My MES died.

[klutzyspuds]

Last weekend, the last one prior to Labor Day weekend, I was all set to smoke some wild hog ribs from my GA wild pig I shot this past March. I took the whole rack, along with a pack of store bought ribs out of the freezer earlier in the week, and Sunday late morning got them all rubbed down and ready to go.

Now, as a preface to this cook, I must lay this out. My MES, a Cabelas Sportsman’s Elite 40” model, lives out in front of the house next to the gas grill, and is used regularly. I often keep it covered when not in use, but it also stays uncovered for a period of time after cooks depending on weather and me remembering to put the cover back on. A few months ago, the faceplate on the control board of my MES started to separate from the rest, and ultimately fell off in one of the windy storms we had this summer. I have used it a few times since this happened, and had used clear packing tape to corner the board upon noticing it missing.

Now back to the ribs. I use the 3-2-1 method at 225* for my ribs, often cheating that closer to 2.5-2-1 on bought ribs. The wild ones, expecting them to be a little tougher, I wanted to stay at a solid 3-2-1, maybe even stay long on the smoke time. Using this info, I back figured from dinner time to start time. As the start time drew near, I wandered out to start my smoker.

After a few minutes of warm up time, I went back out to add wood to the chip tray to start smoke rolling. I get out to the smoker to find it still at the same temp it was at when I turned it on. Everything on the control board seems to work. The temp is set to 225*, time set and counting down as it should, but cabinet temp still at 80*. Nothing happening inside at all! Fortunately, my Smoke Hollow Lp smoker was only a few steps away and could be set up and running in a couple minutes.

So that’s what I did. I set up the big boy and got it going right away. But that doesn’t help with my problem of a dead smoker. I’ve tried it a couple times since, and same result. Not sure what the issue is. And not sure if it’s something I can diagnose without buying and replacing parts till it works again. Seems logical that it’s probably the control board, but without testing it I won’t know. I’ve heard that often if the element burned out, it will pop a breaker when trying to heat, so I doubt it’s that.

I’m handy with things like this, except for the diagnosis part in solid state electronics. I’m looking for some experience from others that have similar models with similar issues. What have you guys found to be the typical issues when your MES died?

And just for playing along, here’s my rib cook in pics.

The big guy set up and ready.

The Mrs getting the rub out on. (Sorry about the lighting, range hood led lights kinda suck)

All rubbed and ready to go on.

On the smoker!

Time to wrap.

In the final stretch on the grill with a touch of bbq sauce getting a nice caramelization. The top two are wild pig, bottom one is store bought.

They were excellent!

 

[tallbm]

I love wild pork meat, it is like a different kind of pork. Soooooo goood!

I think we can get you going again in some form or fashion.
Since the controller seems to be turning on, displaying, and working my best guess is that the electrical spade connectors on the wiring have finally corroded away. The electrical connectors are 1 of the 2 most commonly reported failure points on an MES because they use crappy ones, and with yours sitting outside all the time I think this is a good place to start.

The first place to check is at the heating element. There should be an access panel on the back of the MES towards the bottom.
Get in there and give a good wiggle or simply disconnect the connector from the heating element. You may find that it is clearly lose or some comes loose when you are playing with it.
Another thing that may likely happen is that when you pull it off the heating element the connector falls apart. So be sure to have some of these hi-temp stainless steel connectors on hand to replace the ones that get damaged... these are a HUGE upgrade anyhow.

Next spot is to look at the safety rollout limit switch. If you are lucky you have another access panel on the back of your MES that allows you to get to the rollout switch and it looks like this (from another post on SMF) when you access it:

If you DON'T have an access panel for the switch then you will need to pull the back of the smoker off to get to it. In that case I would suggest you cutting and making a panel for the future since this is an area you may want to access again should the switch burn up on you.

If you find that the connectors are corroded or broken at the safety limit switch then I would highly suggest you order a 5 pack of the switches. They are a little delicate and if you cause ANY wiggle or movement where the tab connects to the plastic back of the switch then it will melt down on you eventually...after going through 3 or so of them I figured this out hahaha.
GET THIS EXACT ITEM!!! (there are versions that look to be the same but are not and will not work so get this exact one... and get 2 orders so you have 4 on hand in case you damage any while installing).

So the recap is to check the connectors in those two spots. If you find bad ones then replace the connectors with the good ones I posted that should last a LONG time. Also have back up safety rollout limit switches on hand because they can be damaged easily should you have to replace the connectors that connect to the switch.

This is easy stuff to do though it sucks that you have to do it. From here we can troubleshoot other areas.

Let me know if this info helps :)

 

[smokerjim]

you got the right guy on the job.

 

[klutzyspuds]

Thanks tallbm . I think I found the problem right off.

I started by taking the access panels (2 of them) off to inspect what was behind them. Figured it’s not working as is, worst I can do is have a smoker that still doesn’t work.

Here’s what the back panel looks like and what I found behind.

This is behind the upper panel. This is the thermostat you reference I’m sure. The connections look fine here, so I did not mess with them.

What’s behind door number 2?? Hhhmmm?? Houston, we have a problem! Appears the left terminal on the heating element has burned off.

So now I think my proper course of action would be to get the 1200 watt burner replacement, a pack of good spade connectors that you referenced, and commence to disassemble and replace said element.

Thanks again tallbm

Mark

 

[johnmeyer]

It sure seems like there are a LOT of these posts showing horrible Masterbuilt" build quality. I mean, how many other appliances that get hot (your oven; toaster; toaster oven; microwave oven; griddle; deep fat fryer; air fryer; etc.) burn up as often as this thing??

This is just one little forum on the Internet, and the MES owners who post here probably represent a fraction of one percent of the entire universe of MES owners, and yet at least once a month someone posts a picture that looks like the OP's.

I have an MES 30" and I feel like it will let me down any day now.

 

[klutzyspuds]

Honestly, I agree with you John. Every time I use that thing, even though I love using it, I feel like I’m some day going to be half way through a smoke only to find it DOA! Especially if I were mid smoke on a batch of sausage, that might be disastrous.

 

[chopsaw]

If you can afford to get the PID controller , do the repair and the bypass , you will be amazed at the performance of that smoker .

 

[johnmeyer]

If you can afford to get the PID controller , do the repair and the bypass , you will be amazed at the performance of that smoker .

AFAIK, the PID controller will not change the energy going to the heating element. Therefore, the failure shown in the pictures in this thread is still going to happen, isn't it?

 

[chopsaw]

Not sure what your point is . Do the repair with better parts you should be ok .
Loose , sloppy connections cause heat , I know you know that ,,, Better connectors and tight connections help the cause right ?

 

[klutzyspuds]

I’m just happy someone had an answer that gave me a place to start. Parts ordered, and hopefully back up and running soon.

Thanks guys

 

[johnmeyer]

Not sure what your point is . Do the repair with better parts you should be ok .
Loose , sloppy connections cause heat , I know you know that ,,, Better connectors and tight connections help the cause right ?

My only point is that adding the PID controller has nothing to do with the problem of the problem the OP is trying to solve, something that is caused by either substandard materials, shoddy manufacturing practices, or both. The stock temperature controller did not contribute in any way to the failure.

As a separate point, and one that I was not trying to make above, I am not a fan of using a PID controller for the MES, unless you also create an external smoking attachment because, by eliminating the big temperature swings, it pretty much defeats the ability to get the chips smoking. To create smoke in the MES, the heating element has to stay on for several minutes, with full power applied to the element. This is why the MES has large temperature swings: it was done on purpose in order to get the chips smoking.

 

[chopsaw]

$0.25

 

[Bearcarver]

As a separate point, and one that I was not trying to make above, I am not a fan of using a PID controller for the MES, unless you also create an external smoking attachment because, by eliminating the big temperature swings, it pretty much defeats the ability to get the chips smoking. To create smoke in the MES, the heating element has to stay on for several minutes, with full power applied to the element. This is why the MES has large temperature swings: it was done on purpose in order to get the chips smoking.

I can tell you if my MES40 ever quits, I'll be contacting tallbm for help with putting a PID in mine. And anybody with an MES that doesn't use an Amazing Smoker, (Tray or Tube) is a Glutton for punishment, because whether they did it on purpose or not doesn't change the fact that it doesn't work very good, without an AMNPS. So there's no way I would let that interfere with putting a PID in.

Bear

 

[Reb]

Ive had the same MES 30 old skool analog for 8 years now never haf an issue at all. It has been modified a bit and i did build my own PID for it, smoked a ton of meat in that thing an it keeps on going. I never worry about the smoker not running just my PID both sit outside uncovered year round used regularly. The weather seems to destroy the temp probe on my PID after awihle but i keep a spare on hand just in case.

 

[Reb]

Ive had the same MES 30 old skool analog for 8 years now never haf an issue at all. It has been modified a bit and i did build my own PID for it, smoked a ton of meat in that thing an it keeps on going. I never worry about the smoker not running just my PID both sit outside uncovered year round used regularly. The weather seems to destroy the temp probe on my PID after awihle but i keep a spare on hand just in case.

Bear is right about the AMNPS my chip tray was never reliable i bout the amnps shortly after.

 

[klutzyspuds]

Thanks guys. I think I’m gonna stick with getting this one back up and running first. Once working again, I may spend time researching pids, but for now back to normal will be good enough. I may add the pid someday.

 

[chopsaw]

Thanks guys.

Happy you got it fixed , or at least going to get it fixed .

 

[tallbm]

Thanks tallbm . I think I found the problem right off.

I started by taking the access panels (2 of them) off to inspect what was behind them. Figured it’s not working as is, worst I can do is have a smoker that still doesn’t work.

Here’s what the back panel looks like and what I found behind.
View attachment 404502
This is behind the upper panel. This is the thermostat you reference I’m sure. The connections look fine here, so I did not mess with them.
View attachment 404503
What’s behind door number 2?? Hhhmmm?? Houston, we have a problem! Appears the left terminal on the heating element has burned off.
View attachment 404504
View attachment 404505
View attachment 404506

So now I think my proper course of action would be to get the 1200 watt burner replacement, a pack of good spade connectors that you referenced, and commence to disassemble and replace said element.

Thanks again tallbm

Mark

Great job finding the issue! It sucks that the whole spade broke off but at least you have a replacement coming. Replacing and using real connectors that are put on tightly and properly should really help out.

If the controller goes out on you then that may be the time to talk rewire going with a PID but if you have been fine with the way the MES has always worked then there is no need to go that far.

I was going the PID route no matter what since I do bacon and I also do sausage with feral hog meat. The temp swings were just too much to risk on the sausage since I have to get it's IT up to 165F to ensure the wild pork meat is safe to eat. That usually means I have to carefully walk my smoker temp up to 180F smoker temp which is already high for sausage so the temp swings were just not an option for me unless I wanted to skip sausage from the pigs I hunt... not on my life!!! :D

Let us know how the replacement goes and I'm glad to see you will be back smoking again soon :)

 

[johnmeyer]

Since you've done the replacement this won't help, but for other people that read this, when you do the replacement it is extremely important to use wire and a spade lug that is rated for high temperatures. In both cases it is the insulation that must be temperature rated, and for the lug, it has to be made of a material that won't oxidize with the high temperature and high current.

When it oxidizes, the contact resistance increases. Since resistance times current equals power, and power equals heat, you end up getting a lot of heat generated by the bad connection and that's what leads to the failure. The photograph earlier in this thread shows what that looks like.

 

[klutzyspuds]

Parts came today. I had taken a few minutes last week and tore the parts that needed to come out apart. Had a little time today so I proceeded to tackle the repairs.

Less than a half hour later, my MES is alive again. This I have to give thanks to everyone that gave advice for. Plugged it in and set it to going. Came right up to temp and worked just like it did before.

Now it’s time to get some stuff prepped to give it the run through.