MES electrical experts

[normanaj]

The last few smokes my MES30 has been popping my outside GFI receptacle,but if I plug into a regular outlet no issues.What I've noticed is that once it gets "warmed up" (above 165-170) if I plug back into the GFI its perfectly fine for the duration of the smoke,before last nights smoke the last one was 14hrs.I've also run my circular saw and my turbine sprayer off that GFI without issues.So I'm assuming the issue lies within the smoker.

You'd think after almost 30yrs painting houses some of the other trades might have rubbed off on me but electricity and I do not get along.

 

[TomKnollRFV]

Hopefully some one can chime in; I had this happen once with my MES, but only once, still kinda wondering why.

 

[normanaj]

Hopefully some one can chime in; I had this happen once with my MES, but only once, still kinda wondering why.

Its happened the last three smokes but last night was the first time I had to warm it up on another outlet.Maddening because I was smoking some black seabass and wanted to kind of maintain a lower temp and it just kept popping it until I warmed it up.

 

[PAS]

It's my understanding the GFI's do wear out. I dont use one with my MES since its out of the weather.

 

[chopsaw]

GFCI's do get weak over time . My MES will trip it on warm up every once in awhile . After I reset it , it's fine .

he last few smokes my MES30 has been popping my outside GFI receptacle,but if I plug into a regular outlet no issues.

Is the " regular outlet " outside also ? Wet areas and outside receptacles should be on a GFCI , but they won't all have a reset button on them , just in the same circuit . So if you're plugging into another outlet that could be on the ground fault circuit and it holds , you might have a worn out reset .

 

[normanaj]

The GFI is fairly old.Going to replace it and see what happens.

 

[dr k]

If water or grease gets in the element it'll short to ground till the water evaporates. Wipe the back wall to make sure grease isn't on the element legs that don't heat.

 

[dr k]

With an AC volt meter you can touch the body of the smoker and something metal to see if voltage is leaking to ground. With an Ohm meter you can disconnect the element lugs and touch one probe to one male spade and the other to the chassis (unplugged) and see if there is continuity. If there is it is leaking to ground.

 

[normanaj]

And now its fine.Plugged in,warmed up and rockin.All on the same GFI.

 

[normanaj]

Plugged it in again today and no issues.We've had an incredible amount of rain,heat and humidity.I don't know...this why electricity and I are not friendly.

Still going to replace that outlet anyway...its old enough.

 

[chopsaw]

Norm , it don't take much to trip those sometimes . Like I said mine did it the other day , reset all was good . I have the Auber sitting on top of the smoker . I think it might have been moister coming out of the exhaust on warm up .

 

[normanaj]

Got off work early and threw some chicken thighs in.No issues for a second time.

 

[normanaj]

Bought a new outlet but had a few cocktails so messing with electricity is out for today.And we're going to see Mac Macanally tommorow so the outlet replacement isn't happening this weekend.

 

[sigmo]

If your moist weather is causing condensation to form on some areas that already have smoke residue, that moist residue will easily conduct enough electricity to cause what everyone is referring to as "leakage".

GFCIs operate by comparing the current in the hot leg with the current in the neutral leg. If the two are not in perfect balance, you know that some current is finding an alternate path to ground (not taking the neutral wire).

Smoke residue is often slightly conductive. Add some moisture, and it can be very conductive.

It is easy to end up with residue or buildup of smoke tar in the electrical areas of a smoker.

If there is a "bridge" of smoke residue that can "leak" current from the hot side of things to ground (bypassing the path through the neutral wire), this will trip a GGCI.

What is probably happening is that you have smoke residue somewhere that allows this "leakage" to occur, but only when it is moist. As the smoker heats up, it drives the moisture out of the smoke residue, and the conductivity goes down, reducing the amount of current leakage, and allowing the smoker to run without tripping the GFCI. But as soon as you have the right conditions to allow moisture to condense into the smoke residue, the conductivity goes up again to a high enough value to trip the GFCI.

Finding the location(s) where this "bridging" is occurring will be largely a matter of visually inspecting suspect areas. Look for places where there is a "hot" connection that is not insulated and has a likely path to a grounded surface. If there's some residue built up, it will need to be cleaned away. Do this with the smoker unplugged, of course!

I'd use a solvent that dissolves grease to help with this. Something like hexane (zippo lighter fluid) would work well, but it's flammable as heck! Some electrical contact cleaners are nothing but a solvent, and could be good. A toothbrush can be great for scrubbing (with solvent) such areas.

This may be somewhere well hidden. The smoke can get into various places easily, but as was suggested above, check right near the connections to the heating element as a start.

This might be really easy to find and fix. Or it might be hidden pretty well.