Need advice for mounting damper/fan

Hiya, I finally got around to actually drilling a hole in my WSM and am getting ready to mount my Microdamper to my WSM. I purchased two black steel pipe nipples. One is short, like two inches, the other is five inches. I would like to use the smaller of the two but was wondering if the Microdamper shouldn't be that close to the heat? What do you all think? I've included images below, so that you all might get an idea of how close the damper will be to the charcoal bowl. My concerns are that the Microdamper may melt or the fan and servo malfunction due to too much heat?

First image: New hole and materials


Microdamper mounted with short nipple


Microdamper mounted with long nipple


Inside bowl


Once I get this step figured out, I'll spread some hi temp silicone under the inner bowl washer to help make things a little tighter. I gotta tell you, I was dreading trying to drill into this thing, but the drill bit saw thing I picked up went through like butter. Took all of a minute to make that hole and its a perfect fit for the diameter of the pipe. I can practically screw it in without the need of the conduit nuts.

Thanks for your input!

I used a 45 degree offset on mine. It's worked great with no heat issues.

Hey Len, thanks for the reply. I'll go see if I can get a 45 degree pipe angle at my local home depot.