mes 30

[grimreeper]

i have a mes 30, and i did 25 lbs of polish sausage, for some reason it never burnt my chips, the sausage was not very smoky or dark in color. I am not sure why it is not pouring out with smoke. any ideas.

 

[jkc64]

What temps did you use, the MES doesn;t smoke well at lower temps. I have one and use the AMNPS for anything less than 200.

 

[grimreeper]

i am smoking at 180, this thing used to smoke like a charm, i have had it for 4 yrs and never had a problem. I had to use my trager to help smoke the sausages that i made for the weekend. The mes just dosent seem to produce alot this time out.

 

[jkc64]

If you have had it 4 yrs then you know how these work. Your temp of 180 is with an external thermo not the one on the cabinet?

 

[grimreeper]

no i will use an external thermo

 

[deltadude]

If you have had it 4 yrs then you know how these work. Your temp of 180 is with an external thermo not the one on the cabinet?

Where did the OP say he was using an external thermo not the built in one?

If the OP says his he used his MES 30 for 4 years with no problem and now he is getting hardly any smoke.

Did the OP smoke at 180º before at this temp during the 4 years?

If so and the OP had no issues, then something has changed. 

Grimreaper, were you using regular wood chips in the feeding tube wood chip tray assembly before you had problems, and always had good smoke? 

Grimreaper, did you frequently smoke at 180º before this problem?

Have you added an extension cord?

Do you have one of the newer MES 30 with 800 watt element or older with 650 watt element?

You may have the wiring problem that has plagued the MES older units.  For those who have been around this forum for a few years we all expect at some point we will all have to upgrade the wiring and connectors behind the back panel, where the element is connected to the wiring.  Here is a good example of the fix.

 

[grimreeper]

ok to answer questions. I start at 120 for an hr no smoke to dry casings, then it gets bumped up to 160 for an hr, with smoke, i then finish at 180 with smoke till i get an internal temp of 152-155, been doing this for 4 yrs. The second answer is this, i use 25% traeger pellets, with 75% wood chips in my smoker, have been doing this for 4 yrs too. Next answer is this, I have been using the same extension cord for 4 yrs, i now it is a good cord because i have used it to plug in my Peterbilt semi, for the last 8 yrs before i sold it. My heater is the older 650 watt element. So i could be looking at a eek element then.

 

[deltadude]

grimreeper, the element or the famous wiring problems which mainly was the connectors.