Sealed too good???

For all of the Stoker users out there, is it possible to seal your WSM too good? Meaning, when smoking, I have the 2 lower vents closed and taped, the seal between the bottom and middle section taped as well. The top vent is only open a small fraction. While the Stoker fan is on, if I open the top vent, you can hear the fan 'work less'. I think this is because there is less back pressure since the top vent is open more. When I close it some, the fan 'gets louder' since it appears to be working harder. Seems like the amount of air that is blowing in is more then the amount going out and creating a small pressure zone inside the WSM. Because of this, smoke will come out of every seam that isn't sealed shut.

Does anyone else have this issue? While the Stoker fan is running, if you open your top vent more, does the fan get 'quieter'? If you close it more, does the fan get 'louder'?

Dave

Hi Dave,

From past experience with fans, when you close off either the input or output, the fan works less since it can no longer move as much air. This type of fan will build a very slight static pressure. The fan is doing more work when moving air. It also slows down due to this work (load) and creates less noise than when running unloaded. Also, if the ambient air temperature is higher than normal, the fan will be doing less work (since air density is less) and will sound a little louder than normal.

I can't give you the science teacher answer on air pressure, but I can say that I leave my top vent fully open (and 2 bottoms fully closed). When running in this manner the fan seems to blow in very short bursts when it kicks on and the temps do stay very stable. No unusual fan noise . Now this was also an older WSM 18 that was not exceptionally tight. I've just purchased a WSM 22 to which I've added gaskets which seemed like a good idea on the larger unit. I haven't even fired it up yet as my larger Stoker fan is literally still in the mail. This does give me some good ideas for tests as previously I always left top open.