Trouble with low temps and smoke vault 18"

I'm going to start at the end. You said your therm "seems" to be accurate, what does that mean? Have you checked it in boiling water to make sure? Just asking because most of the factory analog door mounted therms are not accurate. I have a GOSM and my factory therm is off by about 30*, sometimes hot, sometimes cold. It's very important to have a known accurate therm. The Maverick is a nice one.

I'm not familiar with the Smoke Vault but most vertical propane smokers are pretty much the same. I had the same problem with my GOSM when I first got it, [color= rgb(24, 24, 24)]it wouldn't go below 250* and the temps were all over the place using it as the instructions said to. A few mods later and it is performing wonderfully.[/color]

First I quit using water in the pan, I filled it with play sand. This really helped with the temp fluctuations. I still put a disposable foil pan in it right on top of the sand pan with some water to catch drippings.

Next I installed a needle valve and with that I could get it down to about 185*. http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/a/needle-valves-for-gassers

I wanted to start smoking jerky in it and I needed to be below 170* so I took the burner from the side burner on my gas grill (it is about 1" smaller in diameter) and replaced the GOSM factory burner with it. I can now maintain a consistent 135* up to over 300* with no problems or big temp swings.

If I were you I would first make sure whatever therm I was using was accurate and if in fact the smoker is running hot I would start by installing a needle valve and I would definitely put sand in the water pan and use another pan to catch the drippings.

275* is OK for chicken but if you want to smoke a pork butt or brisket or something "low and slow" you really need to be down around 225*-230*.

brazosdog02 said:

Just checked the thermo. It's dead on.

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Cool, that's good to know! Don't want to be guessing at things. I think the needle valve would be perfect to get your temps down. It also makes adjustments a lot easier. When I try and adjust the factory valve on my smoker it might change 20-30 degrees but with the needle valve I can give it a quarter turn and change 5-10 degrees at a time. It has really made temp control much easier for me and like I said earlier took a 250* smoker down to 185*.

brazosdog02 said:

Will item M5HPR1 fit on my smoker and accomplish what you are talking about? Has a needle valve built in.

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I'm not sure what that item is, do you have a pic or more details about it?

brazosdog02 said:

Will item M5HPR1 fit on my smoker and accomplish what you are talking about? Has a needle valve built in.

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Is that the one with the hose already attached? If so I can't really say since I'm not that familiar with the Smoke Vault. If you get just the valve, a couple of hose barbs and hose clamps and attach it like in the pics in this thread http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/a/needle-valves-for-gassers  then I know it will work and be a lot cheaper.

I just seasoned my new smoke vault 24....
Temp would not go below 225,
Normally I would not have any issues with this temp but I got the bigger one to do jerky, I'll need to go quite a bit lower than that,
Btw @225* it's on warm
I did use my maverick to get those numbers.