Frankenstein smoker build

[Phildosaurus]

Howdy folks,

I was digging through the smoker graveyard out at the shop and came up with the bright idea of using the smoke box from an old New Braunfels to make an electric smoker. Pay no attention to the world’s crummiest weld, but see pictures below for my setup. The element is a dial-controlled unit from a trashcan smoker and in it’s past life, it ran more than hot enough. In this new box, however, I can max the temp out and I don’t reach anywhere near 200 degrees. I know this bandera box is pretty drafty, but I doubt it’s more leaky than the trash can that this element was in before, or the Brinkmann dome smoker that uses the same element. Any ideas on why i’m not able to reach cooking temp? Do I need some firebricks or lava rocks down around the element to help hold and distribute heat? Is it really just as simple as getting a better seal? Thanks in advance.

 

[JckDanls 07]

first off... are you relying on the thermometer that's in the door ???

 

[Phildosaurus]

Sorry, I should’ve mentioned that. I had an whole array of thermometers in that thing. The two you can see in the pic (door and smoke stack) plus a couple of my digital probes scattered throughout the box.

 

[Phildosaurus]

Update, I surrounded the element with lava rocks and tried again, still to no avail. When I put the element back into my Brinkmann dome, I EASILY reach 250 and that thing is very poorly sealed. Could the difference in shape truly be all important?

 

[Winterrider]

Do you know how many watts the element is ( if only 800 and uninsulated shell, may be a bit small )? Do you have access to a more accurate thermometer such as Maverick, Thermpro, etc. ? For a test, wrap a welding blanket of something around it to see if temps climb.

 

[Phildosaurus]

Not sure on the power, but the size of the shells are similar. I have used a handful of higher quality thermometers scattered throughout the box and still can’t reach temp anywhere. Good idea on the blanket, i’ll Try that soon.

 

[tallbm]

Hi there and welcome!
I think Winterrider is on to the initial question that must be answered.... What is the wattage of your heating element?
Next question is, what is the volume of your smoker (this would be the inside)?

After that you some research will need to be done to see if your element can effectively heat that amount of space. I think you may need to get into figuring out Cubic Feet per Minute (CFM) related things to see if you can effectively heat the space and so on. I'm not super well versed in this kind of thing and hopefully someone else who has experience in this area.

My hunch is that your heating element is too weak to heat the amount of space you need it to effectively heat. Too much heat/air to heat coupled with the fact that you are loosing heat/air from the vent and any other places.

Also you if you do all the calculations and it turns out you need something close to or above 1800watts (15amps) you will run into the issue that when you plug this thing in and turn it on you may very likely trip the breaker. So you would need to run this on a breaker that can handle the load.

Get the numbers figured out and you will know what your build will require. Best of luck! :)

 

[Phildosaurus]

Tracked down the heating element this evening, it's 1500 watts. As for smokebox size, I can't say for sure until I'm able to measure, but it's comparable to the shell that originally came with the element (which the element EASILY heated to temp). I'm hopeful the blanket test bears fruit, but would still love to hear ideas if others have them.

 

[wayde59]

Tracked down the heating element this evening, it's 1500 watts. As for smokebox size, I can't say for sure until I'm able to measure, but it's comparable to the shell that originally came with the element (which the element EASILY heated to temp). I'm hopeful the blanket test bears fruit, but would still love to hear ideas if others have them.

Tracked down the heating element this evening, it's 1500 watts. As for smokebox size, I can't say for sure until I'm able to measure, but it's comparable to the shell that originally came with the element (which the element EASILY heated to temp). I'm hopeful the blanket test bears fruit, but would still love to hear ideas if others have them.

If the element is plugged into an extension cord try plugging in directly to th e outlet,if the cord is too small it or too long it might not be able to carry enough current to the element.Just an idea,but i'm no electrical genious.