question on mailbox mod for mes 30

Hi, I don't want to talk to the mail box question. I don't have one. What I will talk about is the top vent on the MES 30 gen one.

First the top damper is two parts the first is stamped into the smoker top. For all practical purposes it  does not need to be removed. The 2nd part has the adjuster mounted to it. it is held on by a 10 mm nut. You need a 10mm socket and a wrench. The case is about 3.25 inches. a soup can or 3' exhaust pipe will fit nicely. I decided to use a Traditional stack like this one. It is only slightly better than the corn can that I started with. I just like the look.View media item 349953

This is the muffler pipe, it worked fine. The traditional one only costs 16.00 delivered. It has a outside flange dimension of about 3.65 inches. The inside dimension is 2.5 but the 3 inch Master built area is 1/2 closed off so the 2.5 is more than enough. I tried many types of stacks before I decided on the top one.    jted

I fashioned a tunnel to move the exhaust toward the center of the smoker body.... seems to work well.....

....click on pics to enlarge.....

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The flex elbow will protrude through the smoker body.... I attached a small section of flex duct to move the smoke/air flow toward
the center of the smoker body.... The water pan is used as a thermal mass and flow distribution... The chip pan was left in for
thermal mass and heat distribution also....


Attached a flex elbow to the rear of the MB... same with flex duct to complete the "system"... seems to work well.....
Once through air flow keeps the pellets burning.... If you have recirculating smoke, the air will be deficient in oxygen...
The pellets may not burn well.....

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Adding to the advice above.  The longer the run from the mod to the smoke collector, whatever it may be, the cleaner and smoother the smoke will be.  If smoking cheese, a long run will dramatically cut the bitter after taste and shorten the waiting time if even needed, before consumption. Not saying the cheese will equalize sooner, it will be palatable sooner. 

Tom