Need advice on installing vents on Masterbuilt 30" analog electric

[MackerelQ]

Hey everyone, I inherited a Masterbuilt 30" analog electric smoker (model 20070612) a few years ago and I am determined to make it work the way I want it to... which is well.

This smoker has all sorts of issues: the in-door thermometer doesn't read properly, the wood chip tray doesn't smoke properly or at all, the analog control is kinda jankey (industry term), the rack above the element torches food while leaving the higher up food undercooked, it doesn't do well with food on more than one rack, the racks aren't wide enough to hold a full rack of ribs, there's no insulation in the walls, and the air flow is garbage. Other than those issues, I love it!

I've purchased a few items to circumvent the weaknesses of this smoker, namely a digital temperature controller, and an AMPS knockoff. These items work great, but the nearly nonexistent airflow in this smoke coffin is still a major problem.


My next venture is to install some vents to address the airflow issue. I purchased this set of 4" marine vents; one to control air input and one to control air output and I'm looking for some advice on the installation locations.


In the smoker I have my pellet smoker tube mounted underneath the bottom rack on the right side (direcly above the wood chip tray) suspended by some wire and this seems to work well, but still the airflow could be a lot better. I was thinking about installing one of these vents on the bottom right side of the smoker toward the front so the pellet smoker receives the airflow first. I'm also considering installing the "output vent" at the top of the back wall. I chose this as I had heard there were some issues associated with installing these on the roof. I'm still toying with either placing the output vent in the top-center or on the top-left side. The reason behind the idea is that if the input vent is on the front right bottom then having the output vent on the top left rear would possibly cause some equalizing airflow from bottom to top, front to back, side to side.

What do you all think? Am I way off on this or is this actually crazy enough to work?

I appreciate any valuable input.

 

[Chasdev]

I think you should buy a new smoker.
I love tinkering with my gear and have done so many many times but most of my "improvements" are a minor step in the direction I wanted to go and more than a few expose faults in my thinking that make the situation worse or if not that, create another issue that leads to another issue etc...
In this case adding upper and lower air vents will allow more heat to escape which will cause the heating element/s to run longer or at a higher voltage draw than the design was intended, the results of which could lead down another fault path.
Sometimes it's better to step back and then walk away.

 

[olaf]

It can get expensive trying to customize a smoker hopefully someone with experience with a masterbuilt can help. I built a smoker from a warming cabinet it has become a bit spendy but is putting out some great food but other issues develop 1 I am losing too much heat, 2 temp probes are in the wrong location. 3 glad I have 2400 watts of heat and a cooling fan for my controller because it's on a lot.

 

[johnnyb54]

Why don’t you just do the mailbox mod? This is very similar to how I did mine.

Another mailbox mod

I know there are tons of mailbox mod threads, but I added a couple twists that I thought I'd share. Mine is going on the ground, so it needed a stand to give it enough clearance so the door would open without scraping the pavement. I had a scrap piece of 2x6, so I cut it long enough to use 4...

www.smokingmeatforums.com

 

[Bearcarver]

Those analog Masterbuilt always had air flow problems:
As to where I would suggest they should go;
If you put the top vent on the back wall, instead of the top, make sure it's as high as you can install it.
as for where to install them, Wherever you put the Intake vent, I would put the output on the opposite side, so the heated air & smoke has to cross through your meat to get to the exit on the other side.
Bottom right to top left.
Bottom Left to top right.

The worst thing to do is put them both on the same side, like Masterbuild does on a lot of the MES units, and the heat goes right up from the heating element on the right, and right out the top vent on the right.

Bear

 

[Brokenhandle]

I have the same smoker, I use separate therms for temps, 1 at grate level and 1 for meat. Don't even have chip tray or the holder in smoker anymore, replaced it with a different rack. I also did the mailbox mod and put amnps in mailbox, this helps with air entering smoker. Don't have an exhaust either except for tiny little pen sized hole in upper right corner (what a joke that is!) But door leaks enough smoke that it works. I did get an exhaust vent but haven't installed it yet. For temp control I use an auber pid and it controls temps within a couple degrees.

Ryan

 

[kbarnes12]

I actually had the same set up you do. I upgraded the heating element to 1500w and got an Auber Instruments smoker controller. I had a Masterbuilt Cold Smoker Attachment, so I used a 3" hole saw to cut a hole on the right side to connect it. Cold smoker quit so I converted to the mailbox mod and got the same pellet tube you have. Works great! Finally hinge on the door snapped off so I upgraded to a 40". The smoker controller and mailbox mod work great with it too.

 

[MackerelQ]

Those analog Masterbuilt always had air flow problems:
As to where I would suggest they should go;
If you put the top vent on the back wall, instead of the top, make sure it's as high as you can install it.
as for where to install them, Wherever you put the Intake vent, I would put the output on the opposite side, so the heated air & smoke has to cross through your meat to get to the exit on the other side.
Bottom right to top left.
Bottom Left to top right.

The worst thing to do is put them both on the same side, like Masterbuild does on a lot of the MES units, and the heat goes right up from the heating element on the right, and right out the top vent on the right.

Bear

Thank you for this. This is exactly what I did today. Bottom right front and top left back wall. Seems to work great so far in my testing.

 

[Bearcarver]

Thank you for this. This is exactly what I did today. Bottom right front and top left back wall. Seems to work great so far in my testing.

Hopefully that will make it work better, and keep working better.

Best to you,

Bear