I think this is a closer picture .
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I came off the mailbox with 4" . You want the pressure inside the mailbox to be higher than the pressure of the flow / path . That's the reason for the 4" , and it's used to help start the flow of the smoke . The flow will naturally migrate from high pressure to low pressure .
Also , I used a start collar / standing collar coming off the mailbox . It has a shoulder on it , and the fingers bend on the inside and are not visible . I personally like to keep it " clean " . No fingers or tape on the outside . After the run ( horizontal ) , I necked down to 3" for the rise ( vertical ) . This causes a " choke point " of sorts and keeps the solids / condensate out of the smoker .
I have mine dialed in . No trouble with smoke flow .
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