Mailbox mod burnt up, need new one - suggestions pls?

[husker3in4]

I have a 30" MES Gen 2 smoker that I have been using with the Amazn pellet tray and mailbox mod. I did a smoke of 3 racks of ribs last weekend, and as usual I nuked the pellets before smoking them (1 minute at a time, stir and repeat for a total of 3 times), then lit them and placed the tray at the opening of my mailbox to wait out the 10 minutes before I could blow out the flame and let the smoking begin. It was about 95 degrees, not much breeze and the sun was directly on the mailbox. I went inside for 6 minutes, came out to make sure there was still a flame to be had and the entire tray full of pelets had a strong flame going, which melted the plastic pieces inside the mailbox (the ones that old the front latch and the flag). It was smelling all sorts of toxic from the plastic I presume. I put out the fire in the tray, used new pellets, relit the tray and put the tray inside the smoker since my mailbox now had melted plastic bits and probably toxic residue in it - and of course, it only smoked for 20 mins or so before the lack of airflow choked out the pellets (which is why I was using the mailbox mod in the first place)..

So now, I need a new mailbox. I came back in here to look up the mod again and saw some threads that say to avoid galvanized steel. For my last one I just bought the cheap plain one at my local store for $10, Im pretty sure it was probably galvanized as it never rusted, and it got rained and snowed on for the past 15 months. Im looking around and I cant really find any normal looking mailboxes that are non galvanized steel, and the aluminum ones are like $80 online. Can anyone recommend a mailbox for this? Or is the galvanizing not a big deal?

This is what it looked like before:

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• husker3in4
• Jul 18, 2016

This is what it looks like now:

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• husker3in4
• Jul 14, 2017

 

[radioguy]

I have the same mailbox. Scrape off the junk, wire brush and you are good. IMO the galvanizing is not a problem. Temps in the box are low.....or should be! LOL [emoji]128521[/emoji]

 

[tallbm]

That sucks to hear that your mailbox melted down.

I recently moved my MES40 and it gets way less airflow so I started nuking my pellets 2 minutes, with a break between min 1 and 2.  I noticed that they burn WAY faster.  I think next time I am only going to nuke for 1 minute and I think I will start to experiment with a combo of nuked and un-nuked pellets to see if that can slow the burn rate down while still giving good smoke.

As for mailbox options I can't really help you there, I use a Gibraltar Classic Small Capacity Galvanized Steel Black, Wall-Mount Mailbox.  

I have a feeling I have burned off the zinc layer in mine while seasoning and having a flame situation like yours.  It is all metal with a metal (no plastic) hinge that has about a 1/4" gap for good airflow under the mailbox at the hing.  Also I like the sleek and compact design.  It is easy to add and remove all as one part and has been working with zero issue for me, even with my salmon lox cold smoke :)

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• tallbm
• Jan 8, 2017

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• tallbm
• Jan 8, 2017

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• tallbm
• Jan 8, 2017

I read online (not sure if it is accurate) that you can soak galvanized steel in vinegar for a day and then rinse with water and baking soda and that should get rid of the zinc layer that is problematic.

I guess having to do it all over again I would have tried the vinegar bath and then also did a burn out with my propane torch to season it. Once the creosote layer gets on the metal I'm guessing any zync is much harder to get to and burn up to create fumes if there is any zync left after "seasoning".

 

[dr k]

I have the same mailbox. Scrape off the junk, wire brush and you are good. IMO the galvanizing is not a problem. Temps in the box are low.....or should be! LOL [emoji]128521[/emoji]

I was thinking the same thing. People that make a UDS build a fire in the barrel to burn out any residue. I would stand the mailbox on end and make a small wood charcoal fire in it to burn out the plastic smell and the outside paint to make it uniform for painting the outside or leave it alone for it's own new look. Put fridge magnets over the holes that were plugged with plastic. I'd use it till the mailbox rusts out.
-Kurt

 

[sundown farms]

There are a lot of good ideas here and I agree your mail box looks bad but I would think of that as seasoning. When you burn off the galvanized/zinc coating be sure no one is downwind. Repaint with a hi-temp spray paint and you will again have a nice looking setup.

 

[johnmeyer]

I used a popcorn tin. Many advantages over the mailbox because it uses food grade tin-plated metal; is larger (more air, more condensation of the smoke); and it is cheaper.

Read about my experience here (click on the following link):

Mailbox (Popcorn) Mod (with a small twist)

Here are a few pics from that post:

Smoker Mod_03.jpg

• johnmeyer
• Feb 4, 2017

Smoker Mod_04.jpg

• johnmeyer
• Feb 4, 2017

In that post I provided links to suppliers where you can get just the tin, without the popcorn, for less than $20, including shipping.

 

[daveb50]

I saw a picture of one recently that used a Weber Smokey Joe grill, they taped the duct on the lid air vent. 

 

[redoctobyr]

 
I saw a picture of one recently that used a Weber Smokey Joe grill, they taped the duct on the lid air vent. 

Do you remember where you saw that? I'd be interested to see how they did it. 

I just got a MES 30 and an AMNPS, and am interested in trying the mailbox mod at some point. I have an old Smokey Joe that I haven't used in a long time, I'd thought about using it as my "mailbox". 

Advantages that I can think of: 

- It's "free", since I have it already. 

- Zero concerns about high-temperature and box material interactions. Go ahead and light the AMNPS with it sitting on the grates, etc. 

- It already has adjustable vents top and bottom. 

- The AMNPS would sit on the grates, so no need for legs to give it better airflow. 

Downsides: 

- A new Smokey Joe is more expensive than a cheap mailbox. 

- I'd have to mount the duct to a curved surface, maybe not quite as straightforward as going into the back wall of a mailbox. But still doable. 

- It's bulkier than a mailbox. 

- If I cut a hole in the Smokey Joe, it would be a somewhat destructive conversion. But if I could tape the duct onto the top vent, that would be non-destructive. 

- You'd move the ducting every time you removed the lid. So it would need to be flexible ducting. Unless maybe you tried to mount the ducting to the lower half of the grill, but that's probably not ideal for airflow of the smoke to the smoker itself. 

In terms of cost, I saw that Dollar General sells a small table-top charcoal grill for $14, currently on sale for $10. That's cheaper than many mailboxes, and would still eliminate concerns about overheating materials that aren't meant for it. 

 

[masonsjax]

Going forward, you should do what I do and leave the pellet tray out in the open until it's smoking properly. I light it on concrete or on a cinder block. After blowing out the flame, I let it rest for a few more minutes and the smoke changes from a billowing white, to a thin blue stream. Then it's ready to place in the box.

 

[daveb50]

I don't remember where I saw it, but I kept the picture. After looking at it again, he is using a cheaper grill, as it has four legs. I have a Smokey Joe and want to  try this myself.

.

Smokey Joe Cold Smoker.jpg

• daveb50
• Jul 20, 2017

 

[redoctobyr]

Thank you for the picture. It helped get me thinking about this some more.

I'm sure this is addressed in other mailbox threads, but does the ducting need to constantly slope level or upwards, when heading to the smoker? My MES is on the ground, so the top of my Smokey Joe would be higher than the chip tube port. So my ducting would have to angle downwards to reach the MES port. I'd have to raise the MES (maybe using their stand) to try and address that.

Also, I wonder if standard aluminum tape would be able to handle the temperatures, for attaching the duct to the grill. That's easier to get than special high-temperature flue tape. The AMNPS shouldn't get the grill very warm, I would think.

 

[johnmeyer]

Any dip in the tube will fill up with condensation.