[Cecil]

I had last week off and made myself an UDS. I did spare ribs that came out great this past weekend.

My exhaust is 8 1/2" holes in the lid. My inlets are 3 3/4" nipples with caps and a valve on one of the inlets. The nipples are attached with conduit nuts.

After I was done cooking I wanted to shut the fire down. I capped off the inlets and closed the valve. The temp went down to 180* and stayed there. I had to use foil to plug the exhaust holes to get the fire snuffed out.

Here is my question: Do you think air is getting past the inlet nipples since they are only attached with conduit nuts? Should I use hi temp silicone on the outside around the nuts to seal the nipple and the drum hole? Or does air get in through the exhaust holes and I'll need to plug them each time I want to snuff the fire? If so I can make a ring to put on the lid that would cover all the holes at once.