Kamado Joe Classic - Do I need a damper?


 
D

Dave McK

New member
I'm currently building the HM 4.2.4 (thermistor only) with Raspberry Pi to control my 18" Kamado Joe Classic (similar to large BGE). I've been reading lots of interesting threads about the various servo actuated damper designs. However, I don't see a discussion about the fundamentals of why one would need a damper. What problem does it solve? and/or What advantages does it provide?

How many run with a fan-only configuration? or should I just go all-out now and build out a damper option too?
 
I have a big steel Keg similar to the Kamando but in insulated steel. The Kamando style cookers tend to be so efficient that when using a blower just the natural draft going thought the blower when it is off can cause the temp to run away. You can close the top vent so blower must force the air into the cooker, I did many cooks this way but the temp can still tend to runaway or spike too much. Some believe cooking with the top vent almost closed causes stale smoke. Using the dampener the draft is controlled and the cooker can operate as the manufacture intended with natural draft just like you do by manually adjusting the vents. I have tried both ways and the dampener is the best way to go, many are using the ROTO dampener, it has both the dampener and the blower in one assembly and offers the advantage of bower assisted lighting of the charcoal.
 
Last edited:
Dave McK said:
I'm currently building the HM 4.2.4 (thermistor only) with Raspberry Pi to control my 18" Kamado Joe Classic (similar to large BGE). I've been reading lots of interesting threads about the various servo actuated damper designs. However, I don't see a discussion about the fundamentals of why one would need a damper. What problem does it solve? and/or What advantages does it provide?

How many run with a fan-only configuration? or should I just go all-out now and build out a damper option too?
Click to expand...

As a KJ classic owner myself, I can speak from firsthand experience that you'll have far more control over low and slow temps with the damper. You can leave the top daisy wheel holes open and the damper will keep the temps nice and stable.
 
Dale Ward said:
I have a big steel Keg similar to the Kamando but in insulated steel. The Kamando style cookers tend to be so efficient that when using a blower just the natural draft going thought the blower when it is off can cause the temp to run away. You can close the top vent so blower must force the air into the cooker, I did many cooks this way but the temp can still tend to runaway or spike too much. Some believe cooking with the top vent almost closed causes stale smoke. Using the dampener the draft is controlled and the cooker can operate as the manufacture intended with natural draft just like you do by manually adjusting the vents. I have tried both ways and the dampener is the best way to go, many are using the ROTO dampener, it has both the dampener and the blower in one assembly and offers the advantage of bower assisted lighting of the charcoal.
Click to expand...

TL:DR; you can get by w/just the fan, but the HM works better with a damper. Especially on efficient kamados.

I have a keg as well & no damper - I can't run reliably below 275*. At 275-300, it's rock solid. Even sealing the fan intake off as much as possible, it allows too much flow (through the fan intake, everything else is sealed w/aluminum tape). W/O the HM fan, I can hold 200-250 just fine, so it's not leaking elsewhere. The keg is more efficient than my dad's BGE, but I don't know about the KJ.

I've had my finger on the 'buy-it-now' button of a few 3D printers to make a damper, just haven't pulled the trigger yet. I haven't noticed a decline in my Butts/ribs at 275 & it takes WAY less time.... I would like to get where I could do 175 for making chipotles or other colder smoked items.
 
Sounds like I need to builder the damper. I'm certainly planning to use this setup for low and slow cooks. Thanks for the feedback.
 
Andy Snider said:
TL:DR; you can get by w/just the fan, but the HM works better with a damper. Especially on efficient kamados.

I have a keg as well & no damper - I can't run reliably below 275*. At 275-300, it's rock solid. Even sealing the fan intake off as much as possible, it allows too much flow (through the fan intake, everything else is sealed w/aluminum tape). W/O the HM fan, I can hold 200-250 just fine, so it's not leaking elsewhere. The keg is more efficient than my dad's BGE, but I don't know about the KJ.

I've had my finger on the 'buy-it-now' button of a few 3D printers to make a damper, just haven't pulled the trigger yet. I haven't noticed a decline in my Butts/ribs at 275 & it takes WAY less time.... I would like to get where I could do 175 for making chipotles or other colder smoked items.
Click to expand...

I have run my keg very stable as low as 185 using the damper, my dampener is the simple one I bought from one of the guys on here think it was Dave P, it is just a disk inside a piece of pipe with the servo glued to the outside pipe.
 
Dale Ward said:
I have run my keg very stable as low as 185 using the damper, my dampener is the simple one I bought from one of the guys on here think it was Dave P, it is just a disk inside a piece of pipe with the servo glued to the outside pipe.
Click to expand...

My first damper was the same, basically a flap inside a pvc tube. Unfortunately I found with that damper the slightest opening allowed a lot of air flow, so it kinda went from 0 to 100 as soon as it moved off of 0. I used it about a month and things really went off the rails, when I ripped it apart I realized the flap had broke loose and was out of position, so it was closed when the HM thought it was open and vice versa. It was at that point I decided that I wanted a damper that could provide a very small opening and also provide visual confirmation of it's position (and thus the size of the opening), that's when I came up with the roto damper. Since then I have designed and tested at least a half dozen other damper designs and none of them have performed nearly as well as the roto damper, so I keep coming back to it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

 

Back
Top