I will NOT give up on my AMZNPS !

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Looking at pics that Todd included in his Gen 1 vs Gen 2 post some time ago, http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/133955/2012-mes-40-vs-old-model-mes-40

what if you replaced the slanted drip pan and incorporated a flat one similar to what we see in the Gen 1?
The Gen #1 has a big water pan that covers most of the cooking area, yet leaves enough room for heat & air to get by it. If you could set it up to use a large water pan like in the Gen #1---Yes. This is one of the suggestions I made to Masterbuilt, to do with their next Generation. If I had a Gen #2 that I wanted to use, I would consider cutting that slanted plate down in depth to allow the heat & air to get by freely, instead of stacking up under the plate.

Bear
 
The Gen #1 has a big water pan that covers most of the cooking area, yet leaves enough room for heat & air to get by it. If you could set it up to use a large water pan like in the Gen #1---Yes. This is one of the suggestions I made to Masterbuilt, to do with their next Generation. If I had a Gen #2 that I wanted to use, I would consider cutting that slanted plate down in depth to allow the heat & air to get by freely, instead of stacking up under the plate.


Bear

I've considered modifying the slanted drip tray and possibly even cutting a vent in the top like the 1st gen MES 40. Has anyone done these mods to their 2nd gen MES 40?
 
I don't know the MES's near as well as Bearcarver, I got the little cheap one and he got the 40.  I never thought I would just let the charcoal pit sit there and rust thereby needing that extra space. But anyway, he has made a point of knowing all the units, I only attempt to trouble shoot from what I know, mine.
 
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I've considered modifying the slanted drip tray and possibly even cutting a vent in the top like the 1st gen MES 40. Has anyone done these mods to their 2nd gen MES 40?
Would probably be great if you took about an inch (or at least a half inch) off of both the front & the back of the slanted drip plate.

As for cutting a vent in top, like the Gen #1 has, if you do, cut it in the back left, instead of the back right, because one of the only problems with the Gen #1 is because the top vent is on the right, and the heating element is on the right, the heat wants to go straight up the right side & out the vent. If you ever saw pictures of my MES 40, you saw an aluminum plate on the right side, above the element, tilted up on the left, to guide the heat over to the middle of the smoker, before it goes up.

I hope that makes sense, because it works good. If they would have put the Gen #1 vent on the top left, instead of the top right, the heat would have to cross over through the smoker to get to the exhaust vent, making the heat more even across the interior of the smoker.

Bear
 
 
I don't know the MES's near as well as Bearcarver, I got the little cheap one and he got the 40.  I never thought I would just let the charcoal pit sit there and rust thereby needing that extra space. But anyway, he has made a point of knowing all the units, I only attempt to trouble shoot from what I know, mine.
Going by your comments, I would say you know your MES better than most. Most of your suggestions work for the MES 40 too.

Thanks for your help!!

Bear
 
Well I gave the AMNPS another shot last night. This time I was extremely meticulous when lighting it. I lit it with my propane torch then used a heat gun on it until it sounded like a jet engine. If you've never done it using a heat gun, search for ScooterMagoo's AMNPS lighting video and you'll know what I mean. Anyways, after using the heat gun I let the flame burn for ten minutes. It went out and I then repeated the process. I played around with it for almost 25 minutes and it was burning great. I then took Foamheart's advice and let it burn outside of the smoker to ensure that there wasn't any pellet issues and to make sure I lit it properly. I burned over half a row with perfection. No charcoal looking pellets. All completely burned. I was amazed. So that's what it's supposed to look like! Since I was extremely happy with the results I decided to give it another shot in the MES. I turned on the smoker and heated it up to 225 degrees. I wanted to repeat my last attempt so I put the AMNPS in the smoker above the hole where the water pan used to be, had the chip tray pulled out about 1 1/2", vent completely open with 90 degree elbow installed, chip loader pulled out a few inches and turned 180 degrees. Within a minute or two of putting it in the smoker, I could tell that the cherry in the AMNPS was dying. It burned maybe 3/4" of pellets and died out. I was bummed. I thought I had it this time. Back to the drawing board.
 
I had the same issue with some Maple pellets..  I pulled the chip loader and the chip tray out and placed a small fan in front of the chip loader openeing about 6" away and turned it on low and it worked perfectly.  Good luck.

Happy Smokin

Dave
 
Steelcity,

Sorry to hear of your ongoing issues.  Wish I was nearby to help you resolve this problem.  Before you do the Mailbox mod, how about a small fan as what Slots suggests?  Another air provider is a aquarium pump.  It just doesn't sound like you are enough air inside. 
 
I have a high speed muffin fan that I tried out the other day. I had the chip loader pulled out and had the fan sitting directly against the opening. Still had little success. But I may try it out again with my better lighting skills. Do you think having the fan sit back 6" would be better?
 
 vent completely open with 90 degree elbow installed,
90 degree elbow? If you have added a  90 degree elbow, that's your problem. Adding a turn in the line increases resistance thereby reducing the ability of the box to pull a draft. You may have to extend it upward first to get the 90 to work. That Dave is a smart man. Ask him what length would be required. I bet maybe 3 ft. Its not like plumbing water, you do not have a constant pressure, you are gently coaxing one thru the box.

Take your 90 off and heat the box to 275 first, you have to create a pull thru the box. Then you can reduce it to wherever you like. When you light charcoal, you must first burn them high before using them, think of it that way, 275 first to get the air expanding and moving out the top, pulling cold air from the bottom. Once the box has started this then turn it down to your cooking temp.

Try it and see if it works.
 
90 degree elbow? If you have added a  90 degree elbow, that's your problem. Adding a turn in the line increases resistance thereby reducing the ability of the box to pull a draft. You may have to extend it upward first to get the 90 to work. That Dave is a smart man. Ask him what length would be required. I bet maybe 3 ft. Its not like plumbing water, you do not have a constant pressure, you are gently coaxing one thru the box.

Take your 90 off and heat the box to 275 first, you have to create a pull thru the box. Then you can reduce it to wherever you like. When you light charcoal, you must first burn them high before using them, think of it that way, 275 first to get the air expanding and moving out the top, pulling cold air from the bottom. Once the box has started this then turn it down to your cooking temp.

Try it and see if it works.


The vent on my smoker is on the side. The 90 degree elbow is a common mod on the 2012 MES 40 to increase the draft inside the smoker.
 
 
Take your 90 off and heat the box to 275 first, you have to create a pull thru the box. Then you can reduce it to wherever you like. When you light charcoal, you must first burn them high before using them, think of it that way, 275 first to get the air expanding and moving out the top, pulling cold air from the bottom. Once the box has started this then turn it down to your cooking temp.

Try it and see if it works.
That sounds like some good advice.   SteelCity, Does your 90 have an extension on it?  If so, how long is it? 
 
I have a MES 40 new gen.   After reading many things on this forum, I decided to do the mailbox modification. I started out with the flexible tubing (for dryer) and set the mailbox on a brick on the ground.  I didn't like the idea of bending over to check on the AMNPS, so I put a shelf bracket on the side of smoker and mounted the mailbox to that. The alluminum mailbox was $15 at Menards.

I took a piece of straight vent tubing (also alluminum) and cut it down to the size that I needed to connect it to the hole in the smoker where the chip loader goes in.  The 3" vent tubing fit perfectly

in that hole.  I took the chip box completely out. I have never used the water pan, so that is not in there either. I have put a 90* elbow on the vent on the side of the smoker, with no extention. That also fit nice and snug on the existing vent apparatus. I had to wrap the 90 with foil for a few smokes because it was leaking, but after a while it sealed itself up. On the back end of the mailbox (towards the top)  I traced and cut with snips a hole to fit the vent tubing in. I used the flap method to attach them together.  I've done a few smokes with it so far, and all I can say is that this system is the BEST.

The pellets burn the way they are supposed to, and I can see the kind of smoke that I want to see coming out of the vent. It's also very easy to check on the AMNPS without opening the smoker door.

The mailbox has small holes for mounting, that lets air in from the bottom, and I also drilled one 1/2" hole in the door. This is a great forum to learn from!!!!                Dave.

ps. I also hooked an Auberins 1503 1800 watt capacity PID. I did that a while back, and I'm glad I did. That mod is quite expensive.  $200 +
 
That sounds like some good advice.   SteelCity, Does your 90 have an extension on it?  If so, how long is it? 


The 90 degree elbow is 3". I had a 3" to 4" reducer laying around so I have that as an extender on top of the elbow. That makes it about a 6" extension on the elbow.
 
I have a MES 40 new gen.   After reading many things on this forum, I decided to do the mailbox modification. I started out with the flexible tubing (for dryer) and set the mailbox on a brick on the ground.  I didn't like the idea of bending over to check on the AMNPS, so I put a shelf bracket on the side of smoker and mounted the mailbox to that. The alluminum mailbox was $15 at Menards.
I took a piece of straight vent tubing (also alluminum) and cut it down to the size that I needed to connect it to the hole in the smoker where the chip loader goes in.  The 3" vent tubing fit perfectly
in that hole.  I took the chip box completely out. I have never used the water pan, so that is not in there either. I have put a 90* elbow on the vent on the side of the smoker, with no extention. That also fit nice and snug on the existing vent apparatus. I had to wrap the 90 with foil for a few smokes because it was leaking, but after a while it sealed itself up. On the back end of the mailbox (towards the top)  I traced and cut with snips a hole to fit the vent tubing in. I used the flap method to attach them together.  I've done a few smokes with it so far, and all I can say is that this system is the BEST.
The pellets burn the way they are supposed to, and I can see the kind of smoke that I want to see coming out of the vent. It's also very easy to check on the AMNPS without opening the smoker door.
The mailbox has small holes for mounting, that lets air in from the bottom, and I also drilled one 1/2" hole in the door. This is a great forum to learn from!!!!                Dave.
ps. I also hooked an Auberins 1503 1800 watt capacity PID. I did that a while back, and I'm glad I did. That mod is quite expensive.  $200 +


Cue, do you have any pictures of your mailbox and shelf brackets? If I do the mailbox mod the shelf brackets sound like a great idea. Also, was the chip box easy to remove? Has it had an effect, good or bad, on the temps inside the smoker box? Would it be easy to put back on if you wanted to for some reason?
 
Absolutely no cutting or anything to the smoker , other than 3 small sheet metal screws to hold bracket. Can be put back to original factory condition in minutes. The chip box just slides out.  I have made a wooden cart for my smoker with a 3 sided  wind breaker. (We have some pretty tough winters here in WI.)

The mailbox has a flange area where the back is attached to the main housing, so I don't think you would even need the shelf bracket. You could screw the flange area directly to the side of the smoker with small sheet metal screws. It doesn't take much, as the mailbox weight is minimal. The last pic shows the 1/2" hole in the door.


This pic shows the connection that I had to make to get from the mailbox to the loading hole. You can also see in the corner where I have covered my window with a sheet of SS. I didn't like cleaning it.


This pic shows the elbow and the windbreaker I built. Plenty of room between the walls of the windbreaker and the smoker. Also there is no back on it, so there is no worry of too much heat.  Works great! The door is hinged with pins to come completely off in the summer if I want.
 
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