Masterbuilt Smoker Quit Working

[zsledge]

I used my smoker a few weeks ago no problem. A week later I turned it on and got no display or heat.

I ordered a new display and connected it because I saw a lot of people had problems with the Masterbuilt display. It still did not work.

I dug into it some and took some readings and this is what I have.

110 Volts coming into the circuit at the bottom of the smoker.

50-55 Volts going into the Heating Element.

Heating Element has ~20 Ohm resistance.

Any ideas on what it could be? I haven’t checked the limit switch but it was my understanding that I wouldn’t have power at the heating element if that was bad.

 

[normanaj]

tallbm is the person you want to talk to.

 

[tallbm]

I used my smoker a few weeks ago no problem. A week later I turned it on and got no display or heat.

I ordered a new display and connected it because I saw a lot of people had problems with the Masterbuilt display. It still did not work.

I dug into it some and took some readings and this is what I have.

110 Volts coming into the circuit at the bottom of the smoker.

50-55 Volts going into the Heating Element.

Heating Element has ~20 Ohm resistance.

Any ideas on what it could be? I haven’t checked the limit switch but it was my understanding that I wouldn’t have power at the heating element if that was bad.

Hi there and welcome!

Sounds like something is failing at the lower circuit board.

Power comes in from the plug into that lower circuit board. Then it will get fed to the controller up top where if you hit the "power on" button the controller turns on with that power that is coming from the plug through the lower circuit board.
If no power and you have swapped controllers on top, then my money is that something has burned up on the lower controller board that is preventing the power from crossing the circuit board and feed to the top controller.


Amazon now has some lower circuit boards for sale and you can maybe fine one to replace yours. They aren't too expensive at $25-$35 range.

If you cannot find a replacement circuit board, then your option is to do the simple rewire (cut ends off 4 wires and splice to make 2 new wires) and buy a PID Controller like the Auber ones.
The controller runs around $160 or so BUT what you are creating is a whole new and far superior smoker when doing this.
I always say it's like turning a golf cart into a Ferrari!!! It's that big of a change.

For the cost of rewiring and the PID controller you get a smoker that runs as good as $1,000+ electric smokers with the same design features but for $160. Also, this path is much less than buying a new MES smoker that has all the same failure issues that can happen at any moment.
With this conversion, changing out the crappy female spade connectors with good hi temp ones, and making a panel where your safety limit switch is, and you can keep your MES running through anything short of being hit by a car :D

Anyhow, ask all the questions you have. I'm positive we can get you sorted out :D