MasterBuilt 30" off by 60 degrees. can this really be the case?

[eclipse31satx]

Hi,
i have a 30" masterbuilt smoker 20070910 that i purchased from amazon on aug 21,2012.    i have used it about 7 times with no real issues.  the last two times i have  used it, the past two weekends, my ribs didnt turn out that great.  i didnt change my process so i was a little confused.  the first few times i verified the temp by using two wired thermostats but the smoker was pretty accurate so i didnt feel a need to continue doing that.  good thing i checked.  i am at this moment smoking some ribs and the unit thermo and the two wired thermostats that i have in the unit are way off.   i originally had the smoker at 240 but the two wired thermos said 180.  I jacked the unit to 275 and now my wired thermo are at 215.  i cant get the unit to go any higher.  i have read that the MB thermo's can be off but this is off by 60 degrees.  i can see why my last batch of ribs didnt turn out. 

has anyone else had this issue and if so how did you fix it?   i would assume that MB should correct this since the unit isnt even a year old but they are closed today so i thought i would ask on the forum if others have experienced the same thing. 

 

[jarjarchef]

Not much you can do about it today. I would smoke for 3 hrs in the smoker, then do the 2 hrs in the oven at 260 for 2 hrs and finally finish the final step of setting the sauce in either the oven or smoker till done....... Just how I would overcome today's situation. But deffinately contact MB and insist they correct it....

 

[bakedbean1970]

I notice a larger bias in temp when its cold out with my cajun injector. I think they would work better if the temp sensor was not on the sheet metal back of the smoker. I believe the metal holds the heat long after the air temp inside the smoker has dropped.

 

[eclipse31satx]

thanks for the tips guys.  i will definitely contact MB.  other input is also appreciated.   by the way, i am in san antonio tx and its about 70 today so the cold wouldnt be a factor. 

has anyone ever rigged one of these units to move the thermostat in the unit to another location.  since i am currently using it i cant look to see how it is inside the unit but i am pretty sure its on the back wall.  if that could be a problem then to prevent future issues once i get this one corrected then why not move it if possible. 

 

[bakedbean1970]

I am by no means a design expert but the fact that i can open the smoker door here at 10 degrees out and all my thermometers except the smoker drop quickly tell me the metal wall retains alot of heat. As far as how they could solve this issue or where else they could mount a temp pickup that i dont know.

 

[eclipse31satx]

so check this out.  on the grate above the water pan i had a foil pan to catch the drippings.  i took that out and the temp on the two thermos sky rocketed to within 3 degrees of the MES thermo.  i have used foil pans before with no issues so not sure whats going on with this.   once i am doing using the MES i will have to check to see if the foil pan is near the thermo. 

 

[jarjarchef]

Someone else had that happen the other day. They figured there pan was too big and did not allow the air to flow properly.....

 

[eclipse31satx]

hmmm...possible.  i will have to do some experimenting. 

 

[bakedbean1970]

Hmmmm x2. Troubleshooting I like. I dont use the pan for sausage or jerky anyway.

 

[eclipse31satx]

problem solved.  it was the foil pan.   its a 6x9 but has the foil pan wings on the sides that covered most the interior area.  i actually wanted this because i want to use it for drip catching and i want to cover as much area as possible, but i guess it was not allowing enough airflow.  i replaced the foil pan with a normal 6x9 baking pan that does not have the "wings" running around the edges and the temp on the wired thermos shot up to the MES temp and stayed within 2 degrees.  whew!!  i thought i had some real issues....