MES won't turn on - help please

[Sooner smoker]

Hi all, I have a second hand MES 20071317. I've used it several times with no problems. However, during the last smoke it completely died after about 4 hours. Nothing lights up when I plug it in. The breaker isn't tripped and the outlet still has power. Replacing the control panel didn't do anything. The circuit board looks fine to me - see attached picture. How do I test to see where the problem is? I have a voltmeter but I'm not sure where in the electrical path I need to check. Thanks.

 

[SmokinEdge]

tallbm is the guy to talk to, maybe he will see this and chime in. Otherwise use the search function top right side of main screen (magnifying glass icon) and search for your MES problem and type in his handle for the source. Good luck.

 

[tallbm]

Hi all, I have a second hand MES 20071317. I've used it several times with no problems. However, during the last smoke it completely died after about 4 hours. Nothing lights up when I plug it in. The breaker isn't tripped and the outlet still has power. Replacing the control panel didn't do anything. The circuit board looks fine to me - see attached picture. How do I test to see where the problem is? I have a voltmeter but I'm not sure where in the electrical path I need to check. Thanks.

Hi there and welcome!

With your multimeter you can:

1. Unplug the MES from the wall. Then disconnect the smooth black and the smooth white at your circuit board. Set the Multimeter to 200VAC Alligator clip or put the multimeter black lead on the MES smooth black wire connector. The Multimeter red lead on the MES smooth white wire connector. Be careful now, plug in the MES cord to the wall and see if you get 110V reading or something like that. If not then you are not getting power through the cord to the circuit board. Unplug the cord from the wall before putting the connectors back and doing more tests, safety 1st :D
2. Now if that is showing you are getting power to the circuit board, it's time to check and see if you are getting power across the circuit board. I would detach the circuit board and visually inspect it to see if anything looks burnt, swollen, etc.
   Then I would do continuity checks across the board if anything looked off
3. Next would be to do some checks on the little thin wires (red white blue all on the black clip). Those are lower voltage so setting the multimeter to the 20V DC setting should allow you to measure there BUT I'm not sure how to tell you to how/where to measure it. I just know those wires should be sending power up to the top controller which is not turning on.
   My guess is something going to that harnest or along the harness or on the other end where the top controller is, will be the culprit. Most often it's something burnt or bloated on the lower circuit board that you can visually see.
   Just be careful and maybe someone else will chime in with better info on how to check that area. Again BE CAREFUL when messing will all this stuff.

Finally, I would highly recommend you check into doing a simple rewire (cut the ends off the smooth black, smooth red, blue braided, and red braided. Then wire nut smooth black to blue braided, and smooth white to red BRAIDED, done!). The rewire will mean that power goes to the MES heating element with no control but still keeping the safety cutoff switch in the mix.
Then you buy a PID controller ($150 Auber's on sale right now).

You plug MES into the PID controller.
You drop the PID temp probe down the MES vent and clip to the bottom center of the lowest rack.
You plug the PID into the wall socket.
You punch in your smoker set temp into the PID, done!

Now the PID will cut power on/off to the MES plug to hit and hold the set temp you entered in.

This will turn your golf car of an MES into a Ferrari. It will easily perform like 25x better. No temp swings, no inability to hit max temps, and will hold dead on or within 1-2 degrees of the set temp.
You can now do sausage, bacon, jerky, and any smoke you can think of with precise temps. It's amazing!

I hope this info helps, and ask any/all questions you have :)

 

[Sooner smoker]

Hi there and welcome!

With your multimeter you can:

1. Unplug the MES from the wall. Then disconnect the smooth black and the smooth white at your circuit board. Set the Multimeter to 200VAC Alligator clip or put the multimeter black lead on the MES smooth black wire connector. The Multimeter red lead on the MES smooth white wire connector. Be careful now, plug in the MES cord to the wall and see if you get 110V reading or something like that. If not then you are not getting power through the cord to the circuit board. Unplug the cord from the wall before putting the connectors back and doing more tests, safety 1st :D
2. Now if that is showing you are getting power to the circuit board, it's time to check and see if you are getting power across the circuit board. I would detach the circuit board and visually inspect it to see if anything looks burnt, swollen, etc.
   Then I would do continuity checks across the board if anything looked off
3. Next would be to do some checks on the little thin wires (red white blue all on the black clip). Those are lower voltage so setting the multimeter to the 20V DC setting should allow you to measure there BUT I'm not sure how to tell you to how/where to measure it. I just know those wires should be sending power up to the top controller which is not turning on.
   My guess is something going to that harnest or along the harness or on the other end where the top controller is, will be the culprit. Most often it's something burnt or bloated on the lower circuit board that you can visually see.
   Just be careful and maybe someone else will chime in with better info on how to check that area. Again BE CAREFUL when messing will all this stuff.

Finally, I would highly recommend you check into doing a simple rewire (cut the ends off the smooth black, smooth red, blue braided, and red braided. Then wire nut smooth black to blue braided, and smooth white to red BRAIDED, done!). The rewire will mean that power goes to the MES heating element with no control but still keeping the safety cutoff switch in the mix.
Then you buy a PID controller ($150 Auber's on sale right now).

You plug MES into the PID controller.
You drop the PID temp probe down the MES vent and clip to the bottom center of the lowest rack.
You plug the PID into the wall socket.
You punch in your smoker set temp into the PID, done!

Now the PID will cut power on/off to the MES plug to hit and hold the set temp you entered in.

This will turn your golf car of an MES into a Ferrari. It will easily perform like 25x better. No temp swings, no inability to hit max temps, and will hold dead on or within 1-2 degrees of the set temp.
You can now do sausage, bacon, jerky, and any smoke you can think of with precise temps. It's amazing!

I hope this info helps, and ask any/all questions you have :)

Thank you. This is exactly the information I need. I'll give it a shot this weekend and see what happens. I read your other post about switching over to a PID and was interested so if I end up going that route I'll probably have more questions. Thanks again.

 

[Winterrider]

Thank you. This is exactly the information I need. I'll give it a shot this weekend and see what happens. I read your other post about switching over to a PID and was interested so if I end up going that route I'll probably have more questions. Thanks again.

He has helped many of us through this situation. Correct in saying it is a marvelous smoker when converted.

 

[tallbm]

Thank you. This is exactly the information I need. I'll give it a shot this weekend and see what happens. I read your other post about switching over to a PID and was interested so if I end up going that route I'll probably have more questions. Thanks again.

Glad the info can help. I wish I had more details about checking along the circuit board and along those lower voltage wires but I think you get the idea :D

Also just know that basically everyone who switches to doing the PID wonders why they waited so long.
The rewire and PID would likely get your older MES working again too if you still have it :D

 

[river100]

You can use a paper clip to test the DC voltage that powers the top controller. The pins are usually marked on the board next to the connector. One will say GRND or neg. The other will have a + sign and or something like 5vdc or 12vdc. Wrap the paper clips around each meter probe.