1st off, let me say I don't use this MES40 near as much as I thought I would when I got it. It's close to 9 years old now...certainly a discontinued model.
This past Thanksgiving, I ran into an issue where it cut off 3 times roughly an hour into the cooking duration. I was getting a intermittent "buzz" coming from the rear element access cover area. Never heard it before then. Luckily, I was able to restart the unit all 3 times and continue cooking without ruining the bird. Then I sorta pushed this thing into a corner to tinker with later.
Now is later. After reading some threads here, I determined that my element was the likely culprit. So I bought a replacement. I also determined the issue could have even been a corroded grounding connection that I noticed upon removing the element. The ring terminal basically disintegrated when I went to detach it.
Regardless, I had a new element to install, so I addressed the ground wire issue while it was out and accessible. Spliced in the supplied connectors that were in the box and crimped on a new ring connector for the ground wire. Got everything buttoned up and turned it on and ran it through a heat cycle.
1st observation: I don't think it heats up near as quick as it did. Is this common with replacement elements? This is a 1200 watt unit and I installed a 1200 watt element the same specs as what I took out. It climbed all the way to the max 275°F....but it seemed like it took "a while" to get there. It did maintain once it reached the temp and I could hear the element kicking off and on to regulate the temp. Also, no more intermittent buzz from the rear element cover.
2nd observation: When I was satisfied that it was working and turned it off, upon unplugging it from the outlet, I noticed the plug was a bit warm....not HOT...but warm enough obviously to bring it up here. To be honest, I don't remember unplugging it in the past right after cooking so I don't know it this is new or not. I realize that high draw current appliances such as this will generate some heat in the plug, just not sure it excessive.
Should I whip out my multimeter to check anything? Or would you seasoned electric smoker folk say my concerns shouldn't be concerns?
This past Thanksgiving, I ran into an issue where it cut off 3 times roughly an hour into the cooking duration. I was getting a intermittent "buzz" coming from the rear element access cover area. Never heard it before then. Luckily, I was able to restart the unit all 3 times and continue cooking without ruining the bird. Then I sorta pushed this thing into a corner to tinker with later.
Now is later. After reading some threads here, I determined that my element was the likely culprit. So I bought a replacement. I also determined the issue could have even been a corroded grounding connection that I noticed upon removing the element. The ring terminal basically disintegrated when I went to detach it.
Regardless, I had a new element to install, so I addressed the ground wire issue while it was out and accessible. Spliced in the supplied connectors that were in the box and crimped on a new ring connector for the ground wire. Got everything buttoned up and turned it on and ran it through a heat cycle.
1st observation: I don't think it heats up near as quick as it did. Is this common with replacement elements? This is a 1200 watt unit and I installed a 1200 watt element the same specs as what I took out. It climbed all the way to the max 275°F....but it seemed like it took "a while" to get there. It did maintain once it reached the temp and I could hear the element kicking off and on to regulate the temp. Also, no more intermittent buzz from the rear element cover.
2nd observation: When I was satisfied that it was working and turned it off, upon unplugging it from the outlet, I noticed the plug was a bit warm....not HOT...but warm enough obviously to bring it up here. To be honest, I don't remember unplugging it in the past right after cooking so I don't know it this is new or not. I realize that high draw current appliances such as this will generate some heat in the plug, just not sure it excessive.
Should I whip out my multimeter to check anything? Or would you seasoned electric smoker folk say my concerns shouldn't be concerns?
