WSM and Burner!


 
Dave Smith

Dave Smith

TVWBB Super Fan
Here are some shots of my burner attachment for my Rotodamper. This is my WSM 22.5 and hope to try it this setup this weekend and see how everything works.
I used 3/4" copper!
N2AoAxOm.jpg
[/url][/IMG]
rimBQYJm.jpg
[/url][/IMG]bottom piece
DFB77jnm.jpg
[/url][/IMG]
XIZBUmlm.jpg
[/url][/IMG] 1/8" holes
rQvHSb7m.jpg
[/url][/IMG]
 
Looks like pic 2 and 3 show the down tube which is threaded and the other tube that mates with it and leads out of the smoker. Having worked with copper quite a bit in my BBQ adventures I would prob not have bothered sweating the threaded ends on the pipe and just pushed the pipes together with a standard fitting, they will hold together just fine without soldering. In fact I would only solder the main structures and leave a few convenient junctions unsoldered so it can installed/remove/disassembled etc.
 
What about a closer pic of the unit with the holes. What size are the holes?
Is the pipe connecting to a fan through the rotodamper?

TIA
 
Last edited:
He says the holes are 1/8" and if you click on the pic you can zoom in and get a look at them. If you are building an "air burner" without a roto damper then it's a good idea to start off with fewer/smaller holes, if you make too many/too large holes you may still have problems with overshoot. If you have a roto damper the size and number of holes would be less critical because the damper will cut off the air flow for you and prevent overshoot. Though I tend to like the holes on the small side anyways, because smaller holes make better jets of air to stoke the fire....
It looks like he did a nice job putting this together and I am interested to see how it performs in a cook...
 
I'll get some more pics this weekend as I want to tweek the bottom tube abit, the holes are 1/8" and the Rotodamper will be used. If I want I am going to cap the end of tube and will still be able to run without the Roto with fan attached to drain on one vent.
 
Not sure what you mean, but my settings are
B=0
P=4
I=0.02
D=5
Fan pulsed; min. 10%; max 95; on @ max
Servo 700 - 2110 inverted.
 
Looks like you've got solid control over your pit.... Now that you have run a cook what do you think of the "air burner" and roto damper?
 
I can't see the time scale on your last image but assuming from the food line it was a fairly long period... Your temp graph looks great but I prefer not to run with the servo/blower that close to 100% all the time.

Your setup is interesting, I was going to suggest you remove the lower fan limit of 10% but then thought perhaps the slight pulsing that would cause might work well with the air burner...

As for running near 100%..... I would tweak my system so it runs more in the 30-50% range, or at least that is what I like to see. You could do this a couple ways.... 1) you could make more holes or larger holes in your air burner to allow more convection air to get through 2) you could remove on at max only and let the blower force more air through the holes you've already got.
 
I'm loving the burner with the Roto, was about a 7 hr cook and temps where right on. Think I'll go by your suggestion and drop fan down to 50% and see how that goes.
 
I think you have misunderstood what I was saying...

Looking at your graph, I see a large mountain of blue, where the servo damper is nearly fully open most of the time running at a low temperature of 250. IMHO it would be better to have your air flow setup to achieve that result while the HM is displaying more like 35-50% rather than almost all the way open.

There are a couple ways you could go about addressing that.

First stop would be the top vent... If it is choked down like you need to do with a HM when you do not have a servo damper, then open up the top vent and let your pit breathe a little bit more. You should notice that the more you open the top vent the more the HM will close the bottom vent.

Second thing you could do is disable the "on at max only" option for the blower and let the blower take a more active role. This is how I tend to do it with my bullet smoker running the air burner. This method uses the blower to create those little air jets that very effectively stoke the fire.

Another way would be to make more holes, or larger holes, or add cross members with additional holes to your air burner... Right now you've got just enough holes to hit about 225 wide open....

So you could use the active (blower) method to deliver more air or use the passive method and provide a wider path for air to flow (more/bigger holes, wider top vent)

If you go with the active method (the easiest obviously because you just have to change software settings) then you would want to turn OFF the "on at Max Only" option and set your MAX blower speed to something less than 100%. What speed depends on your pit, I would guess something around 30% would be a good starting point. You can leave the Startup Max to 100% so you can still start the pit with a tiny burning twig! LOL I usually use 1/2 of a Weber starter cube to light my fires....
 
Last edited:
Dave, how are you starting your fire in the WSM with the air burner. One of the reasons I'm interested in the Heatermeter aside from making it as "set it and forget it" as possible is to save on fuel. I'd be interested to how you're starting the charcoal (minion, fuse, etc.). What's the longest burn time you get on it? Are you using the RD3 with this air burner setup? Thanks!
 
I fill my chimney, and light a starter cube when ready just dump coals on charcoal in WSM. Yes to using airburner and RD3........14 hrs burn time so far.
 
Dave Smith said:
I fill my chimney, and light a starter cube when ready just dump coals on charcoal in WSM. Yes to using airburner and RD3........14 hrs burn time so far.
Click to expand...

Wow I'm amazed at that burn time. That would make brisket smokes a breeze. Right now I can eat through a bag of charcoal. I probably only get 8 hours out of a full ring as it is now if I'm lucky. Granted the weather has been getting cooler, but still didn't get that long of a burn time in the fall. I don't even start with a full chimney either, maybe like a third. Are you spreading the coals out over the top of the charcoal or are you concentrating to one side? Right now ive just been digging a little pocket out on one side and letting it burn across essentially. I have done fuse method with some success but now that it's colder its harder to get temps up with it so I'm back to minion. What type of fuel are you using, lump/briquettes? I've been using Stubb's briquettes and Cowboy. No appreciable difference that I notice between the two as far as burn times go. Think I will try to pick up some Royal Oak for my next cook. Thanks!
 
The holes seem very small and your fan seems like it's working overtime.

I had the same issue and increased the size of the holes on my Air Burner(tm?) and it made the world of difference. I also elected to not have the fan input on the bottom of the smoker as grease was leaking from the hole. That failed attempt led me to scrap an entire Mini WSM (actually I just returned it to Walmart and told them it was leaking grease... technically not a lie?) and buy a new one to place the fan input on the side of smoker.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

 

Back
Top