MES Mailbox Mod! for use with AMNPS

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Toady is my first smoke with digital MES30(?). Just a rack of ribs and a butt. Not much to do but sit and wait for my foil cycle to be done so I was looking around to see how I can get some more, or any, smoke. I came across a post that said search the mailbox mod.

I was thinking of getting the AMNPS tube for pellets but hell I'm going to do this I am pretty sure.

So you light the pellets and set the smoker to the desired temp and sit back?
 
Another question ... 

Has anyone developed an either/or solution to the chip tray / mailbox mod?

I'd like to have the flexibility during short smokes to manually load the chip tray and play with different woods. On longer / cold smokes I'd like to use my AMNPS and wander around.

The pictures of the MES inside tend so show the chip tray missing and 90 elbow fairly firmly fixed to the smoker wall.
 
Many people use a 3" flexible dryer hose. This usually has a crimped end that will fit into the chip hole with no permanent attachment needed.
 
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Many people use a 3" flexible dryer hose. This usually has a crimped end that will fit into the chip hole with no permanent attachment needed.
That would work. I'll check @ Lowes. I was looking @ the 90 elbow and perhaps got a little too far into "over engineering."

Thank you!
 
Another question ... 

Has anyone developed an either/or solution to the chip tray / mailbox mod?

I'd like to have the flexibility during short smokes to manually load the chip tray and play with different woods. On longer / cold smokes I'd like to use my AMNPS and wander around.

The pictures of the MES inside tend so show the chip tray missing and 90 elbow fairly firmly fixed to the smoker wall.


Leave the MB hooked up and use the chip tray to smoke with dust or chips....
 
After reading this and was having problems keeping my amazen pellet lit I installed this today... Tested it without drilling front draft holes and still had problems... Tomorrow going I drill draft holes in front... Some had said to try it without since the holes in bottom worked for them so I did but no luck... I had a little smoke leaking from round attaché meant areas so gonna tape that up tomorrow... Was minuscule loss but do u all think sealing that up will make major drafting difference? Thanks for any advice
 
After reading this and was having problems keeping my amazen pellet lit I installed this today... Tested it without drilling front draft holes and still had problems... Tomorrow going I drill draft holes in front... Some had said to try it without since the holes in bottom worked for them so I did but no luck... I had a little smoke leaking from round attaché meant areas so gonna tape that up tomorrow... Was minuscule loss but do u all think sealing that up will make major drafting difference? Thanks for any advice


Exhaust wide open.... preheat the smoker to start a draft..... and Yes you need holes in the MB.... for air.... pellets won't burn without air.... and air is needed to flow through the smoker...
 
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Yea I did preheat smoker and open exhaust fully... Only thing I hadn't done was the drill te holes... Thanks
 
Got home from work this morning at 8... Drilled three 1/2 inch holes on door and fired her up... 4 butts in the smoker going... And the mailbox is working sweet now.... Thanks for the advice all... Wonderful mod for my smoker... Can't wait to do use some more ideas Yuns got on here
 
Completed my mailbox mod. 20' of flex is a little long. i'll shorten before the next smoke.


Test drove it for 2.5 hours smoking "The World's Best Barbecue Beans". This involved a single row of pellets in the AMNPS. Worked fine.


So I loaded 2.5 rows in my AMNPS anticipating about 7 - 8 hours of smoke, which should get a butt almost to the stall temp. Loaded the smoker about midnight, stayed up long enough to see TBS coming out of the smoker, and went to bed. I got up about 0630 to check. No TBS coming out of the smoker and the temp was pushing 170. Pulled the AMNPS and to my dismay saw this.


The good news - even smokes that don't turn out quite like I want are still edible. But it needed more smoke.


Any ideas on what I should do differently with loading the AMNPS so the burn turns the corner?
 
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I've had similar issues with my tray not staying lit. Even with the mailbox mod I have to check it every half hour or so. I'm not sure if it is climate or what -- I'm in Nebraska. But, yesterday I borrowed my brother's smoke generator which is similar but instead is just a long tube -- although I'm not sure if it is from AMAZEN or not but looks similar to their tube.

I loaded it up with pellets, lit them, and did a full test in my mailbox with the heat on in the smoker. It provided much more smoke than the tray and burned every last bit of pellet! I filled it half way and it burned for about 3 hours.

I'm actually going to go to the local BBQ store today to buy one and then I'll see how it goes.
 
I have to fill the AMNPS to the top of the rails to make it burn..... AND at the corners, it needs to be super full to make the corner.... ALSO that long length of duct is adding friction to the air flow.... It could be slowing good air flow.. It looks as if you dry your pellets well... that is critical to have dry pellets.. 2+ hours in your MES at 275 will work wonders drying pellets...
 
I have to fill the AMNPS to the top of the rails to make it burn..... AND at the corners, it needs to be super full to make the corner.... ALSO that long length of duct is adding friction to the air flow.... It could be slowing good air flow.. It looks as if you dry your pellets well... that is critical to have dry pellets.. 2+ hours in your MES at 275 will work wonders drying pellets...
When I looked at the picture, I wondered about the fill. Looking at the original (hi-res) picture, it was almost rail high, and probably lower on the corners. 

I'm going to shorten the duct regardless. I don't want to get too short because I'm heading into cold smokes. Eventually I'm going to be asking about smoke generators as a friend wants me smoke some grain for Rauch Bier. I don't recall Todd having Beech pellets. Regardless, 20' is too long. 
Beating_A_Dead_Horse_by_livius.gif


The pellets reside in the ziplocs Todd ships in. I dried the pellets in an oven for 45 min at 350. Single pellet thick.

Now what can I smoke for 4 hours or so to test the improved loading? I'd like to get to the point where I can load the smoker with briskets / butts and go to bed for a while. Waking up every hour to add chips was romantic and fun for the first 2 butts. Then it got old. [emoji]128540[/emoji]
 
If you're having any  issues with the A-MAZE-N tray then go out and buy their long TUBE!!  I bought one yesterday and used it today.  It worked WAY BETTER than the tray.  It lit way better, stayed smoking way longer, and completely ashed an entire tube of pellets without any issue at all.  And... the food tasted way better than I've ever gotten with the tray!  I didn't have to mess around with it at all.  

http://www.amazenproducts.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=AMNTS
 
I filled the tube half way, moved the pellets to the open end, lit it, let it burn for 10 min then moved the pellets to the bottom (which put the burning pellets to the middle) and filled the rest so it would double burn. Doing that it only lasted 2 hours. I'm sure it would last longer if I filled it all the way and just lit the end. But, personally I'd do the long version unless it wouldn't fit in your box. I smoked bacon wrapped chicken for only 2 hours and it was perfect. Way better than any I had done before using the tray.

Hmmm. 6 hours (the 12" version) should work as I've always been above 140 F in the 3 - 4 hour range. Thinking .... 
 
Here is my version of a "mailbox" mod. I did not have any mailboxes laying around, but I do work at a computer repair shop. I got to thinking that a gutted tower box would probably work pretty well. I took out anything that was plastic and mounted a 3" rigid pipe to the lid (which I have since replaced with a 90 degree elbow). Any of the holes were covered with metal tape. I didn't really like the idea of taking the guts out of the MES, so I am trying to make all mods easily reversible. I did remove the side mounted vent and replaced it with a 90 degree elbow and a 12" piece of rigid pipe. Interestingly enough, the vent fits right into the ridgid pipe if I ever need it. I found that leaving the pellet tray and holder installed restricts the flow of air just enough to make it hard for the AMPNS to get enough air to keep lit. So, I added the exhaust fan from the case to the outside. Since I thought that running it atg 12 volts might be too fast, I hooked it to a 5 volt ac adapter. It provides just enough flow to keep the AMPNS happy and provides lots of TBS.



I do take the plastic front cover off for smoking, but I think the box would stay cool enough that I might try leaving it on one time.

Thanks to everyone here for all of the tips & tricks. The Maverick just started beeping, so I think the pork roasts may be ready to get out and starft cooling down. I'll post pictures later. 
 
Finally got some time to work on my mod. Basically the same as above.

Finally found a nice, stainless steel cart on craigslist.


When my daughter bought her house, we got her a locking mailbox, so this is her contribution. I put a 1" hole on either side of the box near the front for ventilation. If that's too much, I can always use metal tape to decrease the intake. So just two twisty 3" ducts, one 3" dryer hose, and two "O" clamps later. The crimped end of the duct fit nicely into the 3" hole in the mailbox, but I also sealed it with metal tape to prevent leaks.




I also use a 3" duct over the outtake vent to create more draw. Never had a problem with stale smoke, or too much trouble keeping my AMNPS lit while inside the MES.


Will test drive the mod later this week. It's too dang hot today.
 
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