1 step short on the Mail box mod on Analog MES 30

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snausageman

Newbie
Original poster
May 22, 2014
20
10
New Castle, IN
I have looked at the mod, understand it completely and have bought everything I need.  But since my analog doesn't have the "chip adding hole" in the side of the smoker I am leery of hole sawing through without seeing if anyone else has done this.  Pics attached of inside and as you can see no hole to work with.  


I have a 3" bi metal hole saw bit for a drill and am ready to tackle the upgrade.  The side walls are double walled and I am wondering what kind of insulation there is inside them?

Any help would be greatly appreciated with this project.
 
I would say it depends on where the MB is going to sit.... Is there room on the bottom of the smoker for the 3" hole that will work.... If so, drill the hole there and then mount the 90 deg elbow in the end of the MB and direct the flow into the bottom of the smoker... If more room is needed under the smoker, extend the legs or what ever it takes to elevate it...
Drill the hole in the side of the smoker as low as you can.... drill from the inside first, so it is where you want it... then drill the outer skin from the outside.... use a short extension to get the smoke to somewhere near the center...

In either case, I recommend the outlet, of the MB, should be in the end of the MB... for good air / smoke flow and no recirculation of used smoky air...

Then the exhaust portion... I would start with 4 each.. 3/4" holes.... a step drill works well for those holes... in the top area of the side walls...
 
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The MB will be set to the side as per the mail box mod pics I have looked and feed into the side.  The bottom of the smoker has the grease trap and the mounting for the heating element, water tray and chip tray.  I think I am going to have to go through the side.

Thanks for the advice.. I know I need more exhaust vents on the smoker to get the draw going.  I will start with 4 and work from there.   

I will update everyone as I go along.
 
I use the MB analog model with a homemade amaz. style smoke gen. I would recommend bringing smoke in from bottom drilling out drip pan drain hole below heat coils. Remove water & old chip pan and put a disposible pan on a rack where they were installed. I have already drilled an adjustable intake vent on the bottom corner of the left side of the smoker near the door edge, and an adjustable exhaust in the upper corner of the right side of the box with no issues. The only reason I will be adding the box mod. is to free up the lower shelf the amaz. smoker currently uses so I can fit more product. 
 
I take it the disposable pan is now the drip pan and water/moisture pan all in one.  What type of adjustable vents did you use in the bottom and top.  I can find the damper type used on charcoal grills.  How big of a hole did you drill for the vents?
 
That is exactly what I needed to see RG.. Thanks for sharing your build pics.
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I take it the disposable pan is now the drip pan and water/moisture pan all in one.  What type of adjustable vents did you use in the bottom and top.  I can find the damper type used on charcoal grills.  How big of a hole did you drill for the vents?
I didn't do anything as fancy as RG. Simply drilled 1 1/4 inch holes with a hole saw and put a swinging vent cap made with a pop rivet and coffee can lid. The more you swing the lid the more or less of the hole is exposed. 
 
Just want to show off my meager MB mod build.  Thanks to all that gave me some input and thanks for all those that have come before me.. I stand on the shoulders of giants.

And now the semi finished product reveal.  This is all going to sit on top of a file cabinet that will store supplies.


Did a test smoke and it works great.  Slow thin smoke even w/o smoker heated up all the way through out the top. Only leak is at the MB door.. OH and had to remove the plastic closer on the MB.. it started to melt on the top.  Probably just need to remove all the plastic from it anyway.

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