leaky smoker

[weekendwood]

I have a small smoker that I got at wal-mart that doesnt hold heat very well. The door to the darn thing leaks like you wouldn't believe. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to fix this. I'm loosing all my good smoke. I would buy another smoke But I'm saving all my money for a trailer mounted one. Every bit of money I put back helps.

[Kevin]

Don't know where you are located, but here I would go to Menards and get a wood stove gasket kit. $5.99. It consists of a length of fiberglass rope and adhesive to attach it with. Clean the metal surface well with a good solvent, acetone works well, maybe wire brush. Look at how your door closes. You may need a thinner rope at the hinge side and a thicker rope at the latching side. Welcome to the "mod" life.

[bruno]

SOme here have put an oven gasket around their door.

There have been several threads and a few folders on the med section.

[Arlin_MacRae]

Woody - you can also look in the File Section of the board (up top). Look in the Bandera Mods area, there are two possible mods in there.

Arlin

[Jorge]

Originally Posted by weekendwood

I have a small smoker that I got at wal-mart that doesnt hold heat very well. The door to the darn thing leaks like you wouldn't believe. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to fix this. I'm loosing all my good smoke. I would buy another smoke But I'm saving all my money for a trailer mounted one. Every bit of money I put back helps.

Fold some aluminum foil, a couple layers thick around the edges of the door on the next cook and see if that solves enough of the problem to make the solution permanent with something more durable.

Maybe you mentioned it in a previous post I missed.... but what kind of smoker are you using? Makes it a lot easier to guess at solutions with that info

[Doorbusters]

Just last weekend I went to a stove and fireplace store and bought the fiberglass rope and some stove cement. Thoroughly cleaned the door on one of my Banderas and put in a nice bead of the cement, then laid the rope in. Let it lay flat on saw horses for about 16 hours and remounted on smoker. Now seals like a farkin vault! Rope was $2.35 per foot and cement was $5.95.

[Grumpy's Q]

Originally Posted by Doorbusters

Just last weekend I went to a stove and fireplace store and bought the fiberglass rope and some stove cement. Thoroughly cleaned the door on one of my Banderas and put in a nice bead of the cement, then laid the rope in. Let it lay flat on saw horses for about 16 hours and remounted on smoker. Now seals like a farkin vault! Rope was $2.35 per foot and cement was $5.95.

That post would be good in the mod section.

[backyardchef]

Originally Posted by Jorge

Fold some aluminum foil, a couple layers thick around the edges of the door on the next cook and see if that solves enough of the problem to make the solution permanent with something more durable.

That's what I did/do w/ my Chargriller. Never got off my butt to do anything more permanent. Between that and the firebricks, that thing is like a whole different smoker.....

[parrothead]

Ihave used alu,inum foil before also. works wonders.

[Hawgsnheifers]

Originally Posted by bruno

SOme here have put an oven gasket around their door.

There have been several threads and a few folders on the med section.

"Med section" is that where you get your viagra?

[thunter]

Originally Posted by backyardchef

That's what I did/do w/ my Chargriller. Never got off my butt to do anything more permanent. Between that and the firebricks, that thing is like a whole different smoker.....

My CG has a leaky firebox door too, and I use aluminum foil as well. Works great and is a cheap solution until I get my Stumps GF223's!

[Kevin]

Did the smoke box door gasket mod on my BSKD with fiberglass rope gasket yesterday. I heat cured the glue for a few hours and then did a small cook to check the results. Temp stability was greatly improved. Also easier to get up to temp with a smaller fire. Wish I would have done this a long time ago.

I used 3/8" gasket. A little too thick on the hinge side. If I were to do it over I would get the 1/4".

The gasket kit was $5.99 @ Menards. 1 kit contains enough gasket to do all but 3 inches or so. Glad I got 2. Got enough left to do the fire box lid. That may be a little more of a challenge. Looks like you may have to relocate the hinges for it to work.

All in all it was well worth doing.

[Rockaway BeachBQ]

WeekendWood,

It sounds like you have the ECB vertical smoker

Here is what Brinkmann says its worth
http://www.brinkmann.net/Shop/Detail...-1001-I&id=304
this is what it is barely worth
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/produ...uct_id=3342509

I own one of these and did a few mods to the pan and would strap the whole thing tight to try and seal the door a little better.

I actually need to contact them again because they need to do a warranty replacement of the door. It got damaged in shipping and the door actually fell off once during a cook. I contacted them in the fall and they said they were going to ship out a replacement, but I never received it.