# MES 30 Interior Mod to even out heat distribution and eliminate the hot spot



## daveomak (Aug 21, 2011)

I wrote about this idea about 5 months ago.  Many nights wakin' up sayin' "that might work" and adding it to the serious thought list, I finally made an attempt to "cure" the rear right hot spot in the MES 30.

Wmart had a roaster pan on sale for $1...It was about 12 x 15....just right....

Sat down in front of the smoker with the pan and scissors......trim, snip, adjust, unscrew the top screws on the wire rack holder, insert trimmed up roaster pan, retighten screws.........

The roaster pan is about 3/4" from the top of the smoker around the edges......I pulled down on the center of the pan to increase the gap in the middle to 1" or so.

Trimmed a ~4"  hole in the middle "ish" of the pan.....Leaned a little toward the left and front of the smoker on the hole....

The air flow out of the regular vent was "normal". No blockage.

Sliced up another summer sausage "poker night snacks" and filled 2 racks.......I used these to determine if the heat was evenly distributed....Overcooked and dried slices would indicate a hot spot.........NO SUCH ANIMAL.....evenly cooked sausage slices.....granted they were only in the smoker for 1 1/2 hrs at 130* I consider the "heat baffle" a success for this attempt....... Here's the kicker.....NO PICS OF THE SAUSAGE SLICES.....I was constantly checking temps, air flow, time, all that mother hen stuff so I could finally put this "NIGHTMARE" of a hot spot behind me.

The snip, clip, install took about 30 minutes.......I was trying not to go back to the store for another pan....








The "main hole"......vent etc.....about 4" dia or so......







After the smoke.....A much better pic of the install....as you can see it is not "air tight"...It works...3 rings of kielbasa even fit on the top shelf during the test.........







With the tile sitting on the smoke pot lid.......and the foiled lined water pan in place (no water, never use the stuff) and the "NEW" and never to be improved by me "hot spot eliminator" installed in the roof of the MES 30, I do believe I am done, fini, kaput, as far as mods go.........pretty sure anyway.......

Hope you enjoyed lookin' at this.........Thank you Masterbuilt for not making a perfect smoker. I have truly enjoyed the "long smokey ride".       Your smoker cooks great food........Dave


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## SmokinAl (Aug 22, 2011)

Looks like a great idea Dave.

I've always wondered why Masterbuilt put the top vent on the same side as the heating element.

If it was me I would close the old vent hole & put a new one on the left side.

The only problem would be the double wall & insulation.


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## daveomak (Aug 22, 2011)

Al, mornin'........I seriously thought about a new vent in the "middle left front".....serious..serious.........Then I thought about all the times I tried to drill stainless steel.....especially with a hole saw. I could not bring myself to even try.......Stainless has usually whipped my butt unless I could use the plasma.........


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## SmokinAl (Aug 22, 2011)

Well maybe Masterbuilt will finally figure out they need a vent on the other side, until then it looks like your idea will work fine.


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## sonnyhad (Aug 26, 2011)

Thanks for the pictures, it would have been hard to visualize! I gotta give that Idea a go!  

great stuff Dave!


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## michael ark (Aug 26, 2011)

Done! You know you want to put a shelf or two on it.


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## daveomak (Aug 27, 2011)

sonnyhad said:


> Thanks for the pictures, it would have been hard to visualize! I gotta give that Idea a go!
> 
> great stuff Dave!


Let us know how your attempt went.........pictures too......Dave


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## tjohnson (Aug 27, 2011)

Great Mod Dave

Simple and it works!

Todd


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## alexm (Jun 17, 2017)

I think Masterbuilt realized too as I saw a newer model at the local Home Depot that had the vent on the left.


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## Bearcarver (Jun 17, 2017)

SmokinAl said:


> *Well maybe Masterbuilt will finally figure out they need a vent on the other side*, until then it looks like your idea will work fine.


A few of us kicked the idea around years ago, about moving the Gen #1 top vent from the right to the left.

I was never into cutting up my Smoker, or I would have done it myself. I figured that's all I needed to eliminate my Heat Deflector.

Then 2 years ago they sent me a Gen #2 to test & report my findings.

That was one of the things I suggested, and it was one of the things they changed when they built the Gen #2.5.

My Gen #2.5 doesn't have the old "right side hotter problem", like we always figured would happen.

My Testing & Reports:

*Masterbuilt Smokers (Bear's Thoughts & Findings)*

*Bear*


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