Issue with recently purchased cold smoker attachment

[lunatics]

Hey guys, recently purchased the cold smoker attachment for my 30in MES smoker. I had seen recomondations that it produces smoke better than these newer models without having to break the woodchip tray and get it closer to the heating element, plus also opens up the option of cold smoking stuff if I wanted to.

I tried using it over the past weekend and tried to leave the unit on to produce smoke while making food as I had seen other people describe, however when I want out to check on my smoker, I found that the woodchips/pellets were on fire inside of the cold smoker. The paint got extremely disgusting and began peeling away inside (which I know is a common thing with these) but my biggest concern is the fire that started in the cold smoker box. I ended up turning the unit off, pulling the chip tube out of the cold smoker and throwing it on my grill to try and let the fire burn out.

Is this normal? Have other people experienced this before? Should I only be using the unit until it starts smoking, then turn it off, then turn it back on again? I also noticed my smoker seemed to be having a hard time getting up to temp at higher temps and the cold smoker didn't seem like it made the best seal and I am worried that it was losing heat through the poor connection.

Anyone have any advice who has used these before? Should I contact MB and try to return it, or is there something I can do better/differently that makes it worth keeping and trying again?

 

[MJB05615]

I use the Cold Smoker attachment in my MES 40 Gen 1, which is an older model maybe 8-10 years old. The attachment I have is 1-2 years old and slides into the side hole where the tube would go if not using the Cold Smoke Attachment. I'm on my 2nd attachment, the first one lasted 8 years. The only time I've had a fire was when I put wood chunks instead of chips in it. The chunks got too hot and flared up. I opened the top lid, stirred it with a rod closed the lid and it went out pretty fast. I haven't had that again with only using chips.
I also use an AMNPS tube inside the smoker with pellets for additional smoke. This allows 2 different flavored smokes if you wanted. I feel the flavor from pellets is fresher than the chips, which are sometimes stale tasting. The last thing I learned for the attachment, is turn it on, when the smoke is very heavy, like 15-20 minutes in, turn it off and let it burn off on it's own. This will use the element less and preserve the life possibly. And I only fill it 1/3 to 1/2 way with chips.
The other option is the Mailbox Mod which uses the tube with pellets. There's a lot of threads for that on here too.