MES 40 Old Gen Vent Tube/Modification ?

[friscofaulkner]

I have read various articles about Vent position and or air flow for the MES cookers.  I was hoping to bring that all into 1 thread.  It seems if I am using wood chips, everyone seems to agree that you leave the vent wide open to ensure smoking and close it when you just want heat.  Now the question I have is has anyone modified the Vent to improve airflow? 

I have seen some threads about installing a simple elbow from Hardware store, attached to the vent opening and this can help improve airflow??  Not sure how adding an elbow helps airflow but I am curious if anyone here has experience with modifying their MES to improve it?

 

[hkeiner]

Rather than using an elbow, I use just a straight piece of vent pipe about 5" in diameter and about 1 foot long.  It sits on top of the smoker vent without any need to attach it with screws or similar. I  believe that a 1 foot length pipe is sufficient to get a 'chimney effect' to improve the air flow, although I have not used anything to precisely measure air flow. I would expect that using an even longer piece of straight pipe would be even more effective. I don't get much rain where I am at so I don't worry about not having an elbow at the top of the pipe. Also, one additional benefit of a chimney is that it raises the point where the smoke leaves the smoker and keeps the stuff sitting on top of the smoker from getting all smoky/oily.

 

[friscofaulkner]

Hkeiner, thanks for the reply.  Did you remove the vent slide at the top or just mount the tube on top of it with it wide open?