Ok, this may be a bit long but here goes. I bought a MES 30 that I believe is the gen 1body with upgraded electronics. That being said, after several smokes at low temps I was pulling my hair out with the temperature swings and inaccuracy of the units temperature probe.
I have a dual probe ThermPro that I used to run the smoker, but I was still having issues. My last smoke was 5lbs of venison sticks and I had a “fat out” issue due to the erratic temperature in the MES.
So after much reading on this forum, I decided to re-wire the MES and utilize a PID instead of the stock controller. I purchased an Inkbird ITC-106 and a 25A SSR, I formulated a plan of attack and had at it.
I am quite pleased with the wiring job that I did, I removed the back of the unit and used the internal wiring as much as possible, and I even installed a k type thermocouple where the original factory thermocouple was. Before I installed any of this, I tested it all including the thermocouple. I did both an ice water test and a boiling water test. Both temps were right where the should have been so I installed everything.
I am currently testing the system and my temperature is way of from my ThermPro! I even hung 1 of the ThermPro sensors right next to the installed sensor. Currently the PID shows a pv of 148 and the ThermPro shows 167 for the probe next to the internal probe and 193 for the other ThermPro probe that I hung off the middle rack.
These temperature swings and inaccurate readings are just as bad as the stock controller! Now, I am new to PIDs but not to smoking or electronics. Does anyone have any advice that might keep my from ruining my precious smoked venison or my mind?
I do plan on running an Autotune on the PID this afternoon, but I’m thinking I may need to adjust the thermocouple offset before I run the Autotune. Any thoughts on that?
Thanks so much.
Ryan
I have a dual probe ThermPro that I used to run the smoker, but I was still having issues. My last smoke was 5lbs of venison sticks and I had a “fat out” issue due to the erratic temperature in the MES.
So after much reading on this forum, I decided to re-wire the MES and utilize a PID instead of the stock controller. I purchased an Inkbird ITC-106 and a 25A SSR, I formulated a plan of attack and had at it.
I am quite pleased with the wiring job that I did, I removed the back of the unit and used the internal wiring as much as possible, and I even installed a k type thermocouple where the original factory thermocouple was. Before I installed any of this, I tested it all including the thermocouple. I did both an ice water test and a boiling water test. Both temps were right where the should have been so I installed everything.
I am currently testing the system and my temperature is way of from my ThermPro! I even hung 1 of the ThermPro sensors right next to the installed sensor. Currently the PID shows a pv of 148 and the ThermPro shows 167 for the probe next to the internal probe and 193 for the other ThermPro probe that I hung off the middle rack.
These temperature swings and inaccurate readings are just as bad as the stock controller! Now, I am new to PIDs but not to smoking or electronics. Does anyone have any advice that might keep my from ruining my precious smoked venison or my mind?
I do plan on running an Autotune on the PID this afternoon, but I’m thinking I may need to adjust the thermocouple offset before I run the Autotune. Any thoughts on that?
Thanks so much.
Ryan
