Dave's Smokefire EX6 Experiences

[Jason in CA]

Today I spent a little bit of time fitting the test heat deflectors for the grease area. These are knock off versions of the Weber 7622 defectors for reference and cost about $12.99 shipped on Amazon for stainless. I bought them from warehouse deals for like $8 delivered.

I took eight small binder clips, removed the piece which you use to open a binder clip with your fingers and slid them onto the deflectors. This raises the deflectors around 1/8", to allow for better flow of grease. My goal here is to reduce ash in the grease, reduce partially burned pellets in the grease and to isolate some of the grease from direct flame heat. Will this work? No idea, but for $8 it was worth a shot. Zero mods, buy and install.

One other thing is the little lip at the end covers the hole into the grease pan. Again, likely reducing half burned pellets from dropping down in there.

When do you find time to sleep??

 

[LMichaels]

Dave you just may have hit on the solution to the issue. Grease can drain, the limited air flow will keep grease fire to a minimum if at all, and perhaps they will keep excess ash from blowing around and burning your deck down

 

[Bob Swaskoski]

Most impressive! Weber is gonna steal that idea fer sur!

 

[Bruno]

Thanks Dave, I ordered up a set. Seems like a good cheap start. I’m avoiding permanent mods until 3-18-20 after that anything proven is on the table.

 

[Dave - Unixadm]

Awesome. I used mine tonight and it does seem to help a bit but time will tell. I cooked some more carne asada and a bacon wrapped filet. Holy moly, sooo good.

 

[Ken M]

Thanks Dave this looks great. Couple of questions - I'm looking to buy an EX4, so I suspect I would need to shorten this or find a similar but shorter version. Do you still recommend the Stell wool like wire bristle the Ash box too ? I plan on putting my grill on a Trex/Composite deck, and want to eliminate ash/ember blowing.

 

[DaveN]

Wondering if you had a chance to test your heat deflector mod yet and if you have any results?

 

[DaveN]

I am the admin on the Facebook page Weber Smokefire Woodfired Pellet Grill: Owner Group. One of the members has created an insert for the hopper to increase the angle of the feed. I don't know if he is a member here, but I have encouraged him to join.

Here is a short video of his insert:

 

[Dave - Unixadm]

Thanks Dave this looks great. Couple of questions - I'm looking to buy an EX4, so I suspect I would need to shorten this or find a similar but shorter version. Do you still recommend the Stell wool like wire bristle the Ash box too ? I plan on putting my grill on a Trex/Composite deck, and want to eliminate ash/ember blowing.

I can say that it does reduce ash/embers coming out of the front of the Smokefire. Those really only occur above 300ish degrees when the unit is running on the higher fan speed. I still need to test further to determine if it will affect performance. In terms of a shorter version, if you have a grinder with a cutting wheel, you can cut them down easily to fit.

Wondering if you had a chance to test your heat deflector mod yet and if you have any results?

I'm running them but I had not yet had a grease fire. I was looking at ways of reducing ash inside of the grease sump. I'm considering covering the deflectors with heavy foil to see what happens. I have to put more hours on it as time permits.

 

[MikeLucky]

I can say that it does reduce ash/embers coming out of the front of the Smokefire. Those really only occur above 300ish degrees when the unit is running on the higher fan speed. I still need to test further to determine if it will affect performance. In terms of a shorter version, if you have a grinder with a cutting wheel, you can cut them down easily to fit.



I'm running them but I had not yet had a grease fire. I was looking at ways of reducing ash inside of the grease sump. I'm considering covering the deflectors with heavy foil to see what happens. I have to put more hours on it as time permits.

Thanks for your posts and your pictures. It's good to see more examples of great food coming off this thing. Clearly there are some updates that need to be made, but just looking at your two auger pics and seeing the Rev differences it's pretty clear that Weber is busting their tails trying to get this right. I mean it's been out a month and they are on version 6 of the auger.

Keep the info coming. You are doing awesome work.

 

[BFletcher]

I mean it's been out a month and they are on version 6 of the auger.

For clarity, it's not uncommon that most rev level changes occur throughout the prototype stages, or pre-production. But Weber is Weber and I do not believe they will let folks down without fighting to get it right.

 

[Dave - Unixadm]

Thanks for your posts and your pictures. It's good to see more examples of great food coming off this thing. Clearly there are some updates that need to be made, but just looking at your two auger pics and seeing the Rev differences it's pretty clear that Weber is busting their tails trying to get this right. I mean it's been out a month and they are on version 6 of the auger.

Keep the info coming. You are doing awesome work.

Thanks. The auger pics were not from me though, but from another owner.

 

[MikeLucky]

For clarity, it's not uncommon that most rev level changes occur throughout the prototype stages, or pre-production. But Weber is Weber and I do not believe they will let folks down without fighting to get it right.

Yeah, I would assume in this case A-D were pre-production or at least pre-launch. The E and F appear to have been since launch with the D being on the unit originally. And, I agree I think they WILL get this right.

Thanks. The auger pics were not from me though, but from another owner.

Gotcha. Thanks still for your work and for posting it all. I would personally love to see more as you continue the adventure.

 

[DaveN]

Thanks. The auger pics were not from me though, but from another owner.

I was going to ask you about those pics. What is the black stuff that looks like tape? Maybe you don't know then.

 

[DaveN]

I'm running them but I had not yet had a grease fire. I was looking at ways of reducing ash inside of the grease sump. I'm considering covering the deflectors with heavy foil to see what happens. I have to put more hours on it as time permits.

With this mod, how are you going to keep the grease from mingling with the ash? I had a similar idea about making a tent but it would require that the grease come off a drip pan on either side then run down the drain, bypassing falling directly into the ash.

 

[Chris Allingham]

I am the admin on the Facebook page Weber Smokefire Woodfired Pellet Grill: Owner Group. One of the members has created an insert for the hopper to increase the angle of the feed. I don't know if he is a member here, but I have encouraged him to join.

Here is a short video of his insert:

Hi DaveN and welcome!

Thanks for sharing the video. Yes, another one of our members found it and posted it yesterday in another thread about SmokeFire YouTube videos: https://tvwbb.com/threads/smokefire-issues-on-youtube.79875/post-881354

It looks like a sturdy mod!

 

[Chris Allingham]

I was going to ask you about those pics. What is the black stuff that looks like tape? Maybe you don't know then.

If you're referring to the tape in these photos: https://tvwbb.com/threads/daves-smokefire-ex6-experiences.79856/post-880810

You need to refer back to this post: https://tvwbb.com/threads/daves-smokefire-ex6-experiences.79856/post-880480 where Dave describes the 2" UCMW Tape he installed.

 

[Dave - Unixadm]

With this mod, how are you going to keep the grease from mingling with the ash? I had a similar idea about making a tent but it would require that the grease come off a drip pan on either side then run down the drain, bypassing falling directly into the ash.

Unless you use a drip pan, I don't see a way of preventing ash/grease from comingling. Using drip pans is also something I'll be testing as they were just delivered by Amazon (had to reorder as my initial order was lost), but those could affect temperature and air flow.

 

[LarrySTX]

Today I spent a little bit of time fitting the test heat deflectors for the grease area. These are knock off versions of the Weber 7622 defectors for reference and cost about $12.99 shipped on Amazon for stainless. I bought them from warehouse deals for like $8 delivered.

I took eight small binder clips, removed the piece which you use to open a binder clip with your fingers and slid them onto the deflectors. This raises the deflectors around 1/8", to allow for better flow of grease. My goal here is to reduce ash in the grease, reduce partially burned pellets in the grease and to isolate some of the grease from direct flame heat. Will this work? No idea, but for $8 it was worth a shot. Zero mods, buy and install.

One other thing is the little lip at the end covers the hole into the grease pan. Again, likely reducing half burned pellets from dropping down in there.

Another promising idea. Wonder if the new cover would act as an additional 'flavorizer' as it heats up thereby burning off additional grease? Will be interested to see the result from a longer low & slow test.

It's very encouraging to me that there may be fixes for grease fire issues without having to redesign the cooker body.

 

[Bruno]

Really Weber should sent out a nice stainless drip pan and that sweet looking hopper mod that guy made.