I must have a faulty WSM 18.5...


 
J

John Campo

New member
The only conclusion I can come to is that I have a faulty WSM 18.5. I have heard many people say this is the best smoker ever...mine is just not working as well as it should! Normally in situations like this I tell other people it is "operator error", but I don't see what else I can do to increase the airflow to the coals?

Doing two Boston butts overnight last night. Full pan of boiling water, full charcoal pan, chimney of 30 lit K brickettes on top (spread out and none contacting water pan), all vents at 100% (top and bottom...never even got to close the bottom ones all night), no wind, air temp around 20 last night, 4 chunks of apple on top.

The ONLY way I can keep temperatures above 200 is to keep the door open about one inch. If I do not do that, the coals darken and peter out. Once I open the door and prop it open, the coals instantly come to life, so, I had to keep the door cracked for part of the night. Not a fun thing to rig at 3am.

I dunno, I have heard a great many sing praise of the WSM, but something is wrong with mine. Even in 20 degrees and snow, I see a great many pictures of other people's WSM working just fine. Mine, for some reason, just appears to get hardly any air into the coals. As I said above, as soon as I cracked the door, the coals came to life. I tried stirring the coals, which helped a little, but after 30 minutes, the coals peter out again. I tried tapping the legs lightly, no luck.

Is is the altitude I am at (8,800')? The only other thing I can do is ditch putting water in the pan altogether, but, that does not seem to be the issue...air flow seems to be the issue and I have done all that I can to increase it and still I have a hard time holding above 230 even with the door open an inch or so open.

Getting frustrated fast...

Any and all help is appreciated!
 
never heard of that prob. Do you have the coals inside the charcoal ring sitting on top of the carcoal grate? (hada ask)
 
Yeah, all coals were on the grate, inside the ring.

No aluminum foil anywhere in the smoker this time (save the bottom of the water pan)! Cooking grates just have meat on them, nothing else.

I should note I calibrated my thermometer in boiling water and it is only 2 degrees off!

I am going to call Weber tomorrow and kindly ask for a whole new smoker. Hopefully they can work with me, as I want to get good enough to enter into some BBQ comps. this summer in the SW of the US. I called the ACE Hardware that I bought it at (amazing they are open on Sunday!) and they said since I used it they can't do anything.

I just do not know what else to check! There are no major air leaks anywhere!
 
1) Empty the water pan, no need to use boiling water. No need to use water at all. Foil the pan for ez clean-up.
2) Try using different charcoal...
3) Where is the charcoal grate sitting inside the base of the smoker? Just under the vent openings? Above the vent openings?
 
The charcoal grate is sitting at the bottom of the vents in the smoker on top of the bolt ends that support the legs.

What is the point of having a water pan if you are not going to use the water pan for water? I guess I just do not see how the water pan can lead to a decrease in air flow to the coals?

But, as I said above, the bottom of the charcoal grate is pretty much level with the bottom of the lowest vent hole.
 
John, my suggestion, which I may have made before, take your smoker apart. Build a fire in the coal ring as usuall. Put a cooking grate on top of the lower section. You are not using the middle section at all. If you can sear meat directly over the coals the problem is not the air flow. If not the coals are in doubt. Can you send pics of the lower vents? Another test. Tape little ribbons inside the lower section adjacent to the vent holes. Put a small fan on the outside blowing in thru the vents. Do the ribbons flutter? If so air flow is good.

I know this is frustrating but can't imagine how Weber could have designed your cooker not to work. There has to be a simple, and as yet, unknown answer. Again, send pics of your cooker, cold, lower section only, focus on the vents. Then assemble coal ring and take more pics, etc.

I will be watching!!!!!

Mark
 
I would have tested with some other coals.
It's not possible to produce a faulty WSM as far as I can see. It's too simple in construction for it to happen.
Let's say that they forgot to remove the metal where the vents are. You would see that right away.

Strange problem.
 
John...we are all on your side, and we'll get this figured out.
It just seems odd that a simple cylinder with a 5-600 degree fire in the bottom can't bring heat up the intervening 3 feet to the top.
This thread seems remarkably similar, but we remedied the situation, and now Brian is a happy cook.
 
I think I figured out the problem!

I dangled my probe style thermometer (the kind you use to monitor the temp of your meat in the oven/smoker) in the top vent. I let it hang there for about ten minutes and came back out and HOLY COW! The probe termometer gave me a reading of 285! I looked at the built-in Weber thermometer and it registered 250!

So, I am guessing I WAS hitting temperature all this time and that the thermometer was just not reading properly. That would explain why my butts look like they are done now!

So, I am assuming that the smoker is working fine and the thermometer is off. I should note there is condensation inside of the thermometer (inside of the glass covering the scale) so I am thinking that moisture is throwing the thermometer off a bit! When I calibrated the thermometer, I did dip it pretty far into the water, and my guess is water was drawn into the assembly, and is thus throwing the reading off! I am going to call Weber tomorrow, admit my mistake, and plead for another thermometer! I also might try to rig a good digital into the lid and use that for now on!

Anyway, I think I have the problem solved! We shall see!

Edit: It must be the thermometer! I just closed my vents to 25% (for the first time) and the temperature dial and the digital probe I am using are dropping at the same rate, but the digital is still reading about 35 degrees more than the dial! I am assuming that my thermometer had moisture in it and it is throwing off the temperature reading! That would explain everything!

Now, for the big question, how does one rig a digital themometer into the lid and which is the best to use!

Sorry for all the bad words about the grill...I had a feeling it was operator error but I was so tired from messing with it that I was grumpy and, well, blaming other things when I should have been blaming myself!
 
The water pan is basically a heat deflector.
adding boiling water to the pan will keep the heat in the smoker low.
I'll bet IF you try dumping the water all together, your temps WILL rise.
THEN, you can control the HIGH temps by adjusting the bottom vents.
 
Jim, see my post just above yours! The issue, all along, was moisture in the thermometer from the calibration process (insert embarrassed face).
 
John,

Glad you seem to have your problem licked. One thing to note. At 8800 ft., you're in pretty rarified air. As a result, your WSM will get significantly less oxygen than those of us nearer to sea level when using the same vent settings. It'll be something with which you will need to experiment. However, that considered, I would recommend ditching the water pan -- I suspect you will have no problems controlling temperatures without it.
 
When you say "ditch the water pan" do you mean take it out or just use it empty lined with foil?

Also, can you use a digital probe continual read (I am sure there is a better name for it) as a thermometer for your smoker? Do not see why not?
 
You are having a similar problem I have when I got mine. I went through 3 thermometers with Weber and they all did the same thing, 25-30 degree difference. Now I just use my maverick through the eyelets I have. I do use the water pan when doing Butts but I only fill it 1/2 full or 1 gallon. The new bowls they have are huge. Good luck on your next smokes.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by John Campo:
When you say "ditch the water pan" do you mean take it out or just use it empty lined with foil? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>Use an EMPTY water pan.

Foil only if you like to clean up quickly.
Use NO foil if you want to have a greasy water pan to clean up after cooking.
 
The evidence!

Temp1.jpg
Temp2.jpg
Temp3.jpg
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Jim Lampe:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by John Campo:
When you say "ditch the water pan" do you mean take it out or just use it empty lined with foil? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>Use an EMPTY water pan.

Foil only if you like to clean up quickly.
Use NO foil if you want to have a greasy water pan to clean up after cooking. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

What he said.
 
My thermometer that came with the wsm showed condensation under the glass just as the picture of yours does.It was getting the condensation from the water pan,as i never "still"have checked the calibration.Weber did send me a new thermometer,but i am still using the original....i'm not real picky on exact temps-rather i get a feel as to if temp is rising,falling,or steady with mine and i call it good enough.Usually go by the feel of the lid and start temping the meat when i think its close to getting done.Done a lot of cooking on kettles without a temp gauge and went by feeling the lid with my hands-guess i just carried it over to the wsm.Glad to see you have it figured out-enjoy the afternoon,Richard
 
I'm late to the party, but glad to see it worked out. Weber will likely send you a new therm (their customer service is without equal). If you don't want to use your probe in the future, you can always get something like this. I have the older model WSM without the built in therm and it's what I use. Works great.

Welcome to the WSM addiction.
 
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