# MES 30 MAILBOX MOD HELP!



## jeffro99 (Jun 9, 2014)

Hey guys I just picked up an AMNPS and am looking to do up a mail box mod for it.

I am wondering what you guys have done with the chip tray part of the mes 30 when you do this mod

do you remove it all? I had a 3" elbow laying around and I pulled out the chip loader and went to insert the elbow in and I notices inside the loader tube there is a lil flange that stopes the elbow from slidding all the way in as I have seen on others.

how are you guys going about this??

thanks


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## nightrod06 (Jun 10, 2014)

jeffro99 said:


> Hey guys I just picked up an AMNPS and am looking to do up a mail box mod for it.
> 
> I am wondering what you guys have done with the chip tray part of the mes 30 when you do this mod
> 
> ...


Remove the chip loader completely. The 3" elbow should slide into the chip loader hole (from the outside) about 1". Thats how I did mine atleast.


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## olddaddy (Jun 10, 2014)

OK,  I have an MES 30 and an AMNPS...........but what is a mailbox mod? Pics?


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## nightrod06 (Jun 10, 2014)

Basically you take a mailbox and connect it to your MES using some 3" dryer vent. You place the lit AMPS in the mailbox and it feeds smoke into the MES. Do a search for "mailbox mod" in the search bar above for threads of peoples builds. Dave has a very good step by step write up. I forget who came up with the idea but a lot of MES guys have them. Below are a few pics of mine. It works great!













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## jeffro99 (Jun 11, 2014)

do you remove anything to do with the chip tray inside??

also do you think the hole in the mail box matters if it was in the back or on top?

to me the top would make more sense?


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## daveomak (Jun 11, 2014)

In the back is the way I did mine....   You do not want the smoke to recirculate inside the MB.....   If it does, it lowers the available oxygen for the pellets and could screw up the "burn"....    Air in at the front, smoke out at the back, will help avoid any problems....   Here's my install.....  They are twins.....  













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I left the chip tray in as "thermal mass and deflector plate" for the heat from the element....  and also so I can use it to use chips for a short smoke, like mesquite on a reverse sear steak or shrimp....   mesquite smoked Rib Eye with a side of mesquite smoked shrimp then on the BBQ is one of my favorite meals....   













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And the "water" pan is now a gravel pan....  when I add water, I will put a 1/4 cup in an aluminum pie tin and set it in the smoker somewhere....


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## nightrod06 (Jun 11, 2014)

DaveOmak said:


> In the back is the way I did mine.... You do not want the smoke to recirculate inside the MB..... If it does, it lowers the available oxygen for the pellets and could screw up the "burn".... Air in at the front, smoke out at the back, will help avoid any problems.... Here's my install..... They are twins.....
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Yep. Dave has you covered. I used his method because it works great. Another good reason to have it exit the back of the MB is for ease of install into the flat portion of the MB rather than trying to fit the vent piece into the rounded top portion.

As mentioed in other posts, some suitable vessels other than a mail box include; metal toolbox, metal ammo can, etc. Basically anything that is the rough size of a mailbox and has some kind of lid for easy access to the AMPS.


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## whatamess (Jun 11, 2014)

Does the mailbox get hot at all?  I'm going to do this soon and I am trying to figure out the best place to put it, My smoker stand is wood.  I was thinking maybe just set it on a brick to keep it away from combustibles?


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## nightrod06 (Jun 11, 2014)

whataMESs said:


> Does the mailbox get hot at all?  I'm going to do this soon and I am trying to figure out the best place to put it, My smoker stand is wood.  I was thinking maybe just set it on a brick to keep it away from combustibles?


It gets warm. I would say not hot enough to cause any issues. You might have to give it a try and see.


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## daveomak (Jun 11, 2014)

whataMESs said:


> Does the mailbox get hot at all?  I'm going to do this soon and I am trying to figure out the best place to put it, My smoker stand is wood.  I was thinking maybe just set it on a brick to keep it away from combustibles?




Maybe 1 Tbs. of pellets are "burning" at one time...  that doesn't create much heat....  and depending on the MB used, there is an air gap on the bottom for insulation....


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## whatamess (Jun 11, 2014)

Nightrod06 said:


> It gets warm. I would say not hot enough to cause any issues. You might have to give it a try and see.





DaveOmak said:


> Maybe 1 Tbs. of pellets are "burning" at one time... that doesn't create much heat.... and depending on the MB used, there is an air gap on the bottom for insulation....


Thanks guys, just don't want to be on an episode of Never Ever Do This At Home.


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## whatamess (Jun 13, 2014)

Just to follow-up I got my mailbox all set up last night and just experimented a bit on an empty smoker.  The top of the box right over the spot that is burning in the tray gets pretty warm, but I could still rest my hand on it for 10+ seconds.  The bottom stays cool to the touch, and the sides only slightly warm.  It works awesome with heat, but draw with cold smoking seems lacking, smoke seems to pool in the bottom of the smoker, like when I open the door there is very dense smoke about halfway up from the bottom then it thins out towards the top, and only barely wisps out the vent. I tried fanning the door it mostly puffed back through the box, I eventually put the shop vac near the vent when nothing was coming out after 5 minutes and got some air moving it seemed to help.


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## daveomak (Jun 13, 2014)

whataMESs said:


> Just to follow-up I got my mailbox all set up last night and just experimented a bit on an empty smoker.  The top of the box right over the spot that is burning in the tray gets pretty warm, but I could still rest my hand on it for 10+ seconds.  The bottom stays cool to the touch, and the sides only slightly warm.  It works awesome with heat, but draw with cold smoking seems lacking, smoke seems to pool in the bottom of the smoker, like when I open the door there is very dense smoke about halfway up from the bottom then it thins out towards the top, and only barely wisps out the vent. I tried fanning the door it mostly puffed back through the box, I eventually put the shop vac near the vent when nothing was coming out after 5 minutes and got some air moving it seemed to help.




Is the top vent wide open ????   If so, you need to fire up the smoker for a bit to warm it up....  that will start the draft " chimney effect" and everything will be fine....
With the top of the MB warm or almost hot, there is no air flow....   air flow is a MUST HAVE.....  

Post pictures of you complete set up....


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## whatamess (Jun 13, 2014)

Did you drill holes in your door?  Mine only has 4 small screw holes in the floor.  I'll try to get pics tonight.


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## daveomak (Jun 13, 2014)

If you look at the previous posts, you will see my set up.....   post 6......


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## nightrod06 (Jun 13, 2014)

whataMESs said:


> Did you drill holes in your door?  Mine only has 4 small screw holes in the floor.  I'll try to get pics tonight.


You need to have a whole in the door of the mailbox for sure if you have not done so already. That will help with the draft for sure. I drilled one 3/4" hole in the ceneter of the door on mine as suggested in other Mailbox Mod threads.

Also, make sure the mailbox is below the chip loader hole (where the dryer vent enters the MES) as much as possilble to help with the drafting effect. Make sure you dont have any sharp bends or bellies in the dryer vent either. You want as smooth of a flow as possible. Let us know what you come up with.


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## vegas flyingcub (Jun 13, 2014)

Just a quick question, I looked at the mail boxes at home depot and lowes and they seem to be galvanized. Where are you finding non galvanized ones because of the heat factor....Thanks


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## whatamess (Jun 13, 2014)

Nightrod06 said:


> You need to have a whole in the door of the mailbox for sure if you have not done so already. That will help with the draft for sure. I drilled one 3/4" hole in the ceneter of the door on mine as suggested in other Mailbox Mod threads.
> 
> Also, make sure the mailbox is below the chip loader hole (where the dryer vent enters the MES) as much as possilble to help with the drafting effect. Make sure you dont have any sharp bends or bellies in the dryer vent either. You want as smooth of a flow as possible. Let us know what you come up with.


Yep, I missed drilling the door hole
	

	
	
		
		



		
			






.  The box is below the chip loader hole, I tried to keep the flex pipe as short as possible, its less than 18" long and it does make a smooth upsweeping 90 degree turn into the smoker.  I think my problem was air flow.

I'm going to drill two or three like Dave's setup and use fridge magnets to adjust flow as required.


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## whatamess (Jun 13, 2014)

Vegas Flyingcub said:


> Just a quick question, I looked at the mail boxes at home depot and lowes and they seem to be galvanized. Where are you finding non galvanized ones because of the heat factor....Thanks


Mine I got from Lowe's it is galv steel I'm pretty sure, but I'm not that worried.  If the mailbox is exceeding 700* to start vapourizing zinc I've got worse problems.  The ducting is galv too, its not touching food or getting seriously hot so me personally, I'm not concerned, but Lowes or HD does have aluminum I saw for a bit more money.  IF you were constructing something inside the smoker itself, very close to the element for instance, I would and have used stainless sheet.


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## whatamess (Jun 13, 2014)

Nightrod and Mr. DaveOmak thanks for your help. I drilled 3 x 1/2" holes in the door and it drafts perfect now without heat.


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## daveomak (Jun 13, 2014)

That is good news.....   now smoke something and take pics......


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## whatamess (Jun 13, 2014)

DaveOmak said:


> That is good news.....   now smoke something and take pics......



Look for a prime rib thread tomorrow :)


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## daveomak (Jun 13, 2014)

Thumbs Up


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## smokinfor7 (Jun 14, 2014)

I made this from an old propane bottle. Going to start research for modification on my MES. 













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## jeffro99 (Jun 24, 2014)

Finally got time to finish up my mod.

I removed the chip tray assembly all together, made a little bracket to hold my ceramic tile above the element, and piped up the box. I didn't have to add any holes to the box and I seem to get a good burn rate with my amnps. Awsome mod I love it!!

I tested it out with a fatty over the weekend which turned out great. My mes 30 seemed to be holding temp pretty good over the weekend. thermo read 246 as did my digital display on the unit, I guess I got lucky with this one.













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## whatamess (Jun 27, 2014)

Nice Job, I like the Kubota orange!
	

	
	
		
		



		
			






I did cheese in mine Wednesday night for the first time with the mailbox.  It was 66* when I started and 71* two hours later.  I'm so happy to be able to do warm weather cheese again!


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## jeffro99 (Jun 27, 2014)

im going to give cheese a shot this weekend I hope.

for added safety im gonna put some ice in the smoker to keep things cool


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## whatamess (Jun 27, 2014)

jeffro99 said:


> im going to give cheese a shot this weekend I hope.
> 
> 
> for added safety im gonna put some ice in the smoker to keep things cool



Freeze up some jugs of water if you're worried. I've done that and it works better than ice cubes.  I put the cheese in cold from the fridge and it actually lowered the smoker temp a few degrees. I did 6 pounds so I've got enough to do me for awhile. :)


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