Smoker mod question?

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The Pig's Blanket

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Been trying to come up with another source of heat for my vertical box. Thinking about building a charcaol box on the side of it and putting a damper on the box to adjust airflow to coals. Also a damper to the vertical box to adjust heat and finally a small stack to let some heat go if needed. What do you all think.. Check out yellow lines on left side of vertical box.
 
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are you going to block it off from the horizontal chamber, so in effect you will have 2 separate smokers?

If you did not, I am not sure how having a fire in both ends would work. They might fight each other and create a strange air flow pattern. You would need a lot more exhaust too for it to breathe
 
ButtBurner said:
are you going to block it off from the horizontal chamber, so in effect you will have 2 separate smokers?

If you did not, I am not sure how having a fire in both ends would work. They might fight each other and create a strange air flow pattern. You would need a lot more exhaust too for it to breathe
Click to expand...

Hmmm your right. I didnt think of that. I dont want to seperate the two. When I have a good smoke going my vertical runs 225 while 300 closest to fire and 250 near vertical. I wanted to use charcoal in the vertical for smaller cooks though....MAybe i should stick to my first thought and put a basket in the bottom of the vertical... It would go straight up then....
 
I have a similiar setup looks like your vertical chamber is way oversized for your firebox.. that may be your problem
 
DownHomeQue said:
intresting.. do you have tuning plates or a baffle off of the firebox?
Click to expand...

No baffle on the firebox and no damper from one chamber to the next. The fire box is way bigger than it looks too.... I get long pieces of wood in it... 2' or so.... Im not really having issues as much as I was wanting to use charcoal on days I didnt have much to smoke or days i didnt wanna tend a fire
 
Hardluck said:
No baffle on the firebox and no damper from one chamber to the next. The fire box is way bigger than it looks too.... I get long pieces of wood in it... 2' or so.... Im not really having issues as much as I was wanting to use charcoal on days I didnt have much to smoke or days i didnt wanna tend a fire
Click to expand...

just block off the opening between the 2 chambers with a cookie sheet and put a pan of charcoal in the bottom of the vertical and see how it does

cant hurt to try
 
ButtBurner said:
just block off the opening between the 2 chambers with a cookie sheet and put a pan of charcoal in the bottom of the vertical and see how it does

cant hurt to try
Click to expand...

Ha... Good idea... I started working on a charcoal basket at work today. Good idea thats what I was thinking....lol
 
looking at it closer maybe blocking it off isnt a good idea. I dont see any dampers in the bottom of the vertical. You will intake need air from someplace

I would just leave your firebox dampers open, build your fire in the bottom of your vertical and see what happens
 
Try putting some tuning plates in your horizontal. My upright runs ~25° less than than the horizontal once everything is up to temp.
 
Seems like you could build separate charcoal box with intakes and mount it underneath your vertical as in your original drawing but underneath vs on the side. Let us know ow it works whatever you try.
 
Ok have u used a calculater on the cooker? Total cooking space vs firebox size.. I really think that's where the problem is...
 
Do you want to be able to run "two" cookers at different temps at the same time?

If no and you just want the option of cooking in the vertical for smaller cooks, then I would just add a small charcoal tray in the bottom of the vertical, use the existing inlets trhough the firebox an main cook chamber (don't block it) an see how cooking in the vertical works. You might need a heat diffuser between the fire & cooking grates.

If yes, you will need a way to temporarily block the connection between the two existing chambers (simple as a piece of 1/4 inch steel & a few firebricks) and you will need an exhaust on the main horizontal cook chamber (I would do a baffle plate & reverse flow setup, DownHomeQue is correct, use the calculators to size the exhaust) and a heat source for the vertical. I like boiler93's concept below.

boiler93 said:
Seems like you could build separate charcoal box with intakes and mount it underneath your vertical as in your original drawing but underneath vs on the side. Let us know ow it works whatever you try.
Click to expand...
 
boiler93 said:
Seems like you could build separate charcoal box with intakes and mount it underneath your vertical as in your original drawing but underneath vs on the side. Let us know ow it works whatever you try.
Click to expand...

Could you post pictures of what you have done to your smoker to achieve this. I have an Oklahoma Joes Chuckwagon that I am trying to minimize the temp difference between the vertical and horizontal sections.
 
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