Where do you put the wood chips, and do you pre-soak the chips?

this depends on the type of appliance you are using A smoker or a charcoal barbecue will use chunks instead of chips so I'll assume you have some brand of gas broiler that does not have a drawer or cavity for wood chips engineered into the design of the appliance.

In this instance you can soak chip overnight and loosely wrap them in aluminum foil. Place the loosely wrapped chips over a burner on the radiant tray or briquette tray so the heat is directly on the wood chips.
Close the hood and keep the other burner off or low so the heat on the wood chips soaked overnight causes them so smoke and not char. You need the wood chips over the flames so they smoke.

Soak the hardwood chips in water and place in the metal tray. Place the tray on the briquets. The result is smoke without fire and longer lasting wood chips. Happy grilling.

The pre-soaked wood chips are placed in the cylindrical wood chip holder on the side of the unit and then inserted into the smoker above the wood chip tray. The wood chip tray must always be in place prior to loading the wood chip holder.

To further assist you, in case you have misplaced the Owner's Manual, I have included a link to it, that you can download and print for future reference. It also includes recipes.

http://www.appliancefactoryparts.com/content/pdfs/135884-1.pdf

To extend the use and longevity of this smoker, be sure to follow all the routine maintenance suggestions in the manual.

Hope this helped you to enjoy your smoker. Thanks for choosing FixYa.

No, the water pan is just for water. The pre-soaked wood chips go in the charcoal bowl on top of the heated charcoal. Putting the wood chips in the water bowl with water in it, would serve no purpose as far as adding a smokey flavor is concerned. If you desire a smokey flavor, do not wrap the **** in anything.

In case you have misplaced your owner's Manual, I have included a link to it that you can download and print for future reference. http://images.brinkmann.net/docs/pdf/810-5301-C.pdf

I hope this helps you, to further your enjoyment of using a smoker. Thanks for choosing FixYa.

Wood only. No Charcoal. If you're using wood chips - soak them first. No sure wood chunks will work, as they will have a tendency to flare up & burn rather than smoke.

The presoaked wood chips go in the flame disc bowl, below the water bowl. The water bowl goes on the first shelf bracket from the bottom up.

I was going to send you a copy of your Owners Manual, but the Model Number you listed does not match up with any Masterbuilt Smokers?

Enjoy your smoker,

No, the pre-soaked wood chips go at the bottom of the smoker (usually on the wood chip tray) on top of the heat source.. The water adds moisture to what ever you're smoking. It doesn't need a lot of water though.

It takes three hours on medium setting to season the smoker. During the last 3/4 hour of seasoning, add 1 cup of wood chips to the wood chip box. Let the chips soak in water for a half hour prior to using them. Once three hours is up, turn off, unplug and let the unit cool off.

Page 3 on this link shows the wood tray and explains the water tray. Wood chips are soaked to make them last. They will still go pretty fast but you can add more. Soak the chips or chunks overnight.
http://www.charbroil.com/bps/char-broil/char-broil/knowledge/06701311_assembly%20manual.pdf

you soaked the wood chips in water for about 30 min. shake excess of water and place them on the flame disk bowl right under the water bowl.

Buy some lava rocks from your local hardware store. Get just enough to cover the coil with 1 layer of rocks. This will help control and retain the heat produced by the coil. Now, just throw a couple chunks of pre-soaked wood on top. I recommend hickory or cherry...never mesquite, it is way too harsh for slow smoking. Happy smoking!