Masterbuilt 560

[jweakley]

In the past I have read many criticisms of the Masterbuilt 560 gravity grills—faulty switches, fans, etc. I am wondering if Masterbuilt corrected some of these flaws. Anyone recently purchased one and not had any problems with it?

 

[PPG1]

I've had mine over 1 year and really haven't experienced any real issues. I don't use mine daily but never less than once a week and long smokes at least 2 a month. So I guess I'm one of the lucky ones.

 

[Chasdev]

I've driven offset stick burners, pellet spitters and Kamado's and my 560 beats them all.
I've had door position switch failures but they are easy to replace and free under warranty.
None of my other cookers are as easy to use or hold cook chamber temps as well as the Masterbuilt.
If and/or when mine fails I'll buy another.

 

[rexster314]

The switches, especially the lid switch, are prone to failure. Could be next week, tomorrow or this fall. You just can't tell. On my 560 then my 1050, I've bypassed the ones that stopped working. After I started using a Fireboard for my controller, I don't have the switch problem at all, since those switches aren't on the same circuit

 

[912smoker]

No major issues with my 1050. Hood switch has started sticking but I can work it a couple of times and problem solved. Have used her 3-4 times a week since Jan. and highly recommend the MBGF series.

 

[jweakley]

Thanks to all that replied. I’m inclined to take the risk and get a 560.

 

[Bigheaded]

Thanks to all that replied. I’m inclined to take the risk and get a 560.

After thinking about it a lot for a week I ordered a 560 a few days ago. Like you I was apprehensive due to the bad reviews I was seeing. Seemed like there were a whole lot, but then I thought about it and MB has sold I'm sure thousands of these. So the 30 or so people I came across who had issues with it are a small % really. Then I found this forum and the people who have it here all seem to really love it. That's what sold me on it. And the more research I did, the issues typically weren't huge and could be remedied with a new switch or a slight modification. And honestly the few pellet grills I was looking at before I found out about the MB, I was seeing people with issues too. I think for the price the 560's solid, if I get a lemon and it only lasts me a year. Hopefully by then MB will have a new model out :D if not I'll buy another 560, or the 800 I wanted to get but it's out of stock.

I was also more confident when 3 different people told me if theirs completely died after a year or 2 they'd buy another because they like it so much. It's not the highest quality, but it really excels at what it does. So I guess the trade-off's worth it.

If you get it I'll be looking for a post from you about it. Mine's coming in about a week and I plan to smoke every meat I can the 1st week. I'm excited

 

[Chasdev]

I'm tending to like using charcoal briquettes over lump these days, sometimes the lump gets jammed up in the feed bin and makes the amount left to burn seem substantial while under the jam the fire is about to go out.
Not employed by Kingsford but here's the best briquette money can buy these days.

 

[Marv the Smoke Man]

In the past I have read many criticisms of the Masterbuilt 560 gravity grills—faulty switches, fans, etc. I am wondering if Masterbuilt corrected some of these flaws. Anyone recently purchased one and not had any problems with it?

Brand new to this forum. First time posting. Would love to hear from MB560 owners. I bought one two months ago and so wanted to love it. Seemed to check all the boxes. Out of the box the fan was dead. Sent me a new fan. Installed it and fired it up to season it. After 1 hour it only got to 200 even though I set the controller to 250. Then they sent me an internal temperature probe. Real pain to put in since it doesn't fit through the grommet. Have to disassemble the plug which has very tiny screws. Put that in and started it up. Fan ran for 5 minutes and died. Just took it off and looked at the fan. The blades are half melted. Masterbuilt says the fans are backordered until July so they have offered to send me a completely new unit and 2 bags of their lump charcoal. Must admit that is a pretty generous offer. All they ask is that I send them a photo showing that all the electrical wires have been severed. Just sent that so we'll see what happens.

 

[PPG1]

Brand new to this forum. First time posting. Would love to hear from MB560 owners. I bought one two months ago and so wanted to love it. Seemed to check all the boxes. Out of the box the fan was dead. Sent me a new fan. Installed it and fired it up to season it. After 1 hour it only got to 200 even though I set the controller to 250. Then they sent me an internal temperature probe. Real pain to put in since it doesn't fit through the grommet. Have to disassemble the plug which has very tiny screws. Put that in and started it up. Fan ran for 5 minutes and died. Just took it off and looked at the fan. The blades are half melted. Masterbuilt says the fans are backordered until July so they have offered to send me a completely new unit and 2 bags of their lump charcoal. Must admit that is a pretty generous offer. All they ask is that I send them a photo showing that all the electrical wires have been severed. Just sent that so we'll see what happens.

WOW. Sounds like you got the one that was built on a Monday morning by the worker who was hungover from the weekend partying. I'm almost 2 years on mine with nary an issue. Hopefully they get it resolved for you. Welcome to SMF from Coastal South Carolina

 

[912smoker]

^^^^^^Agreed !
Welcome to SMF from SE GA and 1050 owner here. Sounds like you deff got the lemon.
Had mine since Jan and no issues other than the lid switch. I've started to spray them all with contact cleaner to avoid an issues. Multiple weekly cooks from low and slow to 650* sears.
Your problems are not the norn and glad to hear MB is making it right !

 

[mcokevin]

At this point I'd insist on them just sending you all new electronic components, especially the controller. If you are having fan and temp probe problems, it's probably the controller that is actually at fault and the other bits are just symptoms. The fan could die if it's overdriven by the controller. The temp could be giving whacky readings if the controller isn't reading the data correctly.

I've only had my 1050 for a couple of months but have run it almost every weekend without any of these issues.

 

[Marv the Smoke Man]

Sent the photos of the severed wires to Masterbuilt and just got an email from them that they are shipping me a whole new unit. I was also curious about the fan so I went online and found the distributor for Coolcox, the maker of the fan. They told me they don't sell that model but they do sell an upgrade Coolcox. It is identical except it is 145cfm instead of 108 cfm. He also said they have been selling lots of them to "grill owners". Here is the model and phone number if anyone is interested.
FAN# CC12038H12D PUTS OUT 145CFM A LITTLE MORE AIR FLOW
315-668-6060

 

[912smoker]

Good deal Marv. Always good to hear about great C/S experience.
They also provided a quick and helpful response to my email.


*****EDIT****

And to my surprise, this was waiting for me when I got home yesterday.
Complements of MB

 

[whistlepig]

I’ve had my 560 almost a year now. Occasionally I’ll get a lid open warning but if I push the button a couple of times it goes away. I’ve tried Royal Oak Lump, B&B lump, B&B char-logs and B&B briquettes I like the B&B briquettes best. I really like my 560.

 

[worldbfreebase]

they actually only asked you to sever the wires?

buy a fireboard and a fireboard fan and fire that bad boy back up!