Cutting hole mailbox.

[indaswamp]

put the pellets in the microwave for 2 minutes to dry them out. if they are damp, you will see steam rise off of them. This also prewarms them and makes them light so much easier....

 

[indaswamp]

Also, if you are cold smoking, you need to preheat the MES to kick start the draft....

 

[BrianGSDTexoma]

It going good now. Set tray out to get air for few minutes. Now fighting smoker temp again. Says running 225 but maverick says 180. Never had this problem with the 30. Turned up to 250. This the 3rd time use this 40 and third time fighting temp. I will work on mailbox with empty smoker. Should I remove the chip loader?

 

[chopsaw]

Glad you got it hooked up . If the pellets are going good , I wouldn't think you need to remove the loader . Give it some time to settle in . Not sure how long you been running , but I find the more on / off cycles the closer they stay in temp .

 

[daveomak]

Remove all the guts to get good air flow.... Put the AMNPS on stilts for good air flow also....
I had problems keeping the AMNPS going UNTIL I put it on stilts...
.. ..

 

[johnmeyer]

I would leave the chip loader in place in order to provide a shield for the heating element.

Also, there is no way the loader will restrict enough air to change anything. Imagine having the entire loader assembly out in the open, and then blow into it while holding your hand on the other side. You'd feel just as much air coming across as if it wasn't there. If you have a window on your smoker you can watch the smoke come in from the mod and see for yourself that it doesn't stall out because of the loader.

A lot of people do put stilts on their tray. I can see how that might help, but I think you'd get just as much improvement by simply moving the tray towards the front, as near to the holes in the mailbox door as possible. That way the fresh air will hit the pellets as soon as it comes in, and will make it impossible to have "dead spots" inside the mailbox where fresh air might get blocked.

Your mod looks fine, and if you use dry, good-quality pellets, I'm sure you'll be able to easily sustain combustion for as long as you want to smoke.

 

[daveomak]

I keep the chip pan on my heating element to diffuse the heat.... All the rest of the junk is gone...

........

 

[johnmeyer]

<deleted>

 

[johnmeyer]

I keep the chip pan on my heating element to diffuse the heat.... All the rest of the junk is gone..........

Ah, that's good. The left hand pic in your post #24 (linked to below) made it look like the tray had been removed and the elements were exposed.

View attachment 391173..

 

[daveomak]

Well, after your comment I had to take a picture to show how it's really used.... Notice the time of the edit ????

 

[dr k]

I made a rack for the mailbox. When you flip the Amnps upside down the pellets go out a lot at the center X if not elevated.

The two pencil sized holes in the bottom of the mailbox I left unplugged and the air coming in at the hinge was plenty to burn pellets to ash so no holes to drill for air in the door.

 

[johnmeyer]

I'd vote for more air openings, but it it's working, that's all that matters.

 

[BrianGSDTexoma]

Went out to work on smoker to try to fix temp and pulled tray out from mailbox. Had one channel filled from Sunday and quit half way. It ran for 3.5 hours on half channel so needs more air. Going to knockout bottom holes to 1 inch. Think need to add another. Wonder if add one under or just another in door?

 

[chopsaw]

I followed Dave's advice . I have 2 holes low and one hole high in the door .

 

[daveomak]

 

[BrianGSDTexoma]

That about how I have it. Not enough. Even left door open a little.

 

[johnmeyer]

Even though I was the one who said you might want more holes, with the holes I see that you now have, I am surprised that the AMNPS went out and am wondering if the problem lies elsewhere. Here are some other ideas to consider:

Make sure there is no dust mixed in with the pellets. I was able to verify that while the AMNPS can burn dust, and it of course burns pellets, if you mix the two together, it may go out. I posted about it in this thread:

If Your AMNPS Won't Stay Lit, Read On

Make sure your MES vent is open all the way. Never close the MES vent.

Take a look at how high you are filling each row. I actually am not sure which works better: filling up to the brim, or keeping the rows pretty low. I know that a few people reported that filling it to the brim caused the adjacent row to catch, but I never had that problem. I tend to fill it to the top. Also, don't pack down the pellets. This may cause a problem similar to what I describe in that post I linked to above.

Make sure the AMNPS is fully lit and running before you put it in the box. I used to be concerned about burning up my pellets, but I now always let it burn, with an open flame, for at least five minutes after I start it, and I then after I blow out the flame I let is smoke, out in the open, for another minute or two after that.

Consider altering your lighting method. I switched to using a heat gun because it does a great job of preheating the pellets (I tried the microwave method and am not a fan), and it also makes sure that you get a big lump of pellets burning rather than just those that are next to the little lighting hole. Here is the video I made, showing the technique:

Using Heat Gun to Light A-Maze-N Pellet Smoker

 

[BrianGSDTexoma]

I got the back of the mailbox tilted up thinking that might help. I will try microwave pellets next time. I gonna go ahead go up to 1 inch on holes and try again.

 

[dr k]

I foiled over the bottom pan drain hole and capped the rear grease drain so all air comes through the mailbox. Before a lighter wouldn't stay lit and sucked the flame into the smoker with the draft going into the smoker at the drain. Maybe why I never meeded to drill the mailbox door air holes.

 

[johnmeyer]

I foiled over the bottom pan drain hole and capped the rear grease drain so all air comes through the mailbox. Before a lighter wouldn't stay lit and sucked the flame into the smoker with the draft going into the smoker at the drain. Maybe why I never meeded to drill the mailbox door air holes.

I never thought of doing that, but you do bring up a great point: you need good airflow. If you were to close the MES vent (obviously you won't do that) you could drill all the holes you want in the mailbox, but air won't get drawn in. By contrast, if you get the MES pre-heated and open the vent, the convection is going to create a very nice draw, like a fireplace chimney, and you almost don't need holes in the mailbox because the suction will pull air in through every crack in the door and hinge.