Unhappy

xzebra · Aug 21, 2013

I just purchased a MES 30 20070910and with my preseaoning everything went well. Temp and chips burned well like it should have.

Today I tried to smoke some food with less than desired results.
After 2 hours with 1/2 cup of chips at 225 degrees no smoke! What? Are you serious?

I put just 1/2 cup of water in the pan and 2 hours no smoke? Is there something I should know?

njfoses · Aug 21, 2013

xzebra said:
I just purchased a MES 30 20070910and with my preseaoning everything went well. Temp and chips burned well like it should have.

Today I tried to smoke some food with less than desired results.
After 2 hours with 1/2 cup of chips at 225 degrees no smoke! What? Are you serious?

I put just 1/2 cup of water in the pan and 2 hours no smoke? Is there something I should know?

The mes struggles to burn chips at lower temps. Get yourself an amnps and you will enjoy 8+ hours of perfect smoke without tending to it. I would also recommend not using water in the pan.

pc farmer · Aug 21, 2013

I agree with above post

xzebra · Aug 21, 2013

njfoses said:
The mes struggles to burn chips at lower temps. Get yourself an amnps and you will enjoy 8+ hours of perfect smoke without tending to it. I would also recommend not using water in the pan.

I appreciate your help but shouldn't a smoker work at low or high temps as promised? I should not have to buy an AMPS. Not to be rude but I am looking to get help with what I got without additional products or costs.

Like I said...I appreciate everybodys help and tips and I do thank your feedback!!!!

woodcutter · Aug 21, 2013

FYI, The top vent needs to stay wide open always. If it was closed a little it will hold heat and not give the element a chance to get the chips going.

njfoses · Aug 21, 2013

xzebra said:
I appreciate your help but shouldn't a smoker work at low or high temps as promised? I should not have to buy an AMPS. Not to be rude but I am looking to get help with what I got without additional products or costs.

Like I said...I appreciate everybodys help and tips and I do thank your feedback!!!!

The mes is far from perfect. Best i can tell you if you are not interested in the amnps is to keep the vent wide open, dont soak your chips, and keep the temp at 250 deg or higher.

daveomak · Aug 21, 2013

xzebra said:
njfoses said:

The mes struggles to burn chips at lower temps. Get yourself an amnps and you will enjoy 8+ hours of perfect smoke without tending to it. I would also recommend not using water in the pan.

Click to expand...

I appreciate your help but shouldn't a smoker work at low or high temps as promised? I should not have to buy an AMPS. Not to be rude but I am looking to get help with what I got without additional products or costs.

Like I said...I appreciate everybodys help and tips and I do thank your feedback!!!!

xz, evening..... skip the water..... steam will smother the fire.... exhaust wide open... start with the temp up to about 275 until smoke starts, turn the temp down to what you want.... with hot weather, the element doesn't come on too much.... Let us know how that works.....

Dave

PS..... You reply above was perfect....

geerock · Aug 21, 2013

There was a retrofit chip tray for several models of the mes for the exact problem you have and I beleive that the 0910 was one of them. Call masterbuilt service... they replaced them at no charge.

daveomak · Aug 21, 2013

Also, look at the chip tray and see how it sits on the heating element.... Mine sits about 1/32" or so above the element.... Just enough for heat to get the chips smoldering.... some MES units have a lip the chip tray sits on.... way too far above the element to get them smoldering.... Depends which model and insert they installed in it from the factory....

xzebra · Aug 21, 2013

Great help from all...again Thank You all for you help, feedback, and wonderful tips!

Seeing I am a newbie to all of this I need your help.

daveomak · Aug 21, 2013

xzebra said:
Great help from all...again Thank You all for you help, feedback, and wonderful tips!

Seeing I am a newbie to all of this I need your help.

xz, we all need help ...... those that think they don't need help...........

smokeamotive · Aug 21, 2013

Xzebra, Yes they SHOULD burn chips at high and low temps, but as stated above they do struggle to burn chips at lower temps. So here's something to think about.........Even IF they burned chips reliably at lower temps, do you want to have to go out every 45 min to an hour and reload your chips? Or.......would you rather fire up the smoker once and be able to walk away and not have to worry about tending it till your smoke is done? This is one of the benefits of using the Amnps smoker. They work at high temps AND at low temps. They burn for hours and hours...( No need to reload the chip tray), And you can use them to cold smoke things like cheese, bacon and salmon. I have started a smoke before going to work (with the Amsn smoker) went to work, and came home to everything still smokin away!!! Will you be able to do this with the chip burner? Many of us here use these and I have yet to here anything bad said about them. Todd has a great product and he stands behind his product with Excelent customer service. You can't go wrong with one!

cekkk · Aug 22, 2013

I got my mes 30 a couple weeks ago and had the same problem getting smoke. I'm with you. I want the thing to work. I smoked today and had good smoke, having learned from two prior smokeless experiences. Before putting ribs in I inserted the ill fitting chip tray with some chips and turned the thermostat up to 275. In about 15 minutes I had good smoke. Lowered the setting and put the ribs in. After juggling the setting I found setting the temp at 235 - 240 resulted in actual smoker temp of 225 - 230 and it put out good smoke. Bad news for the AMPNS salesmen here.

Keep a close eye on the temp. After wrapping the ribs in foil and putting them back in, the temp shot way up, 257, rushing the meat temp. It had not risen above 230, maybe 231 or 232 briefly, at that control setting of 235 or 240. Frustrating but the smoker only cost $177.

foamheart · Aug 22, 2013

DaveOmak said:
Also, look at the chip tray and see how it sits on the heating element.... Mine sits about 1/32" or so above the element.... Just enough for heat to get the chips smoldering.... some MES units have a lip the chip tray sits on.... way too far above the element to get them smoldering.... Depends which model and insert they installed in it from the factory....

Good call Dave. I bet if it worked during seasoning, its a good guess. It might have been dumped and missed getting it back right because it does set in there tight. It should smoke at 100, if you don't soak the chips first.

xzebra · Aug 23, 2013

Thank You All for your Help!

I contacted Masterbuilt and it sounds as if like I might need a retro fight housing unit.

Can someone please send me the dimensions of there new retro so I can compare to mine?

The help on this site is great - Again thx to all.

geerock · Aug 23, 2013

Its a direct replacement as far as swap out. They simply re- configured the the height of the tray and, depending on the model, either eliminated the extra metal plate or adjusted where the housing sits in relation to the element. Trust me, we're not talking major differences here but it should eliminate your problem. I will also say this, using small chunks instead of chips gives you a longer, more flavorful smoke.

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