MES TROUBLE

[tanglefoot]

Downright unhappy with my mes30 today. Fired it up to do up some baby backs and can't get the thing to stay on. It will start out ok, but after it gets up to temp it shuts down it pops the ground fault outlet when the thermostat kicks in again. The outlet is fine. in fact, I plugged the GMG Dan'l Boone in to the same outlet to get the job done and it worked fine. (it's a 20amp dedicated outlet). I'm a meat smoker and not an electrician so i'm not sure where the problem is. I don't think it's the element as the thing fires up just fine to start with. On a side note, I just bought this smoker last year after having a mes30 for about 8-10 years before this one and smoked many, many meals without a glitch. When I brought this one home and unpacked it from the box I noticed how cheaply it was made. (my $0.02) Any ideas out there?

 

[normanaj]

I am also not an electrician but I know this much,moisture very often can be the culprit directly or indirectly.

There are several folks on here with intimate knowledge of MES electronics.Pretty sure one or all will chime in shortly.

 

[fivetricks]

tallbm

 

[chopsaw]

I've had this exact thing happen with my gen 1 mes 30 . It can be caused by moisture , and most times that would be the culprit .
However , another cause can be the resistance of the element itself . Low resistance lets the current flow faster than normal , and makes the GFCI thinks it's leaking to ground , tripping the breaker . That's why it takes a while for it to trip . The ohm reading on mine is 5 or less , should be around 18 .

 

[Watson]

Sounds like a short in the heating element once it reaches temp.
If the controller itself is working, and it seems it is, then that's all that's left.
Others will know more than me, but if that was my unit, I would start looking at the heating element.

 

[Winterrider]

Your Daniel Boone is only operating a fan, not a heating element.
Connections to element would be my first check.

 

[tallbm]

Downright unhappy with my mes30 today. Fired it up to do up some baby backs and can't get the thing to stay on. It will start out ok, but after it gets up to temp it shuts down it pops the ground fault outlet when the thermostat kicks in again. The outlet is fine. in fact, I plugged the GMG Dan'l Boone in to the same outlet to get the job done and it worked fine. (it's a 20amp dedicated outlet). I'm a meat smoker and not an electrician so i'm not sure where the problem is. I don't think it's the element as the thing fires up just fine to start with. On a side note, I just bought this smoker last year after having a mes30 for about 8-10 years before this one and smoked many, many meals without a glitch. When I brought this one home and unpacked it from the box I noticed how cheaply it was made. (my $0.02) Any ideas out there?

Hi there and welcome!

This could be a few things. The most problematic area of the MES are the cheap electrical connectors that are used. You should have a panel on the back at the bottom that leads to the heating element. Check and see if the connectors are corroding away and if so get some hi-temp stainless steel connectors like the following and replace the rotting ones (exact fit for the mes):

The other area to check is the safety rollout limit switch. I believe you have a newer model so there should be a panel on the back of the MES midway up somewhere maybe. Get into that panel and see if the connectors have corroded off the switch OR if that switch has burned up (i've had like 5 switches burn up on me). If this is the case you can apply the same connectors above as the fix.
If the switch is burned up you can cut the wire from the switch, strip the ends, and wire nut them together to get by. If you want to replace the switch then get these EXACT ones, don't by anothing but these, its a 5 pack and it is good to have backups:

Thing to know about those switches. If you wiggle, bend, or move the tabs in any way at the point where they connect to the back of the switch, the switch WILL burn down after some time. That is also why it is good to have a few on hand hahaha.... i learned this the hard way.

If these suggestions dont find the problem then I think an ohms test on your heating element using a $7 multimeter will let you know if your element is messing up.
After that you may have a bad wire grounding situation somewhere OR your controller is screwing you over.

Like 90% of the people in your situation i bet you find a rotting connector at the element or the safety switch.

Check and let us know what you find! :)

 

[barryvabeach]

Mine tripped after it had been heating a short time. Replaced the element, works fine.

 

[tanglefoot]

Mine tripped after it had been heating a short time. Replaced the element, works fine.

Hi there and welcome!

This could be a few things. The most problematic area of the MES are the cheap electrical connectors that are used. You should have a panel on the back at the bottom that leads to the heating element. Check and see if the connectors are corroding away and if so get some hi-temp stainless steel connectors like the following and replace the rotting ones (exact fit for the mes):

The other area to check is the safety rollout limit switch. I believe you have a newer model so there should be a panel on the back of the MES midway up somewhere maybe. Get into that panel and see if the connectors have corroded off the switch OR if that switch has burned up (i've had like 5 switches burn up on me). If this is the case you can apply the same connectors above as the fix.
If the switch is burned up you can cut the wire from the switch, strip the ends, and wire nut them together to get by. If you want to replace the switch then get these EXACT ones, don't by anothing but these, its a 5 pack and it is good to have backups:

Thing to know about those switches. If you wiggle, bend, or move the tabs in any way at the point where they connect to the back of the switch, the switch WILL burn down after some time. That is also why it is good to have a few on hand hahaha.... i learned this the hard way.

If these suggestions dont find the problem then I think an ohms test on your heating element using a $7 multimeter will let you know if your element is messing up.
After that you may have a bad wire grounding situation somewhere OR your controller is screwing you over.

Like 90% of the people in your situation i bet you find a rotting connector at the element or the safety switch.

Check and let us know what you find! :)

Thank all of you guys for the pointers. I'll check it out and be in touch!! Much appreciated!

 

[tanglefoot]

Thank all of you guys for the pointers. I'll check it out and be in touch!! Much appreciated!

Thank all of you guys for the pointers. I'll check it out and be in touch!! Much appreciated!

OK. Here's what I did today. Fired it up, set at 220. It got up to 118 when it tripped the ground gfci.
Reset it and it worked like a charm for about 1.5 hours. It would heat up to temp just fine and restart when the temp got down to 218. Then the temp shot way up for some reason. ( I was watching it spike and thinking when this hits 260-270 i'm going to pull the plug. It got up to 248 and the gfci tripped. Let it cool, reset, and tried again.

 

[BuckeyeSteve]

I've had this exact thing happen with my gen 1 mes 30 . It can be caused by moisture , and most times that would be the culprit .
However , another cause can be the resistance of the element itself . Low resistance lets the current flow faster than normal , and makes the GFCI thinks it's leaking to ground , tripping the breaker . That's why it takes a while for it to trip . The ohm reading on mine is 5 or less , should be around 18 .

But shouldn't it still have the same current on the neutral? I was under the impression that a GFCI compares the current going out and the current returning on the neutral. It sounds like he has current leaking somewhere.

 

[chopsaw]

But shouldn't it still have the same current on the neutral? I was under the impression that a GFCI compares the current going out and the current returning on the neutral. It sounds like he has current leaking somewhere.

The lack of resistance in the heating element tricks the GFCI into thinking there is a current leak . As you said , current going out and returning is faster than expected .
I'm not saying this is his problem , but it does happen . I would be interested to know the ohm reading on his element .

 

[Bearcarver]

Hi there and welcome!

This could be a few things. The most problematic area of the MES are the cheap electrical connectors that are used. You should have a panel on the back at the bottom that leads to the heating element. Check and see if the connectors are corroding away and if so get some hi-temp stainless steel connectors like the following and replace the rotting ones (exact fit for the mes):

The other area to check is the safety rollout limit switch. I believe you have a newer model so there should be a panel on the back of the MES midway up somewhere maybe. Get into that panel and see if the connectors have corroded off the switch OR if that switch has burned up (i've had like 5 switches burn up on me). If this is the case you can apply the same connectors above as the fix.
If the switch is burned up you can cut the wire from the switch, strip the ends, and wire nut them together to get by. If you want to replace the switch then get these EXACT ones, don't by anothing but these, its a 5 pack and it is good to have backups:

Thing to know about those switches. If you wiggle, bend, or move the tabs in any way at the point where they connect to the back of the switch, the switch WILL burn down after some time. That is also why it is good to have a few on hand hahaha.... i learned this the hard way.

If these suggestions dont find the problem then I think an ohms test on your heating element using a $7 multimeter will let you know if your element is messing up.
After that you may have a bad wire grounding situation somewhere OR your controller is screwing you over.

Like 90% of the people in your situation i bet you find a rotting connector at the element or the safety switch.

Check and let us know what you find! :)

What tallbm said,
^^^Going by what MES are well known for, the above would be my first checks.^^^

Bear

 

[tanglefoot]

The lack of resistance in the heating element tricks the GFCI into thinking there is a current leak . As you said , current going out and returning is faster than expected .
I'm not saying this is his problem , but it does happen . I would be interested to know the ohm reading on his element .

Just checked it with multimeter. Comes in at17.5 ohms. also the leads look pristine. (like I said, this unit is only 1yr old.) If were to guess, I'd say the issue is with the control panel but could that trip the gfci?

 

[tanglefoot]

Hi there and welcome!

This could be a few things. The most problematic area of the MES are the cheap electrical connectors that are used. You should have a panel on the back at the bottom that leads to the heating element. Check and see if the connectors are corroding away and if so get some hi-temp stainless steel connectors like the following and replace the rotting ones (exact fit for the mes):

The other area to check is the safety rollout limit switch. I believe you have a newer model so there should be a panel on the back of the MES midway up somewhere maybe. Get into that panel and see if the connectors have corroded off the switch OR if that switch has burned up (i've had like 5 switches burn up on me). If this is the case you can apply the same connectors above as the fix.
If the switch is burned up you can cut the wire from the switch, strip the ends, and wire nut them together to get by. If you want to replace the switch then get these EXACT ones, don't by anothing but these, its a 5 pack and it is good to have backups:

Thing to know about those switches. If you wiggle, bend, or move the tabs in any way at the point where they connect to the back of the switch, the switch WILL burn down after some time. That is also why it is good to have a few on hand hahaha.... i learned this the hard way.

If these suggestions dont find the problem then I think an ohms test on your heating element using a $7 multimeter will let you know if your element is messing up.
After that you may have a bad wire grounding situation somewhere OR your controller is screwing you over.

Like 90% of the people in your situation i bet you find a rotting connector at the element or the safety switch.

Check and let us know what you find! :)

The only access panel on the back is for the element. I must have to remove the whole back panel to access that switch?

 

[chopsaw]

Just checked it with multimeter. Comes in at17.5 ohms. also the leads look pristine. (like I said, this unit is only 1yr old.) If were to guess, I'd say the issue is with the control panel but could that trip the gfci?

Well that's good , right where it should be .
You should also check between one side of the element and the case / body . Should be zero . If it shows a number you have current leaking from the element to the case . Un plug the smoker , remove the wires to the element , then do the check . If it checks good , then you have ruled out the basic stuff and can move on from there .

 

[tanglefoot]

Well that's good , right where it should be .
You should also check between one side of the element and the case / body . Should be zero . If it shows a number you have current leaking from the element to the case . Un plug the smoker , remove the wires to the element , then do the check . If it checks good , then you have ruled out the basic stuff and can move on from there .

Thank you. Just checked that. No reading.

 

[tallbm]

The only access panel on the back is for the element. I must have to remove the whole back panel to access that switch?

Unfortunately you will have to remove the back to get to your rollout limit switch.
Hopefully its the riveted back and not the fitted one. If riveted then drill them out and fasten back with self taping sheet metal screws (Hex head are the best, like 3/4 inch long).

If u remove the back then it is useful to cut and make a panel to get to it in the future. I had to do this with my MES. I just cut the hole big enough to work in and got a piece of thin sheet metal and screwed it in over the whole I but and fastened with self taping sheet metal screws after drilling pilot holes. Easy peasy.

 

[tanglefoot]

Unfortunately you will have to remove the back to get to your rollout limit switch. If u remove the back then it is useful to cut and make a panel to get to it in the future. I had to do this with my MES. I just cut the hole big enough to work in and got a piece of thin sheet metal and screwed it in over the whole I but and fastened with self taping sheet metal screws after drilling pilot holes. Easy peasy.

Yes, I was just looking at that. The blame thing is riveted on. Not a huge deal, but why can't those nice chinese folks use screw guns like the rest of the dadgum world. Like i said, not a big deal, but a pain in the covid. I'll work on that after work tomorrow (hopefully) and let you know what I find. Thank all of you fellers for your help.

 

[Bearcarver]

The only access panel on the back is for the element. I must have to remove the whole back panel to access that switch?

If it's riveted, like most are, just drill them out & then when done, replace the rivets with self tappers.
OOOPS--On Edit---I see Tallbm already said that.

Bear