fwismoker
Master of the Pit
Demo do you think he can get enough heat through those holes? Also do you think he'd still have the structural integrity of the bricks after drilling them?
Smoker fix ideas
- Thread starter wes w
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Mind you, I'm not a mechanical, structural or thermal engineer. That said, I don't think drilling out those bricks would damage the structural integrity as the only part being drilled out are parts that aren't really doing much anyways. I'm pretty sure you could sheer the bricks off flush and not damage the structural integrity.
As to whether they'd pass enough heat, the idea is to direct some of the heat away from the bottom and to the upper part of the chamber. As Wes's pictures show, things cook just fine at the top of the unit as it is right now, they just take longer and the bottom gets blasted. This isn't the same as trying to direct/duct heat from one unit over to a completely different one. If the ledges are roughly 16 inches long, and he was able to put 8 holes in each, I'd think more than enough heat would be diverted to try and equalize chamber temps.
Now, with all that said, I grant that I could, of course, be 100% totally and completely wrong.
I'm thinking maybe cut notches (maybe 3 of them, each 3" long) in the brick ledgers... instead of trying to drill holes... would be easier to use a diamond cutting wheel on a 4" grinder and make the cuts in the brick and then use a hammer to knock the pieces of brick out.. just another thought..
OR
If you were to put steel walls in like that, you really don't need the brick ledgers to mount the grates to.... just cut the ledgers out completely... the grates will be mounted to the steel walls instead....
just a couple more ideas
OR
If you were to put steel walls in like that, you really don't need the brick ledgers to mount the grates to.... just cut the ledgers out completely... the grates will be mounted to the steel walls instead....
just a couple more ideas
fwismoker
Master of the Pit
This is the best idea yet to try first. It cant hurt anything and only help. Also thicken up the baffle w/ pavers or such.
whatever it is that you try... just remember not to tear it up to bad so that you can put it back to original if need be
Sitting here reading other post's and still thinking on this one... the simple fix may just be a fresh air vent at the bottom of the door.. it should help circulate the heat around the CC like a fan would.... just another thought
fwismoker
Master of the Pit
I like your idea first to cut notches in the brick ledges...there is no worst case to it.
Not sure about how the convection would flow with fresh air in the door...it could vent heat and smoke out there vs the top?
I like this idea, like you said as a last resort. Your not going to weaken the structure by taking brick out. Once cured, brick or block are self supporting.The 1 1/2in ledges might be a place to look. Staying with the hypercose idea, here's a very bad sketch. Mind you, this is an absolute "if nothing else works" type of solution as it's not exactly easy.Here is a clean shot of the chamber as it was being built. There is no ledge in the back. The racks are pushed all the way to the back wall. I have about 1 1/2 in. that I can pull the racks forward.
Edit: The first shelf is between the two doors hidden.
The ledges are 1 1/2 each side. The racks sit on them about half.
If you need a closer picture, let me know.
Love you all's thinking. I'm listening.
Red represents the inner walls of your smoker.
Blue represents sheet metal of some size that would need to be fabricated.
Green nubs represent new supports for your 2 lower shelves. Could be metal tabs, or even angle iron the full depth of the shelves.
Black arrows represent where holes would need to be drilled both in your 1 1/2 in brick "shelves", as well as in the upper sides of the fabricated insert, and the top of the insert.
Scale is way off. The chamber formed on top could be pretty small and shouldn't take away much headroom from the 2nd shelf up from the bottom. Two new lower shelves would have to be made as they would need to be a bit narrow.
You might want to flare out the bottom with the previously metioned shrouds to gather more heat.
In short, IF you can drill the holes along the depth of your lower shelves, you could retro fit the bottom to be double walled, sending the heat up through the holes in the shelves and out underneath the 2nd rack from the top.
As noted earlier, it's an extreme solution, and I'd definitely try other things first, but I think it would work.
If fabbed correctly it cold have four legs and just sit on the floor. No drilling. I also like the idea of just taking out half of the supports. Your still going to get a great amount of heat through. Yes, the ledges could be scored and a tap with a hammer they would just come right off. Same as you would cut them when laying them.
I like this design..... as a last resort. Thanks for the input!!
Yeah, Demo, your drawing is exactly what I had in my head, only do it with a double firebrick wall. Of course, I'll never build another one, but maybe someone else can get it right from y'all ideas. I posted a link to this thread on my build thread.
JD, it really bothers me to do anything to it. I'm going to start with the firebrick on the baffle idea first. I can also set some brick up to help get the heat past the first shelf. I also like the fan idea. Only thing about the fan is your still pulling the same heat past the first to shelves.
Guys, thanks for putting your time into helping me with this. A lot of great ideas here. Thank you so much!
Wes, just want to say that I still really dig your smoker and can really appreciate the amount of time, effort and care that you put in to it. Would be great if you/we can find a retrofit solution to make it perform exactly how you want it to.
There are these things called EcoFans - I am not sure if they would work with the entire fan being in the hot environment though. I think they require the bottom of the fan to be hot while allowing the cooling fins to be in a cooler environment. But you might chat with the company and see what they say.
http://housewares.about.com/od/heatingwithwood/gr/ecofan.htm
http://housewares.about.com/od/heatingwithwood/gr/ecofan.htm
Thank you Demo. Like I said, for small runs I use the top two racks. Works perfect. I can deal with it on a full run. I set my therm on the bottom and work my way up. I'm going to play with the firebrick on the baffle first. See what effect it has. From there maybe cut 10in. section of bottom shelf out in the middle and divert the heat up secondly.
I'll post results as I go.
Thanks for all the great ideas and help.
Last edited:
I've seen them online and hadn't thought about that. Wonder if the smoke would have any effect on it. I'll look into it. Thanks for the idea.
fwismoker
Master of the Pit
I did do a little bit of research into the ecofan....and just might get one but for a different application that first intended. The eco fans have to be able to cool themselves via cooling fins on the backside, if it were inside a smoker if that was the idea then it couldn't cool and would fry the circuits and motor.
I have a natural gas living room heater and want to try sitting one of those on top to move some air....it looks like a great product for that type of application.
I have a natural gas living room heater and want to try sitting one of those on top to move some air....it looks like a great product for that type of application.
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