PID for MES

[smokinpreacher]

I have had 30 inch mes for many years, it finally bit dust, bought new old style stainless 40 inch for Christmas, it bit dust after 3rd smoke, and Masterbuilt sent me new generation 40 inch, not happy but it is what I got.  I had to cut power cord and remove data plate from old style 40 so they would send me new one, I want to rebuild it, any suggestion on a pid and how to set it up

 

[bauchjw]

sorry?..

 

[old sarge]

You might try an Auber.  But they cost as much as your smoker. Try using the search bar at the top for PID.

 

[cmayna]

I have two Aubers which are shared amongst 3 electric smokers.  The most recent is an Auber 1500 running my MES40 Gen 1 smoker. If you have a similar smoker, you need to open the small panel off the back, disconnect the wires from the legs of the heating element.

You then need to get a 6' or so 14ga extension cord, cut off the female end and crimp some steel  high heat resistant female spade terminals to the black and white wires.  Connect a ground eyelet to the green wire.   The green wire gets grounded somewhere to the chassis of the smoker and the black and white wires connect to the heating element.

Oh and before you go too far you will need to drill a good size hole in the middle of the small cover plate you removed to allow the extension cord to pass through.

Plug the male end of the new power cord into the back of the auber and follow their instructions.

The above is just a quick glimpse of what typically needs to be done.  Each situation can and probably will be a little different.

 

[front sight]

cmayna, which Auber 1500 do you have?  There are four models WS-1500ES, WS-1500EPM, WS-1500EB, WSD-1500GPH. Been wanting to get one but backing off due to installation, but if it's that easy as you explained I will get one as soon as I found out which one different members have. Thanks

 

[JckDanls 07]

Actually... I think you would like the 1500GPH the best.. it has the dual probes.. one for smoker.. one for meat.. sure it's a little bit more money.. but well worth it...

Myself.. I have the SYL-2352P.. it's not a plug and play unit (had to build the complete controller)... after buying all the parts needed it came out to be pretty close to the price of the 1500GPH... and it's only a single probe... ... I use it in a smokehouse and use the ramp feature (ramp temps up over a period of time) to do my sausage and snack sticks...

 

[cmayna]

 
cmayna, which Auber 1500 do you have?  There are four models WS-1500ES, WS-1500EPM, WS-1500EB, WSD-1500GPH. Been wanting to get one but backing off due to installation, but if it's that easy as you explained I will get one as soon as I found out which one different members have. Thanks

The 1500 I have is the 1500ELPM according to the sticker on the bottom of the unit.   Who knows what that mean?

 

[tallbm]

Old post I know but I wanted to ask Old Goat how he liked the 1500ELPM controller as I have been thinking about it. Also any problem with high temps due to not having the smokers thermal cut off in use? I have read info on wiring the controller up like you suggested then other posts about wiring the controller different and more involved to keep the thermal cut off in the loop, wondering if its a big deal to have the thermal cut off there as the PID is supposed to keep a good handle on temps.

The benefit of the thermal cut off is just in case something fails like the SSR switch shorts and gets stuck in the on position.
Another more common situation would be where someone accidentally forgets to put the PID/Smoker probe into the smoker and turns everything on. In this case the probe is reading the temperature OUTSIDE the smoker so it is never going up and the PID is just running juice to the element non-stop. This would be bad lol.

It's just a safety measure that is a good idea to have in place BUT it is possible and easier to bypass also making it easier to encounter a catostropic fail. It's just up to your preferences :)

 

[ritchiep]

The benefit of the thermal cut off is just in case something fails like the SSR switch shorts and gets stuck in the on position.
Another more common situation would be where someone accidentally forgets to put the PID/Smoker probe into the smoker and turns everything on. In this case the probe is reading the temperature OUTSIDE the smoker so it is never going up and the PID is just running juice to the element non-stop. This would be bad lol.

It's just a safety measure that is a good idea to have in place BUT it is possible and easier to bypass also making it easier to encounter a catostropic fail. It's just up to your preferences :)

 

[ritchiep]

"Santa" brought me an Auber WS-1510 ELPM for Christmas for my MES 30 Gen (1). Over the past (3) years, it worked sporadically with the factory controller; sometimes flawless, most of the time with rapid clicks, even with unplugging/plugging the power cord. A big thank you to tallbm for his highly informative thread on a rewire and STILL keeping the snap disk inline. https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/mes-rewire-simple-guide-no-back-removal-needed.267069/ .Have not used the "Autotune" feature, yet, on the Auber, since it is +/- (1)or(2) degrees from the set point, right out of the box. Hope this helps,
Ritchie

 

[ritchiep]

Thanks for reposting tallbm's post as I have not seen this post. I will have to see if the MES 40 gen 2 looks anything like what tallbm posted for pic's as this would be the way to do the rewire for sure.

The (4) main wires he shows are basically in the same location as depicted, regardless....just disregard small wires surrounding them

 

[dward51]

X2 on the Auber 1500 or 1510 (I think that's the current model). I've been running one for a couple of years on my e-WSM mod and most recently on my MES Custom SS mod. The Auber PID (an all-in-one box controller with SSR included) is pretty much rock solid bullet proof.

 

[dr k]

I plan on getting the WS-1510ELPM to use as a sou vide controller for my analog crockpot and a controller for when my Mes fails. Has anyone found a coupon code to apply at checkout? And what ambient temps does this PID operate in for outdoor use for the Mes.

 

[dward51]

Auber also makes Sous Vide specific controllers. Their ECT-100A is on sale for $49.95 right now. It's rated for 10 amps at 120v, so depending on your crock pot wattage it should work. A MES with at 1,200 watt element is right at the rated threshhold, so I would not use that for a MES with a 1,200 watt element though. The WS-1510 can handle 1,500 watts but it's $149.

I have the older version, the WS-1500. It works fine 365 days a year and I have used it in 15* weather. I have it under a covered porch so rain/snow is not an issue for me, but the cold air temps have not been an issue, nor have 103* summer heat days in the 100% humidity of Georgia.

 

[tallbm]

"Santa" brought me an Auber WS-1510 ELPM for Christmas for my MES 30 Gen (1). Over the past (3) years, it worked sporadically with the factory controller; sometimes flawless, most of the time with rapid clicks, even with unplugging/plugging the power cord. A big thank you to tallbm for his highly informative thread on a rewire and STILL keeping the snap disk inline. https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/mes-rewire-simple-guide-no-back-removal-needed.267069/ .Have not used the "Autotune" feature, yet, on the Auber, since it is +/- (1)or(2) degrees from the set point, right out of the box. Hope this helps,
Ritchie

I'm glad the post could help. That is the exact reason why I made it. I had to piece a bunch of separate posts and info together to do my rewires so I figured one all inclusive post would help some folks :)

Thanks for reposting tallbm's post as I have not seen this post. I will have to see if the MES 40 gen 2 looks anything like what tallbm posted for pic's as this would be the way to do the rewire for sure.

I have rewired a Gen 2 and Gen 1 for PID controllers so it should work 99% the same way the post points out, with maybe some slightly different looking electronic boards. :)

The (4) main wires he shows are basically in the same location as depicted, regardless....just disregard small wires surrounding them

Yep that is correct :)


Also guys I would highly recommend you get your hands on some hi temp stainless steel female spade connectors to replace the crappy ones that Masterbuilt uses. One of the following should work:

or the following which has a sideways barrel to crimp the wire in similar to the picture above not a clamp flap clip thing like the picture claims

Also it would be a good idea to cut and make a panel to access the Safety Rollout Limit switch. The same crappy connectors are used on it and seem to be the other major connector failure point.
Replacement stock limit switches are the following, I suggest a 5 pack because they are fragile and can be damaged when putting connectors on the tabs:

[EDIT: I posted the correct link to the 302F limit switch, the old link was to a 194F or something stupidly low :) ]

I personally use a 350F manual reset safety rollout limit switch so I can do poultry cooks at 325F so the skin is edible. The MES is really not designed for the insulation to go way over 275F so I only do it for my short poultry cooks/smokes. I don't go over 275F otherwise. Follow my/this behavior at your own risk :)


You will fall in love with the PID behavior. I hope all this info helps :)

 

[johnnyb54]

I have had 30 inch mes for many years, it finally bit dust, bought new old style stainless 40 inch for Christmas, it bit dust after 3rd smoke, and Masterbuilt sent me new generation 40 inch, not happy but it is what I got. I had to cut power cord and remove data plate from old style 40 so they would send me new one, I want to rebuild it, any suggestion on a pid and how to set it up

Smokinpreacher, here is the PID conversion I did to my 2nd gen. Mastebuilt. Any questions please ask.
https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t...r-masterbuilt-hybrid-the-frankenbuilt.260975/

 

[tallbm]

Also it would be a good idea to cut and make a panel to access the Safety Rollout Limit switch. The same crappy connectors are used on it and seem to be the other major connector failure point.
Replacement stock limit switches are the following, I suggest a 5 pack because they are fragile and can be damaged when putting connectors on the tabs:
Question on the above switch, do they cut of at 194 degrees? Not sure I'm understanding the nomenclature right on the switches but from what I gather they would shut the power off at 194?

I'm thinking we would want something more like this that shuts off at 135 C / 300 F.

OOPS!:oops:

This is the one that goes to 302F.

Thanks for letting me know I posted the wrong temp level roll out limit switch. I'll correct it in my previous posts so bad info isn't sitting out there in the world :)

 

[tallbm]

Looks like this modification helped you find a defect in the stock wiring. See the PID approach is already paying off :)
I'm glad you got rewired. I hope it all turns out well :)

 

[dr k]

Thanks for the posts and help on this PID deal. My Auber WS-1510 showed up today so I put the MES on its side and rewired it. My newer Gen 2 unit has screws on all the access panels so that made it easy to get into everything. Of course my wires and controller are different then what has been pictured but I had enough info to figure out what wires were what. I ended up taking out the control board and plastic box it was in and just tucking the wires back in the hole under the access panel. I did find the white wire off the plug in cord was just hanging on the male spade connector and not seated tight from the factory.

Quick pic of the bottom of my smoker.

My WS-1510ELPM will be delivered 1.16.18 and I will do tallbm four cut, two splice smoker bypass from the bottom panel when I switch to the PID but for now the Mes controller is fine. Auberins sent me a chart on manual PID settings for 4 & 7qt. slowcooker, ricecooker etc. settings to turn them into sou vide cookers which I'll test on my 7 qt. crockpot before the smoker. You can do an auto tune or use this chart and compare what you like best. I'll put this chart in the sou vide forum as well but it is not for the WS-1510ELPM. To convert to the 1510 divide the P column by ten so the bottom line of the chart says Bradley smoker so to convert to P=7, I=600, D=150. These are the paramenters of the 1510 out of the box. So for my 7 quart slow cooker the 1510 would be set to P=18, I=700, D=40, for the 4 qt. slowcooker would be P=5, I=60, D=15 etc. Just remember these cookers need to be analog not digital or have membrane touch controllers. Only a dial to set to high, med. or warm. Set it to high unless otherwise stated in the table.