48 Assassin charcoal has arrived - Page 2

bschoen · 07-07-2019, 08:21 AM

Call Assassin Monday and ask them if they have a cure.

16Adams · 07-07-2019, 11:38 AM

If it’s a problem during a cook I’d just lay a piece of angle iron cut to fit loosely across the hinges. I’ve had an SOB since the late 80’s Mine doesn’t leak smoke

nathan1 · 07-08-2019, 12:33 PM

I spoke to Jeff@Assassin this morning and he acknowledged that rain can get in via the hinge. He suggested that I cover it or drill drain holes at the bottom. Drain holes won't be ideal for me since this will cause it to drain with the remanence of grease. I'm going to attempt to find a flexible high temp tape and see if I can just get the hinges covered up. I will report back any success.

nathan1 · 07-08-2019, 08:25 PM

Some additional notes for current/future Assassin owners....
The Assassin manual states to keep the pressure off the seals when not in use for a long time (weeks). I spoke to Jeff about how this is done....once it is cool simply pull the lower shelf out just a bit so the door sits on the shelf rather than the seal. He said if you use your cooker weekly, you don't really need to do this.

nathan1 · 07-09-2019, 10:34 AM

I placed 324A foil tape on to seal the hinges. I put put it on while closed with the leading edge meeting the top leading edge of the hinge and then pressing down on both sides of the hinge to get it to stick. The hinge operates and the foil forms its own "pocket" which you can see in the pictures. It now passes the hose test at the hinges but still leaks beneath the back of the hinge where it is welded, because the weld doesn't go all the way across the grill. I am either going to use JB Weld high temp to fill those small gaps or food grade RTV450. Pitching the angle a bit more back might help with this as well.

I'm not sure how long the tape will last. If folks are interested, I will report back as it degrades.

More pictures...

nathan1 · 07-09-2019, 11:17 AM

Enough mechanical talk...Some food...
"Vortex like" wings, since I don't know how to use my Vortex on this beast.

I kept the pan in the draft area just below the chimney. They crisped up great and fast.

Another awesome thing about the Assassin is that the pinwheel vent is gigantic, you can actually look in it and see the bottom side of your steak develop char. Watch out for pops.

More reverse ribeye/vortex pictures...

nathan1 · 07-09-2019, 11:24 AM

Reheating brisket/ribs and cooking a peach galette:

nathan1 · 07-10-2019, 11:53 AM

I did a stick burning session last night with the grill reaching over 600F+. The lid of the pit easily reaches 450F+ above the fire, much hotter than the 324A tape is rated for (350F). That being said, when it got hot, it softened a bit and made the hinge easily flex. I checked it this morning and the tape seems fine. For covering the backside of the hinge that isn't welded, I placed another layer of 324A to overlap with the original one and the welded area. A hose test worked well with minimal water entry.

I am going to run this application of tape until it fails. Assuming it simply fails because of heat, I will try switching to high temperature flue tape or 3M 433 (600F). It may fail due to outdoor exposure first, who knows.

Peter B · 07-10-2019, 07:52 PM

It didn’t take you long to really take advantage of all the cooking zones with this setup. Nice job.

BillN · 07-10-2019, 07:55 PM

Congratulations...

BRBBQ · 07-10-2019, 08:00 PM

Nice looking cooker

nathan1 · 07-11-2019, 03:49 PM

8lb bone in butt for 14ish hours. Started with the water pan but water boils off really quickly (<4h) (big spike). Refilled it twice overnight, gave up in the morning and switched to the VPan with fire bricks covering a bit more of the vents. I need to figure out if I can do a maze with my smaller front pans. In general, it held well for around 4h but I want to do an end to end with VPan/fire bricks.

More pictures....

nathan1 · 07-23-2019, 10:19 AM

Reporting back on the 324A foil tape....No issues, I have done tons of low temp/high temp cooks and it works very well. There have been quite a few heavy downpours and the cooker stays 99% dry, no accumulation but a few drops make it in via surface tension around some corners. I'd recommend this to any Assassin owners that don't have covered grills and want to avoid the rain.

07-07-2019, 11:38 AM	#17
16Adams somebody shut me the fark up. Join Date: 01-16-13 Location: USA	If it’s a problem during a cook I’d just lay a piece of angle iron cut to fit loosely across the hinges. I’ve had an SOB since the late 80’s Mine doesn’t leak smoke __________________ Tiernan SOB34, Primo Oval XL, Oklahoma Joe's Bronco, Oklahoma Joe's Highland, Pit Boss Austin XL, Pit Boss Table Top

07-09-2019, 10:34 AM	#20
nathan1 Got Wood. Join Date: 04-23-19 Location: N/A Name/Nickname : nathan1	I placed 324A foil tape on to seal the hinges. I put put it on while closed with the leading edge meeting the top leading edge of the hinge and then pressing down on both sides of the hinge to get it to stick. The hinge operates and the foil forms its own "pocket" which you can see in the pictures. It now passes the hose test at the hinges but still leaks beneath the back of the hinge where it is welded, because the weld doesn't go all the way across the grill. I am either going to use JB Weld high temp to fill those small gaps or food grade RTV450. Pitching the angle a bit more back might help with this as well. I'm not sure how long the tape will last. If folks are interested, I will report back as it degrades. More pictures... Last edited by nathan1; 07-09-2019 at 11:44 AM..

07-09-2019, 11:17 AM	#21
nathan1 Got Wood. Join Date: 04-23-19 Location: N/A Name/Nickname : nathan1	Enough mechanical talk...Some food... "Vortex like" wings, since I don't know how to use my Vortex on this beast. I kept the pan in the draft area just below the chimney. They crisped up great and fast. Another awesome thing about the Assassin is that the pinwheel vent is gigantic, you can actually look in it and see the bottom side of your steak develop char. Watch out for pops. More reverse ribeye/vortex pictures... Last edited by nathan1; 07-09-2019 at 11:44 AM..

07-09-2019, 11:24 AM	#22
nathan1 Got Wood. Join Date: 04-23-19 Location: N/A Name/Nickname : nathan1	Reheating brisket/ribs and cooking a peach galette: Last edited by nathan1; 07-09-2019 at 11:44 AM..

07-10-2019, 07:55 PM	#25
BillN somebody shut me the fark up. Join Date: 03-14-16 Location: St David, Az. Name/Nickname : Bill	Congratulations... __________________ Bill, from Cochise County Arizona LSG 24 X 36 Horizonatal Offset w/warming oven, 32" fire pit with swinging cooking grate, PK 360 w/Grill Grates

07-07-2019, 08:21 AM	#16
bschoen Babbling Farker Join Date: 12-27-17 Location: State of Denial Name/Nickname : Bruce	Call Assassin Monday and ask them if they have a cure.

07-08-2019, 12:33 PM	#18
nathan1 Got Wood. Join Date: 04-23-19 Location: N/A Name/Nickname : nathan1	I spoke to Jeff@Assassin this morning and he acknowledged that rain can get in via the hinge. He suggested that I cover it or drill drain holes at the bottom. Drain holes won't be ideal for me since this will cause it to drain with the remanence of grease. I'm going to attempt to find a flexible high temp tape and see if I can just get the hinges covered up. I will report back any success.

07-08-2019, 08:25 PM	#19
nathan1 Got Wood. Join Date: 04-23-19 Location: N/A Name/Nickname : nathan1	Some additional notes for current/future Assassin owners.... The Assassin manual states to keep the pressure off the seals when not in use for a long time (weeks). I spoke to Jeff about how this is done....once it is cool simply pull the lower shelf out just a bit so the door sits on the shelf rather than the seal. He said if you use your cooker weekly, you don't really need to do this.

07-10-2019, 11:53 AM	#23
nathan1 Got Wood. Join Date: 04-23-19 Location: N/A Name/Nickname : nathan1	I did a stick burning session last night with the grill reaching over 600F+. The lid of the pit easily reaches 450F+ above the fire, much hotter than the 324A tape is rated for (350F). That being said, when it got hot, it softened a bit and made the hinge easily flex. I checked it this morning and the tape seems fine. For covering the backside of the hinge that isn't welded, I placed another layer of 324A to overlap with the original one and the welded area. A hose test worked well with minimal water entry. I am going to run this application of tape until it fails. Assuming it simply fails because of heat, I will try switching to high temperature flue tape or 3M 433 (600F). It may fail due to outdoor exposure first, who knows.

07-10-2019, 07:52 PM	#24
Peter B On the road to being a farker Join Date: 04-30-13 Location: Hicksville, NY	It didn’t take you long to really take advantage of all the cooking zones with this setup. Nice job.

07-10-2019, 08:00 PM	#26
BRBBQ Babbling Farker Join Date: 06-05-08 Location: Council Bluffs, Iowa	Nice looking cooker __________________ Stumps XL Baby/UDS

07-11-2019, 03:49 PM	#27
nathan1 Got Wood. Join Date: 04-23-19 Location: N/A Name/Nickname : nathan1	8lb bone in butt for 14ish hours. Started with the water pan but water boils off really quickly (<4h) (big spike). Refilled it twice overnight, gave up in the morning and switched to the VPan with fire bricks covering a bit more of the vents. I need to figure out if I can do a maze with my smaller front pans. In general, it held well for around 4h but I want to do an end to end with VPan/fire bricks. More pictures....

07-23-2019, 10:19 AM	#28
nathan1 Got Wood. Join Date: 04-23-19 Location: N/A Name/Nickname : nathan1	Reporting back on the 324A foil tape....No issues, I have done tons of low temp/high temp cooks and it works very well. There have been quite a few heavy downpours and the cooker stays 99% dry, no accumulation but a few drops make it in via surface tension around some corners. I'd recommend this to any Assassin owners that don't have covered grills and want to avoid the rain.