MES40 Tripping GFCI But Previously Didn't

[UncleRichard]

Hello, my MES previously quit working and it was the temperature protection switch. In the process I replaced the element, circuit board, and control panel until I found help on this forum. I plugged it into a regular receptacle and it worked! Now it trips the same gfci receptacle that Ive always used and never previously had any issue. It trips soon as I plug it in even though the MES is off.

I put the old circuit board back in and it still trips. It was a very nice smoker but I'm about ready to throw it away due to frustration. Any suggestions why its tripping the gfci?

 

[Winterrider]

Have you tried any other heavy wattage/amp tools or anything in like maybe skill saw ? Have had bad gfci outlets.

 

[UncleRichard]

Ive tried two different gfci and both tripped. I will try heavy amp draw tool tomorrow but the MES trips soon as I plug it in not when its turned on.

 

[Fueling Around]

When you changed the thermal limit switch and the heating element where the socket connections in good shape?
I'm not sure the wiring in a MES outside of what I read here. Maybe try swapping back to the original heating element. Maybe you got a bad element.
I have a Big Chief so no control board or thermal limit switch. The heating element is bad so it trips the GFCI after a few minutes.

 

[chopsaw]

MES previously quit working and it was the temperature protection switch.

In the process I replaced the element, circuit board, and control panel until I found help on this forum.

OK , so you replaced all that at the same time , or your were replacing parts one at a time , and found the problem was the limit switch ?

Works is a non GFCI receptacle , but trips the one with GFCI ?

If it trips the Ground fault as soon as plugged in you have something going to ground .
Unplug the unit .
Take the inspection cover of the element connection .
Unplug the power wires to the element spades .
Take an ohm meter and measure the resistance from one side of the element connection to the body of the smoker .
Should be " open " reading zero ohms .
Do the other side the same .

If it's tripping the circuit breaker itself , you have a direct short somewhere .
Pinched wire , something touching or wired wrong .

 

[mike243]

At 1 time all fridges and freezers stated in the owners manual to not run them on a gfi, you won't believe the little amount of feedback on a ground wire to trip it. Any appliance or tool with some age on it might gain some feedback and never anything dangerous. They set rules for reasons but I think they are set too light.

 

[Elf@shore]

HI! On another subject ?
Have a GFI for a pool pump ,same issues .
#1: Had 2 GFIs !, one from the intial wiring, then #2 ! Was installed near the pump.
Got rid of #2, But on occasion it would trip ?
I was told by an electrician: GFI are there for Yur protection, However the are not built to withstand multiple interruptions, So ? it maybe shot ! Meaning its very sensitive to it !?
I am by no means an electrician !?
Hope it helps / Seems to make sense ?

 

[Up_In_Smoke]

snip...
Take an ohm meter and measure the resistance from one side of the element connection to the body of the smoker .
Should be " open " reading zero ohms .
Do the other side the same .

Not to nit-pick, but if an ohm meter display reads 0 it's a dead short.
If it reads "OL" or "1---" then it's an open circuit.

I know what you meant but it could be confusing.

 

[chopsaw]

Not to nit-pick, but if an ohm meter display reads 0 it's a dead short.
If it reads "OL" or "1---" then it's an open circuit.

New fangled ? LOL .
I did HVAC / appliance repair straight out of tech school . 1989 .
I'm still using an AMP probe from the " Old " days , so no readout . Dial only .
Zero on an amp probe is open .
I didn't know the digital readout meters were different .
Thanks . Seems funny that no reading is a hard fault . In my mind it show some resistance to the path it's taking , but like I say , never used one of those .
Guess I need to understand people don't use amp probes anymore .

 

[Up_In_Smoke]

New fangled ? LOL .
I did HVAC / appliance repair straight out of tech school . 1989 .
I'm still using an AMP probe from the " Old " days , so no readout . Dial only .
Zero on an amp probe is open .
I didn't know the digital readout meters were different .
Thanks . Seems funny that no reading is a hard fault . In my mind it show some resistance to the path it's taking , but like I say , never used one of those .
Guess I need to understand people don't use amp probes anymore .

1989?
Youngster.

Yeah, I still have a Triplett analog meter. Many times I prefer it to a digital.

Let me grab a couple of pictures of my digital.
Semantics are a real pain when it comes to things like this.

 

[Up_In_Smoke]

Open circuit:

Dead short:

 

[chopsaw]

I believe you , thanks for the pics . I guess my question is how would you get an ohm reading on say the element itself ?
I'm answering my own question in my head , but I guess if the element was directly shorted to the body it would show zero .

Connected to both sides of the element it will measure resistance to flow .

So if it's a slow bleed to the body from the element it doesn't measure that ? Just shows a path where there shouldn't be one , as zero ? Meaning continuity ?

You're gonna have me dusting off the Amp probe here in a minute . Maybe the analog dial reads the same .

 

[Up_In_Smoke]

All your statements are correct.

I think it would be a good idea for the OP to unplug the smoker from the wall, hook one of his ohmmeter leads to the ground connection and the other to the Hot, and then to the Neutral, and then the case of the smoker.
The Hot is the "skinny" blade and the "Neutral" is the "fat" blade.

The Hot and the Neutral should both show an open circuit, and the ground to case should show a good connection, or dead short.

A good close visual inspection will probably locate a bare spot in a wire.

Oh, or possibly the Hot and Neutral power wires got reversed??

 

[Fueling Around]

...
The Hot is the "skinny" blade and the "Hot" is the "fat" blade.
...

Neutral is the fat blade?

 

[Up_In_Smoke]

OK , so you replaced all that at the same time , or your were replacing parts one at a time , and found the problem was the limit switch ?

Works is a non GFCI receptacle , but trips the one with GFCI ?

If it trips the Ground fault as soon as plugged in you have something going to ground .
Unplug the unit .
Take the inspection cover of the element connection .
Unplug the power wires to the element spades .
Take an ohm meter and measure the resistance from one side of the element connection to the body of the smoker .
Should be " open " reading zero ohms .
Do the other side the same .

If it's tripping the circuit breaker itself , you have a direct short somewhere .
Pinched wire , something touching or wired wrong .

To U UncleRichard - Do what chopsaw says to do.

 

[chopsaw]

I think it would be a good idea

Good points made , and I agree . What I'm saying above only takes the element into consideration . I was thinking when I typed that out he needs to check from power in .
Good point on the reversed wires in a GFCI .

The way my mind works , I want to know at what point this started . That's why I asked about changing parts one at a time or all together .

 

[Up_In_Smoke]

Neutral is the fat blade?

Sometimes my fingers get ahead of my brain.
Doesn't take much...

Fixed it - Thanks!!

 

[Up_In_Smoke]

Good points made , and I agree . What I'm saying above only takes the element into consideration . I was thinking when I typed that out he needs to check from power in .
Good point on the reversed wires in a GFCI .

The way my mind works , I want to know at what point this started . That's why I asked about changing parts one at a time or all together .

That's what's so hard about trying to troubleshoot things over the InnerWebz.
It only takes 1 forgotten item to blow everything to hell.

 

[normanaj]

You know what I'm gonna say!

Rewire and PID time!