Leaky WSM 22.5


 
Matt Gard

Matt Gard

TVWBB All-Star
I've adjusted the door to the best that I can without losing my sanity. With all of the vents shut after the cook is over and the lid on and the door closed I can't get the coals to burn out. I want to be able to save the left over coals after the cook is over but they continue to burn down to nothing. The temp in the grill will only drop to 125-150 with all the vents shut until the coals completely burn out. Any ideas?:confused:
 
Matt the 22.5s are so big that they are going to be leaky. The gaskets might work but the smokers aren't going to be completely airtight. If the middle and lid are not in round then I'd call Weber support. You could still call Weber support in this case. They are fabulous.
 
I quit using my used charcoal with some fresh. Did it that way for about a year. Fresh charcoal burns better. Started using the amount of fresh charcoal needed for each cook.
 
If the door & vents seem to be fairly airtight, it's probably the body sections. Wait until it's dark and assemble the WSM. Take off the lid and look inside while shining a flashlight around the bottom seam from the outside. If there is a leak, you should see light coming in. It not only confirms that there is a leak, it shows you where it is. Helped me adjust mine. As for the top, it's harder to do the flashlight thing. Check for out-of-round and the lid rocking.
 
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My guess is that every center section is a bit out of round from shipping. Good that they are so easy to reshape. Measure across each direction and squeeze easy the longest measurement until both match. Door, just keep working it. It also can be shaped pretty well. Trust us, the more you use it, the more it seals up. I also turn my sections until they are at their tightest fit. You can feel it and will notice leaking smoke slowing down.
 
Lew said:
If the door & vents seem to be fairly airtight, it's probably the body sections. Wait until it's dark and assemble the WSM. Take off the lid and look inside while shining a flashlight around the bottom seam from the outside. If there is a leak, you should see light coming in. It not only confirms that there is a leak, it shows you where it is. Helped me adjust mine. As for the top, it's harder to do the flashlight thing. Check for out-of-round and the lid rocking.
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Good idea for any smoker! Thanks
 
Thanks for all the tips, its only been smoked on twice now. I think the problem is the door as that is the only place i have seen smoke escaping.
 
Matt, I had the same issue with mine when new. Now it shuts down real quick (ie 20-30 minutes). The 'gunkier' the better. I liked doing skin on thighs to break it in, cheap, tasty and fast. Keep on cooking, It'll get better. As for the lid, the flashlight idea mentioned above works. Just take it really slow. I used my work bench top to bend my door a tiny bit at a time. Seals up like a vault now.
 
Mine took awhile to gunk up and seal the leaks and adding the cajun door helped a bit more too. First few smokes I would see wisps coming from the joined areas of the bottom and the lid to the body. A few smokes more and I dont see any wisps coming out anywhere due to it getting smoked a bit. The Cajun Bandit door was a xmas gift but it seals much better than the factory one did. First thing I did when I got my WSM was measure its diameter to see how far out of round it was. Mine was off a 1/4" which was easily flexed a slight bit to fix.
I can snuff/choke out the charcoal pretty quick now closing it all up.
 
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The doors on the 22's can be challenging. I've seen spaces of an 1/8 of an inch or more on either side of the latch. Cajun Bandit makes a stainless door that you may want to consider otherwise maybe Weber will send you another one.
 
When i first put the door on straight out of the packaging I had gaps of at least 1/2" on the upper left corner. Now the tops are pretty well sealed but i have gaps on the right side now in the middle of the door. Fix one gap and make 2 more. Quite frustrating.
 
Matt Gard said:
Thanks for all the tips, its only been smoked on twice now. I think the problem is the door as that is the only place i have seen smoke escaping.
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Adjusting the door is tedious but doesn't have to be exact. Once you get your door adjusted to where it seems to fit tightly without any gaps, it should be fine even if it leaks when you first start the fire. The WSM wasn't meant to be airtight, and smoke will sometimes seep out of the door and lid when the smoker is coming up to temp even if they fit pretty well. This should stop once the fire settles in. On the other hand, smoke won't seep out the seam where the middle section sits on the firebox even if there is a large air leak; air is being drawn IN in that area. If the door looks like it fits, no smoke is seeping out around the lid, the vents seem to seal properly, and the coals still won't stop burning, I would bet a poor fit in this area is the cause.
 
I did the flash light trick and it worked well I also set the center section on a flat surface to see if it rocked then just gently pushed in the edge until it didn't rock anymore as for the door considering I don't really use it I doubled up a piece of HD foil so it would cover the opening and put the door back on over it and after a short period of time with a few more cooks it finally got to the point where it would choke out the fire.
 
Tim McCann said:
The more cooks you get under it the less it will leak.
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Tim is wise and experienced. Also the wsm was never designed to be 100% airtight. If your wanting to conserve bricks, then start off with less in the ring or build a mini for your smaller cooks.
 
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