Temp waaaay off.

[Jason_Mac]

My temp in my MES is so far off it is impossible to properly smoke anything. I have the MES set to max temp, 275, and my internal probe is bouncing between 189-193. I've read some people are having issues being off but this much?

My probe is toward the front door hanging from top rack. I know its not by the sensor but it shouldn't be off by nearly 90 degrees from front to back.

My temp gauge is new. It's a thermPro 20.

 

[mike243]

whats the temp outside?

 

[indaswamp]

Did you test the probe with both ice water and boiling water to make sure it is calibrated correctly? Should read 32* and 212*

 

[Winterrider]

The original probe that came with my MES was way off like that. " Do Not Rely" on smoker probe for anything. When I tried a new control panel I ordered new probe $5 , that one was only 5° off but still don't rely on it.

 

[SecondHandSmoker]

So the TP20 is saying the chamber temp is 189-193?
How much of a meat load did you put in the smoker and what are the outside ambient temps and wind condtions?

 

[Jason_Mac]

I did not validate the upper temp on the probes because they read 37 when inserting in the meat this morning straight out of the fridge. I did check the boiling point and it was off. It read 188. That accounts for a difference of 24 degrees but not for the nearly 90 degrees off.

I only had an 8lb port butt in the smoker. Nothing else. Temps were in the mid 50's today with only a light breeze.

 

[Jason_Mac]

I did the temp verification wrong. I poured boiling water in a measuring cup and then checked which came up with low temp. I actually boiled a pot of water on stove and put the probes in while boiling and the temp was right at 212. So the meter is not the problem but the temp sensor on the MES.

Has anyone had any luck getting masterbuilt to send them a new sensor?

 

[SecondHandSmoker]

I did the temp verification wrong. I poured boiling water in a measuring cup and then checked which came up with low temp. I actually boiled a pot of water on stove and put the probes in while boiling and the temp was right at 212. So the meter is not the problem but the temp sensor on the MES.

Has anyone had any luck getting masterbuilt to send them a new sensor?

When you have a spare couple of hours, use the TP20 to monitor the temp while the smoker is empty to see if this issue can be replicated before contacting MES customer service. This will give you some good ammo if or when you need to call CS.

 

[Jason_Mac]

Thats a great idea. I'll try this week sometime to run it empty.

 

[Murray]

Place your TP20 within 1” of your MES temperature probe, (not the meat probe) Mine is way out until the MES has cycled on/off a few times. Once my MES has warmed up to operating temperature the temperatures are very close. This simple process will confirm your MES is close (or not) to your set point.

 

[SecondHandSmoker]

Thats a great idea. I'll try this week sometime to run it empty.

Jason, keep in mind when you run this test with the smoker empty, you will see some temp variations due to not having a piece of meat acting as a heat sink.
Let the smoker settle down for half an hour or so.
And don't get too excited if you do see 20* plus temp swings. This is normal for when the heating element cycles on and off.


I am pretty sure you know how to do this already but in case you're interested, this is how I run my smoker sanity test.
Take the TP20 and set probes #1 and #2 to OVEN.
Place probe #1 on the cooking grate that is placed 10" or so above the heating element.
Place probe #2 as close as possible to your smokers controller thermocouple if possible. If it is not possible, then no worries.
All these reading should be pretty close with the exception of probe#2. I rig probe #2 thru the exhaust on the back of my smoker thus it is not ideal.

At the time of this writing, I am running a test on my smoker and here is where things stand.

Snap shot of smokers app screen

Snap shot of TP20 screen

Hope this helps and let us know how things go.