Reverse Flow smoker, door stuck when hot

[Ohoopee]

Hi guys, now I know the cause of the problem, what I am hoping to learn is what can be done about it. Me and my buddy build a reverse flow smoker. We made it out of 100 percent steel. The first smoke I did on it was four racks of Baby back ribs, they came out great. Today, I decided to try a beef brisket.. after it had smoked for about 4 hours, I tried to open the lid to check and see if the brisket needed a spritz of moisture and discovered that I could not open the lid. I have a four prob thermometer that I use when I smoke, one on the left, one in the center, one on the right, and the other in the brisket its self. I was able to freely move the prob wires under the front edge of the smoker so I think the problem is on the sides. Obviously it is due to the steel expanding with heat. But considering we have already built the smoker, what can I do to fix this problem?

 

[smokerjim]

Picture might help, but maybe you could line the edge of the lid with some type of gasket to raise the lid a little, or cut a little off the lid so it has more room to expand. I'm no pro but I'm sure some will be around to help you.

 

[kmmamm]

Will need some pics of the door, flanges and hinges. You indicated it worked ok on the first cook, but not the second? Were you cooking at the same temp both times? Once you post the pics, it should be pretty easy to diagnose. Luckily you are dealing with a smoker and not a Swiss watch...what ever the problem is, it is nothing that can’t be fixed with a bfh, torch, welder, and grinder.

 

[Ohoopee]

I live in Ireland and it is already dark here, so will post pics tomorrow.

 

[Ohoopee]

Hi everyone...sorry for the delay...we had a family get together the week before Christmas and it turns out someone there had Covid and didn't yet know it. Now, everyone who was at the get-together, minus two has tested positive for it...I am happy to say I am one of the two who is negative. Been a crazy couple of weeks. Anyway so I took some pictures just a few again as I was getting ready to clean the smoker from the last smoking session...the smoker is dirty so please excuse that....

The pick shows the back of the smoking chamber so you can see the hinges, the second one is the inside of the side of the smoking chamber, the third is the same but the bottom part, fourth is the outside bottom part of the smoking chamber where I think it is getting jammed, five is a close up of the same spot as the fourth one but you can see where it looks like metal scrapped..at least it does to me. And the last picture is something I just noticed...it looks like due to expansion, my firebox has a hole forming in the top of it as well...I'll have to check and see if any smoke comes out of it...I'll be smoking again this weekend and will check then. I have a prob thermometer that has four probes and I always smoke with at least three of them in the smoker, one for the left, one for the middle, and one for the right. When the lid gets stuck, I can still move the prove wires all the way across the front of the smoker and can pull them out and push them in further..so I do not believe it is getting stuck at the front. I believe it is one of the sides. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[kmmamm]

Good pics! I would probably start with the door hinges. Looks to me like the hinge configuration is allowing the door to twist as it heats up. There are a few quick fixes, but don‘t try to do them all at once.
1). while the lid is cold, remove the hinge bolts and recenter the lid. Then reinstall the hinge bolts using washers to fill in any gaps between the hinge and bolts. This should help keep the lid centered on the hinges.
2). If step one doesn’t stop the binding, you may have recenter and weld another bottom hinge bracket on the opposite side of the current one to create a tri-pointed hinge. That will help keep the lid from twisting as it heats.
3.). Some light grinding at the binding points might be necessary, but I wouldn’t do that until you are certain you have done everything possible to stabilize the door at the hinge points.
Good luck

 

[chp]

Hi everyone...sorry for the delay...we had a family get together the week before Christmas and it turns out someone there had Covid and didn't yet know it. Now, everyone who was at the get-together, minus two has tested positive for it...I am happy to say I am one of the two who is negative. Been a crazy couple of weeks. Anyway so I took some pictures just a few again as I was getting ready to clean the smoker from the last smoking session...the smoker is dirty so please excuse that....

The pick shows the back of the smoking chamber so you can see the hinges, the second one is the inside of the side of the smoking chamber, the third is the same but the bottom part, fourth is the outside bottom part of the smoking chamber where I think it is getting jammed, five is a close up of the same spot as the fourth one but you can see where it looks like metal scrapped..at least it does to me. And the last picture is something I just noticed...it looks like due to expansion, my firebox has a hole forming in the top of it as well...I'll have to check and see if any smoke comes out of it...I'll be smoking again this weekend and will check then. I have a prob thermometer that has four probes and I always smoke with at least three of them in the smoker, one for the left, one for the middle, and one for the right. When the lid gets stuck, I can still move the prove wires all the way across the front of the smoker and can pull them out and push them in further..so I do not believe it is getting stuck at the front. I believe it is one of the sides. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

The other suggestion is good. I would also consider a bevel on the lower half of the smoker. It would be as simple as a few 45 degree passes with an angle grinder around that sharp upper perimeter of the lower half. It may relieve a binding point and may also help the lid shift as the bottom half expands to avoid binding. Hope the family is doing better.