Gasket material around WSM door?


 
M

MattyP-MA

New member
I’ve yet to buy the Cajun Bandit door until I at least give this a try. Has anyone tried to seal their door hatch to prevent heat/smoke from escaping? The stuff I have came as an added bonus when purchasing the lid hinge on Amazon. Currently, I’m trying to clean the door hatch so I can apply the gasket material and fabric. I assume the gasket is placed inside the scoured lines of the door??? See attached picture. Thanks in advance.
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I was able to tweak my door by gently bending to seal tight enough so the coals will go out with everything shut down, but if you have the gasket material anyway, just make sure you degrease as to get a good bond, it looks like the lines you drew are ok, I don't remember if the edges of the door contact the body, if they do I'd put the gasket there.... depending on the thickness of the gasket you might have to adjust the latch, but probably not...good luck...
 
I used the Island Outdoors gasket kit, and went out to the outer edges of the entire door. The only gap is the spot just around the latch at the top. I've cooked 3 times since I added the gasket, and it has sealed up tight. No leakage whatsoever.
 
People somehow think that leakage of smoke is a problem. If there is temperature control issue, it might be wiser to investigate how and where fresh air is leaking into their WSMs.
 
I’m just looking for added consistency in temperature . I figure that the leaking areas adds oxygen to feed the coals.
 
This is a CB door and not the stock one. This is what I have laid out for a door gasket..

(Island Outdoors gasket kit)

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MattyP said:
I’m just looking for added consistency in temperature . I figure that the leaking areas adds oxygen to feed the coals.
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Very correct... but from where is the uncontrolled oxygen (fresh air) entering your WSM ?
Bottom section to midsection seam and the 3 intake vents are the normal cuprits...
 
IMHO, if you close all vents and the fire goes out within 1 hour, you don't have a problem with unwanted air infiltration, despite any smoke you see leaking around the door.

If you can't extinguish the fire this way, then you need to look at the fit of the door and adjust as necessary, and check for gaps between the charcoal bowl and the middle cooking section. Some gasket material may be the solution if you can't address those issues through adjustments.
 
Chris Allingham said:
IMHO, if you close all vents and the fire goes out within 1 hour, you don't have a problem with unwanted air infiltration, despite any smoke you see leaking around the door.

If you can't extinguish the fire this way, then you need to look at the fit of the door and adjust as necessary, and check for gaps between the charcoal bowl and the middle cooking section. Some gasket material may be the solution if you can't address those issues through adjustments.
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Good point. The coals are just about out when I’m finished with my smokes, so it might go out soon after with the damper open or closed. I’d need to over briquette to really know.
 
MattyP said:
Good point. The coals are just about out when I’m finished with my smokes, so it might go out soon after with the damper open or closed. I’d need to over briquette to really know.
Click to expand...
For me, this is a really common occurrence for short cooks. If I'm cooking something for only 4 hours, I usually have a fair amount of fuel leftover. If I can snuff out that fire in an hour by closing the vents, I know I've got a tight cooker.
 
Ive found no leak problem
But if I had here's what I would do

Smear Vaseline lightly around the opening on the shell of the WSM
Clean the door around the edge and apply small red high temp silicone bead to it
Close and latch the door and let the silicone cure
when done you've got a perfect gasket that doesn't take up excess room .

Wipe off the Vaseline.

All that felt is just somebody selling you stuff you don't need
 
I've found door tweaks to be sufficient on my WSM 22.5, but we'll see how the 14.5 goes.

Somebody needs to make an attempt at sealing up a WSM so airtight that when you shut it down, the burning coals cause the WSM to crush like a beer can as it cools down. Not that I'm trying to advocate the destruction of WSMs, but it would be a fun science experiment.
 
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