New Electric Build

[Jonok]

Really just leaves a little ash. Was still making smoke when i shut it down yesterday.

 

[Jonok]

The probe for the PID is obviously mounted in the lid of the housing as you can see in the previous picture with it closed.

 

[bill1]

This is what was left after a 10 hr cook...

Ah, so there's an inner bucket that holds the smoking wood. Holes in the bottom of this inner hopper/pail? Or air enters that inner region from the top only?
Is the temp probe located in the top, close to the smoke exhaust?
Thanks for sharing! Hard to beat pictures!

 

[Jonok]

If you look at the empty generator pic, the pipe terminates above the element. The way I load it is to put the empty bucket in the generator and onto the pipe (hole in side of bucket accommodates intake 1/2” pipe) and then load bucket with closely stacked chunks. That way, air intake is at bottom of wood.

 

[bill1]

...put the empty bucket in the generator and onto the pipe (hole in side of bucket accommodates intake 1/2” pipe) and then load ...

Genius idea. This also minimizes air flow in the space between inner and outer buckets so outer wall stays cooler, reducing wasted heat and power draw.

 

[Jonok]

Temp probe (generic K type) is located on top diametrically opposed to outflow. That way, presumably, it is measuring ambient as opposed to flue gas temp. Regardless, when it hits 100c or better than the max achievable ambient temp without combustion, something is on fire. I’m pretty sure once I optimize the burn time vs off time to continue to produce excellent smoke, I can substantially reduce the amount of time with “complete” combustion, but keep the temps high enough that NOX etc production remains very high.
My phone died yesterday afternoon and I was unable to take food porn pix, but I had about a 3/4” medium pink ring on all three butts, and the total wood input was probably 2 pounds of chunks. Bark was really tasty, but it was actually thick enough that I will consider turning off the top element for the latter portion of the smoke in the future.

 

[Jonok]

Pretty sure the world will get better when I weld up an insulated stainless combustion box rather than doing all of this in a $10 garbage can with a few bucks worth of refractory cement in the bottom

 

[Jonok]

If anyone has a source for a couple of 1-1.5’ 250w linear heating elements which I could incorporate into a future firebox, I’d be appreciative. The way power is distributed in the beast at this point, 120v would be optimal, but it’s not the end of the world if I need to re-engineer a bit.

 

[bill1]

If anyone has a source for a couple of 1-1.5’ 250w linear heating elements which I could incorporate into a future firebox, I’d be appreciative. The way power is distributed in the beast at this point, 120v would be optimal, but it’s not the end of the world if I need to re-engineer a bit.

The $10 charcoal starter products in your pics seem hard to beat. But another option might be 240V water heater elements used at 120V. At their intended voltage/power, only water will wick away the sort of watts-per-sq.inch involved without the units quickly failing. But at half voltage, the power goes down by 4X. They still have a tendency to get a bit too red in ambient air so that their lifetime is limited to months, not years. But add a high-current diode in the 120Vac line and you knock power down another 2X. Then they're pretty usable. Just a suggestion. Like I said the charcoal starter ring looks great and are available everywhere.

Another cheap trick you might find useful is that light dimmer switches work well to adjust power density for elements <600W, their typical rating.