Well yesterday I just recieved in my new MES 30 model # 20070411. I was able to get this smoker for 'free' through an awards point program at my work. The one I recieved already had the larger wood chip tray. I must say the build quality of these seems very cheap and poorly put together, i.e. glad I didn't actualy spend money on it. But in any case I believe I will be able to get some good smokes out of this thing, especially since so many people here give them lots of praise.
Seasoning her up this morning. Will be posting some q-view here in the next day or so as well.
As for the build quality. The only major flaws i can find were 1)the door seal on the top right is not even close to being sealed it has a gap of maybe 1/8 to 1/10 of an inch where you can actually see into the smoker. Gonna try adjusting the door latch some and see if this makes a difference. 2) Also it just seems the workmanship in general is poor, the rivets are all jagged and not fully seated in spots, the welds were done poorly etc. Not a big deal as functionally its fine, just looks shotty. 3) The lower bracket inside the smoker that I guess is the support for the wood chip tray and element was very poorly done. I literally touched the bracket and two of the welds popped off/broke. I didn't feel like going through the hassle of sending it back so I just pulled this piece off and rewelded and put it back in. Should be good to go now.
If adjusting the door doesn't do the trick, I am thinking of just putting in a fiberglass rope gasket to replace the original rubber one.
Seasoning her up this morning. Will be posting some q-view here in the next day or so as well.
As for the build quality. The only major flaws i can find were 1)the door seal on the top right is not even close to being sealed it has a gap of maybe 1/8 to 1/10 of an inch where you can actually see into the smoker. Gonna try adjusting the door latch some and see if this makes a difference. 2) Also it just seems the workmanship in general is poor, the rivets are all jagged and not fully seated in spots, the welds were done poorly etc. Not a big deal as functionally its fine, just looks shotty. 3) The lower bracket inside the smoker that I guess is the support for the wood chip tray and element was very poorly done. I literally touched the bracket and two of the welds popped off/broke. I didn't feel like going through the hassle of sending it back so I just pulled this piece off and rewelded and put it back in. Should be good to go now.
If adjusting the door doesn't do the trick, I am thinking of just putting in a fiberglass rope gasket to replace the original rubber one.