New Smoker!

[Brass Man]

New guy here. Had a smoker when we lived in CT. Gave it to #2 son when we moved 2.5 years ago. Santa brought me a new one for Christmas!

Masterbuilt ThermoTemp propane.

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Took about 2 hour to assemble. Seasoned it per instructions. Has to tighten the flame sensor wire a little more before the burner held.

Tomorrow will be the first use. Rack of ribs and fresh asparagus!

Happy New Year All from sunny Florida!

 

[solman]

nice looking smoker. i'm jealous that yours is insulated or double walled. i almost bought one of these during the recent sales but was wary of their ability to maintain temperature. let us know how well it works!

 

[chopsaw]

Nice . Enjoy .

 

[AndrewW]

Hey Brass Man
How tight did you have to make that thermocouple nut? I made it as tight as I could with a crescent wrench.
I just put one together for my brother's birthday and it won't stay lit. Reading online I found out this is a common problem. But everyone online just complained and no one said what their solutions were!

 

[Brass Man]

AndrewW - at first I just finger tightened the thermocouple nut. When I did not get the burner to stay on, turned it off, unhooked the propane tank and turned it upside down to check the connection.

Got out the combo wrench sets - one metric, the other inches. Didn't know which one I needed. Tightened the nut with the wrench. Got at least another turn and a half. Then the light bulb went off. Unscrewed the nut and backed out the tube. Went and got the plumber's tape. Reinserted the tube, wrapped the threads twice with the plumber's tape and then tightened the nut with the combo wrench. I have the wrench an extra "tug" just to be sure.

Turned in over, hooked up the tank and fired it up. Has worked perfectly every time since.

Could it be a specific model or models are having this problem? Worth investigating.

I learned a long while ago that plumber's tape is great for propane fixtures to seal joints completely.

 

[AndrewW]

I ended up messing with it more and got it working too! I totally removed the thermocouple thinking I'd go buy a new thermocouple. But I decided to reinstall it first. So I did. I tightened that brass nut until it was just starting to round off the corners. And I raised the flame sensor about 1/4 inch, just by chance. And now it works!
Side note about the plumbers tape, there's actually no propane flowing through that thermocouple, just heat creating an electric current to keep the gas valve open. But the tape could help insulate the connection maybe? And keep the heat needed to create the electric current? Either way, it can't hurt to try if anyone else is reading this thread.
I'm tempted to try lowering my flame sensor to see if it stops working, but I don't want to risk it not working again. Especially since it's a gift for my brother.

 

[AndrewW]

So if anyone else needs help with the Masterbuilt Thermotemp or Thermotemp XL try these things:
1. Add plumbers tape to the thermocouple threads.
2.Tighten the thermocouple brass nut as tight as possible. TIGHT!
3. Raise the flame sensor. The picture is where my sensor height is at.