Can anyone take a tape to their WSM?


 
J

James St. Pierre

TVWBB Member
I am currently thinking about buying a WSM if I can mod it to electric. I know, blasphemy, but CA law says no open flame on my (flammable) balcony. So, in order to smoke I have to do what I have to do.

I don't want to drill holes in the enamel coated parts, so I am thinking I might install the heating element in the door instead, but I cannot tell from any drawings I have found whether it will fit.

With that in mind I am trying to find a way to check for clearance. All I need is to measure an 18" WSM for the gap between the bottom edge of the door opening and the bottom of the water pan.

Think of a horizontal heating element coming through the bottom of the access door into the WSM. Would it hit the pan, or is there space.

I beg the indulgence of anyone who can provide the answer. Measuring the gap in inches would be ideal. I will happily quote anyone as a helper if I get the chance to post a mod.
 
The new WSM has a deeper water pan than the older model most of us have, and I don't have one handy to give you the measurement you want.

But you should have plenty of room to put an electric element in the bottom of the charcoal bowl or on top of the charcoal grate, as shown in these photos where I put a hot plate in the WSM to dry tomatoes:

Smoke-Dried Tomatoes
(Scroll down to the heading "Using an Electric Hot Plate", click the thumbnail images to view larger photos)

Just put the door on upside down and feed the cord through the access opening.

Regards,
Chris
 
when i got my well used wsm off of craigs list the owner was using it as a electric smoker using a single elect burner. he just used a regular hot plate and said it was putting out great ribs. i told him it didn't matter cuz i was turning it back into a charcoal burner. so yea, i think you would do just fine with a hot plate single burner.
 
I don't have the stock pan. I have the deeper Brinkman pan and it measures 4.5" from the bottom edge of the door to the bottom edge of the pan. So if you still have the stock pan it should be more. If your talking about the bt. of the door to the bt. of the pan looking straight in probably about an inch and a half if you know what I mean. Hope this makes sence to you.
 
Thanks for the info gentlemen. 4.5" should be more than enough if I understand you correctly. Just to confirm, I made a drawing to show what I mean:

http://public.me.com/jamesandrew43/WSM.pdf

I am planning to use a Weber 1560 Watt element with their variable power controller. It may be a little more deluxe than needed, but hey, it'll be true weber through and through.

Robert, can you check my drawing to see if we are on the same page? I am not sure what you mean by the 1.5"?? Based on the drawing, if I/you are looking straight in the door opening... what would the gap be between the lines?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

 

Back
Top