(MES 30" gen 1) Folks - so as i'd previous posted, I had an issue with my heating element in my brand new MES consistently being 20oF below its designated setting. I called Masterbuilt - they sent me a new control panel - didn't make any difference. I called them again, and I should receive a new heat element shortly....however...
I tried to do a fairly decent smoke in it the other night - had guests come over - ribs, pulled pork, corn, sausage. Thinking I didn't need high temps, I figured I could set it to 255-260oF and get 230-235oF, and cook everything just fine. WRONG!
It started out ok, but about two hours in, the temp. suddenly dropped to 180-195oF, for almost 2 hrs! I couldn't figure out why or how to resolve. Bumping the temp up to 275oF got me to 195oF. But magically, around 2hrs, it fixed itself and went back to 230oF. It really screwed up my cook times though, and I had guests coming and had to serve them late.
Anyhow, this is only my 2nd use of the smoker. I know when I first got the smoker 3 weeks ago, a couple of folks advised me to get some high temp. spade connectors for when the heating element eventually would have issues - and I did get some. I opened up the back of the MES, but the current spade connectors are well wrapped in some sort of black plastic, so I can't get a look at them - still, the area itself doesn't seem damaged/worn at all. What are the chances that I just need to replace the spade connectors on my current heating element (given the young age of the smoker) vs. having a defective element? I really want to avoid having this happen again! Any advice appreciated!!
I tried to do a fairly decent smoke in it the other night - had guests come over - ribs, pulled pork, corn, sausage. Thinking I didn't need high temps, I figured I could set it to 255-260oF and get 230-235oF, and cook everything just fine. WRONG!
It started out ok, but about two hours in, the temp. suddenly dropped to 180-195oF, for almost 2 hrs! I couldn't figure out why or how to resolve. Bumping the temp up to 275oF got me to 195oF. But magically, around 2hrs, it fixed itself and went back to 230oF. It really screwed up my cook times though, and I had guests coming and had to serve them late.
Anyhow, this is only my 2nd use of the smoker. I know when I first got the smoker 3 weeks ago, a couple of folks advised me to get some high temp. spade connectors for when the heating element eventually would have issues - and I did get some. I opened up the back of the MES, but the current spade connectors are well wrapped in some sort of black plastic, so I can't get a look at them - still, the area itself doesn't seem damaged/worn at all. What are the chances that I just need to replace the spade connectors on my current heating element (given the young age of the smoker) vs. having a defective element? I really want to avoid having this happen again! Any advice appreciated!!