# MES warms up, trips GFI



## eddy 2 (Jan 18, 2013)

Hello all - First time posting here.  I have a MES 200707010 - I think its the 30" - stainless with glass door.

the last few times I have plugged it in it will start heating and at some point 3- 30 minutes in it will throw the GFI circuit.  I have it in the same location its always been in and then moved it to another electrical circuit and its the same thing.  

Took the back off looked it over and seemed ok - replaced the ground connection and put it back together and I have the same issue.

Any ideas?   How do I check the element - I read earlier to check the ohms and if I did it right I got 16? Not sure I just connected the meter to both leads and not the ground.  

Thanks  hope I have not stumped everyone.     Eddy


----------



## suya (Jan 18, 2013)

Had the same problem with the 40'. During the break in, after it passed a certain temp, it would alway trip the GFI. Never figured out why, but I simply broke it in with a max temp of 260 as opposed to the 275 recommended. I did later on discover that the temperature readings on my MES were way off and the oven was often actually 30-40 degrees higher than the display was showing. Not sure if this is related, but, FYI.


----------



## pleasantp (Jan 18, 2013)

Eddy 2 said:


> Hello all - First time posting here.  I have a MES 200707010 - I think its the 30" - stainless with glass door.
> 
> the last few times I have plugged it in it will start heating and at some point 3- 30 minutes in it will throw the GFI circuit.  I have it in the same location its always been in and then moved it to another electrical circuit and its the same thing.
> 
> ...


----------



## pleasantp (Jan 18, 2013)

16 ohms is about right for an 800 watt heater.  This means your pulling about 7 amps.  This should not trip a household breaker.  Since your tripping a GFI breaker,  your heater might  be developing a ground fault after it warms up.  It takes only a very small ground current to trip a GFI.

If you rule out a bad GFI,  then it's gotta be a faulty heating element.  You can check the real time watts and amps usage by using a little device called a killawatt.  These cost about $18 (newegg) and can read the volts, amps, watts and watt hours of any small appliance.  Check it out on the Internet.  No home should be without one.  I checked out an old garage refrigerator and found it was costing me $23/mo to operate!

My guess you have a faulty heating element.  You should contact Masterbuilt while it's still in warranty.


----------



## bookem (Jan 18, 2013)

Do you have it plugged directly into the outlet, or through an extension cord?  I had a similar issue when using an extension cord.  Now I either plug it in directly, or if necessary, I bought a 12 gauge extension cord, and have had issues either way since I started that.


----------



## eddy 2 (Jan 19, 2013)

Thanks for the  replies.  A few follow up points.  In one gfi area I am plugged into the wall, in the other I am using a 12 gauge extension cord.  I ordered a killawatt - great gadget, I will use it for more than the mes.   The unit is 3 years old but looks great. It has been kept covered and in the garage.  I will try a lower temp as what I have always done is warm to 275 for an hour to "sanitize" it before each use.    Last few times I used it I ran an extension cord from inside my house.    Guess I could keep doing that but that is not my style.  I would rather it work right.    Again thanks for your inputs.


----------



## handymanstan (Jan 19, 2013)

I have seen this problem a lot on here and don't have a MES but I wonder if you have it sitting on the ground or concrete and it could be leaking to the ground a little.  If so try setting on dry plywood or other insulator material and try again. Don't know if this will help. 

Stan


----------



## fuzzyfishin (Jan 19, 2013)

Are you only running the smoker on that circuit? 7amps to run the smoker and about 10 for startup. A few lights and a hairdryer can overload it.  Are you on a 15 or 20 amp?


----------



## handymanstan (Jan 19, 2013)

My understanding of a Ground Fault Interrupter ( GFI ) is that it is only looking for a change in ground potential and does not care about current or voltage.  If you wire a 15 amp GFI to a 20 amp circuit and run at the max the GFI should not blow just melt.  My wife had a cord on a hair dryer twist so much it broke and shorted with a bang and the breaker in the panel blew but the GFI it was plugged into did not.

So I think we need to find where the MES is leaking ground potential.  It almost has to be from the case to the ground.  Hence my question is it sitting on the ground.  Am I wrong about this?

Stan


----------



## eddy 2 (Jan 19, 2013)

Thanks again for the input. There are other things running on the GFI - however there have not been any changes from when it was running properly.   I am about to plug it in again and run it to 225 and see if that helps.

It is not sitting on the ground - its on a big black rubber mat - this is to avoid an over flow mess.....


----------



## tjohnson (Jan 19, 2013)

A GFI should not trip like an overloaded breaker

There's a short to ground somewhere in the unit

Also, every time a GFI trips, it's useful life is diminished

My guess is there's some condensation somewhere inside your smoker, on one of the circuit boards....Just A Guess???

I own (4) MES 40's, and non of them have tripped the GFI

Knock On Wood!

TJ


----------



## eddy 2 (Jan 19, 2013)

well I put it all back together and plugged it into a regular outlet - worked like a charm...... I am stumped.


----------

