I've lurked this forum for some time for tips and tricks but haven't ever necessarily had anything to contribute until now. I also have not yet seen anyone make this specific modification to assist with wind blowing out the flame when attempting very low smoke temps.
Keep in mind that this is somewhat of a proof of concept at the moment and will be replacing what I've used so far with a more permanent and possibly safer solution.
So I took some scrap quarter inch sheet board and cut 4 pieces to fit between the lets on each side with just about a quarter inch gap at the bottom for air circulation.
I then used the existing holes in the upper part of the legs to attach the boards to with just nuts bolts and washers. It seems solid enough without needing any additional holes drilled for more than the two per side.
I also took a air vent deflectors that would go on your vents in your house and drilled a small hose in them for a long screw to fit through and then through the side vents, in hopes to keep the wind from blowing in too strong from the side. This part might be overkill and closing them completely as I've read others have done, might be a better solution that might also help keep more stable temps at all levels of the vault.
I have a needle valve on order and once that arrives I'll be doing some tests to see how this works out and will report back if anyone is interested.
Assuming this solution works well, the plan is to replace the wood panels with thin diamond plate but to size. In the mean time, for aesthetics and to keep this NW rain and moisture from shredding the cheap board right away, I went ahead and put foil duct tape across the outside of the boards. When I went to clean the entire outside of the box with degreaser after I had installed everything, an added bonus was that the purple power easily removed the red lettering that was on the foil duct tape.
I'm not trying to win any beauty contests with my rigs, but I also don't want it to look completely janky either. I'm pleased with how this looks so now I hope that it functions how I need it to for ultra low temps.
I've also seen others put a chimney of sorts on the top vent so I may look to add a dryer type metal vent. I'm unsure exactly what this helps to accomplish so maybe someone can help explain that to me.
Keep in mind that this is somewhat of a proof of concept at the moment and will be replacing what I've used so far with a more permanent and possibly safer solution.
So I took some scrap quarter inch sheet board and cut 4 pieces to fit between the lets on each side with just about a quarter inch gap at the bottom for air circulation.
I then used the existing holes in the upper part of the legs to attach the boards to with just nuts bolts and washers. It seems solid enough without needing any additional holes drilled for more than the two per side.
I also took a air vent deflectors that would go on your vents in your house and drilled a small hose in them for a long screw to fit through and then through the side vents, in hopes to keep the wind from blowing in too strong from the side. This part might be overkill and closing them completely as I've read others have done, might be a better solution that might also help keep more stable temps at all levels of the vault.
I have a needle valve on order and once that arrives I'll be doing some tests to see how this works out and will report back if anyone is interested.
Assuming this solution works well, the plan is to replace the wood panels with thin diamond plate but to size. In the mean time, for aesthetics and to keep this NW rain and moisture from shredding the cheap board right away, I went ahead and put foil duct tape across the outside of the boards. When I went to clean the entire outside of the box with degreaser after I had installed everything, an added bonus was that the purple power easily removed the red lettering that was on the foil duct tape.
I'm not trying to win any beauty contests with my rigs, but I also don't want it to look completely janky either. I'm pleased with how this looks so now I hope that it functions how I need it to for ultra low temps.
I've also seen others put a chimney of sorts on the top vent so I may look to add a dryer type metal vent. I'm unsure exactly what this helps to accomplish so maybe someone can help explain that to me.
