MES 40" burner question

[SmokeyEyes]

I have a 40" MES 2.5 with the vent moved to the top. I saw a video on youtube that showed someone fixing the small angle bracket with small screw near the burner and said the burner needs to be on TOP of that angled piece. So I commenced to moving mine. o_O After I removed the angle piece and lifted the burner and screwed the angle piece back in place, the ash tray wouldn't slide back in easily. I was able to get finally wiggle in, but it now seems to be touching the burner. Does anyone know if this video is correct or should the burner be BELOW that bracket as my new 40" MES had? Also below the video is a screenshot of my MODEL G2ESU40W 20075615 40" MES and the location of the bracket in question. Please advise.

 

[SmokeyEyes]

I have a 40" MES 2.5 with the vent moved to the top. I saw a video on youtube that showed someone fixing the small angle bracket with small screw near the burner and said the burner needs to be on TOP of that angled piece. So I commenced to moving mine. o_O After I removed the angle piece and lifted the burner and screwed the angle piece back in place, the ash tray wouldn't slide back in easily. I was able to get finally wiggle in, but it now seems to be touching the burner. Does anyone know if this video is correct or should the burner be BELOW that bracket as my new 40" MES had? Also below the video is a screenshot of my MODEL G2ESU40W 20075615 40" MES and the location of the bracket in question. Please advise.



View attachment 353612

Follow up to my post in case anyone is interested....
I called Masterbuilt and spoke to someone and asked about the angled bracket referenced above. She went out into the warehouse where they had smokers set up and opened one and took several pictures and emailed them to me. The burner element in fact DOES sit on top of the bracket, however, it should NOT be making contact with the ash tray that slides in. If it does you need to bend the bracket down ever so slightly so that no contact is made between the burner element and the metal above. Boy do I have smoke now! Element was too low before. Hope this helps someone.

 

[SonnyE]

Varies with different models I think.
But my new MES 30 had/has a wire frame to support it's chip pan. No real way to do anything with it, except to easily remove the wire frame, which I did for a trial.
The bottom line: This is a major design flaw in Masterbuilt Smokers. Trying to use the element for heating the box as an oven, does not reliably keep the fuel burning. Especially at lower temperature settings.
The cycling of the heating element cannot keep the smoke generated.
I did successfully smoke some Salmon at 200 degrees. But that is far to hot for Salmon unless you like it cooked.

My fix? I modified the crap out of mine and have a smoke box separate, and let the stock electric element control the oven temperature.
NOW, mine works right. Including a chimney (Stove pipe) to help draft the smoke out. My mailbox Mod.
Now I have a smoker, that also can serve as an outdoor oven. And Man! Does it ever work wonderfully!
As a cold smoker, for cheeses, it runs at ~70 degrees. (Ambient temperature affects the final temp.)

Up until this MES 30 I have, I always made my own smokers. Always electrically heat the wood. And never used mine as an oven.
And honestly, I went into getting a MES expecting to have to do more to get it smoking for cheeses and low temperatures. But I never dreamed the chip pan would have been such an utter failure.
They are fine smoker/ovens for folks who want an outdoor oven and do 200-275 degree cooking that adds some smoke flavor.
But as an all around smoker? Sorry, misses the mark by a mile for me.
And in candid private conversation, others have gone to using the AMNPS as their smoke makers, while the oven remains a nice outdoor oven and the chip tray is unused.
Even I have now ordered an AMNPS to put in my Mod Box in hopes of a better controlled smoke volume. My current screen pot tends to make small volumes at first, but then the fuel (Pellets, Chips, or fine chips I made myself) gets going and the smoke volume gets a bit too much.
So I have high hopes of the AMNPS giving me a steady, long run of smoke generated.

But as it comes from the factory? Someting go wong in translation to Chinese Fakory. :confused:

 

[SmokeyEyes]

Thanks for posting SonnyE. I did order an AMNPS and will be using it soon. I will say that on my last smoke, after moving the burner on top of that bracket, my smoker did much better producing smoke. I went ahead and purchased the AMNPS not for "more" smoke necessarily, but to keep from having to add chips every hour or so. I think I'm getting the hang of it and from what I can read on the forum, each person has to find what works for them and their preferences. I'm enjoying it and appreciate all the tips I'm getting on here.