lol.

So in the post:

The simple no back removal and rewire is done in the panel underneath the MES not at the heating element.

This image here from the post:
full?d=1507263359.png


Is the same panel under the MES that you point to in your image here:
1596642129710-png.png



So the images do not show the heating element panel.
When you rewire inside the panel here under the MES you will be doing the simple no back removal rewire from the post I placed above (above the 2 pics).

It is simply cutting 4 wire ends off and splicing to make 2 wires AND keeps the safety switch in the mix. It goes from something like this:
full?d=1507263359.png


To be something like this where #2 and #4 were spliced together and #1 and #3 were spliced to gether:
full?d=1507244980.jpg


The last image shows the rewire (4 wire ends spliced to make 2 wires) and THIS will keep the safety switch in the mix.

If you wire a new cord directly to the heating element that eliminates the safety switch.
The post for the no back removal simple rewire is shown in these images AND means u still plug the MES in with it's existing cord, not a new cord but now power feeds directly to the heating element with the safety switch in the mix.

Let me know if this clarifies things.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Danabw
I can clarify any confusion... I think lol.

Let me know if this clarifies things.
Perfect Thanks very much. I got confused on the wording used to refer to each type of wiring.

I'm going to do all my cutting and splicing in the section on the bottom of the smoker, where I have to drill out the rivets. I've decided I want to keep the safety switch connected. I do enough dumb things when everything's put together correctly. No need to go asking for trouble by removing a safety.😉😯🙂
 
  • Like
Reactions: mosparky and tallbm
My PID is at the local FedEx dist center, but still shows scheduled delivery Monday. :( May need to take a quick fly-over in my helicopter to pick it up. (If only I had a helicopter...)

Update, this just in:

Scheduled delivery:
Friday 8/07/2020 by 8:00 pm
(That's FedEx)

Oh oh oh oh oh!! :emoji_laughing::emoji_laughing::emoji_wink:
(That's me)
 
Last edited:
Just went through that with the element I ordered . Drove right by my house to leave it sit in the post office . I've been in the house since March. No need to get rammy now . I just waited .
 
  • Like
Reactions: Danabw
My PID is at the local FedEx dist center, but still shows scheduled delivery Monday. :( May need to take a quick fly-over in my helicopter to pick it up. (If only I had a helicopter...)

Update, this just in:

Scheduled delivery:
Friday 8/07/2020 by 8:00 pm
(That's FedEx)

Oh oh oh oh oh!! :emoji_laughing::emoji_laughing::emoji_wink:
(That's me)
Very kool!
 
It's here, it's sexy, and it's all mine...the thing is build like a tank, if I ever am attacked by a tank, I would throw this at it and probably win. ;-)

Pics below of the unboxing (look away if you aren't over 18). I also got screen caps of the app. Sadly I forgot capture the screens where you add the device, but it's very simple - hit the plus sign, enter in your network password, and then you're good to go. Getting it on the network was very easy. There is nothing in the box other than the packing slip/invoice. There's an option to access the manual from the app, but I haven't used that yet.

Enjoy, I'm off to go drill holes in my MES30. <evil grin>

20200807_132644.jpg

20200807_132652.jpg

20200807_132707.jpg

20200807_132805.jpg

20200807_133359.jpg

20200807_133507.jpg

20200807_133428.jpg

Screenshot_20200807-133125_AuberSmart.jpg

Screenshot_20200807-133132_AuberSmart.jpg

Screenshot_20200807-133210_AuberSmart.jpg

Screenshot_20200807-133216_AuberSmart.jpg

Screenshot_20200807-133222_AuberSmart.jpg

Screenshot_20200807-133226_AuberSmart.jpg

Screenshot_20200807-133232_AuberSmart.jpg
 

Attachments

  • 20200807_132652.jpg
    20200807_132652.jpg
    102.8 KB · Views: 6
  • Like
Reactions: tallbm and chopsaw
almost seems like you're excited! :emoji_blush:

Ryan
Nawww, I'm not excited at all, I'm just pretending for you guys. ;-) No one ever called me Debbie Downer. :D

Seriously, I'm pretty happy/excited.

Just finished a non-food test smoke. Put in the three probes and fired it up for a one-step test, just going up to 225 IT for the smoker, and setting "done" alarms for the two food temps. Seemed to work as expected generally.

One thing is that the smoker IT probe, even though it's sitting right next to the two food probes, was consistently reading lower than the two food probes. Looks like I'll need to adjust the offset of one or the other. I usually do an ice slurry test for pocket temp probes, what's the recommended process for these types of probes.
 
I don't have meat probes on mine , just the temp probe . I would think you need to have the meat probes in something , or run without them .
 
  • Like
Reactions: Brokenhandle
I don't have meat probes on mine , just the temp probe . I would think you need to have the meat probes in something , or run without them .

I was thinking about that as well, but I would expect that temperature is temperature, and unless Auber intentionally sets the calibration on meat probes a little higher than the wall probe, I would expect them to read the same. I may drop an eamil to Auber to ask them.
 
BTW, I have to say I'm really disappointed in you guys...you should have sent someone to my house to force me to order the PID the day I joined the forum. What were you thinking, letting me stumble along w/out one!? :D :D :D :D

I love this, it's like getting a new smoker, and I am going love not having to babysit temps...
 
SmokingMeatForums.com is reader supported and as an Amazon Associate, we may earn commissions from qualifying purchases.

Latest posts

Hot Threads

Clicky