External Temp of an MES 30

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deerjohn

Newbie
Original poster
Just bought a MES 30 from Cabelas!!  I am thinking of building a wood mobil cabinet with storage, shelving and the smoker!  I would like to know how warm the outside walls of the smoker get??  I have been active on a lot of different forums hunting, fishing, RVing, bow hunting etc.,  and I must say that this site is amazing, and like a good book, I can't put it down!!!
 
Gets warm but you can touch it. If that helps. Nothing like a traditional smoker. I keep mine in the garage up against the wall. I don't know that I would recommend to enclose it in the cabinet though if those are your intentions. If so I'd give it a good 4" gap on all 3 sides. And yes this forum is addicting!!! Good luck and post pics of your build if you go through with it. :welcome1:
 
Just bought a MES 30 from Cabelas!!  I am thinking of building a wood mobil cabinet with storage, shelving and the smoker!  I would like to know how warm the outside walls of the smoker get??  I have been active on a lot of different forums hunting, fishing, RVing, bow hunting etc.,  and I must say that this site is amazing, and like a good book, I can't put it down!!!
If you can get your hands on an Infrared thermometer gun that would be great. My Mes 40 is 85-95*F all around except the window, side chip loader hole area and top vent area are much hotter.
-Kurt
 
The hottest spot on the MES 30 (Gen 1, at least) is the top vent. I had a plastic cord tie from one of my ET-733 probe wires near the vent when I was smoking. The heat from the vent melted and almost fused the tie around the wire. When I discovered it, the tie was still soft enough to unwind and pull off the wire.
 
Search "MES cart" in the search bar at top of the page. Lots of design ideas, don't know if anyone has enclosed theirs. You would have to be concerned about the exhaust vent and the chip loader as mentioned above. Good luck, David.
 
 
Just bought a MES 30 from Cabelas!!  I am thinking of building a wood mobil cabinet with storage, shelving and the smoker!  I would like to know how warm the outside walls of the smoker get??  I have been active on a lot of different forums hunting, fishing, RVing, bow hunting etc.,  and I must say that this site is amazing, and like a good book, I can't put it down!!!
Deerjohn, Not a bad idea one that a lot of folks have pondered. Dr. K has given You good info on the temps. Be advised that in the summer those temps will go up. 

If you do enclose it a air space and some fiberglass duct board insulation would solve all of your future problems. One space that was not mentioned was the top of the door. That gets hot. Duct board is a insulation that can be turned in to a air duct so it is ridged but workable. It cuts good with a 6" bone in knife. The last thing to work out is the vent. You can solve a lot of problems with a open top configuration.  Jted
 
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I second jted's suggestion on using fiberglass ductboard. It is very easy to work with and makes good insulation. I am using it on my GOSM,

:welcome1:
 
I would third the idea to do a small amount of insulation either some ductboard or the aluminum lined foam insulation. It really does not get very hot, but I always like to do the maximum for safety, especially something that is going to be sitting near your house at high heats unattended for several hours at a time. Just to point one thing out, the MES instructions say that for safety you should keep the unit 2 feet away from any other objects, obviously this is overkill for such a well insulated machine, but you can buy a huge sheet of that 1/4" foam board for a few bucks, and really what is peace of mind worth?
 
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