Recent content by foragefish

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  1. foragefish

    MES 2nd gen 40" smoker

    Good work! Be careful if you chose to run w/o GFCI, I've heard of MES units failing with the enclosure getting hot (electrically). When I had my MES apart trying to figure out this problem, I noticed that the spade lugs on the heating element and the slide-on connectors were very corroded...
  2. foragefish

    MES 40 tripping GFCI

    If it's tripping out when the element turns on, then try running it on the non-GFCI outlet for 15 minutes or so (leave the door open so the element stays on). Then take it back to the GFCI output and see if it stays on. If it does, then your element had just absorbed enough moisture to cause a...
  3. foragefish

    MES 2nd gen 40" smoker

    Check out the topic http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/162042/mes40-gfci-tripping I think if you run it from a non-GFCI outlet for 10-15 minutes it will drive off the moisture absorbed by the heating element, and then you will be good to go in your GFCI outlet. After that, run it every week...
  4. MES40 GFCI tripping

    MES40 GFCI tripping

  5. foragefish

    MES40 GFCI tripping

    For the last year or so my MES will trip the GFCI when the heating element is powered. That first trip happen after the heat has been on for 2 or 3 minutes; then it will trip every time instantly. If I let it rest for a while, and then keep resetting the GFCI, I've been able to eventually get it...
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  8. foragefish

    It was perfect 3 years to the day...Then something went wrong!

    I started having GFCI trips after about a year of running my MES40. The trips always happen during startup from cold (which here means upper 30's to low 50's), but seemingly only after the box hasn't been used for a few weeks (I store it indoors under a big plastic bag with the door ajar so as...
  9. foragefish

    MES 40, GFCI tripping tests

    I got one of the first MES 40's last November. It started popping the GFCI after a few months of use. It only tripped when I would first turn it on (after a few weeks of indoor storage from the previous session) and was a few minutes into the intitial heat cycle, and usually only after it had...
  10. foragefish

    MES max safe temp?

    I have a MES40, I thought about trying a custom controller to get more stable temps, but the question is "stable where?".  The upper left near the vent is MUCH cooler than the lower right at the heater. Even trying to stablize at 275F somewhere in the middle of the box (where the factory...
  11. foragefish

    MES40 temps at 4 locations

    I've been wondering how hot different regions in the MES get, so I did some measurements and found in some cases nearly 400F! https://docs.google.com/document/d/15yKuXqOytwzqKfYWk8yb_A1SjIDLRw8kAvvyigMblQY/edit?usp=sharing I hoping someone will chime in about the max recommended temperature...
  12. foragefish

    MES Controller Reverse Engineering

    The PCB and its components look OK. More expensive components on the PCB wouldn't help. The temp inaccuracy may be a design issue, where they didn't take into account the range of values the thermistors might come in, or there is a poor calculation of temperature from the measured voltage. I do...
  13. foragefish

    MES 30 and AMNPS question

    I put the unlit AMNPS w/pellets in the empty MES while it's warming up to 270F. After ~30min, the MES has reached temp and is just coasting along. I take out the hot AMNPS, light the now toasty pellets with a propane torch, poof! fires right up. Stick the meat in the MES, set the cook temp, and...
  14. foragefish

    MES Controller Reverse Engineering

    I've had my 40" since November, use the AMNPS, and have had good results with PB, pork ribs, turkey, and fish. I've often wondered why the MeatProbe (MP) reads about 20degF high and BoxProbe (BP) read about 30degF higher than a $20 Taylor (which agrees within 1F to a Omega thermocouple meter...
  15. foragefish

    New MES 40 Controller

    I was sent a replacement remote, because the original seemed to have poor range (~10'). The new remote won't talk to the controller at all. The instructions for doing a relink in the manual are pretty confusing, so they sent me a video of an engineer going thru the procedure. From memory, it's...
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