Masterbuilt Gravity Feed

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Overall I love the grill, but 15 or so cooks in I'm starting to see issues on my 560. On top of having odd open-not-open signaling, I have a grease leg leak at the front left of the smoker down the leg. Anybody run into this? In the future I'll have a grill mat under it, but for now I'd like to try to stop the leak from occurring.
 
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The door sensor switches need replacement, it seems to happen to all of them.
I cut the wires below the sensors and connected each to their own other wire to make the controller see the doors as closed so I could keep cooking while waiting for new free ones from Masterbuilt to arrive.
I use a drip/water pan to catch grease on all my cookers so build up is not on my radar.
 
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My earlier estimate that these switches are 3-nines reliable was probably naively optimistic. :emoji_disappointed:
I trust those of you who are jumpering these interlocks are aware of the dangers of adding fuel to the top hopper when there's a fire present and are planning accordingly if you do, e.g. inserting the smaller air intake sliding short.
 
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I had no issues doing exactly that but I suppose if one forgot and left the bin top door open it might get rather hot.
I did not install the shut down plate and perhaps it's because I only had the door open for as long as it took to drop some wood and pour briquettes in there, nothing happened at all, just the regular cloud of oak smoke pluming out, but that happens with the fan on or off.
 
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lol 2 years in 0 issues rans like a champ i love my 560
Me too. My 560 is an integral part of my BBQ setup. I work the 560 and my Blackstone together.
The only upgrade I did was heavy gauge Stainless steel the fuel chute and fire chamber... I like to run in the hot zone.
The 560 is an Awesome Machine !
 
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I have had the fan not turn on a couple of times on firing up
but unplug and replug the connections.
Gremlins prolly...
 
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...press and release the hopper lid switch 20 or so times last night and she climbed right on up to 650°. Simple fix. [my italics]
I hope you were joking. And that Masterbuilt is following this thread. Because clearly these are not hermetically-sealed switches to be failing this fast. And since these serve a strictly safety-related function, Masterbuilt better begin offering replacements real soon or they'll get a much worse "rap" than the Weber Smokefire did.
 
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No sir not at all. I filed a warranty claim with Masterbuilt and received a switch the following week. But I also did a search and read how to fix the problem without replacing the switch. Pretty simple 15 second fix. And it is not a safety issue to me because the switch gets stuck in the open position and does not allow fan to come on.
 
No sir not at all. I filed a warranty claim with Masterbuilt and received a switch the following week. But I also did a search and read how to fix the problem without replacing the switch. Pretty simple 15 second fix. And it is not a safety issue to me because the switch gets stuck in the open position and does not allow fan to come on.
Sometimes people go a little overboard on "safety" features. It's all about CYA. Opening the hopper lid to reload is like saying do not open the door to your firebox to load a stick while the coals are hot. with all the warnings now a days I wonder how I made it to 65 without those warnings when I was growing up...lol
 
Sometimes people go a little overboard on "safety" features. It's all about CYA. Opening the hopper lid to reload is like saying do not open the door to your firebox to load a stick while the coals are hot. with all the warnings now a days I wonder how I made it to 65 without those warnings when I was growing up...lol
I have said this once or twice already in this thread - it is about common sense. Don't do dumb things -- don't short the hopper switch so you can leave the lid open -- that is dumb.

The manual has warnings not to put your hands or face into an open flame, not to pick up hot charcoal, not to use your smoker as a heater, and not to immerse the electronics in liquid.... No shit.
 
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I have said this once or twice already in this thread - it is about common sense. Don't do dumb things -- don't short the hopper switch so you can leave the lid open -- that is dumb.

The manual has warnings not to put your hands or face into an open flame, not to pick up hot charcoal, not to use your smoker as a heater, and not to immerse the electronics in liquid.... No shit.

Don’t cook with charcoal inside I believe is in the manual as well don’t forget that one. This a pretty intimidating grill from the sounds of it lol.
 
I bought my 800 in January and haven't had any issues with the switches over about a dozen cooks. If I recall correctly, when MB released the 800, they upgraded the charcoal grate, and they also upgraded the switches theu were using.

So, I believe the 800s and new 560s/1050s have higher quality switches in them. Has anyone with a 560 or 1050 that came with the new charcoal grate (purchased new this year) had any switch failures?
 
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Yes. But not until after many cooks! Also my ash grate warps and has to be bent back into shape from time to time as I do a lot of high temps sears. Haven't reported it to MB and probably won't as it's an easy fix and no safety issues.
Not for me..
 
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Does anyone know a good replacement for the hopper gasket on the masterbuilt 1050 gravity series? I think mine got mixed up with the packaging and was thrown away. Now a replacement is going to take two weeks. Any ideas? Seems like if I knew that material and the dimensions I could make one myself. Much appreciation to any ideas. Thanks!
 
Does anyone know a good replacement for the hopper gasket on the masterbuilt 1050 gravity series? I think mine got mixed up with the packaging and was thrown away. Now a replacement is going to take two weeks. Any ideas? Seems like if I knew that material and the dimensions I could make one myself. Much appreciation to any ideas. Thanks!

Look for 'LavaLock' it is a popular option for these smokers.
 


I did that very mod, just like Tom did. And mine 560 leaked badly in the corners. So badly , I had to abort the cook. ( should've tested before I did a cook ) The tadpole gasket doesn't seal the corners. I took the tadpole off, but if I were gonna use it , I would fill the corners with RTV silicone.
 
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