New Mes Owner Needs Advice

[trailrider]

I have one of the older 30" models of MES from QVC, Model #20070410. It has the single vent, measuring about 3/4 inch in diameter (non adjustable,always open). The chip tray with lid, has to be filled by opening the front door and holds about 2 good handfuls. It has three racks and the analog control for heat adjustment. Anyone with this same model who have experiences to share, please do.
I successfully smoked my first "butt" and it turned out great. I used apple chips, Jeff's rub and mopped with apple juice. I did use the dual probe Maverick ET-73. (FYI, when I checked the probes with boiling water, the food probe was right on, but the cooker box probe read low by 5 degrees.) I have two main questions I would appreciate help with:
1. When the chips have changed to looking like charcoal, but are still smoking, can I still use them and wait to add more chips?
2. To keep the smoke box at around 225, I had to adjust the analog control quite a few times. What is the experience some of you have had? Is a range between 220 and 240 still going to be apt to give good results? For my first time, maybe I was to nervous about trying to keep the temp just right.
Thanks for the help and I'm sorry for being so "wordy"
Dale

 

[fourthwind]

I have not played with the older MES, but I would just add your new chips right on top of the old. Helps with a better burn on your chips for thinner smoke.

As for the temp, just do the best you can. 220 to 240 are fine temps. Make adjustments and give the MES at least 20 minutes to stabilize before doing it again.

No worries on the non adjustable vent. We keep ours wide open all the time anyhow.

 

[pineywoods]

As long as the chips are producing smoke use them. Remember your looking for Thin Blue Smoke (TBS) not white billowing smoke. If you can barely see the smoke or just smell it you've got it perfect. When smoking your not going to keep an exact temp all the time and will drive yourself nuts if you try to. Your right set a range and try to stay in that range. 220-240 is fine mine is usually 220-250.
Its my understanding that the chip pan is not very large on some of the MES models if you have a smaller chip pan and the chips quit smoking I would suggest dumping the chip pan into an old coffee can with some water in it and reloading the chip pan with new chips