MES40 and burning paint??

[Jarod L]

Hi all. I have the smoker i mentioned above, and have used it quite a bit in the last 3 months. Yesterday I made jerky and all my racks were full. there is a piece of metal that the seal on the door rests against, and this wraps around into the smokers interior. It's been painted to match the exterior, and in a few places the paint has bubbled and turned a glossy black from use. After yesterday tho, the entire painted area that goes into the interior turned brown and i can flake it off with my hand. the only thing i can come up with is that there was so much moisture in the smoker from the jerky that it boiled the paint off. anyone else ever see this happen? there's even brown soot that's the same color on the outside of the top vent, so obviously it smoked out into the meat as well. is that even safe to eat? im going to scrape it and clean it off good and i'm sure that will take care of it, but i thought it was really odd.

 

[Jarod L]

Here's another picture

 

[TinCupTom]

Hi Jarod, are you sure this is paint and not creosote or fat build-up? I get similar buildup on the inside of my stainless steel grill, so much so sometimes that it sheets off and looks like high gloss black paint. The pics seem to show this is mostly along the bottom edge, door seal. On some smoker designs, the internal moisture will condense on the cold door and run down the inside of the door and pool along this edge where the cabinet meets the door. Is it possible that could be what’s happening?

 

[hillbillyrkstr]

It looks like your seal started to melt. What temp was the smoker at?

 

[Jarod L]

Hey guys, thanks for the replies. it's definitely paint, because it's flaking off on the outside too. I've only smoked with it maybe 10 times. before yesterday's smoke those areas in the pics were fine and were still painted black. this issue goes all the way around the door, not just the bottom, but i know what you mean about that moisture building up on the bottom. as far as the door seal, from what i can see it is fine. it hasn't ever stuck to the door when ive opened it.

 

[Jarod L]

As far as heat, highest i had it yesterday was 180°. I've had it up to 275 a number of times in the past with no issues.

 

[Jarod L]

This is probably the best pic. Is the left side of the opening.

 

[uncle eddie]

I am on my second MES40.
You should call Masterbuilt...their customer support line is very good.

 

[Jarod L]

I am on my second MES40.
You should call Masterbuilt...their customer support line is very good.

Did you have the same issue? I am confident I can just clean off the rest of the burned paint and it will be fine, especially since I store it in my garage, so rust shouldn't be a problem.

 

[uncle eddie]

Not a bit...I had some other issues though. New control panel, circuit panel, etc. I used the heck out of mine. I figure I will just buy a new one every 3 or 4 years.

I agree - clean it and store will be fine

 

[Bearcarver]

I'd keep a close eye on it for at least awhile.
I don't understand why it did it at 180°, and never did it at 275°, if it's a heat related thing.

Bear

 

[uncle eddie]

Make sure your top vent is wide open. the MES40 is so tightly constructed that I stopped using the water pan for anything other than catching drippings.

One thing I have done before when I noticed moisture buildup is to pull the chip feeder tube about halfway out and rotate it so it can draw a little air. It usually clears up in 10 minutes or so...but since I have been using an AMNPS - my chip feeder tube is always open and I haven't had moisture build up at all.

 

[dr k]

Your seal looks fine. Since it folds over itself it wrinkles in the corners. I make sure the seal fold opens when wiping it with water. I've had it stick together and not seal on the vertical hinge side but it opened and expanded back to normal after cleaning it. Lots of others with painted smokers have had this issue with old and newer smokers but remove the paint and keep smoking. It maybe humidity related I've read from other sites that have people that always put liquid in the water pan. Once a crack gets in the paint then humidity, heat and steam starts it's evil work.