MES 40 flipped element suggestions

[RyderB]

Hey Everyone,

I smoke a lot of summer sausage and snack sticks in my 3rd gen MES (pretty sure it’s 3rd gen, bought 4 years ago, it has the weird tiered water pan, vent on back right, but no wifi, or glass door). I got a pid controller to control temp swings and that has helped a lot.

Today, I flipped the element to try to eliminate hot spots the best I can. Before I run it, I wanted to get some of yalls opinion on the clearance from the burner to the bottom of the smoker. It seems like I have a lot less clearance than some of the other guys that have done this mod. If I have the drip pan in the bottom of the smoker, the element is almost touching it. If I run it without the pan on the bottom, I have about an inch of clearance between the element and the bottom of the smoker so I’d be concerned about toasting the insulation down there. I can put the old chip tray under the bottom of the element and that should avoid direct contact. Also, curious if I should put the old heat shield on top to prevent dripping on the element (as seen in the last photo below) or if I should just run a drip pan on the bottom rack.
I’ll attach a few photos and if you guys could give me your opinion on what configuration you think is best or what issues you foresee, that would be great, thanks!

 

[hoity toit]

I like what you did. The heat shield helps spread the heat and holds heat also. I once used a perforated pan as the heat shield.

 

[RyderB]

I like what you did. The heat shield helps spread the heat and holds heat also. I once used a perforated pan as the heat shield.

Thanks, still trying to decide if I should run it with the drip pan in the bottom and the shield underneath and over it or run it without the drip pan underneath to get more clearance under the burner. I like the idea of having the pan under there to act as an additional heat buffer to the actual bottom of the smoker but not sure how much of a difference it’ll actually make.

 

[JckDanls 07]

This is what I would go with...

 

[dr k]

Thanks, still trying to decide if I should run it with the drip pan in the bottom and the shield underneath and over it or run it without the drip pan underneath to get more clearance under the burner. I like the idea of having the pan under there to act as an additional heat buffer to the actual bottom of the smoker but not sure how much of a difference it’ll actually make.

I think it will help with air convection under the grease drip pan, keeping the insulation from burning, reflecting heat upwards.

 

[dr k]

Hey Everyone,

I smoke a lot of summer sausage and snack sticks in my 3rd gen MES (pretty sure it’s 3rd gen, bought 4 years ago, it has the weird tiered water pan, vent on back right, but no wifi, or glass door). I got a pid controller to control temp swings and that has helped a lot.

Today, I flipped the element to try to eliminate hot spots the best I can. Before I run it, I wanted to get some of yalls opinion on the clearance from the burner to the bottom of the smoker. It seems like I have a lot less clearance than some of the other guys that have done this mod. If I have the drip pan in the bottom of the smoker, the element is almost touching it. If I run it without the pan on the bottom, I have about an inch of clearance between the element and the bottom of the smoker so I’d be concerned about toasting the insulation down there. I can put the old chip tray under the bottom of the element and that should avoid direct contact. Also, curious if I should put the old heat shield on top to prevent dripping on the element (as seen in the last photo below) or if I should just run a drip pan on the bottom rack.
I’ll attach a few photos and if you guys could give me your opinion on what configuration you think is best or what issues you foresee, that would be great, thanks!


View attachment 743168View attachment 743169View attachment 743170View attachment 743171View attachment 743172View attachment 743173

When I flipped mine I just cut the aluminum element bracket in half length wise with a Dremel cut off wheel and screwed the piece back on the smoker to hold the silicone gasket and flipped the element to fit in the existing original holes. I used a longer ground bolt with an extra nut inside the element access to hold the element up. Tightening raises it and loosening drops it. Since the bottom grease pan is foiled I turned around the pan so grease flows to the door to keep it from vaporizing as much under the element. The bottom rack now has a larger disposable baking sheet, covering the entire element since I don't cook on the lowest rack and sliding the pan left or right a rack rung or 1.5 evens heat above. Heat rises all around the bottom rack drip pan and I found a larger disposable one at the Dollar Tree that is deeper. The bottom two pans in the pic like an air bake insulation air gap under the drip pan doesn't work as I expected so I just put the deeper baking sheet on the bottom rack. Throw in a piece of foil for drippings to burn onto and replace and pour out the grease into a container for the garbage and reuse baking sheet until it needs to be replaced.