Replacing the Vents on WSM

Is it possible to replace the Vents (air intake) on the bottom of the WSM? One of my vents has come a little loose at the rivet and it doesn't close properly (ie. allows too much air intake).

This should help.
Tim

yep just take two hammers, one is held against the rivet and the other is used to hit the other side. doesn't really matter. be carefull as it won't take much at all. if you really need to replace them just cut the rivets off and then use a pan head screw to replace it with. to make sure the nut stays on without using a bunch of washers, just damage the threads a little. the nut will jam on and be tight.

I had a similar problem with a couple of the vents on my WSM. I tried tightening the rivets as described in parts troubleshooting and by George but, although I was very careful, it ended up making the problem worse. The parts of the charcoal bowl which the rivets pass through are each in the middle of three vent holes and are only supported by narrow bridges of metal. This makes it very easy to bend them out of shape, and if that happens the vents may seal even worse - As happend to me. I Wouldn't recommend doing this.

I ended up drilling out the rivets and replacing them with screws and nuts, and now the vents seal perfectly and I was able to adjust the tension of the screws to get the vent feel just how I like it.

-Mark.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Mark R-S:
get the vent feel just how I like it.
</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

That's what I call dialing it in.

A true pit master. Bravo.

I too needed to repair ill-fitting vents and found (for the same reasons noted by Mark) that I needed to remove them. I found that I was able to reshape the vents to exactly match the curve of the bowl with a few well-placed taps of a light hammer while the vent was supported evenly around its edge. An upside-down 12-oz spray can proved to be the perfect size to both support and true-up the edge. I put the vents back on with stainless steel screw and a locking acorn nut but added a wavy washer to both the inside and outside to maintain the perfect tension once I got it right. Works like a charm.