MES Rewire Simple Guide - No Back Removal Needed!!!

[mr_whipple]

"All worked well and was heating for about 7 minutes and then the heater element started arcing turned red and is now open."
Everything was working, PID was set at 225 F and controlling the heater. When the temp reached about 105 F ( approx 7 minutes ) I heard a loud buzz and through the front window I could see arcing at the heater end where it exits the smoker box. Now an ohm meter placed across the heater contacts shows infinite ohms ( open circuit ).

"For whatever it's worth I disconnected the wires from the heater and connected them to a volt meter."
Just to see if the voltage from the PID controller was correct I disconnected the wires that go to the heater and attached them to a volt meter. I started the PID controller and turned on the original control box, the voltage across the heater wires was a steady 118 VAC.

I hindsight I wish that I would have tested the new PID setup without running the old controller at the same time but I guess I blew that opportunity.

Gotcha, just wanted to be sure we were on the same plane as far as the lingo goes.

First thing, I would ditch the notion of using the controller for anything and not power that at all, but that's an opinion...

As to the heating element opening, that was more than likely caused by a bad connection at one of the element terminals, which at that level of current flow need to be well done, corrosion free and secure. Any looseness will cause arcs and sparks like you experienced. Not sure how you fabricated to cord that goes from the PID to the element. Sounds like the PID is still putting out good voltage, so you're element is open, and can easily be replaced. Now, the other scenario I see in my head is somewhere in the element /corded connection circuit may have shorted to the case of the smoker somehow, or internal to your plug...but that's unlikely since you saw the arcing at the element. Without seeing firsthand, I'm guessing in order of most to least likely. We love pictures here. Anyhow, hope this helps. Keep us posted!

 

[tallbm]

"All worked well and was heating for about 7 minutes and then the heater element started arcing turned red and is now open."
Everything was working, PID was set at 225 F and controlling the heater. When the temp reached about 105 F ( approx 7 minutes ) I heard a loud buzz and through the front window I could see arcing at the heater end where it exits the smoker box. Now an ohm meter placed across the heater contacts shows infinite ohms ( open circuit ).

"For whatever it's worth I disconnected the wires from the heater and connected them to a volt meter."
Just to see if the voltage from the PID controller was correct I disconnected the wires that go to the heater and attached them to a volt meter. I started the PID controller and turned on the original control box, the voltage across the heater wires was a steady 118 VAC.

I hindsight I wish that I would have tested the new PID setup without running the old controller at the same time but I guess I blew that opportunity.

Hi there and welcome!

It sounds like troubleshooting time.

Have you simply plugged into the wall, by itself (nothing else plugged in) the new cord that goes directly to the heating element?
This would eliminate everything else and the element should just heat up on it's own uncontrolled.

If you see arching with just this one thing plugged in then you can narrow down the areas of potential issue like bad connections, things touching that shouldn't, bad element insulation or element as a whole, etc.

This will be a simple check and hopefully give some more narrowed insight :D

 

[RLM]

Gotcha, just wanted to be sure we were on the same plane as far as the lingo goes.

First thing, I would ditch the notion of using the controller for anything and not power that at all, but that's an opinion...

As to the heating element opening, that was more than likely caused by a bad connection at one of the element terminals, which at that level of current flow need to be well done, corrosion free and secure. Any looseness will cause arcs and sparks like you experienced. Not sure how you fabricated to cord that goes from the PID to the element. Sounds like the PID is still putting out good voltage, so you're element is open, and can easily be replaced. Now, the other scenario I see in my head is somewhere in the element /corded connection circuit may have shorted to the case of the smoker somehow, or internal to your plug...but that's unlikely since you saw the arcing at the element. Without seeing firsthand, I'm guessing in order of most to least likely. We love pictures here. Anyhow, hope this helps. Keep us posted!

Looks like a high resistance connection is responsible for the burned out element. I took MrWhipple's suggestion and checked the terminals that connect to the heater coil.
They are in terrible shape. Complete corrosion on the inside of the terminals and very loose fitting. These will need to be replaced.
Turns out the arcing wasn't where the heater exits the box but was in the back right of the box ( see bluish colored area in picture ). The arcing burned 2 holes into the heater element. The heater had a lot of rust in this area so I suspect that it was compromised. I attached a few pics for your amusement. I am going to order a new heater and new terminals and try this again. Thank you all for help !

 

[mr_whipple]

Looks like a high resistance connection is responsible for the burned out element. I took MrWhipple's suggestion and checked the terminals that connect to the heater coil.
They are in terrible shape. Complete corrosion on the inside of the terminals and very loose fitting. These will need to be replaced.
Turns out the arcing wasn't where the heater exits the box but was in the back right of the box ( see bluish colored area in picture ). The arcing burned 2 holes into the heater element. The heater had a lot of rust in this area so I suspect that it was compromised. I attached a few pics for your amusement. I am going to order a new heater and new terminals and try this again. Thank you all for help !

Wow, the close up of the element is wild! I bet that was a neat light show. Just be sure to purchase quality terminals, not some harbor freight / temu junk so you can avoid another high impedance air gap in the future. Now get that smoker up and running and post some cooks!

 

[dr k]

I drilled a hole from the oustide SS to the light socket and hardwired a 16 gauge extension cord to the 75 watt socket (printed on the socket) and put in a 40 watt bulb vs the standard 15 watt appliance bulb . Plug in is on, unplug is off with this bypass no back removal. I did the Auber Plug and play WS-1510ELPM PID. I put aluminum foil over the glass fixture lens to pull off if night smoking so the glass doesn't get smoked up before I need light but haven't used this brighter light for a couple years. I use independent therms for temps and don't want anything to do with the OEM PCB chinese crap.

 

[chopsaw]

I drilled a hole from the oustide SS to the light socket and hardwired a 16 gauge extension cord to the 75 watt socket (printed on the socket) and put in a 40 watt bulb vs the standard 15 watt appliance bulb . Plug in is on, unplug is off with this bypass no back removal. I did the Auber Plug and play WS-1510ELPM PID. I put aluminum foil over the glass fixture lens to pull off if night smoking so the glass doesn't get smoked up before I need light but haven't used this brighter light for a couple years. I use independent therms for temps and don't want anything to do with the OEM PCB chinese crap.

That right there is the way to keep the light if you want it .

 

[zdogk9]

I have what I believe is a gen1 mes40. The control panel STB and is TU, when I pull the access panels off the bottom it looks like this. The braided wires are both tan, I will need to splice the white smooth wire to one and the black smooth wire to the other, correct?
When I remove the panel on the back i se that both braided wires leading to the heating element terminals are tan.

Replacing the connectors to the heating element is a must also.

 

[tallbm]

I have what I believe is a gen1 mes40. The control panel STB and is TU, when I pull the access panels off the bottom it looks like this. The braided wires are both tan, I will need to splice the white smooth wire to one and the black smooth wire to the other, correct?
When I remove the panel on the back i se that both braided wires leading to the heating element terminals are tan.

Replacing the connectors to the heating element is a must also.

Hi there, sorry for the late response.

You splice:

Black smooth to tan braided.
White smooth to tan braided.

That should get it done for you. Let us know how it turned out! :D

 

[zdogk9]

Hi there, sorry for the late response.

You splice:

Black smooth to tan braided.
White smooth to tan braided.

That should get it done for you. Let us know how it turned out! :D

Tha you for the reply! I replaced the element also. Plugged it in, heated up instantly. Un plugged it and hooked up a PID controller i built, dropped the probe through the smoke vent on the side wall, set it to 200° F, the initial swing was 10° either side of target which makes sense since there were no racks or deflectors in the smoker. After a couple of cycles it settled down a bit. I figure once I get four or five racks of oysters or salmon in there and the smoke generator hooked up things will be fine. The beauty is that it doesn't trip the GFI circut I tested it on. Before it was tripped immediately.

 

[zdogk9]

Got the controlle4r dialed in a bit better, it's now oveshooting 1 to 2.5 degrees and 4 to five under. I'm going to give the smoker a coat of high temp paint and will post pictures once that's done, I've done a couple of pork butts so far quicker and better results than with the stock controller. Thank you again.