Smoker seal

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What's the best way to seal the lid of the cooking chamber and fire box lids?
I'm new to smoking and have a new OC pecos smoker. I seasoned it with canola oil, and I've done 2 racks of ribs and a small 7lbs brisket flat so far. Both turned out great, but I'm leaking smoke around the lids, not bad but I'm thinking if I seal it, it should help with temp control.
I'm using lump charcoal to start and then hickory logs to cook.
 
I used some gasket material from one of the smoker supply companies. It worked well for the smoking chamber but the firebox was a different story. My smoker has solid locking handles on both chambers. When the firebox was heated to temp the door had warped so much that it couldn't be closed and latched anymore. I had to strip the gasket material to allow me to close the door fully. So while I recommend using the gasket material for sealing around lids. It doesn't work if there is little clearance. So if your unit is leaking really badly you might benefit from the gasket. If you have a latching unit the gasket might be too thick and cause problems. Not a lot of leeway, either it fits when hot or it doesn't.
 
When you are burning pure wood. As long as you have good draft out the exhaust. You do not have to worry about leaks.
Split size can make temp swings much less of an issues. Try making some of your splits smaller and see if that helps.
Also, when burning wood. You cook in a temp range. 250* to 300* Averaging 275*
Add a split when you drop to 250* Should climb to around 300 then settle back down. It is not like burning coal/wood where you have more stable temps.
Once you learn your cooker. You can maintain a pretty steady temp using the right sized splits.
When I'm burning pure wood. I like to be there. I like tending fire. So I make much smaller splits and add every 20 mins on average. If I have to go do something, I add a bigger split and have 40 to 45 mins. If that makes sense.
 
Small leaks I would not worry about, but I know its sort of a mental thing and it drives me nuts seeing leaks. Try some of the gasket material used for kamados? I put some on the bottom side of my Kettle and it works great.
 
Personally, IMHO, I don’t believe sealing the FB and/or cook chamber will affect temp swings much if at all. If it is leaking so much that you’re not gettin good smoke flow-thru over the meat and out the exhaust, then you might want to seal it. But if most of the smoke is flowin out the stack and it’s just leaking a little, I wouldn’t worry about it.

Temp swings of +- 20-25 are normal, and as someone mentioned above, the size and frequency with which you add splits will affect temp consistency far more than any leaks.

Just my pov.
 
Thank you for the advice! Leaks aren't real bad, just annoying. I will definitely try smaller splits to control the temps. Since this is my first smoker and I do like fire, I too like to stay close and watch it.
 
I used some Fireblack High Temp BBQ Smoker gasket material from Amazon on the cook chamber of my ECB offset. About $15 and enough for a couple applications on my smoker.
I didn't worry about the firebox, because it changes shape with the temperatures and most of what I saw on the utubes said any type of seal failed pretty quickly there anyway.
I can't say I noticed any difference in cooking, but it leaks less smoke now.
 
As long as the smoke is thin and clean, I wouldn't worry about it. The more cooking you do, it will begin to seal itself. Let it build up.
 
Don’t think about it like the fire is tryin to push the smoke thru the cook chamber, such that small leaks will interfere with it. If the pit is properly designed, the exhaust stack will create a draw — just like a well-designed chimney and fireplace — that will suck air into the inlet and thru the fire and suck the smoke thru the cook chamber and out the exhaust.
 
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