# AMNPS placement in an MES 40



## coop9790 (Aug 24, 2013)

Anybody ever placed their AMNPS on the drip pan at the very bottom?  I am wanting to smoke 6 pork butts and some macaroni and cheese.  With that much the AMNPS will not fit on any of the grates.  Any help would be appreciated.


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## sigmo (Aug 24, 2013)

The problem may be getting enough airflow up under and around the AMNPS to keep it burning well.

Which generation of MES40 do you have?  If it's a 1st generation, you may be able to do what I usually do.  I also have the chip loader pulled out all of the way, or at least partway, and the chip tray opened up some, too.

And I always like to have some sort of drip-protector above the AMNPS to keep drips from hitting it and the pellets.  The drips can put it out and burning fat makes really nasty-tasting smoke.  So it's imperative to protect the AMNPS from drips, BUT you don't want the drip shield to restrict the airflow too much, either.

Here's how I usually have things set up in my gen 1 MES 40:













p1400443194.jpg



__ sigmo
__ Aug 24, 2013
__ 1






That wire rack holds the AMNPS up just right off of the drip tray, yet the bottom grate is left free.

BUT, I do cover the part of the bottom grate directly above the AMNPS with some foil to act as a drip shield, so that part of the bottom grate can't be used.  I should build something else for a drip shield over the AMNPS that doesn't monopolize the left side of the bottom grate.

You can see the foil drip shield in this picture:













p1400443182.jpg



__ sigmo
__ Aug 24, 2013






The generation 2 MESs are laid out differently, and from what I've read, Todd suggests taking the water dish out and putting the AMNPS right over the hole in that drip pan that was occupied by the water dish.  That gets good airflow up through the AMNPS.

Which version of the MES are you using?


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## coop9790 (Aug 25, 2013)

I have Gen 2 model.  H think I will just lay it on the water pan opening.  That seems to be the best place.  Thanks for the info.


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