Masterbuilt Electric Smoker 30" not staying turned on

[bmaddox]

 
and anyone who tells you it's a Gen #2.5 is either lying, or has no idea what they're talking about.

Bear

Get em Bear 

 

[Bearcarver]

 
Get em Bear 

LOL-----That comes from working with a couple people who had trouble with their MES.

Then they were told to cut their cord & they would send them a Brand new Gen #2.5.

So they cut the cord & got a Gen #2 sent to them.

Then they check with me & I tell them that's a Gen #2.

Then they tell MB "You sent me a Gen #2, and I was promised a Gen #2.5.

MB repeats that it is a Gen #2.5!!!

So they Email me a picture, and sure enough it is definitely a Gen #2.

Finally MB admits they sent them a Gen #2, instead of the #2.5 they were promised.

The one guy got his money back, and bought an Actual Gen #2.5 from Sams.

That's where my above statement comes from.

Bear

 

[daricksta]

 
daRicksta, fuhgetabout it.  How much BBQ have you made?  Who cares what it cost, you've gotten your money's worth.  I just bought a Gen 1 MES 30" digital with no window for $179 yesterday.  It'll be here tomorrow. 

vwaldoguy, the reality is I chose when and at what price to buy my smoker. I knew that $189 was higher than I'd seen it previously but I wanted my smoker NOW. When the price dropped afterwards I was already smoking meats instead of waiting for the price to drop. So, it's a combination of being glad I bought my smoker when I did but kinda, sorta wishing I could've gotten a better price. Besides, most of the whining was for Bear's benefit.

Did you buy the 20070910 model?

 

[vwaldoguy]

daRicksta, I did buy that 20070910 model, 30", no window.  Old school for me. Want to get into smoking, but didn't want to break my bank.  It's for just my wife and myself, so decided to go small.

 

[daricksta]

 
daRicksta, I did buy that 20070910 model, 30", no window.  Old school for me. Want to get into smoking, but didn't want to break my bank.  It's for just my wife and myself, so decided to go small.

vwaldoguy, as I wrote elsewhere in this thread, that's the same smoker I have. What knocks me out every time is how such a small smoker can produce food that, to me, rivals the food put out by BBQ restaurants in town. We have a Dickey's BBQ Pit in town, I've had their baby back ribs, and I prefer what comes out of my MES. I just smoked a brisket a couple of weeks ago and I'm confident I won't find a better tasting BBQ brisket anywhere. My wife loved it.

Like you, I bought the MES 30 because I didn't need a large smoker. There were only four of us in the home at the time and now, for most of the year, there's only two since my daughter is on her own and my son is going to college out of state. However, at times it would be nice to have a MES 40 for the additional cooking space when I'm smoking racks of ribs and a large brisket. But meat shrinks when it cooks so everything ends up being the perfect size for the 30-inch smoker.

What I also like about it is that it's easy to move around. I keep mine on a small hand truck held with bungee cords in my garage. I wheel it out into either my front or back yard, place it on a small table, and I'm ready to go. A MES 40 would be more difficult to move around.

I've made no mods or anything to it. The only change I've made is to use wood pellets instead of wood chips because it produces far better BBQ while making it much easier to smoke.

I use the A-MAZE-N Pellet Smoker (AMNPS) while a number of SMF members use the Masterbuilt Cold Smoking Kit. Once you get into smoking (if you've never done it before) you're going to want to do both hot and cold smokes. The AMNPS does both. However, I always recommend that all new users of a MES use wood chips while they learn the basics of how the MES works.

 

[dr k]

 
vwaldoguy, as I wrote elsewhere in this thread, that's the same smoker I have. What knocks me out every time is how such a small smoker can produce food that, to me, rivals the food put out by BBQ restaurants in town. We have a Dickey's BBQ Pit in town, I've had their baby back ribs, and I prefer what comes out of my MES. I just smoked a brisket a couple of weeks ago and I'm confident I won't find a better tasting BBQ brisket anywhere. My wife loved it.

Like you, I bought the MES 30 because I didn't need a large smoker. There were only four of us in the home at the time and now, for most of the year, there's only two since my daughter is on her own and my son is going to college out of state. However, at times it would be nice to have a MES 40 for the additional cooking space when I'm smoking racks of ribs and a large brisket. But meat shrinks when it cooks so everything ends up being the perfect size for the 30-inch smoker.

What I also like about it is that it's easy to move around. I keep mine on a small hand truck held with bungee cords in my garage. I wheel it out into either my front or back yard, place it on a small table, and I'm ready to go. A MES 40 would be more difficult to move around.

I've made no mods or anything to it. The only change I've made is to use wood pellets instead of wood chips because it produces far better BBQ while making it much easier to smoke.

I use the A-MAZE-N Pellet Smoker (AMNPS) while a number of SMF members use the Masterbuilt Cold Smoking Kit. Once you get into smoking (if you've never done it before) you're going to want to do both hot and cold smokes. The AMNPS does both. However, I always recommend that all new users of a MES use wood chips while they learn the basics of how the MES works.

Since I've had the 12" AMNTS a year and used it exclusively for cold smoking I'm not going to mess with the chip loader on the new MES.  I will, down the road see what size charcoal briquette fits in the chip tray that I'll place in by hand to see if it will get meat to form a smoke ring.  Just out of curiosity. 

-Kurt

 

[daricksta]

 
Since I've had the 12" AMNTS a year and used it exclusively for cold smoking I'm not going to mess with the chip loader on the new MES.  I will, down the road see what size charcoal briquette fits in the chip tray that I'll place in by hand to see if it will get meat to form a smoke ring.  Just out of curiosity. 

-Kurt

Someone else posted last year they used a charcoal briquette along with the AMNPS to try for a smoke ring. I know it's theoretically possible and I've got several bags of charcoal briquettes from which I could take a briquette to use for an experiment but I've yet to do it. You could easily slide out the wood chip tray, plop a briquette on it, and then slide it back in. Since I have the AMNPS I also have the option of placing it in a row all by itself and having it burn along with the wood pellets. I'd have to decide what I want to smoke for that experiment; most likely a pork shoulder or a boneless chuck roast. I wouldn't want to put a nice brisket or some baby backs at risk just to try to get a smoke ring.

When I first learned about Todd's smokers I read up on the Maze and the Tubes and decided for my smoker the 5x8 AMNPS was the way to go for both hot and cold smokes. It's been both great and a money saver since I didn't have to invest in the MB Cold Smoking Kit.

 

[foamheart]

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• foamheart
• Jun 11, 2015

<slowly shakes head side to side whillelooking at the ground>

 

[bmaddox]

 

008.JPG

• foamheart
• Jun 11, 2015

<slowly shakes head side to side whillelooking at the ground>

Oh man that is definitely a Gen 2 (although there is nothing wrong with that)

 

[Bearcarver]

Yup---That's a Generation #2, not a 2.5.

However there are a couple guys on here who have had good luck with their Gen #2.

We only advise people to get the Gen #1 because of it's long time good track record, and The Gen #2.5 for the relatively short but so far good track record.

Foamy, Is that the one they told you was a 2.5??

Bear

 

[foamheart]

I have placed the order for you Gen 2.5 Smoker to be sent to you. Your order number is *******. This will ship tomorrow with FedEx Ground which normally takes 3 to 5 business days for delivery. Please feel free to reach out to me with any questions you may have.

Sincerely,

<sighs>

 

[brickguy221]

 
Oh man that is definitely a Gen 2 (although there is nothing wrong with that)

The slopping tray and water pan are definitely Generation 2.0 style as they are the same as my Generation 2.0, but the wood chip pan is smaller than my Generation 2.0 smoker. My chip pan is completely open whereas the pictured one here is only half open. Again, mine came from Sams, so maybe that is why???

 

[daricksta]

 
The slopping tray and water pan are definitely Generation 2.0 style as they are the same as my Generation 2.0, but the wood chip pan is smaller than my Generation 2.0 smoker. My chip pan is completely open whereas the pictured one here is only half open. Again, mine came from Sams, so maybe that is why???

You mean there's no cover at all on the wood chip holder? I've got a Gen 1 and this design is totally different from what I have. Also, Bearcarver has confirmed that Sam's Club MES models have been different from the regular line sold by other retailers. The Waltons demanded cost-saving shortcuts in at least some models. With all other retailers the smokers are all the same except for the retailer-branded Sportsman Elite models. A Cabela's may differ from Bass Pro Shop, etc.

 

[brickguy221]

 
You mean there's no cover at all on the wood chip holder? I've got a Gen 1 and this design is totally different from what I have. Also, Bearcarver has confirmed that Sam's Club MES models have been different from the regular line sold by other retailers. The Waltons demanded cost-saving shortcuts in at least some models. With all other retailers the smokers are all the same except for the retailer-branded Sportsman Elite models. A Cabela's may differ from Bass Pro Shop, etc.

The wood chip holder in my 2.0 is covered just like they all are, it is just larger than the one I was refering to in the picture. Where Masterbuilt says to use 1/2 cup of chips at at a time and my new BT is designed to hold only 1/2 cup, my 2.0 is large enough to hold more than 1/2 cup.

 

[brickguy221]

 
The slopping tray and water pan are definitely Generation 2.0 style as they are the same as my Generation 2.0, but the wood chip pan is smaller than my Generation 2.0 smoker. My chip pan is completely open whereas the pictured one here is only half open. Again, mine came from Sams, so maybe that is why???

 
You mean there's no cover at all on the wood chip holder? I've got a Gen 1 and this design is totally different from what I have. Also, Bearcarver has confirmed that Sam's Club MES models have been different from the regular line sold by other retailers. The Waltons demanded cost-saving shortcuts in at least some models. With all other retailers the smokers are all the same except for the retailer-branded Sportsman Elite models. A Cabela's may differ from Bass Pro Shop, etc.

I  don't know if the Waltons demand cost-cutting shortcuts on MES or not, as I couldn't find any evidence they did on the Bluetooth and if they did, it is apparently not visible, as I looked the ones over very closely at Bass Pro Shop and same at Sams and I could find no visible difference between the 2 smokers. The only exception is the Bass Pro Shop one has 6 shelves and no legs & leg rollers for $100 more than Sams which has 4 shelves plus legs & leg rollers. Everything else inside and out are the exact same. 

 

[Bearcarver]

 
I  don't know if the Waltons demand cost-cutting shortcuts on MES or not, as I couldn't find any evidence they did on the Bluetooth and if they did, it is apparently not visible, as I looked the ones over very closely at Bass Pro Shop and same at Sams and I could find no visible difference between the 2 smokers. The only exception is the Bass Pro Shop one has 6 shelves and no legs & leg rollers for $100 more than Sams which has 4 shelves plus legs & leg rollers. Everything else inside and out are the exact same. 

That's not exacttly what I said about Sams:

If my memory serves, what I said was that I was told by a fire inspector that Wally buys huge amounts of some items (Like Battery Chargers, outlet blocks, and other electrical items), and demands lower prices in order for them to put in those big orders, even if substandard wiring and such has to be used. 

Couple that with the big run of MES Heating elements quitting on a large number of members of this forum a few years ago. All or nearly all of those smokers with that problem seemed to come from MES purchased at Sams. Guys were changing the connectors to repair them, and many changed the wires too, because they said the wires were undersized.

Now whether or not that is true about Sams or not, I can't say, however at that time I asked quite a few of them if they got their MES from Sams, and they were wondering how I knew where they got them. I knew because most of the ones before them that had the problem were from Sams.

Bear

 

[brickguy221]

 
That's not exacttly what I said about Sams:

If my memory serves, what I said was that I was told by a fire inspector that Wally buys huge amounts of some items (Like Battery Chargers, outlet blocks, and other electrical items), and demands lower prices in order for them to put in those big orders, even if substandard wiring and such has to be used. 

Couple that with the big run of MES Heating elements quitting on a large number of members of this forum a few years ago. All or nearly all of those smokers with that problem seemed to come from MES purchased at Sams. Guys were changing the connectors to repair them, and many changed the wires too, because they said the wires were undersized.

Now whether or not that is true about Sams or not, I can't say, however at that time I asked quite a few of them if they got their MES from Sams, and they were wondering how I knew where they got them. I knew because most of the ones before them that had the problem were from Sams.

Bear

That would be about the  only thing that could be different on the Bluetooth between Sams and others as the wires are not visable, but all visable things are the same. When I bought my Bluetooth, my wife wanted me to go ahead and spend the $100 more and get the one at Bass Pro Shops even though it didn't have legs and leg rollers and I gave it serious thought, but for what ever reason, I just couldn't get myself to part with another $100. Instead, I bought a 3 year warranty for $29.99 from Sams. They will fix or replace it free during those 3 years at no cost to me.

I did change one connector to the heating element in my 2.0. What happened is that with my severe temperature  fluctuations, Masterbuilt sent me a new controller. It didn't help so they sent ne a new heat element and that didn't help either, so they then said teh problem is in the cabinet and it needed replaceing, so I bought the Bluetooth instead. ... Anyhow when changing the heat element, one connector came off ok-normal and the other came off really hard. When I went to hook connect the one that came off hard to the new heat element, it simply fell apart in pieces, so I had to go to Ace Hardware and get a new connector to connect to the element. So I don't know if it was originally a loose connection or small wiring

 

[daricksta]

 
The wood chip holder in my 2.0 is covered just like they all are, it is just larger than the one I was refering to in the picture. Where Masterbuilt says to use 1/2 cup of chips at at a time and my new BT is designed to hold only 1/2 cup, my 2.0 is large enough to hold more than 1/2 cup.

I was never good at measuring out portions of a cup of wood chips. I just grabbed handfuls and dumped them into the loader, about 3-4 handfuls each time I loaded wood chips. That's why I kept oversmoking meat in my early days with my MES.

 

[daricksta]

 
That's not exacttly what I said about Sams:

If my memory serves, what I said was that I was told by a fire inspector that Wally buys huge amounts of some items (Like Battery Chargers, outlet blocks, and other electrical items), and demands lower prices in order for them to put in those big orders, even if substandard wiring and such has to be used. 

Couple that with the big run of MES Heating elements quitting on a large number of members of this forum a few years ago. All or nearly all of those smokers with that problem seemed to come from MES purchased at Sams. Guys were changing the connectors to repair them, and many changed the wires too, because they said the wires were undersized.

Now whether or not that is true about Sams or not, I can't say, however at that time I asked quite a few of them if they got their MES from Sams, and they were wondering how I knew where they got them. I knew because most of the ones before them that had the problem were from Sams.

Bear

I'm sure I misquoted or mis-referred to what you wrote, Bear, and I apologize. I could say more about the Waltons but that belongs in another forum.

 

[daricksta]

 
I  don't know if the Waltons demand cost-cutting shortcuts on MES or not, as I couldn't find any evidence they did on the Bluetooth and if they did, it is apparently not visible, as I looked the ones over very closely at Bass Pro Shop and same at Sams and I could find no visible difference between the 2 smokers. The only exception is the Bass Pro Shop one has 6 shelves and no legs & leg rollers for $100 more than Sams which has 4 shelves plus legs & leg rollers. Everything else inside and out are the exact same. 

The bad things I read about were with the pre-BT smokers.