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I have an air leak-update


 
D

D German

TVWBB Member
now 5 hours after closing all vents and temps still 175. How do I find the leak. I suspect the side door. During smoke though not much leaking from the seams.
Thanks
 
Look for smoke escaping other than through the top vent, esp. initially when you place wood chunks on hot coals and you are generating the heaviest smoke.

Most likely culprits:

1) Access door.
2) poorly fitting middle section (i.e. between bottom bowl and middle section).

See parts trouble-shooting under the product info link at the top of this page for how to deal with each of those problems.
 
If your temps are low, OPEN the vents!!! You're cutting off the airflow to the fuel and it can't burn...that's why your temps won't come up.

Leaks cause the temperature to rise!
 
I'm with Phil, what are your vent positions? You write, "after closing all vents and temps still 175." Your "pit" fire needs oxygen to burn. Try starting your cook with all vents open (top and bottom). Then as you approach your target temp start closing down your bottom vents. You should be golden using this approach.
 
I wasn't being snarky. David and I both read it as he's trying to extinguish the fire post-smoke, it's not going out, and he knows it's because of air ingress. Please re-read and see if you don't agree.
 
Doug, my bad, I've had a few too many and read the post wrong. I've often said there should be a breathalyser on my computer. There was someone who used a candle to check for gaps in their WSM, thought it was a great idea.

Again, my bad; lesson, don't TVWBB and drink. However, I do however want to add that my ribs look great!!!
 
I would suggest, after the fire is indeed out by whatever means, just waiting until dark, and putting a (lit, of course) flashlight inside. The door is usually suspect #1, but those middle section out-of-rounds have eluded more than one keen eye.
 
Sorry I should have been explicit and said I was trying to put the fire out after a 14 hour brisket smoke. Went ahead and foiled the door without a big change in temp. Then foiled the lid and middle section seam with good success. Now cold. Will try again after next smoke. Appears that the lid is ok and middle section may be out of round. Should I live with as I am able to maintain temps ok but have to periodically adjust vents or should I see if
Weber will replace.
Thanks
 
There is a section in the Parts & Troubleshooting tutorial that addresses how to tell by how much you are out-of-round, and if you should be able to expect to remedy minor deviations. If you think that, by trying to correct it yourself, you might risk cracking the porcelain finish, by all means feel free to contact Weber customer service about it.
 
You were right. Out of round at the lid-middle section. After the foil went cold fairly quickly. Measurements at perpendiculars on middle section are 3/16" different(18 3/4 and 18 15/16 with 45 degrees between 18 11/16 and 19. I doubt I can fix on my own. Do you agree. I will call Weber on Monday unless you feel I should give it a go. Thanks
 
mine was slightly tweeked so i just do what they suggest here:

"Others rotate the middle cooking section within the charcoal bowl until it binds, resulting in sufficient pressure to close the gap between the sections."
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by D German:
You were right. Out of round at the lid-middle section. After the foil went cold fairly quickly. Measurements at perpendiculars on middle section are 3/16" different(18 3/4 and 18 15/16 with 45 degrees between 18 11/16 and 19. I doubt I can fix on my own. Do you agree. I will call Weber on Monday unless you feel I should give it a go. Thanks </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Usually, the out-of-round condition is at the bottom of the middle section, and can often be remedied as suggested above, or by gentle pressure in the appropriate direction. The top may well be another matter, given the formed flange. Interestingly enough, this prompted me to go measure my own middle section top, and I find that it ranges between 18-11/16" and 18-7/8", a 3/16" variance same as yours. The call to Weber is free, so you lose nothing by trying.
 
Doug
Thanks for the info. Called Weber on Sunday and prompt and quick service. Told him my measurements and immediately he said they will replace the center section. After seeing your measurements are similar to mine I hope that replacing the center section is a good idea. I will measure when I get in 7-10 days. Hope I have not gotten more than I bargined for. Would be interesting to start a thread and compile accurate measurements for as many wsm's as possible. Would Chis be interested. See what the standard error is. Maybe mine is within the norm and I should just foil the top for long cooks. I had pretty good success with temps 220-260 but had to close 2 vents and 80% third vent. I will post here measurements before I smoke with new center section.
Thanks
 
I've never had cause for concern re: my lid's fit into the top of the middle section. After measuring, I spun the lid in place to see if I detected a rub-- I did not. Maybe time and gunk would have sealed yours as many here have reported it has for them. All things considered, out-of-rounds, warped doors or not, if your fire goes out with all vents closed in about 2 hours, your unit is sufficiently "sealed".

One caveat I will relate is never assume if the cooker feels cold in a few hours post-shutdown that the fire is not capable of rejuvenating itself. I once went to put mine away after dark late one evening--several hours after the cook-- and when I removed the middle section, I almost immediately saw a faint glow from some of the leftover coals. I now always leave mine safely away from combustibles until the next day.
 
With my wsm. I can spin the top, never catches. In fact sizeable gap on one side between lid and middle section. Maybe combination of door gap and lid/middle section was enough to allow air flow to keep temp at lid at 175 even at 5 hrs after shutting all the vents down. Hope the replacement is as good or better. I wonder which forum would be best to poll everyone on how round their smokers are. Bet the majority are off some.
 
Update.
Weber was kind enough to send me a new middle section. Out of the box the top of the middle piece looked great. Measurements off only 1/16". But!!!! Bottom of middle section is off 3/8"-worse than top of present middle section. When I put middle secion into bottom part of it hugs the lower section and part has a large gap. Talked to Weber. Going to give the new section a shot. Will see if smoke comes from the bottom seam when smoke over the weekend. Will only leave foil on door. Will then see if cools down fast when done and close vents. Guess one has to wonder if the old middle section which was off 3/16" is better than the new one. I will post after next smoke. By the way Weber customer service so far has been great. Sounds like they may replace this one if needed. Thanks
 
Used the new middle section yeasterday for about 6-8hrs. Minion method. Initially no problem holding temp at 240 but after 5-6 hrs had to close all the vents except the top vent when temp at 250 then opened vents a little to keep 245-250. Cooling down temp stayed at 200. Eventually foiled top and bottom seams to get to cool off but took several hrs to get less than 100. Going to cook some ribs this weekend and see how I can maintain the temps. I am torn a little between the 2 middle sections to see if using a few more times will seal. Weber is willing to let me play with these for a while. Any ideas would be appreciated. I guess if it can hold temps well I can live with letting the coals burn away as I learn the proper amount for length of cook.
 
I had the same out of round issue with my WSM. I bought it from a guy who stated that he couldn't get it to run right and would go through multiple chimneys to cook with it. I thought the charcoal bowl was out of round and in the process cracked the enamel off. Weber replaced it since they told me to fix it, referencing this site. After the new bowl arrived I had the same issue of a significant gap. I have managed to gently reshape the bottom of the middle section and can shut down the smoker and have fuel left over. Another idea would be flat stove rope to seal up any gaps. It can be found at a fireplace shop or appliance store. Good luck
 
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