Masterbuilt not standing by warranty?

[ItsMeAgain]

Ok sorry tallbmfor the delay,It seems that there are more tasks to accomplish than hours in the day. I appreciate your help any willingness to follow up.

I know in my previous pic I showed 116 vac across the terminals of the switch but much like any light switch in your house (Even ones that are off) you can measure voltage because it is available at the switch but it doesn’t get sent to the light until the switch is closed. It seems to me that this limiter switch may be normally closed but opens up in order to stop the flow of current if the limit is reached? Or when it fails?

My switch measures open both ways (Regardless of the polarity of my meter leads) so again I feel that the potential was AT the switch but not being sent on to the element.

In the hope of answering your question as well as putting out some information that hopefully others may find useful at some point I tagged my terminals with simple one through four numbers and set about checking for continuity.

View attachment 455540View attachment 455541
Before any continuity checks took place yes I did disconnect the wiring from the terminals of the limiter switch and also from the element. Rather than post all of the pictures and hog bandwidth I will say that terminal two shows perfect continuity with terminal three so the wire from the switch is still intact to the element. I did not go as far as to disassemble the cover from the bottom of the unit to reveal the circuit board again but my gut feeling is that a wire from that relay is probably feeding the other side of the element and with the limit switch open no current may flow. This is only a guess.

I did disassemble the limiter switch from the unit in preparation for receiving the new one although I still have not seen anything to lead me to believe that the parts have actually shipped from MB yet as they told me 3 to 5 days until shipment takes place earlier when they did answer me. Having somewhat of a electronics background I thought I might be a wise guy and look at the part number on said limiter switch to see if they are something you can buy off-the-shelf for ~$.79 apiece from our favorite parts supplier like mouser.com but it appears (and I say appears) that the part number was scratched off to the point of not being readable.

View attachment 455554

So I’ll report back when the new limit switch is received and my hope is that it will allow my smoker to contribute more than just providing a puzzle for me to solve.

I did locate a part number on the device. I had expected it to be on the metal face of the part and have seen some with marking on the face- this one is marked on the plastic side

Here’s a link to a spec sheet

https://www.calcoelectric.com/images/pdfs_thermostats/calco_ksd301series.pdf

and the device does come with various temperature differentials depending upon the application

they are cheap enough on eBay etc that once the proper full part number is discerned I’ll have a spare taped to the back in a ziploc

 

[tallbm]

I did locate a part number on the device. I had expected it to be on the metal face of the part and have seen some with marking on the face- this one is marked on the plastic side

View attachment 455574
Here’s a link to a spec sheet

https://www.calcoelectric.com/images/pdfs_thermostats/calco_ksd301series.pdf

and the device does come with various temperature differentials depending upon the application

they are cheap enough on eBay etc that once the proper full part number is discerned I’ll have a spare taped to the back in a ziploc

Hey thanks for the info! The switch should be normally closed so if it is reading open that that seems to be the problem. Your switch looks a little beat up as well and those things are fragile.
If you wiggle or bend the tabs in any way the switch will melt down over time.... I've replaced enough of them because of this and the fact that they are cheap to know hahaha.

These will do the trick:

The 150C rating is the one that are used. Also notice when shopping that the link I posted has the proper design. There is another design where the face is not all one piece and that is the wrong type, the I posted has the one piece face.

IF you can find a ceramic version I think it would hold up better vs melting down due to being plastic.

Also if you ever wanna go the PID controller route you can use a switch with a higher limit to get higher temps but understand that the foam insulation has a rating probably not more than 325 or so.

I hope this info helps :)

 

[ItsMeAgain]

Hey thanks for the info! The switch should be normally closed so if it is reading open that that seems to be the problem. Your switch looks a little beat up as well and those things are fragile.
If you wiggle or bend the tabs in any way the switch will melt down over time.... I've replaced enough of them because of this and the fact that they are cheap to know hahaha.

These will do the trick:

The 150C rating is the one that are used. Also notice when shopping that the link I posted has the proper design. There is another design where the face is not all one piece and that is the wrong type, the I posted has the one piece face.

IF you can find a ceramic version I think it would hold up better vs melting down due to being plastic.

Also if you ever wanna go the PID controller route you can use a switch with a higher limit to get higher temps but understand that the foam insulation has a rating probably not more than 325 or so.

I hope this info helps :)

I ordered them and they should be here tomorrow- still have not seen anything further from MB that they shipped the parts so when they do I'll have a another spare. Thanks for your input on this Tallbm

 

[ItsMeAgain]

Wow, I’m really surprised you’ve had so many problems My experience has been the opposite.. I have burned up 4 sams club 40 inchers, and paid for one (as well as the $30 extended warranty each time). Three of them were supported very well as I did my best to use them to death, with a ridiculous amount of free spare parts provided until either there was a death knell like blowing the GFCI consistently, or running out the warranty period at which point the extended warranty kicked in. In every case, I ultimately got a check for a new smoker after I used the damned thing way more than a “consumer“ could be expected to use it in the same time period.
They’ve got to make a profit as well, and for an average guy that does a smoke or two a month, the thing is almost certainly going to outlast the three year warranty if one keeps it out of the weather. (At which point if it breaks, it’s still gonna be the best 40” electric smoker for less than $1000 with a few aftermarket mods). For $3-500, that’s not really an unreasonable life expectation.

Hey Jonok
I'm glad your experience has been positive- this may be a case where the extended warranty is the right thing to do when buying from Sam's Club. I have had a couple bumps in the road but so far the fixes on this are very simple. It turns out the wait is magnified if you have to wait on MB support vs if you just get the parts yourself and do it!

 

[Boslaw]

Follow up to my post -- Masterbuilt did get back to me and offer to ship a new controller, but not until October <!> - something about covid. They are also sending me a free accessory kit (chicken stand, rib hanger, etc) since the controller will take so long. I guess I can't ask for much more than that.

 

[ItsMeAgain]

Follow up to my post -- Masterbuilt did get back to me and offer to ship a new controller, but not until October <!> - something about covid. They are also sending me a free accessory kit (chicken stand, rib hanger, etc) since the controller will take so long. I guess I can't ask for much more than that.

Glad to hear the good news Boslaw. October is a long time to wait but kudos for keeping it positive.

My parts arrived yesterday and installing the new thermostat was a piece of cake and does indeed allow the unit to heat again. I have ample spares now so this type of fail won't slow me down next time.
Have a great weekend

 

[tallbm]

Glad to hear the good news Boslaw. October is a long time to wait but kudos for keeping it positive.

My parts arrived yesterday and installing the new thermostat was a piece of cake and does indeed allow the unit to heat again. I have ample spares now so this type of fail won't slow me down next time.
Have a great weekend

Nice man! Those switches are cheap and touchy so if one melts down on u during a smoke just cut the wires and wire nut the wire ends together to get through your smoke. At that point u can keep it that way or make the time to put in another switch.

I can tell u that if u moved/wiggled/bent the tabs in any form or fashion where they fasten to the back of the switch (plastic) the switch will melt down on you at some point.... I've lived it man hahaha.
So if u have a failure check there first.

Best of luck with it! :)