Almost exploded!?!

[gluktar]

Hey there. So I have just built myself a smoker, and did I mention that I didn't do much research... so it is made from an air compressor using an electric hot plate in the bottom with an old pot full of wood chips on top of the hot plate.

Here is my problem. It gets up to about 160f and starts smoking nicely. Then the temp increases a bit and then there is a significant whoosh, a bunch of smoke puffs out of all my not so straight cuts, and the temp jumps up to 240f. I assume that I am filling he chamber with flammable wood gas that then hits a critical ignition temp... the other issue is the the inside metal surfaces are covered in a wet black tarry film. Is this normal? I haven't tried any meat yet cause I don't want to ruin it until I have all the bugs worked out. Any thoughts?

Thanks.

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• gluktar
• Jun 6, 2017

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• gluktar
• Jun 6, 2017

 

[weev]

My question is where is the exhaust vent not that I know much about building smoker's but someone will be along to help

 

[chilerelleno]

Right off hand from what I can see.

You need an adjustable vent or two on the bottom 1/4 and another adjustable vent or stack on the top.
Proper air flow in a smoker is important for many reasons, to properly ignite wood for smoke, charcoal/wood fuels, smoke/heat flow regulation and more.

The tar like substance on the inside of your smoker is most likely creosote.
Creosote is not desirable, it can adversely affect food flavor, and it poses a fire hazard.

Did you thoroughly degrease/sand blast or otherwise clean the air tank beforehand?
Compressors often have oil buildup in them, if not cleaned properly this could add to the tar problem.
You may not be able to get hot enough with the hotplate to burn everything out.

"How high a temp can you achieve?" You need at least 300'+ to burn off creosote.
"What woods have you been burning?" and "Are they properly seasoned?"
Some woods, and poorly seasoned woods create alot of creosote.

A lot of questions and answers/suggestions can be made here by those wiser than myself.
Many people have used air compressors for builds.

 

[crankybuzzard]

Weev has a lot of it...

Where is the exhaust port?

 

[wade]

ChileRelleno has summed up most of the points. Keeping a good flow of air throughout the smoke chamber during the smoke is very important. You will need at least a couple of adjustable vents in the base and one in the lid. 

 

[smokinbill1638]

It sounds to me like the whooosh you're hearing, may be a flashover (when all the unburnt particles in the smoke reaches their ignition temperature and ignites).  I would follow what the others have said about adding your vents before trying again.

 

[BGKYSmoker]

I seen that launch from the Cape.