I could remove and change the insulation.
I just got this second hand for $60 lol.
Now I feel to stupid haha. I read the instructions above, and seems pretty straightforward to bypass the digital controller.
Now you guys all mention this Auber controller to set the temperature. Never heard of it, but what's the cheapest one I can use? They seem to be over $100, in which case it would be easier to just throw out this smoker and buy another used one, without the digital controller.
But if I can buy a cheap controller to make this one work, I don't mind splicing some wires!
Here's some good points to consider and some answers:
- In a digital MES, the insulation is foam spray in insulation. This is actually what gives the body of the smoker it's rigidity.
I once thought "hey I could just remove the insulation from an MES and do xyz" and then I pulled the back off one to undrestand that the metal is flimsy sheet metal and the entire structure and solidity of the smoker is just rigid spray foam insulation that has dried.
So basically if you were to go through the painstaking effort of removing the spray foam insulation, you would still need to build a structural frame to then just fasten the existing sheet metal to.
A better option would be to get an Analog Masterbuilt smoker which is constructed with a frame and has zero insulation BUT is hollow so you could add about 1inch of high temp ceramic/fiberglass style insulation into it at that point.
Also the electric element is a 1400W element on the analog where the digital MES has a 1200W element.
2. For what you are doing I don't think you can buy a complete an off the shelf PID controller that will work well with the amperage and wattage of these smoker elements, for less than an Auber one.
If you've never built one, you will pay more in tools, components, and parts in the end than buying the lowest cost Auber option... I've lived this situation before lol :D
Now if you love projects like this, then go for it and get all the stuff to build you a controller. It's fun for sure!
Once you buy all the stuff to build one, you can build a 2nd PID controller for about $30-45 less than the lowest acceptable Auber option because you have the extra components, you have the tools, and the main parts really aren't that expensive. Also factor in about 2 days of goofing around with building one, once you know what you are doing. It will take a few more days than that to do the box fabrication, get it all right, etc. when doing your 1st ever PID Controller build.
3. Beware throwing money at an inexpensive controller "option" because often in the fine print of the specs, they can't handle the amperage/wattage or even measure temps high enough for what you need to do.
4. To answer your earlier question about getting the temp to go higher. There is a Normally Closed safety cuttoff temp switch hard wired into the the digital MES. So even with the rewire and a PID controller that hard switch will open and stop feeding electricity to the element when it senses about 305F smoker temp. This is because the foam insulation cannot handle working temps much above 325F for long.
So to get to 400F you would need to replace that safety cutoff switch with a higher temp rated one or remove it all together, but DISCLAIMER/WARNING you are removing a safety device so be sure you understand how you want to safely use the device and the consequences of altering it. Like the existing foam insulation catching fire and then burning down the property and half the county lol :D
Overall though, getting a PID controller that can handle the element for what you want to do will be a good start even if you decide not to use this MES for a powder coat oven and go with another body option as your powder coat oven.
At the very least you could smoke BBQ or do jerky with your currently rewired MES using the same PID controller on both this MES and on a 2nd better suited powder coating oven option/smoker you rig up :D
Let me know if this info helps :)