Firebox vent help on 250 gallon RF

[tig65]

I have been building a 250 gallon RF smoker the past few weeks and have almost everything ironed out except the vent for my firebox. Since my fire box is a 30” dia 1/2”thick pipe 32” long I can’t easily put vents on side of pipe leaving all vents to the door side. According to calculation I need 65 sq inches of vent and would like to make it on a slide but need it to fit on the door(I think). Seen several ways people have done them but suprised I haven’t seen more for 250 gallon propane tanks. I’m afraid I can’t fit a horizontal slide in the space I have and still keep everything solid. I want the door to go to bottom of firebox for easy clean out with a half moon shaped scraper. Any advice would be appreciated. Have to let air out of tires to get out of garage .

 

[smokin peachey]

Here is how I made my door vent when building my 500 gallon offset.
If you look at a lot of the recommendations here on the forum you will see sliding vent recommendations for the top also.

Check out this thread.

Reverse Flow Smoker... How to calculate build tutorial...

> Reverse Flow Smoker... How to calculate build tutorial... By DaveOmak This is a tutorial and you will need a calculator and paper to note desired dimensions... This tutorial has been proven to make an excellent operating Reverse Flow smoker... Here's to "Alien BBQ" and the folks that first...

www.smokingmeatforums.com

 

[tig65]

Thanks for the quick reply. yes i have seen that thread and several others but always get to second guessing myself. i was thinking of doing what you did but was concerned that it would be difficult to fine tune unlike a sliding style? i always assumed that the vent calculation was used for getting the wood going and then you could choke it back to get desired temp and i would think that would be much less then the 65 sq inches.

 

[smokin peachey]

Another good way to control temp is by the amount of wood you add. The door style I used works great for me because I have grates in the firebox that keep the fire up off the bottom and it allows air to move through. I’m not sure how it would work with a reverse flow that’s why I linked Omak’s thread. He seems to know his RF stuff so put it to the test and keep us posted.