Started modding my ecb..

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Anybody have reccomendations on where to get a suitable ecb gasket online? I checked all the local hardware stores and they look at me like im crazy
 
I went to True Value and bought a rope style stove gasket. Go to Amazon.com and search "rope gasket" and you will see an array of possibilities. "Stove Gasket" on Homedepot.com gets about 12 different results. 

Sometimes you will see them as woodstove door gaskets as well. 

Hope this helps. 
 
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My cotton rope method isn't working as well as it had been.  The rope has lost a lot of its flexibility, and gaps are starting to open up.

Amazon Japan sells gasket rope, but only in 1-meter lengths, and the ECB's circumference is something like 1.4m,  
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I went to True Value and bought a rope style stove gasket. Go to Amazon.com and search "rope gasket" and you will see an array of possibilities. "Stove Gasket" on Homedepot.com gets about 12 different results. 

Sometimes you will see them as woodstove door gaskets as well. 

Hope this helps. 
i bought 12mm gasket on ebay, but it was like elastic, so after i glued it on, it was only about 8mm, so it didnt seal properly.

i then bought 18mm on amazon, thinking after streatching it, it would end up about 12mm.

this one didnt strestch at all, obviously a much better quality, so thinking this will be too big.

fitting it today, so will see report back on the outcome.
 
 
i bought 12mm gasket on ebay, but it was like elastic, so after i glued it on, it was only about 8mm, so it didnt seal properly.

i then bought 18mm on amazon, thinking after streatching it, it would end up about 12mm.

this one didnt strestch at all, obviously a much better quality, so thinking this will be too big.

fitting it today, so will see report back on the outcome.
too big is much better than too small, in this case. You want to seal up that gap around the lid so that you get a much more even flow of smoke. Mine still allows a tiny bit of smoke around it in a couple of places, because I didn't get it down tight enough in a couple places but 99 percent now passes through the vent in lid. There really shouldn't be much stretch. Here is a pic of what I bought. 


The adhesive included in the kit is worthless. You will need high heat RTV or some other similar type of high heat sealant/ adhesive. 
 
I might start with 5 a little bigger than what yup did and go from there
THINKING LOGICALLY ABOUT THIS, and presuming there arent any leaks elswhere, then if the exhaust vent size is 1/2 the size of the intake vent, then 1/2 the smoke will have to find another way out, i.e. through the bottom, door, seal etc., or will become stale and create tar and other nasties.

i stand to be corrected.
 
 
THINKING LOGICALLY ABOUT THIS, and presuming there arent any leaks elswhere, then if the exhaust vent size is 1/2 the size of the intake vent, then 1/2 the smoke will have to find another way out, i.e. through the bottom, door, seal etc., or will become stale and create tar and other nasties.

i stand to be corrected.
Right on the money, I'd say!

Since my ECB (Charcoal Brinkmann) is wide open from the bottom; some smoke escaped around the bottom, even before I sealed the lid. I think that will always be an issue to a point, unless you seal the bottom to only an air intake vent. I have seen this, by removing the legs and sitting the ECB directly on concrete blocks, though I don't have a picture right now.

I agree that not enough exhaust vent after sealing the lid is worse than not sealing the lid. My holes are 5/8 inches and I have four of them (about 2 cm each) and I am considering adding a second set of 4 with the weber style vent cover. 

 
 
Right on the money, I'd say!

Since my ECB (Charcoal Brinkmann) is wide open from the bottom; some smoke escaped around the bottom, even before I sealed the lid. I think that will always be an issue to a point, unless you seal the bottom to only an air intake vent. I have seen this, by removing the legs and sitting the ECB directly on concrete blocks, though I don't have a picture right now.

I agree that not enough exhaust vent after sealing the lid is worse than not sealing the lid. My holes are 5/8 inches and I have four of them (about 2 cm each) and I am considering adding a second set of 4 with the weber style vent cover. 

another quick thought,;  if the exhaust is much bigger than the bottom air vent, then surely this will draw more air due to convection, ( heat rises etc ), and therefore give a higher reading in the smoker, than if the two vent settings matched.  So without an adjustable ex vent, then the very irratic heat readings some folks are having, could be due to static exhaust holes drilled in the top.

Not that i know what i am talking about, as i havent even smoked a sausage yet.

my mods are pretty well done, and hoping to post them in the next few days, and have a practice burn soon.
 
 
another quick thought,;  if the exhaust is much bigger than the bottom air vent, then surely this will draw more air due to convection, ( heat rises etc ), and therefore give a higher reading in the smoker, than if the two vent settings matched.  So without an adjustable ex vent, then the very irratic heat readings some folks are having, could be due to static exhaust holes drilled in the top.

Not that i know what i am talking about, as i havent even smoked a sausage yet.

my mods are pretty well done, and hoping to post them in the next few days, and have a practice burn soon.
pretty much everything I have read here is that the closeable vent is only to close the holes when not smoking/ cooking as this will cause creosote to build up and give your food an acrid taste. Always control temps via the intake and never the exhaust. Another concern is that the more air that gets to you fire, the hotter/ faster it will burn. It is a balancing act really, which is why the small Weber Smokey Mountain sells for $199 and the charcoal ECB sells for $49.

Me personally, I would rather spend $49 and tinker around making them work better then spend $199 and have nothing to do
yahoo.gif
 
 
You can have too many exhaust holes, but it's not as much of a problem as too few. Too few and the smoke can stagnate and you may not be able to get the smoker up to temp, too many and you may experience too much heat loss through the lid. But, in the case of too many, you can always poke some aluminum foil in the extra holes.

The best bet is to mod the smoker to allow you to regulate the intake and exhaust.
 
 
THINKING LOGICALLY ABOUT THIS, and presuming there arent any leaks elswhere, then if the exhaust vent size is 1/2 the size of the intake vent, then 1/2 the smoke will have to find another way out, i.e. through the bottom, door, seal etc., or will become stale and create tar and other nasties.

i stand to be corrected.
I don't think this is necessarily the case.  What comes in through the intake vent is air, not smoke.  The amount of smoke produced isn't necessarily the amount of air that comes in.  In addition, gases do not have a defined volume, so principles that apply to solids or liquids may not apply to gases.  We can all agree, however, that it's vital to get nearly all of the smoke out of the ECB by some means or another, and that the most desirable place for that smoke to exit is through the top.

Don't forget that the ECB isn't exactly designed with very tight tolerances, so you have to assume that there are going to be leaks.
 
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