# MES fixed & wheel kit added



## fishawn (Feb 4, 2009)

Had a heating problem with the MES & decided to tear into it on Saturday. Drilled out all the aluminum rivets & looked inside, it had a wire short that had become disconnected from the heating element. I stripped the wire back & installed a new connector, sanded the terminal, plugged the new connector in & used stainless screws to re-attach the back & back in business. 
	

	
	
		
		



		
			






I also decided to take off the old feet on the bottom & installed 4 rolling casters which also lock. Kinda spendy @ $8 a piece from Homedepot, but I think it will be worth it in the long run. About $40 for the whole fix & wheel kit, not too bad. At least it is working again.


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## smokeguy (Feb 4, 2009)

Good job!  Time to get smokin' again to make sure it holds up!


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## ronp (Feb 4, 2009)

Nice job Scott.


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## scubadoo97 (Feb 4, 2009)

Thanks for the info and congrats on the repair.  I think a lot of us will benefit from these repair histories.  I've already done a search for high temp wiring and hope to purchase some soon to keep on hand should the day come which seems likely


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## skwerl (Feb 4, 2009)

Glad your up and running again.


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## plasmatic (Feb 4, 2009)

Nice work!

I was wondering what type of insulation you found when you opened the MES?


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## slanted88 (Feb 4, 2009)

Great, i'm sure you'll appreciate it more since you fixed it & got it running!


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## fishawn (Feb 5, 2009)

Insulation is the styrafoam type.


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## bw0529 (Feb 5, 2009)

Good job...wish i had through of casters when i had my GOSM down.
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





  next on the list.
Bob


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## northwet smoker (Feb 6, 2009)

Glad you got her up and running again Scott. The fix didn't sound to painful. Good idea on the wheels.

Dave


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## athabaskar (Apr 28, 2010)

Beware when adding casters to your MES. My patio concrete is over 50 years old and it is pretty rough so I decided to use 4" diameter casters I saw at Lowe's ($10 for all 4) to help it roll better. Bad decision. Apparently the 5" minimum overall height of the caster caused too much torque when the casters came into sync to roll the same direction. The result was a bending of sheet metal and tilting of the mounting nuts on the smoker.
This was on the new 40" with window model so it might not apply to the older made in USA models. Still, it's better not to take chances. My buddy is going to weld me up an angle iron frame that I can bolt the casters to. I'm going to use them one way or another.


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## insight (Apr 29, 2010)

That's the spirit, bro!


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## fishawn (Apr 29, 2010)

Looking back and given the short distance between the wheels/casters, I would suggest a "cart" type unit that displaces the weight more evenly over a wider area on the base..... Even with the casters on a 30" when rolling it in straight motion, it has a tendancy to want to tip, due to all the wheels heading in the same direction. Just an update.... They work OK, but there have been much better options posted in the past year.


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## danielferrario (Feb 7, 2015)

There is a wheel kit designed especially for the MES 30" and the Cajun Injector models by AVION Innovative. Roller wheels with locks made of high quality rubber that look more substantial than the $40 casters shown here. They sell the kit for about $30 on eBay, Amazon and Houzz. Hope that helps.


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## gary s (Feb 7, 2015)

Nice !

Gary


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## old bones (Feb 7, 2015)

Nice job on the smoker..   Wheels were a little more because you have locks on all 4 wheels but they look good.    Hope to do that to mine this summer.  Thanks for the pictures, they sure help.  John


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## inkjunkie (Feb 7, 2015)

Looks like someone blew the cobwebs off of this one....


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## jsk53 (Feb 8, 2015)

I thought about casters too, but then I added the cold smoker and the height and mobility wouldn't work. I ended up building a cart out of some extra casters, two fixed and two turning w/locks that both the units fit on. Seems to work really well.













smoker stand.jpg



__ jsk53
__ Feb 8, 2015


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## inkjunkie (Feb 8, 2015)

jsk53 said:


> I thought about casters too, but then I added the cold smoker and the height and mobility wouldn't work. I ended up building a cart out of some extra casters, two fixed and two turning w/locks that both the units fit on. Seems to work really well.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Mobility is a good thing. Ours is sitting on top of a table I built, bolted down. At some point I will be building another table, this one just is not big enough. I made it 3' deep and it is just not enough.


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## kornchild82 (Feb 8, 2015)

Sweet


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## fishawn (Feb 4, 2009)

Had a heating problem with the MES & decided to tear into it on Saturday. Drilled out all the aluminum rivets & looked inside, it had a wire short that had become disconnected from the heating element. I stripped the wire back & installed a new connector, sanded the terminal, plugged the new connector in & used stainless screws to re-attach the back & back in business. 
	

	
	
		
		



		
			






I also decided to take off the old feet on the bottom & installed 4 rolling casters which also lock. Kinda spendy @ $8 a piece from Homedepot, but I think it will be worth it in the long run. About $40 for the whole fix & wheel kit, not too bad. At least it is working again.


----------



## smokeguy (Feb 4, 2009)

Good job!  Time to get smokin' again to make sure it holds up!


----------



## ronp (Feb 4, 2009)

Nice job Scott.


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## scubadoo97 (Feb 4, 2009)

Thanks for the info and congrats on the repair.  I think a lot of us will benefit from these repair histories.  I've already done a search for high temp wiring and hope to purchase some soon to keep on hand should the day come which seems likely


----------



## skwerl (Feb 4, 2009)

Glad your up and running again.


----------



## plasmatic (Feb 4, 2009)

Nice work!

I was wondering what type of insulation you found when you opened the MES?


----------



## slanted88 (Feb 4, 2009)

Great, i'm sure you'll appreciate it more since you fixed it & got it running!


----------



## fishawn (Feb 5, 2009)

Insulation is the styrafoam type.


----------



## bw0529 (Feb 5, 2009)

Good job...wish i had through of casters when i had my GOSM down.
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





  next on the list.
Bob


----------



## northwet smoker (Feb 6, 2009)

Glad you got her up and running again Scott. The fix didn't sound to painful. Good idea on the wheels.

Dave


----------



## athabaskar (Apr 28, 2010)

Beware when adding casters to your MES. My patio concrete is over 50 years old and it is pretty rough so I decided to use 4" diameter casters I saw at Lowe's ($10 for all 4) to help it roll better. Bad decision. Apparently the 5" minimum overall height of the caster caused too much torque when the casters came into sync to roll the same direction. The result was a bending of sheet metal and tilting of the mounting nuts on the smoker.
This was on the new 40" with window model so it might not apply to the older made in USA models. Still, it's better not to take chances. My buddy is going to weld me up an angle iron frame that I can bolt the casters to. I'm going to use them one way or another.


----------



## insight (Apr 29, 2010)

That's the spirit, bro!


----------



## fishawn (Apr 29, 2010)

Looking back and given the short distance between the wheels/casters, I would suggest a "cart" type unit that displaces the weight more evenly over a wider area on the base..... Even with the casters on a 30" when rolling it in straight motion, it has a tendancy to want to tip, due to all the wheels heading in the same direction. Just an update.... They work OK, but there have been much better options posted in the past year.


----------



## danielferrario (Feb 7, 2015)

There is a wheel kit designed especially for the MES 30" and the Cajun Injector models by AVION Innovative. Roller wheels with locks made of high quality rubber that look more substantial than the $40 casters shown here. They sell the kit for about $30 on eBay, Amazon and Houzz. Hope that helps.


----------



## gary s (Feb 7, 2015)

Nice !

Gary


----------



## old bones (Feb 7, 2015)

Nice job on the smoker..   Wheels were a little more because you have locks on all 4 wheels but they look good.    Hope to do that to mine this summer.  Thanks for the pictures, they sure help.  John


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## inkjunkie (Feb 7, 2015)

Looks like someone blew the cobwebs off of this one....


----------



## jsk53 (Feb 8, 2015)

I thought about casters too, but then I added the cold smoker and the height and mobility wouldn't work. I ended up building a cart out of some extra casters, two fixed and two turning w/locks that both the units fit on. Seems to work really well.













smoker stand.jpg



__ jsk53
__ Feb 8, 2015


----------



## inkjunkie (Feb 8, 2015)

jsk53 said:


> I thought about casters too, but then I added the cold smoker and the height and mobility wouldn't work. I ended up building a cart out of some extra casters, two fixed and two turning w/locks that both the units fit on. Seems to work really well.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Mobility is a good thing. Ours is sitting on top of a table I built, bolted down. At some point I will be building another table, this one just is not big enough. I made it 3' deep and it is just not enough.


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## kornchild82 (Feb 8, 2015)

Sweet


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