MES additonal heater mod

[davenh]

Hi All...was bored today and I've never been one to leave well enough alone

, so decided to add extra latches and a adjustable heater (0 - 600 watts) to my MES.

I wasn't happy with the temp recovery in cold weather, especially when loaded. I think with the 40" unit they could have put in a little larger heater. They use the same heater as the 30" even with extra area and mass to heat.

I put 3 - 200 watt cartridge heaters in an aluminum block and run it with a light dimmer so it's adjustable. I made a plate out of some S.S. sheet and clipped it to the existing rods with a cover. The extra heater is wired independent of the original. It's a little rough around the edges, but was a fun project. Just hope it was worth while

. Parts were free

.

I think I can also change the cover, drop a thin wall smoker box on the added heater and use it for cold smoking. Wanted to try doing some cheese. Block seems to get plenty warm at 250~300 watts. I tossed a few chips on it and they smoked right away.

I did a test run today with some pork tenderloins and think it helped. With an extra 250~300 watts the temp recovered much faster when opening the door and still had good control at setpoint (66% on at 240). Then again, tenderloins are not much of a load. Outside temp was 18 with light wind.

I'll give it the real test with a turkey on Sunday. My last turkey attempt in similar weather, the MES maxed out at 235~240 and took a long time to recover after opening the door to mop. I think this extra heater will let me run at 270 and recover quick. I'll set the booster heater so the MES control point at 270 is 60~70% on for good smoke. Well, I'll see how it goes anyways.

Nothing ventured, nothing gained

.

Here's a few pics if your interested.

 

[bb53chevpro]

The mods sound great. Looking forward to hearing about the results. Just out of curiousity, all the walls of that smoker insulated?

 

[davenh]

Hi bb53chevpro...all the walls and doors are insulated, about an inch thick. The outside barely gets warm to the touch in this weather. I was debating making an insulated cover, but got caught up in trying this out.

 

[illini]

Hi, DaveNH
Interesting inovation........agree with you....have had my 40" only a short time but the 800W heater is a little short in cold weather....my 30" has no problem in cold weather with the 800W......thought you might have missed my answer to cold smoking as outlined by the post in my signature line for the "contraption"....think I will try it on the 40" as it is a preference way of burning wood in a MES for me......

Thanks for your post

 

[oak cliff boy]

Absolute Genius, Dave! Excellent execution! My MES is the smaller unit. I can’t believe they didn’t increase the wattage on the larger unit. Keep us posted. Thanks for the picts.

 

[davenh]

Hi Illini,
Your "contraption" looks pretty good to me! That might be my next mod to try out some cheese or jerky. Great idea putting the heater and smoke source outside the box!

Do you see a big difference in performance between your 30" and 40"? The two might act like completely different smokers in cold weather. If the 40" has an under powered heater, it could mean longer cooking times and having to feed less wood more often because the heater is on more.


Hi Oak Cliff Boy,
You guys are great for the ego

, thanks! I'll know more after doing a turkey tomorrow.

 

[illini]

Dave

I like the way you think

Right on about smaller wood pieces and more often.......I like fooling around with the smokers and don't mind tending it........Think the 40" is going to need some more btu's....don't like guessing about what is going on inside because of the heat dump when looking, wraping or spritzeing

Going to take the wife out for birthday dinner.......will get back to this later

 

[davenh]

Here is the results of today's turkey smoke

. The MES happily maintained 270. The 13lb turkey cooked in less than 4 hours. The outside temp was 29-35 during the cook. I had the MES in a protected area, but there were some good wind gusts.

I started out with 300W and the unit heated pretty quickly to 240 then kind of stalled. During the first 1.5 hrs, making small bumps in wattage, I got it to the 270 target with 530W. After the first basting, it took 25 min to return to 270. The controller cycled normally and there was good smoke. 270 on the controller was actually 279 on my external probe, measured near the cavity opening.

I'm really happy with the way the extra heater performed, got me an electric smoker that will cook a 13lb bird in under 4hrs!

The heater wattage setting required for each cook will vary depending on outside conditions, desired cooking temp and food load. Basically, bump it as needed

.

My goal was to have a ~70% on time for the MES heater at 270 and quick recovery after opening the door. Mission Accomplished

.

Here are a few pics, warning*** last couple may cause excessive drooling***

.


Controller had just hit 270, but it was time to baste and rotate the bird. This is 1.5hrs into the cook.

Controller/probe temps and current draw on the extra heater. Plus a few of the inside around 2.5hr into it. Left = turkey temp, middle = probe near turkey, right = MES controller.

Turkey finished in 3hrs 50 min.

 

[richtee]

Yum. And that's 530 POINT 4 watts...LOL!

Sorry...damm engineers!

 

[kookie]

Great looking mods.......Also great looking turkey............I will have to keep the mods in mind if I ever get a MES........

 

[morkdach]

good looken setup dave i always have a problem getting that style heat element to sink to the alum. block and after a couple of uses the elements burn out how do you sink them with paste or press fit.
qview looks yummmmmmmmm

 

[davenh]

Don't award points yet! I was looking at my pics and had to run down to the basement and see for myself! WTF...the block had melted! I didn't notice until seeing the pic looked strange. I need to make a bigger stainless steel block and pop in some new heaters. Shouldn't be a problem. Funny thing..it still works, never shorted out.

New rule = don't use aluminum with cartridge heaters

.

I'll have the new heater for next week

.

 

[davenh]

See above post. Won't be using aluminum

. I drilled out so they just fit snug. At 300W everything was fine, not even red. Blocks were not big enough to handle 530, melted itself. A nice big chunk of steel or SS with the same wattage cartridges with more surface area (longer) should do the trick. Cartridges kept working, block had a meltdown.

 

[morkdach]

dave i used these in ss and always had to use a sink paste due too ss will expand i was using a higher wattage to heat the stainless as a release agent let us know how this app. works for you

 

[davenh]

Hi morkdach...your probably right, I may need to use some thermal paste. I was thinking on the next block, if the heaters are SS and the block is SS maybe the expansion would be the same? The aluminum probably expanded much more than the SS heaters making quite the hot spot with the loose fit.

I should also size the heaters so they total the same wattage (600W) at 1/2 the voltage. This way they won't be on full tilt and burn themselves out. Say maybe 3- 600W cartridges would probably give ~ 200W each at 60V. Damn...wish I was at work right now

.

 

[morkdach]

you know what your doin let us know how all this works out all my smokers are electric and always looken for new idears

 

[illini]

Dave
The two heaters in my "contraption" are series wired and I have not had a problem.......although not trying to generate as much btu as you are

turkey looked good

 

[richtee]

LOL... aluminum does not melt like steel..it never really gets to a "glow" first...it just puddles. Lead does the same thing. Good heat transfer that way tho! SS should solve yer problem tho. Or you could consider a couple firebricks motared with refractory cement as a heat sink.

 

[davenh]

It sure did puddle ok

. Going try a different route and order a tubular heater. Actually, it looks like the same type MES uses. They come in a straight length and you bend it to size or shape. Made to work in free air, no block needed. Just add bottom reflector and maybe a splash cover. Best part...$37

. Well err..we'll see how it goes

.

 

[illini]

And what is the wattage rating on that animal

Do you intend to use your controller in the add-on box with it?