# A Mes Cave



## illini (Jul 22, 2009)

These pics are for 
	

	
	
		
		



		
			






Harley and Deltadude
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





 but all are welcome to look!

If there are comments I will gladly answer.


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## morkdach (Jul 22, 2009)

can i come over and play


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## kingudaroad (Jul 22, 2009)

Very nice!! Great job on the fire extinguisher!
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





Room for a pool table?


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## taterdavid (Jul 22, 2009)

thats one heck of a set up


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## fired up (Jul 22, 2009)

Looking for a roommate?


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## mgwerks (Jul 22, 2009)

Throw in broadband, satellite, a bathroom and a big recliner and I'd never leave!


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## beer-b-q (Jul 23, 2009)

Now that is a Man Cave!!!


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## smokeamotive (Jul 23, 2009)

SSSSSSSSSSWWWWWWWWWEEEEEEEEEEETTTT.   
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





Was the building a kit or your own design?


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## daddio (Jul 23, 2009)

now that's what i'm talkin bout!!!


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## deltadude (Jul 23, 2009)

Thanks so much for posting your pics Illini, your personal space is awesome, and of course having TWO MES make it even more interesting.

I do have some questions:
1) It looks like the there is no real connection between the Alum duct to exhaust the MES and the Fan, in other words the end of the alum duct is basically attached to the grill, and the fan is strong enough to pull without any real connection?  VS, the alum duct penetrating the wall.  So the setup is sort of like a strong kitchen hood?   Does that work ok, or is there ever a problem with smoke in the room?

2) I notice the Alum Duct does not sit directly on the MES cabinet, there seems to be an inch or so.  Does prevent too much CFM being drawn through the MES thus strongly affecting inside MES temps?

3)How long of stem did you use on your external thermometers?
What model and where did you buy them?

4) In the pic of both the 30" and 40", on the 40", what is the thing to the right of the upper external thermometer?

5) What amp circuit did you run to the electric wall jacks to be able to run two MES?

A great man cave!

we are looking for a new house, can't ignore the low market prices, 
I will have to make sure I will have space for a personal man cave..


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## illini (Jul 23, 2009)

Good luck in your new home search


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## meowey (Jul 23, 2009)

I want!!!!

Take care, have fun, and do good!

Regards,

Meowey


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## gnubee (Jul 23, 2009)

Super nice setup. I particularly like that air gap idea. I think that I saw that exhaust setup in a post a while back and it didn't have an air gap, am I right? Anyway great Idea. 

I actually have a garage that I could use as it already has an old acorn fireplace chimney installed in the roof. Now I just have to get off my posterior and clean it up enough so I can work with it. Its already got 110 and 220v In it but no plumbing. 
Dont need plumbing to smoke but It would be nice to have a sink. 

I'd give ya points but am to jealous right now to think straight.


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## old poi dog (Jul 23, 2009)

Congratulations to you on a really well thought out Club House. I like!


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## scubadoo97 (Jul 23, 2009)

That's pretty impressive


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## illini (Jul 23, 2009)

There is a local company here that specializes in garage construction.
Altered the dimensions a little, deleted the garage door and put the two
front windows where the door should be. I wanted larger windows but the extra cost was prohibitive. 
They did the entire outside and I did the
wiring, insulation, paneling and the ceiling. It turned out well.
It took 1 day for them to pour the concrete then they came back in four
weeks after the concrete was cured and erected the building in 4 hours.
A lot of it was prefabed at their plant.


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## the dude abides (Jul 23, 2009)

Illini that is one of the coolest things I've ever seen! Perfect for smoking during those cold Illinois winters.  I like how you've even got your laptop and printer in there. The meat freezer?  Just too much.  A small investment in a sleeper/sofa and you'd never have to leave. You could pee outside and showers are over rated LOL.


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## werdwolf (Jul 23, 2009)

AWSOME


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## bud lite (Jul 23, 2009)

Very nice.  Thanks for the pictures and the ideas.


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## mballi3011 (Jul 23, 2009)

Sweet Thats a nice man cave there Illini. I like that hood system you have there.


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## deltadude (Jul 23, 2009)

Thanks for answer all those questions....

Lots of good ideas

The Variable fan control is a great idea.


Illini I have a totally seperate question for you...

I have stated that if my heating element burned or wiring burned out, I would upgrade the element to a 1000watt element, and heavy duty wiring, plus a different controller.   The main purpose of the extra heat would be for roasting chicken or crisping chicken skin.  I am guessing the extra wattage will get the time up to at least 350 F.
Question.  Do you think the cabinet can easily handle the extra heat?


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## illini (Jul 23, 2009)

I have not ever had a failure and the 30" is going on 4 years of usage.
This summer the backs were removed and the 30" was in poor shape.
Am sure it was just about to burn the spade lugs out. The 40" was in
good shape but the lugs were cleaned and/or replaced as needed.

The 30" is so efficient that the heater does not stay on enough to give
an even wood burn so I always use the "contraption" on it with great results.
It is the one I use for cold smokes because of the smoke generation without the heat generation. It has its own heater to generate the smoke.

the 40" is much smoother in smoke generation since the heater is almost always on. The downfall of that is slow recovery after you load the meats in it. To counteract this problem I never open the door until the meat probes say the project is complete. Use a disposable foil pan on the lower shelf to catch the drippings and fill the water pan full and you can get by without foiling. Sometimes I refill the water pan if letting it run overnight if necessary. 

Have thought about installing an additional heater to help get by the temp recovery problem in the 40". 
If you go to a higher wattage heater the controller will not allow greater than 275* so it would need replacement also. Not sure about the cabinets ability to handle the extra heat but am sure the spade lugs would have to be removed and the wires silver soldered to the element and a larger wire size or there would be a melt down. Also the controllers relay would be at risk at the higher wattage.

Even though the mes is manufactured in China there are some engineering limits that would probably be effected. I think a booster element with separate power supply and regulation would be the way to go.

So if a person adds wattage you get back to the problem of the 30".  Not enough on time for the element to be smooth in burning the wood!

Just my thoughts


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## deltadude (Jul 24, 2009)

I have the 40" too.
All your points I agree with, actually in the post I made (in another thread) about replacing with 1000watt, I also mentioned using 2 stage, thus a 750 watt + 250 or 300 watt.  The problem is, finding an inexpensive 2 stage controller.  I haven't really looked for a 2 stage yet, as my original controller & elements are currently fine, "I think".

Recently I did 8 racks of ribs with an outdoor ambient of about 60 F, and it took almost 3 hours to get to temp.  Even a separate 200 or 300 watt element & pwr supply with a timer would be good to solve similar problems.


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## illini (Jul 24, 2009)

Recently I did 8 racks of ribs with an outdoor ambient of about 60 F, and it took almost 3 hours to get to temp. Even a separate 200 or 300 watt element & pwr supply with a timer would be good to solve similar problems.

For July 4th I put in 6 racks and had the same experience at 75 F ambient. The Taylor stem thermometers do indicate a higher temp during this time of recovery. They indicate as much as 40-50 degrees hotter. Then at the end of the recovery period the mes controller and the stem thermometer readings are much closer together. I wonder if the recovery period is very relevant to the meat at all since it is in the process of heating up. I go by the stems indication for setting the controller.


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## harley (Jul 24, 2009)

Schwing!!!!!  Very nice!  Thanks for posting.  Now all you need is a brass pole!!


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## harley (Jul 24, 2009)

What are the dimensions?


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## illini (Jul 25, 2009)

Hi, Harley

The concrete slab is 24' X 24' 
the porch is 24' X 6'
This leaves 24' X 18' minus the wall thickness for the room.


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