The MES bascially is pegged on full power no matter what the setting. Even in OFF it is running on full power if it is plugged in. The MES customer service rep said the problem will be the wiring inside the box, not the thermostat unit, and then basically said it is trash at this point. Does that make sense? I like the idea of modifying it. I like the smoker when it works!
It sounds to me that the Solid State Relay (SSR) is shorted and stuck in the on position.
The way your smoker works is that electricity runs from the outlet, through the MES plug to two different places.
1. To the controller
2. To the SSR and then on to the heating element.
The SSR is a switch (like a light switch) that will set on/closed and allow electricity to flow through the SSR to the heating element to heat up.
The MES controller uses a thermometer to read the temp inside the smoker and when your set temp is hit (or slightly exceeded) the controller tells the SSR to go off/open so electricity can no longer go to the heating element and stops the heating element from heating up. When the temp drops to a certain point the Controller tells the SSR to switch on/closed so electricity can now go to the heating element and begin heating again. Rinse, repeat.
If your SSR is shorted and stuck on then no matter what the controller can't switch the SSR on and off. With the SSR shorted and stuck on you will always have electricity running to the heating element.
A rewire job would be to wire the MES chord so that it skips all the MES electronics and the chord sends electricity to the heating element when plugged in. All or nothing.
Now with an Auber Plug and play PID controller you plug the PID controller into the wall and the rewired MES plug into the PID controller.
The PID now controls the electricity being cut on/off to the MES chord because the PID controller has an SSR built in!
With this approach you bypass the problematic MES electronics and the PID controller will keep your temp within 1 degree after you run the autotune feature. No more temp swings and reliable electronics!!!
One thing to understand though is that you will need to rely on an alternate approach for generating smoke like the A-Maze-N Pellet SMoker (
AMNPS) and the mailbox mod, which most MES users seem to go to anyhow. Once the PID hits the set temp it will only cut the heating element on for like 10 seconds at a time to keep temp. This would hinder or prevent smoke creation from the built in MES smoke mechanism. No worry though, the
AMNPS allows you to set and forget for hours so again another win!
Let me know if you need anymore info :)
