Masterbuilt Electric Smoker not heating

[hockeypop2026]

Hi. New to the forum. I was given a Masterbuilt 30" Electric Smoker. It was free but not working. The person replaced the top controller and the heating element. I have one exactly like it so I can use it for parts if nothing else. I like to explore and find out what's wrong with stuff so I decided to try fix it. I started off checking some basic stuff, the element (800W ohms out to about 19... I think that's close), the controller is new and seems to be fine.....at least all the settings work and it lights up. I did notice that when it sends power to start the heating process, I don't hear any noise like I do with my current one. I then removed the back panel to check the thermostat and thermal fuse. I really didn't have a way to check the thermostat so I heated it with a match it the temperature went up on the display almost immediately. I assumed it was fine. I also had no way of checking the thermal fuse so I bypassed it and tried to start the smoker. Nothing happened. I assumed it was fine as well. I then decided to check the board at the bottom of the smoker and found that one of the leads (the common) was melted on the black relay. I did check the voltage going to the relay and it was 120V. I also checked the voltage going to the coil and it was 4V. Is it safe to assume that the relay is bad and if so, how can I test it to be sure? It is a two prong, normally open relay. Thanks for any advice.

 

[dsk]

The relay is bad, you can tell by the melted wire. You can try to replace the relay (digikey has them,) find a replacement board, or you can follow tallbm advice and convert it to run on a PID. What's a PID you ask? It is a far superior control system that keeps the temperature much more consistant. Look under the Forums tab, scroll down to the electric smoker section, and look through the sticky posts at the top. You will find it money well spent.

 

[hockeypop2026]

The relay is bad, you can tell by the melted wire. You can try to replace the relay (digikey has them,) find a replacement board, or you can follow tallbm advice and convert it to run on a PID. What's a PID you ask? It is a far superior control system that keeps the temperature much more consistant. Look under the Forums tab, scroll down to the electric smoker section, and look through the sticky posts at the top. You will find it money well spent.

Thank you dsk. I will explore both options you suggested. Do you know if the relay is just glued to the board? I can't get the board out to verify due to the 4 threaded inserts used to mount the legs on. I drilled out the rivets thinking the bottom panel would just come right off. Didn't happen. I was thinking I could possibly cut the bad relay off if I could just get the board out.

 

[tallbm]

Thank you dsk. I will explore both options you suggested. Do you know if the relay is just glued to the board? I can't get the board out to verify due to the 4 threaded inserts used to mount the legs on. I drilled out the rivets thinking the bottom panel would just come right off. Didn't happen. I was thinking I could possibly cut the bad relay off if I could just get the board out.

Hi there and welcome!

Here is the post with lots of pics and details on how to rewire an MES to run with a superior PID controller:

MES Rewire Simple Guide - No Back Removal Needed!!!

Lately I've seen a number of posts about guys wanting to rewire their MES. I had wanted to post a quick and simple guide for those out there that are curious or those that simply need to rewire but need a little assistance. Well here goes. Disclaimer: When messing with electrical equipment...

www.smokingmeatforums.com

Amazon has controller boards on sale now from what I believe are the Chinese manufacturers so the price points are not bad. It just may be hit or miss if you can find one that replaces yours.

If you are having problems removing the little board and the box it is in, I believe it takes using a very very very small flat head that can fit in those 3-slit screw heads and that should allow you to pull everything out.

As for replacing the component, if you can get the right one, and other components on the board are not ruined, you would have to solder on/off the old component and the new component. A whole board replacement would be better than trying to work all the little components if there is more than 1 that has burned up (which does happen).

I will always advocate for doing the simple rewire and going the PID controller route. For about $160 you get a completely different and BETTER smoker that compare to $1k+ electric smokers. It's not an upgrade or a fix, it's a transformation. I always say it's like turning a golf cart into a Ferrari!

If you also replace the safety limit switch with one that has a 175-180C you can basically do any smoke under the son.
You get super tight temp control (it holds dead on or within 1-2F degrees of your set temp) so you can do sausage, bacon, jerky, dehydration, AND you can hit the higher temps AND with the safety switch max you can do 4 hour skin on chicken/turkey smokes at 325F degree smoker temps so that skin does not come out rubbery and often comes out crispy. I wouldn't so any other smokes over 275F and I would never go over 4 hours at 325F because the insulation is not rated for continuous operation at those temps but I've had zero issues at 4 hours or less on poultry for hears now.

If you have any further questions, please ask, and we'll get you hooked up :D