Masterbuilt Owners - S.O.S.

[excalibur]

I have a new Masterbuilt propane smoker and the factory missed attaching one of the parts properly.  

In the photo below, the part I'm having trouble figuring out how / where to attach is Part A.  When I unboxed the smoker for assembly, Part A was sliding freely along the gas hose.

Masterbuilt tells me that this is some sort of safety piece that attaches near the back of the control panel / orifice but they haven't provided me good instructions on how.

I was hoping that someone on here could either shoot a picture of their smoker showing this part correctly installed or maybe tell me what I need to do to install it.

Unfortunately, I can't seem to find any retailers around here that carry this brand in-store or I'd go take a peek at what the underside looks like on one of theirs.

Thanks

 

[SmokinAl]

All that is is a hanger to hang the regulator on the side of the smoker when you don't have it hooked to a tank.

 

[excalibur]

Masterbuilt told me that's what part B is for and I can see a reference to that in the manual.  But are you saying that parts A & B work together for that ?  That part A hooks to part B and part B clips over the handle of the smoker ?

 

[SmokinAl]

That would be my guess!

 

[hebjamn]

I just received the same rig as a gift.  Part A fits nice and snug around the handle on the side of the smoker and holds the hose fairly taut.  My part B was hooked around the hose and the gas connector and didn't seem to perform any obvious purpose.  I took it off and set it aside.  I've haven't fired the rig up yet - I'm still trying to find a suitable gasket for the door - but based on other propane products I use, I can't imagine that part B does anything important.

 

[excalibur]

Thanks - I've just gone ahead and figured like Al said that both parts somehow function as a hose hanger.  I seasoned my rig yesterday and like you mentioned, I think I'm going to need a door gasket.  Looking at a lot of the past threads on the topic, it seems that I have a couple of choices:  either a) go get some silicone rtv sealant or permatex and use it to fashion my own gasket or b) get a fiberglass rope gasket like the kind made by rutland (but...evidently, it doesn't work well to use the cement they include with that)

Right now, I'm leaning toward the rope gasket because on the hinge side of my door, I'm out by about an 1/8 of an inch.

Am curious, what direction are you heading on yours ?

To our forum Bretheren: If I buy a 3/8 or 1/2 inch fiberglass rope Rutland gasket, what should I use to stick it to the face frame of my cabinet ? I saw a lot of folks complaining that normal gasket cement (like what comes in the Rutland package) dries hard like cement and that isn't as good as a flexible bond.

I'm looking for some product recommendations (specific brand mentions are appreciated !)

Thanks

 

[chilipepper]

I just sealed my dual door Masterbuilt with some extra Big Green Egg felt gasket I had lying around. I had to cut it in half lengthwise though as it was too wide to fit properly. So far, so good, the self adhesive is holding well and makes a pretty good seal.

 

[hebjamn]

Here's a closeup pick of how my hose hanger seems to work.

I've decided to try this Smokehouse Gasket sold at AlliedKenco.  They sell this by the foot.  I measured the perimeter around my door and found it's a little over eight feet.  I ordered nine feet which cost about $35 including shipping.

http://www.alliedkenco.com/gasket-smokehouse.aspx

It's 1/4" thick but I'm hoping that it will compress enough to get the door closed.  The latch is adjustable so I can loosen that if necessary.

I'm going to try to find the heat resistant sealant to attach it locally because theirs is $23.50

http://www.alliedkenco.com/sealant-heatresistant.aspx

 

[excalibur]

Interesting - thank you for the picture.  Masterbuilt should probably do a better job explaining the purpose of those two parts.  I spent a while last night looking at door seal options.  I think the way I'm going to go is either getting a rutland self-adhesive tape or get a thin rutland rope and stick it on with a food-grade silicone that I found: http://www.emisupply.com/catalog/su...tml?utm_source=googprod&utm_term=SU500530-CLR

 

[mickelvolunteer]

Same problem here, masterbuilt instructions are lacking.  Why is everyone getting gaskets around door?  Have not use mine yet, but curious.

 

[mickelvolunteer]

Same problem here, masterbuilt instructions are lacking.  Why is everyone getting gaskets around door?  Have not use mine yet, but curious.

 

[scooper]

I have had my MGS since May of 2011.  Before I used it I tried to seal the door.  I tried with gasket maker from AutoZone and failed.  After reading others posts about it not really needing to be sealed, I gave up.

Since it is a gasser, the unit gets plenty of heat from the burner.  Need more heat?  Turn up the gas.  If some smoke gets out around the door, it's no big deal.  You don't want smoke hanging around in there getting stale or becoming creosote anyway. 

In my own experience, as long as you have TBS, the smoke is not coming out around the door.  It just wisps slowly out the back vent.  If you have white billowing smoke, it will squeeze through every space it can.  You obviously don't want that much smoke anyway.

 

[excalibur]

The mystery of Part A has been SOLVED !  This morning, I finally got an email back from Masterbuilt.  Here's the scoop:

Below is the information I was able to obtain in regards to the clip from our Senior Engineer:

“The small clip does not have a name, it is a part of the hose/regulator assembly in the BOM and warranty.  The clip attaches to the front leg of the smoker, for the purpose of preventing the hose from contacting the smoker bottom/burner box and the ground under the unit.”

Their answer does make sense because there's a small hole both of the front legs.  One of them has the 'match' assembly  for manual lighting.  The other one had no apparent purpose until I got this response from MB.

As far as a door gasket is concerned, my food came out sufficiently smokey but I think I'd have better temperature management w/ a better door seal.  I found a place in CT that has wood stove window glass tape that I think I'm going to go with.  Just waiting for them to give me a price on shipping.

Mark

 

[SmokinAl]

Glad you figured it out Mark, now what are you going to smoke?

 

[excalibur]

Well, yesterday I did both a bottom round and a chuck roast.  That should probably last us a while.  Not sure what my next item(s) are going to be.  Probably won't be for a week or two.

The chuck was really good.  I made up a few sandwiches last night.  First one had mayo and horseradish.  Second was just w/ Frank's Red Hot -- I really liked that a lot.

 

[justpassingthru]

Congrats on the new smoker, I've used this method I found here on SMF for sealing the door on numerous things other than smokers (my GOSM leaks very little) and it works fine: place a bead of whatever type of sealant you need on the surface to be sealed, cover with waxed paper and close the door and leave it closed until it's set.

Gene

 

[mickelvolunteer]

I am planning on using my this weekend. If having trouble with smoke or heat will consider door gasket. Thanks for info everyone.  Also in looking at manual, it doe not specify where to put the wood.  Do you place it on the heat shield pan or is it better to buy some thing separate to put it end? If in the heat shield pan how do you keep it from falling into flame.  I know probably simple question,but new smoker operating new smoker.

Thanks

Jeremy

 

[scooper]

I am planning on using my this weekend. If having trouble with smoke or heat will consider door gasket. Thanks for info everyone.  Also in looking at manual, it doe not specify where to put the wood.  Do you place it on the heat shield pan or is it better to buy some thing separate to put it end? If in the heat shield pan how do you keep it from falling into flame.  I know probably simple question,but new smoker operating new smoker.

Thanks

Jeremy

You're supposed to place the wood in the tray with the three holes.  But before you do your, modify the pan like this:

Fold up some sections of heavy foil that will fit into the 3 slots.  Take some more heavy foil and cover the inside bottom of the chip pan to hold the other 3 pieces in place. 

That chip tray is a real design flaw.  Covering the holes works great.  Wood chunks last forever, and you have a lot more temp control.

 

[mickelvolunteer]

I used my smoker last weekend.  I used the aluminum foil over the holes in the smoke pan worked great! Thanks.

 

[scooper]

Glad it worked out for you.