Crap, my Mes30 just died mid smoke

[flanntastic]

i put on two pork butts on at 9am, went to add some wood and noticed my MES wasn't on, checked the fuse box, plugged in other items into that socket and i have found my MES 30 is dead.   I bought it for fathers day and have used it for ten months (about 15 smokes).   now the only mod i have done is i use a small meatloaf pan on the bottom left to hold some lit lump charcoal (i like the flavor, get off me) it does increase the temp a few degrees over normal, but could i have fried a wire?

 

[SmokinAl]

First off I hope you put the butts in the oven to finish them off. Next there are a couple of repairs that can be made if necessary. The most common is the wires to the heating element corrode & break. There are instructions to repair this here. Just go to the search box & type in "MES heating element repair". 

 

[forluvofsmoke]

Never ran an electric rig, so I haven't experienced the scramble to find out if it's dead or not. I just keep propane or charcoal on hand and smoke my meats. Not bashing the manufacturer here, just sayin', electricity and smoke don't seem to mix very well.

Eric

 

[Bearcarver]

I guess you already tried unplugging it & replugging it.

Also unplugging the digital control & replugging that in---then plugging the smoker back in again.

After that, the first thing to check is the wires to the heating element, like Al said.

Your's is less than a year old, so it probably has the little box on the back (near the bottom) to get in there & check those wires.

Bear

 

[daveomak]

Looking at the smoker from the front, in the back left, on the bottom is all the electronic stuff under the smoke chamber. I got this from Texacajun's wiki
[h1]MES wiring upgrade mod[/h1]
Texacajun.............posted this thread and mods.

This is the lower power control board.Located under the MES with all the new connections and wire installed.  

 

[flanntastic]

well, the front back left is where i stick my pan of hot charcoal, so i am guessing i burned those wires out!

BUT....i have decided to just buy a MES 40 (i needed the extra room) and I am thinking about trying to make my MES30 a charcoal smoker, it seems like it would be pretty easy right?