Free is for me!

[dr k]

You need a back up element anyway so just get a new one and install it and hang on to the old one, unless the new one doesn't trip the GFCI because the old one is bad. Greasy element legs that don't heat can short through the outer metal jacket as it's not cleaned off the back wall on heavy used smokers, especially chxn or burnt wire insulation shorts and potting insulation around the resistance wire get porous, absorbs grease, humidity, water that makes for electrical anomalies tough to chase down with an Ohm meter. I have a back up power cord with soldered lugs and 5" stripped length on the ground wire to wrap around one of the six back access screws and tighten to ground the chassis as a testing power cord to isolate the element. It's how I found the element heating after the oem controller clicked on but no power to the element so I made an access with a dremel tool to find a disintegrated lug off the thermal safety switch. Stripped new wire terminated with a wire nut outside the junction box next to insulation not metal. I prefer high/low ambient temp alerts anyway with digital dedicated therms so both Mes 40 and 30 thermal switches are bypassed with a wire nut and now is completely Mes component bypassed with the no back removal bypass. My issue will be an internal wire short I will never spend time trying to chase down or an element issue. If my Mes 30 oem controller that runs the smoker great now starts to flake I'll plug in my back up/element testing power cord directly to the element and ground to the screw back chassis to isolate the element and hook up to my Mes 40 Auber to finish the smoke. If the your new element trips then, you have wiring short somewhere and the backup power cord would be your permanent power supply per Auber's "how to wire to an Mes."

 

[tallbm]

I truly can't see anything wrong. There's no corrosion or burnt wiring anywhere that I can see.

My guess is something insignificant in the element insulation or some grease on the element base at the wall or something silly like that.
Do you have a non GFCI outlet you can easily use? I would think you would be ok with it. I've not had any issues and I'm too lazy to go and jack around with an element that heats no problems. I'll run that element until it fails and then replace lol.

 

[chopsaw]

If the rate of flow is faster than expected ( low resistance / ohm reading ) , that will cause the GFCI to trip . Makes the ground fault circuit think there is a leak to ground when there isn't . If it runs on a regular receptacle , but trips a GFCI after a few minutes , that's what's going on .
New element kits are about 25 bucks . I bet that fixes the problem .

 

[Fueling Around]

If the rate of flow is faster than expected ( low resistance / ohm reading ) , that will cause the GFCI to trip . Makes the ground fault circuit think there is a leak to ground when there isn't . If it runs on a regular receptacle , but trips a GFCI after a few minutes , that's what's going on .
New element kits are about 25 bucks . I bet that fixes the problem .

That's not how a GFCI receptacle works.
GFCI receptacles only detect a leakage to ground and trip in the 3-5 milliamp range. (period)

Electric heating elements get faults in the coating on them. You may get a fault at a contact point with metal. These often only start after the element has warmed up. Tada, the GFCI trips where a regular non protected receptacle does not. Dangerous to user? Possibly

A GFCI circuit breaker will trip after a long overload of low resistance. It will trip immediately with a fault to to ground.

An Arc fault breaker (often in combination with GFCI) will trip much faster as it detects the fast rise in current flow that does not have to be to ground.

 

[chopsaw]

That's not how a GFCI receptacle works.

If the amount of current supplied doesn't match the amount of current returned , it will cause the ground fault to trip . Like a low resistance situation .
I agree with trouble showing up after the element gets hot , but current flow can cause the same condition . Could be that after warming up , a small amount of the current is returned through the ground wire from the element itself . Doesn't take much .
However anyone wants to look at it , the element is most likely bad . For 25 bucks , change it out .

 

[normanaj]

However anyone wants to look at it , the element is most likely bad . For 25 bucks , change it out .

I ended up ordering one yesterday anyways.One of the things I noticed was that the cage that holds the little chip tray was partly resting on the element so I removed it and I was still tripping the GFI so I figured at that point the element itself was more than likely bad.

 

[forktender]

Get rid of the GFi outlet, put in a standard outdoor outlet. My Camp Chef pellet grill would not work with the GFI outlet, so I replaced it thanking it was a bad outlet.
Nope it was still tripping, after installing a standard outlet it been working flawlessly ever since.

I absolutely hate GFI outlets, unless they are in a kitchen or bathroom I've replaced them all with good grounded outlets.

 

[chopsaw]

cage that holds the little chip tray was partly resting on the element so I removed it

I did the same .
This is a pic of the element I took out . Tripped the GFCI , but ran on a non protected circuit .
Ohm readings was 5 or less .You can see a bad spot , either caused the fault or added to it .


Anyway , here's something I did when I replaced mine . Helps to get the ground wire lined up .
I used a seal pick , but anything that fits the hole works .

Slide the element on and bolt it up before you pull the pick out .

ended up ordering one yesterday anyways.

Good deal .

 

[dr k]

I did the same .
This is a pic of the element I took out . Tripped the GFCI , but ran on a non protected circuit .
Ohm readings was 5 or less .You can see a bad spot , either caused the fault or added to it .
View attachment 719370

Anyway , here's something I did when I replaced mine . Helps to get the ground wire lined up .
I used a seal pick , but anything that fits the hole works .
View attachment 719371
Slide the element on and bolt it up before you pull the pick out .
View attachment 719372

Good deal .

Good idea. If the ground wire was inside the junction box, like with other Mes, it would be terminated to one of the two mounting plate bolts with a nut in seconds and stay terminated to a clean surface. I have your element. I'll have to try a pick or a skewer next time. No need to mess with the Mes 30 element but when I flipped the 40 element in your pic I cut the aluminum mounting plate in half below the two bolt holes and above the legs to not alter the body. Both pieces are symmetrical. I used a longer ground bolt and an extra nut in the junction box to hold the element horizontal. The top piece goes back on with the two bolts and just holds/seals the silicone seal in place. Clamping the spades with tiny vise grips at the welded conductor to gently bend each spade 180 degrees to now get the element back into the smoker and be able to put the lugs back on was the first step before cutting the mounting plate. Other than the even heating benefit I was thinking the 1,200 watt element was roasting the insulation in the right rear corner.

 

[chopsaw]

Good idea.

I used to trace down shorts and battery drain / draw when I was working as a mechanic . That trick has saved me a few times . Used to hook a test light up in line with one side of the battery , then start pulling fuses . When the light went out , that was the circuit . I've done an Ambulance and a Limo . A lot of wires in both . Always an eyelet ( or 50 ) under a piece of trim .

element was roasting the insulation in the right rear corner.

Yup . That's a trouble spot in general . I don't think people realize that .

 

[Fueling Around]

If the amount of current supplied doesn't match the amount of current returned , it will cause the ground fault to trip . Like a low resistance situation .
I agree with trouble showing up after the element gets hot , but current flow can cause the same condition . Could be that after warming up , a small amount of the current is returned through the ground wire from the element itself . Doesn't take much .
However anyone wants to look at it , the element is most likely bad . For 25 bucks , change it out .

I hate to keep harping on this but you get you only part of it correct.
GFCI only detects a mismatch between the hot and neutral current flow. That is the right side blade of your receptacle (hot) and the left side blade (fat blade and neutral). When there is a mismatch it means a leakage to ground. If the leakage to ground exceeds 3-5 milliamps the unit will trip. It will not detect a low resistance condition between the hot and neutral.
A low resistance condition meaning high current flow will not trip a GFCI receptacle but will trip either your branch circuit breaker or your combination GFCI circuit breaker. Low resistance conditions without a ground fault may take up 3 hours to trip the circuit breaker. That is their design to Code

 

[chopsaw]

I hate to keep harping on this .

I understand how it works , so call it done . No need to harp .

 

[normanaj]

Anyhoo the new element solved the issue.

 

[chopsaw]

Anyhoo the new element solved the issue.

Yup . Good deal . So now you have 2 30's ?

 

[normanaj]

Yup . Good deal . So now you have 2 30's ?

That I do!

Thinking about a 2nd Auber as I may want to use both at the same time but that can wait until they go on sale.