44in Masterbuilt (Sam's club) Temperature issue

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flgolfer29

Newbie
Original poster
Oct 9, 2012
25
11
N/W Florida
Recently I purchased a 44in Masterbuilt smoker from Sam's Club, model #20051214, and early indications things were looking great.  A door seal kit was added prior to the burn-in.

The initial burn-in the smoker performed very well, and the first cook, ribs with all the fixings turned out great.  The wood chip basket however was in need of upgrade, because it had to be refilled too often to keep a steady smoke.  I followed 'omegared' modification, removing the stock wood chip box and support bracket, adding a 9" x 13" aluminum cake pan in its place. 

After 45 minutes the temp's would not get above 190 degrees, so I removed the cake pan and the temp's still wouldn't get over about 192 degrees.  The vents were in the same position as during the initial burn-in and first cook, nothing changed other than low temp's.  The flame from both burners looked good, the flame would rise and fall as the control knobs were adjusted.  The propane tank was 3/4 full, so that wasn't an issue. 

I spoke with customer service and we went through all the check lists, and everything suggested was previously done.  Masterbuilt is sending our a new burner control equipment to replace the original.  Hopefully, this will resolve the temp issue.

Has any others had a similar experience with this unit?

Thanks,
 
Update: I purchased a direct connect hose to tie-in with a gas stub-out from our home.  This enabled me to get temps up to 320 degrees.  Not as hot as I'd like to achieve, but hot enough for most of the cooking I will do.

The cake pan mod described in original post, didn't work to good for me.  It didn't start to smoke until 300 degrees, once the temps were decreased, the smoke would die out.  Replaced original chip tray and filled to near capacity, worked as expected.  Probably will purchase a second factory chip tray to just swap out as one is finished smoking.

Happy smoking folks.
 
I just bought the same smoker. I haven't been able to get any smoke whatsoever. I took the chip tray out and started with the cast iron skillet on top of the old chip tray rack. I did a large aluminum tray for the water instead of the original pan. Ive been able to hit 300 and a little higher in temp but no smoke. At least not enough worth talking about. You find that the factory pans and trays work better than the mods moat people use?
 
Only in my limited testing the original set-up was better.  When I tested the cake pan, it was sitting nearly on top of the ^ shaped fire shield.  Others have removed the shield, this may work better.  However, the most recent test i was getting acceptable smoke.

Overall, I'm very pleased with the unit.  Good luck with yours.
 
I decided to put in the factory chip tray in and try it. It worked great. Then i checked it and noticed it was smoking so well cause the chips were on fire. I put it out and turned the temp down. It's been smoking decently ever since. My water tray I put on the bottom most shelf possible in the upper door and don't seem to have issues with that. So we'll see how it goes. I wonder if having a lid or covering to the skillet will help with smoking chips in that allowing me to refill less.
 
Last edited:
Recently I purchased a 44in Masterbuilt smoker from Sam's Club, model #20051214, and early indications things were looking great. A door seal kit was added prior to the burn-in.

The initial burn-in the smoker performed very well, and the first cook, ribs with all the fixings turned out great. The wood chip basket however was in need of upgrade, because it had to be refilled too often to keep a steady smoke. I followed 'omegared' modification, removing the stock wood chip box and support bracket, adding a 9" x 13" aluminum cake pan in its place.

After 45 minutes the temp's would not get above 190 degrees, so I removed the cake pan and the temp's still wouldn't get over about 192 degrees. The vents were in the same position as during the initial burn-in and first cook, nothing changed other than low temp's. The flame from both burners looked good, the flame would rise and fall as the control knobs were adjusted. The propane tank was 3/4 full, so that wasn't an issue.

I spoke with customer service and we went through all the check lists, and everything suggested was previously done. Masterbuilt is sending our a new burner control equipment to replace the original. Hopefully, this will resolve the temp issue.

Has any others had a similar experience with this unit?

Thanks,
Recently I purchased a 44in Masterbuilt smoker from Sam's Club, model #20051214, and early indications things were looking great. A door seal kit was added prior to the burn-in.

The initial burn-in the smoker performed very well, and the first cook, ribs with all the fixings turned out great. The wood chip basket however was in need of upgrade, because it had to be refilled too often to keep a steady smoke. I followed 'omegared' modification, removing the stock wood chip box and support bracket, adding a 9" x 13" aluminum cake pan in its place.

After 45 minutes the temp's would not get above 190 degrees, so I removed the cake pan and the temp's still wouldn't get over about 192 degrees. The vents were in the same position as during the initial burn-in and first cook, nothing changed other than low temp's. The flame from both burners looked good, the flame would rise and fall as the control knobs were adjusted. The propane tank was 3/4 full, so that wasn't an issue.

I spoke with customer service and we went through all the check lists, and everything suggested was previously done. Masterbuilt is sending our a new burner control equipment to replace the original. Hopefully, this will resolve the temp issue.

Has any others had a similar experience with this unit?

Thanks,
 
Yes, am on hold with Masterbuilt. Have heard there is a fairly widespread problem with controllers. Sent an email to customer service two weeks ago. No reply. Been on hold 42+ minutes.
 
Update: I purchased a direct connect hose to tie-in with a gas stub-out from our home. This enabled me to get temps up to 320 degrees. Not as hot as I'd like to achieve, but hot enough for most of the cooking I will do.

The cake pan mod described in original post, didn't work to good for me. It didn't start to smoke until 300 degrees, once the temps were decreased, the smoke would die out. Replaced original chip tray and filled to near capacity, worked as expected. Probably will purchase a second factory chip tray to just swap out as one is finished smoking.

Happy smoking folks.

Did they send you a replacement burner? If so, how did you replace it? I can't find anything online that explains how to replace the burner!
 
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