My wife blessed me with a new COS for my birthday and ok it isn't the one I would have picked but you don't look a gift horse in the mouth. It is an Oklahoma Joe and, of course, my first attempt was almost a failure due to the fact I had to constantly keep adding more sticks and charcoal to keep my temps. up. So I started to do research and found this site. My first attempt at sealing the leaks with RTV was a failure because I had done some research and I had seasoned it with peanut oil and the RTV didn't stick. So I peeled it all off and went to the garage and brought out some steel wool and brake cleaner. Scrubbed the areas where I wanted to put the RTV really well, reapplied it and this time stuck like a charm. Now it is so sealed that I did a 5 hr. test smoke with one load and the temp stayed right about 235 and am now confident that I will be able to control it without any problems. Going to go with ribs this next weekend again before attempting a pork butt.
Thanks for all your help.
Thanks for all your help.