MES element support.

[patinlouisiana]

Now that I gutted my old MES do I need some type of support for the heating element?
If so, does it need to be non metallic? Like a brick or something?

 

[dr k]

Now that I gutted my old MES do I need some type of support for the heating element?
If so, does it need to be non metallic? Like a brick or something?

My Gen 1 40 element just has a flat bracket with a hole in the middle for the ground bolt, nut and wire. Some Mes have a ground wite that terminates inside the element access area. Then the element has an right angle bracket. If you have the flat bracket with center hole then you can get a longer ground bolt and two nuts. Terminate the ground wire with the supplied washers and one nut and use the other nut inside the element asscess area to hold the element. I flipped my element so I had to cut the bracket in half and bend male spades 180° but the nut on the longer ground bolt elevates it above the rails so the element isn't resting on anything.

 

[patinlouisiana]

Yes when I replaced the burnt out element and direct wired it I added a longer and larger grounding bolt with double nuts. Does your element touch those small horizontal rods at all? Mine are history.

 

[tallbm]

Yes when I replaced the burnt out element and direct wired it I added a longer and larger grounding bolt with double nuts. Does your element touch those small horizontal rods at all? Mine are history.

My element does touch those horizontal rods and always has for support.

There is a trick that should be able to keep you from making a cut on that flap that is attached to those bars that gets in the way of a flipped element.

The trick is simply to unscrew and flip the horizontal bars over so that flap is pointing down rather than up. The bars will still fit/fasten to the same screw holes in the side walls and the flap thing does not interfere with the drip pan on the floor of the MES.

 

[dr k]

I couldn't remove the two rails under the element from seized screws and stripping the heads would result so I used a dremel cut off wheel to cut through the spot welds and slide the plate all the way to the left wall. My element doesn't touch the rails. Tightening the second nut in the access area so it was secured slightly elevated the element up. The rails can touch the element just like snap on clips support the bigger 1,500 watt elements on the floor as well as kitchen ovens and pans etc sit on elec stove top burners.

 

[patinlouisiana]

So I take it the support does not have to be electrically isolated?

 

[biteme7951]

No support really needed for the element but you may want to put in some protection above it so nothing falls on it. In it's original setting there is nothing touching it for support. Using anything touching it for support will eventually become conductive due to moisture, grease, etc and cause a failure.

Barry.

 

[dr k]

The aluminum bracket press fitted to the element metal jacket has the ground bolt to it to the chassis and other ground terminating areas so that route or the rails will find its way to ground. The better you keep the element dry from water, humidity and grease running down the back wall onto the non heating element legs going into the back wall will maximize element life by eliminating wet shorting to ground.