MES Gen 1 and Gen @ Control Panel wiring

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OPri

Newbie
Original poster
Sep 19, 2018
3
0
I'm a not so proud owner of two MES 30 - one is the older Gen2 and the other one is a newer Gen1. The Gen2 had served me faithfully for 6+ years until the control panel got moisture in it. It still works but throws fits once in a while (quits in the middle of the process, etc). The newer Gen1 I bought this year is suffering from a severe swinging temps disorder and just seem to be unable to hold a steady temperature. I've been exploring several options of replacing the top control panel on both smokers with a PID device that others posted over the years: either plugging an Inkbird-based PID into the control panel wires or shorting the +5V wire and smoker's relay wire with the 1K ohm resistor and use an Auber plug-n-play PID. The problem is that I'm not sure how to correctly ID the wires going to the control panel. The older Gen2 has 5 wires: red, yellow, blue, white and black. The Gen1 has 4 wires: red, black, white and blue. Any suggestions on how to figure out which is which?
 

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Tiros is a member you can search his threads on the low voltage mod your mentioning or tallbm no back removal 10 minute mod a lot of us found to be simple and awesome for the Auber plug and play.
 
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I'm a not so proud owner of two MES 30 - one is the older Gen2 and the other one is a newer Gen1. The Gen2 had served me faithfully for 6+ years until the control panel got moisture in it. It still works but throws fits once in a while (quits in the middle of the process, etc). The newer Gen1 I bought this year is suffering from a severe swinging temps disorder and just seem to be unable to hold a steady temperature. I've been exploring several options of replacing the top control panel on both smokers with a PID device that others posted over the years: either plugging an Inkbird-based PID into the control panel wires or shorting the +5V wire and smoker's relay wire with the 1K ohm resistor and use an Auber plug-n-play PID. The problem is that I'm not sure how to correctly ID the wires going to the control panel. The older Gen2 has 5 wires: red, yellow, blue, white and black. The Gen1 has 4 wires: red, black, white and blue. Any suggestions on how to figure out which is which?

Hi there and welcome!

There are only a couple of guys and a few posts about modifying the wiring you want to modify for your idea.

I'm not well versed in troubleshooting the the wiring, the board, and board components to figure out exactly what each wire does that goes to the controller. I mean you could continuity checks that are simple and you could also cut into the wire and do voltage checks all with a multimeter and that would be a start.

If you decide to go the Inkbird PID route I'm not confident you can effectively use the existing MES relay without hammering it and wearing it out so you would very likely need to add an SSR and Heat Sink to the mix. This means you need to build a housing that works with all of this which is possible (I hacked one out) but I think you would be better served for the $$$ and time to just buy an Auber Plug and Play PID. The cost of building a controller compared to the equivalent Auber plug and plays is shows the Auber's being very competitive in price unless you already have parts and build this stuff often.

A simple rewire of the smoker can be done to then be used with a 3rd party PID whether you build or buy one.
I did a post on how to do a simple MES rewire for use with a PID here:
[EDIT: oops wrong linke originally]https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/mes-rewire-simple-guide-no-back-removal-needed.267069/

Here is my HeaterMeter PID write up if you want to get real fancy with a PID for your MES :)
http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/...-wifi-and-electric-smoker-mes40-mod-in-detail

Keep weighing your options and most of all do what will most likely make you happy and get your smoker(s) in great working order :)
 
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Hi there and welcome!

There are only a couple of guys and a few posts about modifying the wiring you want to modify for your idea.

I'm not well versed in troubleshooting the the wiring, the board, and board components to figure out exactly what each wire does that goes to the controller. I mean you could continuity checks that are simple and you could also cut into the wire and do voltage checks all with a multimeter and that would be a start.

If you decide to go the Inkbird PID route I'm not confident you can effectively use the existing MES relay without hammering it and wearing it out so you would very likely need to add an SSR and Heat Sink to the mix. This means you need to build a housing that works with all of this which is possible (I hacked one out) but I think you would be better served for the $$$ and time to just buy an Auber Plug and Play PID. The cost of building a controller compared to the equivalent Auber plug and plays is shows the Auber's being very competitive in price unless you already have parts and build this stuff often.

A simple rewire of the smoker can be done to then be used with a 3rd party PID whether you build or buy one.
I did a post on how to do a simple MES rewire for use with a PID here:
[EDIT: oops wrong linke originally]https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/mes-rewire-simple-guide-no-back-removal-needed.267069/

Here is my HeaterMeter PID write up if you want to get real fancy with a PID for your MES :)
http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/...-wifi-and-electric-smoker-mes40-mod-in-detail

Keep weighing your options and most of all do what will most likely make you happy and get your smoker(s) in great working order :)

Thank you, tallbm, so much for your reply and instructions! I was thinking about making something like this with the Inkbird: https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t...ivets-no-high-voltage-wiring-required.237746/

I'm going to try and see if I can confidently rewire my Gen 1 according to your instructions before ordering the Auber
 
Hmmm I just went back and read info that @tiros posted in my HeterMeter thread and according to him if you put a 1k ohm resistor (I would think 1/4 or a 1/2 Watt would work but be sure to do the homework and math and sort this out) into the connector so that it jumps the connection between the Red and Blue wire that should hard wire the onboard MES relay to On. So any current going into the MES plug would then reach the heating element.

This would actually be simpler than my rewire post BUT I haven't done it so I can't speak directly about doing this because I never have but when the day comes that I must rewire my brother's MES for a PID I may give this a shot to experiment :)

Just to be clear. Once the resistor is in place, a plug and play PID would still need to be used to control the heat. This resistor solution just reduces the need to cut and splice wires like my simple rewire guide mentions :)
No matter what though I would replace the crappy female spade connectors on the heating element and safety rollout limit switch with hi temp ones that don't corrode 10 minutes after they are put in place :D
 
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LOL---All Greek to me!!!
I only know how to use them.
That's why "Tallbm" is my Goto Guy!!!

Bear
 
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I like the no back removal four cuts and two wire nuts and done. Instead of adding components. Some did the two cut one wire nut with the wires to the relay. The other neutral or hot to the other braided wire is terminated together at the board already but those quick disconnect connectors can fail so I'm back to four cut. I feel more confident getting away from as many MB lugs and components as possible. Unplug when done and bring all controlling components inside. Only the heating element, AC wires/connectors and snap disc to fail outside in the elements other than PID stored indoors.
 
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Hmmm I just went back and read info that @tiros posted in my HeterMeter thread and according to him if you put a 1k ohm resistor (I would think 1/4 or a 1/2 Watt would work but be sure to do the homework and math and sort this out) into the connector so that it jumps the connection between the Red and Blue wire that should hard wire the onboard MES relay to On. So any current going into the MES plug would then reach the heating element.

This would actually be simpler than my rewire post BUT I haven't done it so I can't speak directly about doing this because I never have but when the day comes that I must rewire my brother's MES for a PID I may give this a shot to experiment :)

Just to be clear. Once the resistor is in place, a plug and play PID would still need to be used to control the heat. This resistor solution just reduces the need to cut and splice wires like my simple rewire guide mentions :)
No matter what though I would replace the crappy female spade connectors on the heating element and safety rollout limit switch with hi temp ones that don't corrode 10 minutes after they are put in place :D

Yes, that is what I meant in my post - shorting the +5V and heat wires with the resistor and using the Auber. The question is though: how to make absolutely sure that the red and the blue are the wires that need to be jumped? I guess I need some crash course on how to figure that out with a multimeter :) I might just risk and try doing it on the newer Gen 1 since it does have 4 wires @tiros mentioned, but I already retrofitted my old Gen 2 for use with the self-made outside clean cold smoke generator and really don't want to lose it to a bad experiment :)
 
Yes, that is what I meant in my post - shorting the +5V and heat wires with the resistor and using the Auber. The question is though: how to make absolutely sure that the red and the blue are the wires that need to be jumped? I guess I need some crash course on how to figure that out with a multimeter :) I might just risk and try doing it on the newer Gen 1 since it does have 4 wires @tiros mentioned, but I already retrofitted my old Gen 2 for use with the self-made outside clean cold smoke generator and really don't want to lose it to a bad experiment :)

Yeah I'm thinking you must test voltages across the wires with the multimeter.
There are a few different ways to attempt that. I believe you will need to have the MES controller hooked up to confirm the signal voltage BACK to the relay. My feeble mind leans to cutting into the wire insulation/cover a little bit so the multimeter tip fits under the cut insulation and hits the wires below.

At that point you would know what the voltage is on the two wires you are bridging so you at least know that the resister would cover it. The next thing to check would be to ensure that you are getting voltage over the wire that feeds juice to the MES controller when the MES is plugged in and the MES controller is not hooked up, to confirm the juice wire is one you bridge FROM as the source of voltage you send TO the signal wire.

This makes sense to me but if I am wrong I hope someone else chimes in. If you blow those wires or the components you then can fall back on my simple rewire guide :D
 
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