MES 40 Gen 2.5 Heating Issue

[Pez68]

Hello guys. Long time lurker here. Love this place. Just an incredible source of knowledge for smoking, as well as for the smokers themselves. Finally registered and decided to participate, as I've got a minor issue I'm troubleshooting, and could use some experienced feedback.

So, I've got an MES 40 Gen 2.5. The smoker turns on and heats up fine to start. At some point during the smoking process, it stops heating. It appears that once it "reaches temp", it never actually turns the heating element back on, even though it says it's heating. It just continues to drop temp forever, while saying "heating". I did a test run today, and got it up to 270 just fine. Once it turned the heat off though, it never went back on. Took off all the panels, and don't see any noticeable corrosion. Circuit board looks good. Power connections look good. The heatwrap on the heating elements is toast, but the connectors look fine. I'm thinking it's probably the high temp thermal switch? Could it be the heating element? I haven't taken a multimeter to it while it is supposedly heating to see if there is voltage to the heating element, but I highly doubt it, based on symptoms. And the fact that it will heat up to temp initially, tells me it's likely working fine?

Thoughts?

 

[tallbm]

Hello guys. Long time lurker here. Love this place. Just an incredible source of knowledge for smoking, as well as for the smokers themselves. Finally registered and decided to participate, as I've got a minor issue I'm troubleshooting, and could use some experienced feedback.

So, I've got an MES 40 Gen 2.5. The smoker turns on and heats up fine to start. At some point during the smoking process, it stops heating. It appears that once it "reaches temp", it never actually turns the heating element back on, even though it says it's heating. It just continues to drop temp forever, while saying "heating". I did a test run today, and got it up to 270 just fine. Once it turned the heat off though, it never went back on. Took off all the panels, and don't see any noticeable corrosion. Circuit board looks good. Power connections look good. The heatwrap on the heating elements is toast, but the connectors look fine. I'm thinking it's probably the high temp thermal switch? Could it be the heating element? I haven't taken a multimeter to it while it is supposedly heating to see if there is voltage to the heating element, but I highly doubt it, based on symptoms. And the fact that it will heat up to temp initially, tells me it's likely working fine?

Thoughts?

Hi there and welcome!

I am 99% sure it is the high temp thermal switch (safety rollout limit switch) overheating/failing.

What i've seen happen in this situation is that your smoker will work fine UNTIL the switch itself overheats due to failing and once it is too hot it shuts the power off.

You can replace with this EXACT ONE!!!

There are 2 different styles that look the same but are not the same and only 1 style works. If you use the Amazon link I provided it will get you replacements.

Why get a 5 pack? That switch is cheap plastic crap and will melt down on you again. In the sort term you could clip the ends off your current failing switch and wire nut the wire ends together to smoke BUT do at your own risk as you have now cut out the faulty safety switch and have no safety switch should your smoker just keep on heating for some odd reason.

These switches are delicate. If you wiggle the tabs at all at the back of the switch it WILL fail at some point. But hey these cheap plastic switches will fail anyhow at some point but even slightly rough handling will have them fail much faster.

I hope this info helps :)

 

[Pez68]

Hi there and welcome!

I am 99% sure it is the high temp thermal switch (safety rollout limit switch) overheating/failing.

What i've seen happen in this situation is that your smoker will work fine UNTIL the switch itself overheats due to failing and once it is too hot it shuts the power off.

You can replace with this EXACT ONE!!!

There are 2 different styles that look the same but are not the same and only 1 style works. If you use the Amazon link I provided it will get you replacements.

Why get a 5 pack? That switch is cheap plastic crap and will melt down on you again. In the sort term you could clip the ends off your current failing switch and wire nut the wire ends together to smoke BUT do at your own risk as you have now cut out the faulty safety switch and have no safety switch should your smoker just keep on heating for some odd reason.

These switches are delicate. If you wiggle the tabs at all at the back of the switch it WILL fail at some point. But hey these cheap plastic switches will fail anyhow at some point but even slightly rough handling will have them fail much faster.

I hope this info helps :)

Thanks for the assist. So, I bought these two. I believe they will work, as well?

​

I actually found your post where you referenced KSD301. I purchased these as they appear to be ceramic(white) instead of plastic. But I have no way to know until they arrive. They could just be white plastic. lol

Edit: Just noticed they are 10A, not 15A. Oof.

Edit x2: The factory one appears to be 10A, as well. So I should be fine, again? haha

 

[BrianGSDTexoma]

It took me a while to get on board with the Auber mod but so happy now that I did. So much better control and no using a hair dryer to fire it up in freezing weather.

 

[Pez68]

It took me a while to get on board with the Auber mod but so happy now that I did. So much better control and no using a hair dryer to fire it up in freezing weather.

I've looked into it. That's what I'll do when the repair ends up costing me more than 5 bucks. As of now, it should be a relatively cheap fix, and I have no complaints about the smoker performance as of now.

As an update, the "safety rollout limit switch" that I purchased is, indeed, ceramic. Instead of plastic. They should last significantly longer than the OEM, and cheaper Amazon replacements I've seen.

Will update when I get it swapped out later tonight.

 

[Pez68]

Smoker is back up and running, and working properly again. Thanks for reinforcing my diagnosis of the problem, tallbm

 

[tallbm]

Thanks for the assist. So, I bought these two. I believe they will work, as well?

​

I actually found your post where you referenced KSD301. I purchased these as they appear to be ceramic(white) instead of plastic. But I have no way to know until they arrive. They could just be white plastic. lol

Edit: Just noticed they are 10A, not 15A. Oof.

Edit x2: The factory one appears to be 10A, as well. So I should be fine, again? haha

I have some bad news for you buddy. Those will not work. They are the wrong design.

look how the metal separates from the round face of the sensor. You need the design where the round face and the metal around it are all one piece.

Cancel your order if you can and continue searching if you want a ceramic version. You can always start with the plastic ones to get going and then come back to ceramic ones when you find them lol :)

 

[Pez68]

I have some bad news for you buddy. Those will not work. They are the wrong design.

look how the metal separates from the round face of the sensor. You need the design where the round face and the metal around it are all one piece.

Cancel your order if you can and continue searching if you want a ceramic version. You can always start with the plastic ones to get going and then come back to ceramic ones when you find them lol :)

Noticed it right away. I actually made them work. Just soldered the metal ring to the face of the sensor(good to 450F), and presto. Took an extra ten minutes, but whatever.

 

[tallbm]

Noticed it right away. I actually made them work. Just soldered the metal ring to the face of the sensor(good to 450F), and presto. Took an extra ten minutes, but whatever.

Phew, glad you made it work lol.

Are you back in business, is everything working?