Thanks all for such an informative forum! I found my smoker at the dump and it only took some cleaning and a new controller to get it going. You can see my initial thread here:
https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/newbie-with-mes-30-first-gen.277411/
I have smoked a couple of chickens and pork loins in it with acceptable results but was un-impressed with the anemic smoke output. My AMNPS arrived so it was time for a trial run. I have read many of the threads on air flow and since my smoker doesn't have the side loading chip system or the big air vent that you MES folks have, I figured I would have to drill vent holes in the cabinet as shown in this thread:
https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t...inner-or-buy-replacement.275916/#post-1835458
But I thought I would try it the way it is first. Empty smoker, no meat, no chip tray, no water pan, just the AMNPS sitting in the spot where the water tray is supposed to go. Followed the instructions re drying the pellets (Pit Boss Competition Blend from Walmart) and lit it up. I only filled the first row of the AMNPS, as I figured a 3 hour run would be sufficient.
The analog controller for this smoker is nothing to write home about, but I'm not so uptight about temp as to need a PID so ordered the "UCONTRO Switchable -22 to 572 °F -30 to 300 °C Digital Temperature Controller Electronic Thermostat"
It's similar to the Inkbird controllers but has a higher temp range. Sorry, the system wouldn't let me post a link to it. The contacts are only rated for 10 amps (actually 2x 5a), but I had a nice big contactor salvaged from an industrial oven so that's no problem. So I set the temp for 225° and the differential to 2 as a starting point. I let it preheat a bit as I got the AMNPS ready to go, then buttoned it all up to see what happened. I am satisfied with the controller, after things settled down it held the temp to within 12° of the set point, close enough for me. During the whole 3 hours I had a nice stream of smoke from the tiny vent. There was also a fair amount of smoke leakage around the door. At first I though that I had better fix that, but I don't know, maybe that leakage is helping the AMNPS to breath. Because when I opened it up at the end of 3 hours it was still merrily smoking away, looks like there were enough pellets left for at least another hour or so.
So, I have said all that in order to ask this: Since I seem to have enough air flow to keep the AMNPS happily chugging out smoke, is there any reason to drill additional air holes?
https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/newbie-with-mes-30-first-gen.277411/
I have smoked a couple of chickens and pork loins in it with acceptable results but was un-impressed with the anemic smoke output. My AMNPS arrived so it was time for a trial run. I have read many of the threads on air flow and since my smoker doesn't have the side loading chip system or the big air vent that you MES folks have, I figured I would have to drill vent holes in the cabinet as shown in this thread:
https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t...inner-or-buy-replacement.275916/#post-1835458
But I thought I would try it the way it is first. Empty smoker, no meat, no chip tray, no water pan, just the AMNPS sitting in the spot where the water tray is supposed to go. Followed the instructions re drying the pellets (Pit Boss Competition Blend from Walmart) and lit it up. I only filled the first row of the AMNPS, as I figured a 3 hour run would be sufficient.
The analog controller for this smoker is nothing to write home about, but I'm not so uptight about temp as to need a PID so ordered the "UCONTRO Switchable -22 to 572 °F -30 to 300 °C Digital Temperature Controller Electronic Thermostat"
It's similar to the Inkbird controllers but has a higher temp range. Sorry, the system wouldn't let me post a link to it. The contacts are only rated for 10 amps (actually 2x 5a), but I had a nice big contactor salvaged from an industrial oven so that's no problem. So I set the temp for 225° and the differential to 2 as a starting point. I let it preheat a bit as I got the AMNPS ready to go, then buttoned it all up to see what happened. I am satisfied with the controller, after things settled down it held the temp to within 12° of the set point, close enough for me. During the whole 3 hours I had a nice stream of smoke from the tiny vent. There was also a fair amount of smoke leakage around the door. At first I though that I had better fix that, but I don't know, maybe that leakage is helping the AMNPS to breath. Because when I opened it up at the end of 3 hours it was still merrily smoking away, looks like there were enough pellets left for at least another hour or so.
So, I have said all that in order to ask this: Since I seem to have enough air flow to keep the AMNPS happily chugging out smoke, is there any reason to drill additional air holes?
