# Short in my Masterbuilt



## lee forst (Jun 4, 2008)

I figured out why my MB stop heating last weekend.  I torn out the element and found that it had shorted out.  It looks like they had some kind of plastic backer between the back wall and the contacts for the element.  Well a short occurred on the right post with the back wall.  You can see in the picture the plastic backer and the right post.  The problem with the replacement of this is the right wire has gone up inside the wall cavity.  And everything is riveted together so fishing it out is going to be a pain.  

I will try calling MB tomorrow to see if I can get a replacement unit.  If not, my quest for a gasser will continue.


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## mossymo (Jun 4, 2008)

Lee Forst
I can not find the thread yet; but Richtee had the same problem with a great fix for it.

Also you should be able to drill the rivets out to get directly at the short and re-rivet the metal casing.


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## ronp (Jun 4, 2008)

Here is a step by step of the repair.

http://smokingmeatforums.com/forums/...lem#post182839


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## t-bone tim (Jun 5, 2008)

Yep looks exactly like what happened to mine ....repairs all shown and explained in that link Ronp ...posted ...very easy fix IMHO .... that plastic looking piece you refer to is an insulator to prevent shorts I believe ... mine contained it also .

If your smoker is past the warranty follow mine and Terry's fixes in that post and you will runnin like new in no time .


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## lee forst (Jun 5, 2008)

You guys are awesome. Thanks for the quick response and help!!!  SMF members rule!


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## mossymo (Jun 5, 2008)

Ahh yes, there it is..... my bad; it was T-bone Tim and not Richtee. Who would have thunk I would ever mix up the two !!!


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## lee forst (Jun 7, 2008)

Well, thanks the good folks at SMF, my MES is back in action.  The whole project set me back about $40 ($22 for the wire and $18 for misc parts and a six pack, it was hot out today
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





 ).  

I did follow the advice of others and screwed the back on.  Given the design of the little box that covers the wires that go to the element, I'm willing to bet this will happen again.  Heat does build up in there and the connectors will eventually burn out.  I'd say this is one of the biggest draw backs to the MES.


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## bhocutt (Jul 9, 2008)

My MB quit working the other day, and I noticed my GFI tripped.  I took the back off of the smoker by drilling the rivets and disconnected the heating element wires (thanks for the previous post).  When I plugged the unit back in, it didn't trip the GFI.  I checked the two heating element wires with a meter while the unit was plugged in but off, and I had 120V on one side.  Does the thermostat close the neutral side of this circuit when heating is required, and does the hot leg remain on the element always, even when the smoker is turned off?  Anyway, I hooked the heating element wires back up minus the ground and set the element on a non conductive material.  When I plugged the smoker back in, the (case) outside of the heating element showed 120 V when I checked it with ground.  I am assuming that the internal wire of the heating element has come into contact somehow with the outside of the element.  Can I purchase another element from Masterbuilt, if so, does anyone know how much they cost?  Is this the right fix?  By the way, the covers on the wire connectors to the element were in terrible shape, I hope someone with an old house, MB smoker, and ungrounded receptacles doesn't get electrocuted or burn their house down due to this cheap wiring.

Brian


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## indy_nubie (Jul 11, 2008)

Had my MES for just under a year, it saw heavy use (every weekend from the time I got it till it got too cold here in central Indiana ie Thanksgiving) and I was loving it. Fast forward to the 4th of July with my family up from Mississippi and Florida I preped and started to smoke 6 racks to go with 20 lbs of Gulf shrimp and 10 lbs of boneless buffalo wings. Get to the part where they come out of the foil and I notice that the display is not showing the hundreds digit. Hmmmm I think, well that's gonna make things interesting. So I open the door and discover that the temp is barely above ambient. Call Masterbuilt and needed some info that I didn't have with me at work so I started browsing the forum and look what I found more masterbuilt owners with similar problems. Opened her up yesterday and guess what I found . Yup, same melted connection issues. I would post pic's but they would just be duplicates of what has already been posted several time on this forum. I still love my little smoker but have to say that I would not recomend it at this time to anyone who is not handy with tools/electrical work. P.S. thanks to everyone who has posted pictures and experiences with this issue it has saved me a great deal of time troubleshooting this problem.


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## ronp (Jul 12, 2008)

Well, customer service told me last week they will honor defects up to a year if you have a reciept and wasn't user abuse. You may want to call them.


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