# EAA 1 Masterbuilt Error



## Boomerjed

Hi Folks!  New to the forum. How about a work -a-round for the EAA 1 Masterbuilt  electronic error code?  18 deg. F this AM in upstate NY.  Place wife's hair dryer in the unit and close the door (place hair dryer on high) come back in 5 minutes and start the unit.  You probably have all seen the threads on no starting at low temps outside. Easy peasy can't wait for brisket!!! Boomerjed


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## fivetricks

Not sure if you're asking for a work around or suggesting one.

If you're asking for one, well, you've found it.

If you're suggesting one, well, we've found it. 

:-)


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## Bearcarver

It's a shame there are a few out there that have that problem.
It would Tick me off if mine was one of them!
I've heard of putting a Near Boiling pot of water in for awhile, if that's any less of a PITA for you.

You could check with 

 tallbm
  to see if there's a part you can replace to make it go away.

Bear


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## Murray

I have the same issue,  I have reached out to Masterbuilt seeing what they suggest, so far no reply. It’s a pain that we need a hair dryer to start the unit. Why is 100F the lowest temperature that can be set ? I would love to be able to set the unit at 70F for cold smoking during the winter, as it stands now I have to cycle the power on/off to keep the MES at a suitable cold smoking temperature.  When my unit “craps the bed” I was planning to change over to a PID, might be doing the conversion sooner.  One more thing, be gentle with the power cord, it’s not a cold weather cord and looses it’s flexibility in cold weather.


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## tallbm

Boomerjed said:


> Hi Folks!  New to the forum. How about a work -a-round for the EAA 1 Masterbuilt  electronic error code?  18 deg. F this AM in upstate NY.  Place wife's hair dryer in the unit and close the door (place hair dryer on high) come back in 5 minutes and start the unit.  You probably have all seen the threads on no starting at low temps outside. Easy peasy can't wait for brisket!!! Boomerjed





Bearcarver said:


> It's a shame there are a few out there that have that problem.
> It would Tick me off if mine was one of them!
> I've heard of putting a Near Boiling pot of water in for awhile, if that's any less of a PITA for you.
> 
> You could check with
> 
> tallbm
> to see if there's a part you can replace to make it go away.
> 
> Bear



Hi there and welcome Boomerjed!

If you blow the hair dryer directly at the smoker temp probe that sticks out of the back does that speed up the removal of the error?

The only thing I can think of is that the smoker probe is not functioning properly due to the cold which is discovered by the MES controller and then results in the error code being displayed.

Next time you get a chance to experiment can you blow dry directly on that probe that sticks out of the inside back wall of the MES and see if/how fast it recovers?

If this is truley the case then I would next suggest getting a wine cork and drilling a hole into it long ways and then putting that over the smoker probe that sticks out.  This would act like an insulator kind of like when covering outdoor water facets with the insulated covers to keep them from freezing lol.

Just some food for thought unless you want to rewire and switch to a pid controller.  Auber has their PID controllers like $7-9 off right now and that is about as much as they ever discount and they rarely discount their units.


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## Murray

tallbm said:


> Next time you get a chance to experiment can you blow dry directly on that probe that sticks out of the inside back wall of the MES and see if/how fast it recovers?



In my case, I put a lighter 3” under the probe and the display responses instantly and I can turn on the MES, as soon as I remove the lighter,since the cabinet has no heat the temperature display drops rapidly and the unit shuts off as soon as the temperature display goes below 32F and the EAA1 error message appears.  I have tried the hair dryer directly on the probe figuring if I heated up the back wall around the probe it would buy me enough time for the heating element to heat the air before the cabinet probe sensed sub freezing temperatures. The MES reacted the same way as with the lighter. No luck. I’m assuming the probe is not designed to register sub freezing temperatures or thats just the way my smoker is programmed??  I’d be interested in hearing how 
B
 Boomerjed
 smoker reacts.


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## tallbm

Murray said:


> In my case, I put a lighter 3” under the probe and the display responses instantly and I can turn on the MES, as soon as I remove the lighter,since the cabinet has no heat the temperature display drops rapidly and the unit shuts off as soon as the temperature display goes below 32F and the EAA1 error message appears.  I have tried the hair dryer directly on the probe figuring if I heated up the back wall around the probe it would buy me enough time for the heating element to heat the air before the cabinet probe sensed sub freezing temperatures. The MES reacted the same way as with the lighter. No luck. I’m assuming the probe is not designed to register sub freezing temperatures or thats just the way my smoker is programmed??  I’d be interested in hearing how
> B
> Boomerjed
> smoker reacts.



Thanks for the info there.  Yeah it seems to me that the controller has some sort of rules written in behave this way and the actual probe is working as intended.  Generally the probes are stupid and just report signal or a value back and the control is the brain with the smarts... in this case not so smart lol.

If it becomes a major pain in the butt you can always rewire and run a PID controller.  As long as the PID isn't mechanically frozen/too cold it should do it's job PLUS you can always bring it inside after smoking so it doesn't freeze up.  Again the probe is stupid so it will just report back the temp to the PID and the PID will be able to mechanically feed power to the rewired MES heating element so no chance of a frozen piece of electronics to slow you down :)

Here's another heating option If you run an AMNPS with  your MES.  You could always start/light the AMNPS inside the MES with the door cracked a little to heat it up while the pellets burn for the first 5-10 minutes anyhow lol :D


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## Bearcarver

tallbm said:


> Hi there and welcome Boomerjed!
> 
> 
> 
> If this is truley the case then I would next suggest getting a wine cork and drilling a hole into it long ways and then putting that over the smoker probe that sticks out.  This would act like an insulator kind of like when covering outdoor water facets with the insulated covers to keep them from freezing lol.



Never heard of a Facet cover, but up here in Winter Wonderland, we have to have "Frost Free Spigots" and don't leave a hose screwed on it for 6 months of the year.

Bear


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## chopsaw

Murray said:


> When my unit “craps the bed” I was planning to change over to a PID, might be doing the conversion sooner.


If that's the plan I would just do it . You won't be sorry .


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## Murray

We’ll see what Masterbuilt comes back with.... I’ve always planned on a PID, although they aren’t all created equal.  Many are 32F and above,  same as probes, 32F and warmer.


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## tallbm

Bearcarver said:


> Never heard of a Facet cover, but up here in Winter Wonderland, we have to have "Frost Free Spigots" and don't leave a hose screwed on it for 6 months of the year.
> 
> Bear



Hahaha yeah it might be a regional thing where we don't get much freezing winter here.  We have insulated covers that go over our outdoor faucets and that insulation does the trick to keep them from freezing and busting pipes.  You gotta unscrew the hose but I think that is a fairly standard concept.
I wonder if the same concept with a wine cork would do the trick to insulate the the MES smoker probe so it doesn't read below freezing and give that error.


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## Bearcarver

tallbm said:


> Hahaha yeah it might be a regional thing where we don't get much freezing winter here.  We have insulated covers that go over our outdoor faucets and that insulation does the trick to keep them from freezing and busting pipes.  You gotta unscrew the hose but I think that is a fairly standard concept.
> I wonder if the same concept with a wine cork would do the trick to insulate the the MES smoker probe so it doesn't read below freezing and give that error.




My Frost Free Spigots are 18" long, so when I turn them off, the water is turned off about 12" inside my house. But you still have to remove the hose, or the water in the hose will freeze & move in & damage the pipe.

Around here they say everybody leaves a hose connected once in their life, usually as a young first time home owner (Like I was about 50 years ago.
If it happens to you a second time you would be known as an "Idiot".

Bear


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## tallbm

Bearcarver said:


> My Frost Free Spigots are 18" long, so when I turn them off, the water is turned off about 12" inside my house. But you still have to remove the hose, or the water in the hose will freeze & move in & damage the pipe.
> 
> Around here they say everybody leaves a hose connected once in their life, usually as a young first time home owner (Like I was about 50 years ago.
> If it happens to you a second time you would be known as an "Idiot".
> 
> Bear



Lol.  I'm not sure ours spigots work like that unless you specifically install/build a house with spigots like that but hey I could be wrong.  Im pretty sure all the outdoor spigots I see here have water that terminates at the spigot.  I've had my covers on since October when we had an early freeze.


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## Winterrider

PID and a lot of problem solved. I set mine at about 60° when smoking cheese. Less when warmer out just for air flow.
Very nice consistent temps when doing jerky or smoked fish.


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## chopsaw

tallbm said:


> I'm not sure ours spigots work like that unless you specifically install/build a house with spigots like that but hey I could be wrong. Im pretty sure all the outdoor spigots I see here have water that terminates at the spigot.


It's a code thing . Depends on the temps where you live . We have the freeze resistant hose bids in St. Louis . Valve is 18 " inside the structure . So any water left between the valve shut off and the hose attachment drains off . Still remove the hose . 




Winterrider said:


> PID and a lot of problem solved. I set mine at about 60° when smoking cheese. Less when warmer out just for air flow.
> Very nice consistent temps when doing jerky or smoked fish.


Best thing to do to a MES .


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## JC in GB

Welcome from Wisconsin.     Hope you get that issue worked out.


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## Murray

Murray said:


> I have the same issue,  I have reached out to Masterbuilt seeing what they suggest, so far no reply. It’s a pain that we need a hair dryer to start the unit. Why is 100F the lowest temperature that can be set ? I would love to be able to set the unit at 70F for cold smoking during the winter, as it stands now I have to cycle the power on/off to keep the MES at a suitable cold smoking temperature.  When my unit “craps the bed” I was planning to change over to a PID, might be doing the conversion sooner.  One more thing, be gentle with the power cord, it’s not a cold weather cord and looses it’s flexibility in cold weather.


Masterbuilt’s reply:


Hello Murray,

All models besides our propane models do require a heat up before starting in cold temperatures. I can pass this idea along to my product development team for them to consider. Please let me know if I can be of further assistance.

Thanks,
Angela


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## Bearcarver

Murray said:


> Masterbuilt’s reply:
> 
> 
> Hello Murray,
> 
> All models besides our propane models do require a heat up before starting in cold temperatures. I can pass this idea along to my product development team for them to consider. Please let me know if I can be of further assistance.
> 
> Thanks,
> Angela




That sounds like a "story" just to get people to stop bothering them.
They tell you they're all like that, when actually it's only a few, and they should be able to change the ones that have the problem to be like the ones that don't have the problem.

Ahhh-Just easier to say "They're All Like That".

Bear


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## Murray

Bearcarver said:


> That sounds like a "story" just to get people to stop bothering them.
> They tell you they're all like that, when actually it's only a few, and they should be able to change the ones that have the problem to be like the ones that don't have the problem.
> 
> Ahhh-Just easier to say "They're All Like That".
> 
> Bear



Just purchased a used MES for the cottage, cleaned it up and gave it a test run. Ambient temp was 28F, the MES fired up with no hairdryer. The temperature reading on the controller sat at 32F and didn’t move, thought I purchased defective unit. Once  the heater warmed the box up to 33F the display started to climb. One happy camper!!!  Now if Masterbuilt would lower their minimum startup temperature to say 40F they would have the perfect “cold” smoker for subzero winter temperatures.
Looking at Auber PID Model #WS-1510ELPM to rectify this shortcoming however their specifications only provide a Temperature display range not a Temperature operating range.  Ideally I’d like to be able to maintain a smoker temperature of 60F(for cold smoking) in the dead of winter. Can anyone with this unit enlighten me?


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## chopsaw

That's the one I have .  If it's 30 outside , you can set it for 60 . I had temps of 14 last year , set it to 36 and put some beer in it . LOL


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## Murray

chopsaw said:


> That's the one I have .  If it's 30 outside , you can set it for 60 . I had temps of 14 last year , set it to 36 and put some beer in it . LOL


Thanks, I would never have thought of using a smoker as a fridge.


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## chopsaw

It was just a test . I had the kettle going and just had that thought . I didn't run it long . 
You'll like that controller .


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