Dead Smoker

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Take a look to see if there is an amperage rating on the switches.. They may have upgraded to a switch that can handle the "nepas"...
 
Well switches are generally pretty simple. A $7-10 multimeter will help you figure out the flow on that switch with the connectors... if the switch did not come with a diagram.
All that would be left is to ensure the switch can handle the Amps for continuous flow and a little extra for slop. :)
 
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This is what i can read on the new switch.
Gaynor
20a 125 vac
10a 250 vac
3/4 hp

Red toggle (original switch)

Cherry WR Series
16a 125 vac 1/4 hp
16a 250 vac 1/4 hp

Down lower on the toggle.
250 vac 3/4 hp

This is the paper that came with the new switch.
Sorry i'm not very electronic savvy.

sw6.jpg
 
New toggle, more amperage... mo betta.. won't burn up.... I think their original switch was marginal...
Now that you have spare parts.... it will never fail again... LOL...
 
Rick, I have some of the red rocker switches... let me find them and see what the rating is

ok.. rating is.. 16A -250v ... 20a - 125v ... size seems to be 7/8" x 1" ...

can bring to the gathering if you would rather use original looking switch ...
 
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Rick, I have some of the red rocker switches... let me find them and see what the rating is

ok.. rating is.. 16A -250v ... 20a - 125v ... size seems to be 7/8" x 1" ...

can bring to the gathering if you would rather use original looking switch ...

I got the no sausage jitters and gotta do it now. I just dont know where to plug in the terminals to the right poles?
Guess i need to go get one them multimeter thingys.

Dave
Yeah its more solid the new toggle.
 
Here's a simple explanation about your switch and your situation.

All a switch like this does is open and close (On/Off) the electrical circuit.
When Open no electricity will flow past the switch into the smoker. When Closed the switch connects the circuit together so electricity can flow to the device.
Think of it like a window. Window Open air blows into the home. Window closed, air does not blow into the home.

Your switch is a Double Pole, Single Throw (DPST).

Single Throw = flip it/throw it and it opens or closes the circuit. Very simple.
Double Pole = you can connect TWO sets of electrical circuit to the switch to open/close. That is why there are 4 prongs. Two for incoming electricity and two for the switch to connect for outgoing electricity when the switch is fliped on or closed. A good example of this is in some restrooms when you flip the light on the exhaust vent also comes on.

What is a little confusing is that they sent you a DPST switch and then used that little wired connection on one side to basically shut down that one side. With that wire in place you will only be using the one side of the switch.
They should have probably just sent you a 2 pronged switch (Single Pole, Single Throw [SPST]) hahaha
That's like buying a 4 door car but welding the back doors shut to make it a 2 door car :D

Here is a simplistic explanation of how to hook this switch up, you may have more stuff/components inovolved but conceptually this is all you would be doing :)

To hook this switch up, you would plug the HOT wire coming from the plug into one prong of the switch.
Then you take the HOT wire that comes from your heating element into the other prong of the switch.
Your smoker would now be wired like this.
Electricity would come from the wall -> through the plug to the switch.
When the switch is ON/Closed the electricity would then flow through the switch to the smoker heating element.
When the switch is OFF/Open the electricity would flow to the switch and stop being unable to get to the heating element.

I don't believe it matters which prong is IN vs OUT since your switch doesn't seem to have On/Off labels.
If your switch had On/Off labels on the front then you could wire it backwards. If wired backwards you simply swap the wires to the opposite prongs. Very simple :)

A Multimeter is still extremely helpful. The continuity feature would let you know if your switch is good/bad before you even hook it up to wires. The continuity feature would also let you know if you have any breaks in the circuit along the way. Testing from Plug Prong to switch should work. Turn switch on and you can check continuity from Plug prong to the output side of the switch, and keep working along until you know you have continuity all the way through and nothing is broken along the way :)

Let me know if all of this makes some sense :)
 
I have 2 wire from the heating element. One goes to the switch the other goes to the digital control. Both are high heat braided.

20171111_145532.jpg


20171111_145748.jpg


20171111_161825.jpg
 
I'm sorry guys. Know you are trying to help. I just cant grasp this stuff.
 
You should be able to find what you need at Ace Hardware or True Value, whichever is in your neck of the woods. Always easier when you get an identical sized look alike right down to the size and the connectors. Just lame the old switch connectors with their appropriate wire color then take the switch to the hardware store. Actually I am surprised The usage Maker failed to send the proper switch.
 
Hey Nepas please clarify the following and I think I can help you out :)

First off, please confirm that the wires coming out of the left hand side of the top left pic are coming from the Plug that goes to the wall outlet.

If that is the case then I think I have the wires labeled correctly in the top left pic so we can reference them. HOT (1), Neutral (2), Ground (3). So if I say wire #1 that would be the HOT wire from the plug, or if I say wire #2 that is the Neutral wire from the plug, and so on. The numbers help us talk in clear specifics when identifying wires :)

In the top RIGHT pictures, please confirm that the HOT ??? wire is actually wire #3. I'm assuming the flash made the color change.
Also please confirm that the Neutral ??? wire is wire #2.

Finally, if you can, tell me where wires #4,5, and 6 go to From the switch.
If you cannot exactly figure it out don't worry this is just more contextual information that can help us along the way.

In short, if you confirm wires #1-3 I think we can pop in your new switch and wire it right up to mimic the old switch and have no issues :)

nepasOldSwitch.png



ddhd
 
Yes you are right 1,2 & 3 are from the power cord.
The hot and neutral are on the bottom switch poles 1&2
6 is one of the lines from the element
5 goes to the top of the digital controller.

20171112_182138.jpg

#5 white slot on controller
#4 with the blue crimp
Next black is a line from the element

#5 & 6 are both connected to the one post on the switch

closest white/red/white are from the temp probe
 
Nepas I think this will do it for you. See the new labels and the new pic of your switch at the bottom.

Simply connect to your switch the way I have it labeled. That should be a straight replacement to the old switch and all the wires should be going to the correct places. The only unknown is if the switch in the last pic below is in the ON or OFF position hahaha. This will only matter if you are "bothered" by the direction you have to flip the switch for ON vs OFF. If so you can either rotate the switch or swap the connectors.

****WORD TO THE WISE***** It is EXTREMELY important that your connectors are snug with little to no wiggle. Wiggle or looseness can lead to resistance. Resistance leads to heating up. Heating up leads to burning out or melting out parts of your switch or connectors. Snug and tight fits are the key. If you find any wiggle to the connectors on the tabs AFTER you get things working, feel free to take some needle nose plyers and to safely squeeze/crimp those connectors tightly to the tabs WITHOUT damaging the tabs or switch. My hope is they just fit snug to begin with.

Let me know if this all helps and if you have any questions :)

nepasOldSwitch2.png
 
Nepas I think this will do it for you. See the new labels and the new pic of your switch at the bottom.

Simply connect to your switch the way I have it labeled. That should be a straight replacement to the old switch and all the wires should be going to the correct places. The only unknown is if the switch in the last pic below is in the ON or OFF position hahaha. This will only matter if you are "bothered" by the direction you have to flip the switch for ON vs OFF. If so you can either rotate the switch or swap the connectors.

****WORD TO THE WISE***** It is EXTREMELY important that your connectors are snug with little to no wiggle. Wiggle or looseness can lead to resistance. Resistance leads to heating up. Heating up leads to burning out or melting out parts of your switch or connectors. Snug and tight fits are the key. If you find any wiggle to the connectors on the tabs AFTER you get things working, feel free to take some needle nose plyers and to safely squeeze/crimp those connectors tightly to the tabs WITHOUT damaging the tabs or switch. My hope is they just fit snug to begin with.

Let me know if this all helps and if you have any questions :)

View attachment 344151

Thank you Thank you

I'm going to go get a multimeter and try to get this all wired today. Its supposed to rain all day here. I keep my smoker covered and under the awning, i have to deal with the elements being a full time RVr.
 
No problem. Best of luck with it and as always post back if you have any questions :)
 
No problem. Best of luck with it and as always post back if you have any questions :)
Rain all day.
I got an email from TSM this morning saying sorry for the mistake on the switches, they are sending 2 originals out today.
 
That rain sucks. Either way you will be ok. The toggle switch is actually a more heavy duty switch. I burned up 3 plastic rocker switches in my rewire job, they were just cheap chinese crap. I got fed up and bought a 100Amp Marine Boat (like yacht) breaker and no more issues burning up the switch :)

Keep us posted on the progress :)
 
Yay

Power and smoking.

Stix for sunday.
yay5.jpg
 
Wow you should get that Honda checked out, that is a lot of smoke coming form under the hood.... just kidding :P

Man that is awesome that you are back up and running. So after all of those labeled images and explanations was the fix as simple as it seemed? :)
 
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