AMNPS in a new MES 2.5 40

jkindgren · Jun 23, 2015

Hey Guys. Looking for some advice. I got an AMNPS 5x8 and a MES 2.5 40 inch for fathers day. I know, my wife and daughter are awesome. Anyway I was wondering how to place my AMNPS. I know I need to put it in the bottom left on the drip tray, but I have heard about problems with air flow. Can I just set the AMNPS right on the bottom? It does have short legs welded on. Or do I need to fashion some type of device to keep it raised a bit? Any ideas will be very helpful. Thanks in advance for the flood of ideas coming from this vast wealth of smoking knowledge called smoking-meat forums.

Jeff

mummel · Jun 23, 2015

Do you have the new Bluetooth model? If so, what store did you buy it at?

My Cabelas model came with a sausage hanger. I put my AMPS on top of that and it works perfectly. It's more important to pull the chip loader out correctly otherwise your AMPS will die out. That requires some practice.

jkindgren · Jun 23, 2015

My wife got it at SAMs. No sausage hanger. Did come with legs though. About how far do you keep the chip loader out?

mori55 · Jun 23, 2015

I'm curious too , just got mine at Bass pro.

mummel · Jun 24, 2015

The chip loader is easy once you figure it out. I failed on 2 smokes because I didnt know WTF I was doing. Anyway, push it halfway in and rotate it to the dump position. Then keep pushing until it catches on the lip closest to the handle. Then pull it out slowly until it catches on the far lip. Then find the exact position between those two lips and mark it with a sharpie.

Here, a pic will probably illustrate it better (dont know what model this is but same principle)

Chip_loader.jpg

mummel
Jun 24, 2015

mummel · Jun 24, 2015

Oh and BTW, you wife sounds awesome. Seriously.

You need to raise the tray. I've never used it unraised but Dennis did a trial I think and it didnt work. Raising it works, I can confirm this. You can use anything to raise it 1-2 inches. A brick is easiest. I'm lucky my smoker came with this hanger that looks like it was meant for the AMPS tray.

The chip loader is the most important though. If my toddler bumps it closed, then the AMPS tray goes out. Got to watch it and make sure its positioned right at that middle point.

Also, vent needs to be wide open.

Re: your Sams model. You absolutely have to get the Squaretrade warranty that comes with it. They sell it in store for $35. It gives you a 3 year warranty. A no brainer IMO.

daveomak · Jun 24, 2015

I know this is about the Gen 2, but see if it is applicable to your smoker....

EDIT..... from one of Todd's posts/////

AMNPS 5x8 was actually designed out of frustration with my own MES 40
Placement depends on which model MES you own

Old Model MES

Place the AMNPS 5x8 on the rails to the left of the chip pan housing
Exhaust WIDE open
No water in the water pan
Pull the chip pan out 1.5"
Pull the chip loader out 2"

New Gen 2

Remove the water pan and place it on the floor
Place the AMNPS on top the hole where the water pan used to sit
Exhaust WIDE open
Pull the chip loader out 2" and rotate to the "Dump" position

Bearcarver · Jun 24, 2015

jkindgren said:
Hey Guys. Looking for some advice. I got an AMNPS 5x8 and a MES 2.5 40 inch for fathers day. I know, my wife and daughter are awesome. Anyway I was wondering how to place my AMNPS. I know I need to put it in the bottom left on the drip tray, but I have heard about problems with air flow. Can I just set the AMNPS right on the bottom? It does have short legs welded on. Or do I need to fashion some type of device to keep it raised a bit? Any ideas will be very helpful. Thanks in advance for the flood of ideas coming from this vast wealth of smoking knowledge called smoking-meat forums.

Jeff

Jeff,

This is the best thing I've seen so far for the #2.5---Taken from a post by "Dennis Pfaff"

His method gets plenty of air flow, instead of just setting it on the floor.

I have an old bbq roasting wire basket that I haven't used in years. I put one half of the basket on the bottom floor of my 40in Bluetooth 2.5 and the AMNPS 5x8 tray fits perfectly on top of the basket and it raised about exactly the height of the water pan, and about level with the heat assembly.
Dennis

image.jpg

dennispfaff
May 15, 2015

image.jpg

dennispfaff
May 15, 2015

jkindgren · Jun 24, 2015

Thanks for all the replies and advice. Looks like I will be going to the grilling section of my local hardware store to find something to set this on. Thanks mummel and yes I believe my wife bought the warranty also. I seasoned the smoker last night and it performed like a dream. Only about +\- 3 to 4 degree temp swings. Hope it performs that well with something in it.

mummel · Jun 24, 2015

Man your wife sounds smart haha. How did she research all this stuff? She a member here? Good for her! I would be really curious to see how much energy your window'ed version uses. Do you have a Kill A Watt device by any chance? You can get them free at your local library.

jkindgren · Jun 24, 2015

No I don't have a kilowatt device. My wife is smart, but I did give a pretty itemized wish list. :)

ram3500fh · Jun 28, 2015

When you say put the water pan on the floor are you saying to take it out completely? or put it on the floor of the MES?

Trying to wrap my head around this, and since I'm brand new to smoking I figure I would just ask. I have the new 2.5, the Bluetooth one.

Thanks,

Scott

mummel · Jun 28, 2015

In the 2.5 BT one, just foil your water pan and keep it in. Acts as a heat deflector and catches drippings. Also foil the drip tray. ALSO, foil the element/chip burner metal plate. Helps keep it nice and tidy.

driedstick · Jun 28, 2015

well did you give it a try?? how did it turn out??? try it without smoking anything just to see how id does for you before you do a actual smoke

A full smoker is a happy smoker

DS

floridasteve · Jun 28, 2015

I've only used my pellet tray twice. The first time I put it on the drip pan on the far left side of my 40" BT and it didn't work well. The next time I nuked the pellets first and placed the tray right over the drain whole of the drip pan, thinking it would draw air up through that. It worked fine for 7 hours filled with hickory. Both time I had the chip loader in the dump position and pulled out about two inches and the exhaust vent wide open.

mummel · Jun 28, 2015

You definitely need to raise the tray off the ground.

mori55 · Jun 29, 2015

I did a test run with my amnps with it sitting on the bottom rt in the mes 40. It smoked great. I opened the chip loader half way.

mori55 · Jun 29, 2015

Sorry I meant bottom left looking in.

mummel · Jun 30, 2015

So not elevated?

mori55 · Jun 30, 2015

No I didn't elevate it. Just sitting in the bottom of the cooker.

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