Did I make a good purchase electric smoker??

[Zierer]

View attachment 391362 When I did the PID mod I realized the bulb socket had screw terminals so I put a block of wood on the outside of the smoker and drilled through the inside hole out. The manual says 15 or 25 watts but since I wired and shrink tubed a16 guage extension cord for a 40 watt bulb the light is worth while. Plug in on, unplug off. Sealed with with RTV 700° silicone.

What’s the PID mod?

 

[sm0kin]

Pid is a stand alone controller , not sure why dr k posted that

 

[dr k]

This is my most recent masterbuilt as well. I don’t intend my opinion to be a deterrent, all of them have some shortcomings at the price point. Since I intended to mod it from the beginning, this may or may not be useful information for you. Out of the box I never used the chiploader, I used an amnps tray. The light is useless. The temp probe is unreliable. The unit itself holds temp far better than the 130 models I believe due to the higher wattage element, but it’s not perfect. Buy the leg kit or a stand or build a platform. I made a mailbox mod of sorts to hold the pellet tray, and I installed an Auber WiFi pid. Now it smokes consistently for 10 hours and holds temp within 5 degrees. I did a mini review that I will attempt to link here in a minute. Technical difficulties lol.

Keep the 140s
Buy an amnps pellet tray.
Get a good wireless thermometer
This unit will serve you well with only minimum additional expense.

I quoted your post #2 but forgot to insert it in my post #20. It was in regards to the light being useless. Since I bypassed the Mes electronics for the PID controller, using only the high heat wiring, I lost the ability to turn on the light so I did what I mentioned above with a 40 watt bulb for useful light. The ceramic socket is stamped 75 watts so I got the highest wattage with that style of bulb base.

 

[sm0kin]

I quoted your post #2 but forgot to insert it in my post #20. It was in regards to the light being useless. Since I bypassed the Mes electronics for the PID controller, using only the high heat wiring, I lost the ability to turn on the light so I did what I mentioned above with a 40 watt bulb for useful light. The ceramic socket is stamped 75 watts so I got the highest wattage with that style of bulb base.

Ahhh! Now it makes sense to me lol