Drilling a drain hole?


 
R

Russ Sylvester

TVWBB Pro
The last couple of sessions ran a little late into the evening and after eating and relaxing a little, the last thing I wanted to do was go clean out the WSM in the dark.

So the next day I go out to clean it out and do to the rain or dew fall I've got a nice soupy mess in the bottom of the bowl. Evidently the water will run down the sides and right into the bottom bowl.

So obviously I start thinking about drilling a small hole right in the bottom to drain out any water. Obviously small enough not to affect air flow control.

Is this advisable and how do I finish off the hole so that I don't get rust starting?

Russ
 
Personally I wouldn't drill any holes. I would just put a big garbage bag over the WSM (making sure it's cool, of course) until I had the chance to clean it out (which is what I do, if it looks like rain). Even if some water does get inside, it is easy to just pick up the bottom section and dump it out.
 
Close all vents, finish eating, come back and put your cover that came with WSM over the cooker. Drilling a hole in the bottom will create a hole for uncontrolled air flow into the WSM causing you to be unable to control temp as you would like too.
 
Originally posted by Dave K:
Drilling a hole in the bottom will create a hole for uncontrolled air flow into the WSM causing you to be unable to control temp as you would like too.
Click to expand...

There is already plenty of air that leaks in through the door and it's not as if the vents form anything approaching an airtight seal. A small drain hole would be a non issue from a temp control standpoint.

That said, the ash will clog up the hole and it won't really drain as you'd like anyway.
 
Think about what drilling a hole does.

You currently have a porcelinized enamel covered steel. If you drill through that, you expose the steel to moisture. What does steel do in the presence of moisture? Rusts.

By drilling a hole you're actually doing harm to your WSM.
 
Originally posted by Jay Rogers:
Think about what drilling a hole does.

You currently have a porcelinized enamel covered steel. If you drill through that, you expose the steel to moisture. What does steel do in the presence of moisture? Rusts.

By drilling a hole you're actually doing harm to your WSM.
Click to expand...

People drill holes in their WSM all the time to mount up thermos to the lid or handles to the middle section. While, yes, you make things more rust prone, it's not as if your WSM is going to break down into a pile of rust in a couple months or even in many years.

You could always coat the exposed metal with high temp paint if you really are worried about things.
 
Originally posted by Larry D.:
Personally I wouldn't drill any holes. I would just put a big garbage bag over the WSM (making sure it's cool, of course) until I had the chance to clean it out (which is what I do, if it looks like rain).
Click to expand...
Ummm, I never thought of that. Damn, I can be slow sometimes. Thanks for the tip.
 
Originally posted by B.Watts:
People drill holes in their WSM all the time to mount up thermos to the lid or handles to the middle section. While, yes, you make things more rust prone, it's not as if your WSM is going to break down into a pile of rust in a couple months or even in many years.

You could always coat the exposed metal with high temp paint if you really are worried about things.
Click to expand...

While you're correct, where people drill the holes for the therms is not where water and ash collect. Drilling a hole in the bottom of the lower bowl is exactly where water and ashes collect. While it won't rust out in a month, it will a lot sooner than if there was no hole.

I've seen people using old weber kettles as planters that are probably 30+ years old, even though they're in constant contact with moist dirt. I don't think they'd be around more than 5 years if a hole was drilled in them.

I personally plan on keeping my WSMs for as long as I can (unless I them to upgrade to a 22" new model)
icon_smile.gif
 
Drilling a hole: first it would prolly clog up quickly with very little ash. Also, the exposed metal with the ash.. the ash is very caustic to that metal.

Mike
 
Originally posted by Mike Durso:
Drilling a hole: first it would prolly clog up quickly with very little ash. Also, the exposed metal with the ash.. the ash is very caustic to that metal.

Mike
Click to expand...

Yes, remember how people used to make lye (in order to make soap)? They trickled water through wood ashes.
 
I drilled a hole in the bottom of my WSM. Here in Albuquerque we don't get much rain. there was a couple of times when it rained and I didn't check the WSM untill the next time I wanted to use it. When I opened the unit the insides were full of mold. I drilled a 1/8" hole in the bottom. It does clog up but it removes most of the water so that all that is left is damp ashes. It has been this way for two years and I havent knoticed any rust. Although it is never so clean that I would notice.
 
Originally posted by Larry D.:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Mike Durso:
Drilling a hole: first it would prolly clog up quickly with very little ash. Also, the exposed metal with the ash.. the ash is very caustic to that metal.

Mike
Click to expand...

Yes, remember how people used to make lye (in order to make soap)? They trickled water through wood ashes. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

So if the drain-hole worked, you'd be dripping lye-water onto something (deck, patio etc.) and you'd still want something to catch that caustic soup.

One thought on keeping an 1/8 or 1/4 inch drain-hole clog free is to lay a circle of metal screen, maybe 4" diameter down in the bottom of the bowl.
You could attach it to the bowl around the circumferance with high-temp fireplace & stove sealant.
Flipping one of these mesh screen drain traps upside down and sealing it to the bowl could work as well.
http://www.plumbingsupply.com/...screenstrainers.html
 
Originally posted by Russ Sylvester:
The last couple of sessions ran a little late into the evening and after eating and relaxing a little, the last thing I wanted to do was go clean out the WSM in the dark.

So the next day I go out to clean it out and do to the rain or dew fall I've got a nice soupy mess in the bottom of the bowl. Evidently the water will run down the sides and right into the bottom bowl.

So obviously I start thinking about drilling a small hole right in the bottom to drain out any water. Obviously small enough not to affect air flow control.

Is this advisable and how do I finish off the hole so that I don't get rust starting?

Russ
Click to expand...
Hello
I know this is an old thread but I saw the drilling thing and forget about it
icon_eek.gif
. All you have to do is turn the middle sec around and then place the lid and a cover on it. Yes you can't do that if you get caught in the rain or it start raining after your smoke
wsmsmile8gm.gif
But I rather not worry about rust or what ever els there is to be concerned with.Hope this helps somebody that was thinking about do this!
icon_smile.gif


Keep on Smoking
wsmsmile8gm.gif
 
i drilled a 1/8" hole in mine when i first got it. it helps if you use lump, if you use briquettes it gets clogged up. i have since found that a weber 22.5" cover will keep the inside of the WSM dry as a bone. it doesn't go all the way down to the ground, but it keeps the water out. i found this out by accident. i put my OTG cover over the wsm just to get it out of the way. i forgot to cover the kettle that night and it rained for 4 days. the inside of the WSM was completely dry when i opened it up the next weekend.(ashes and all).
 
waiting a couple of days or even weeks for the rain to stop is less harm than drilling a drain hole. whatever that thing drains onto will take a lot of damage from ash/water mix than just waiting to clean it out till the rain is done.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

 

Back
Top