My Mods


 
D

David Cleveland

New member
The mods I have done to my WSM 22:
Silicone Grommet for probes - replaced metal grommet I initially used.
Stand off for Auto Temp Controller - Thermoworks Signals with 2 Billows connected
Garage door handles for each side of the middle section
Locking Clamps between lower and middle sections
Lava Lock Door
Polyurethane locking skate wheels for the legs

Not seen:
Lid Hinge
Arbor Fab Large basket and minion basket
Lava Lock gasket between top and middle section

I can say I am thrilled with all of the mods I've made and not encountered any problems in the process. Cooked a 9.57lb pork butt on Smoke Day at 225 degrees for 19 hours, pulling at 195 degrees. Was simply the most fall apart pork butt I have ever cooked. The Thermoworks Signals was absolutely the right tool for that job. Prior to it I would have to monitor using a Thermoworks Smoke and adjust the vents manually. The stand off is absolutely essential in my book.


IMG_9084.JPG
 
I absolutely love the lava lock door. My WSM did not need to be opened up anymore in my opinion so I did no angle grinding, I suppose I could have, but I just did not think I was going to gain that much more space. It may be different on the 18. It took a few days to get the paint right though. I did probably 4 coats of high heat black, then 2 of a high heat ceramic clear coat. I ended up with some extra clear coat that ran as can be seen in the upper left corner of the door. Unlike some others I've seen, I did not paint the stainless steel hex bolts.IMG_9083.JPG
 
David Cleveland said:
The mods I have done to my WSM 22:
Silicone Grommet for probes - replaced metal grommet I initially used.
Stand off for Auto Temp Controller - Thermoworks Signals with 2 Billows connected
Garage door handles for each side of the middle section
Locking Clamps between lower and middle sections
Lava Lock Door
Polyurethane locking skate wheels for the legs

Not seen:
Lid Hinge
Arbor Fab Large basket and minion basket
Lava Lock gasket between top and middle section

I can say I am thrilled with all of the mods I've made and not encountered any problems in the process. Cooked a 9.57lb pork butt on Smoke Day at 225 degrees for 19 hours, pulling at 195 degrees. Was simply the most fall apart pork butt I have ever cooked. The Thermoworks Signals was absolutely the right tool for that job. Prior to it I would have to monitor using a Thermoworks Smoke and adjust the vents manually. The stand off is absolutely essential in my book.


View attachment 52049
Click to expand...
Constructive criticism here… I did my lower body clamps the opposite way utilizing the top screw in the aluminum leg

Not a fan of the arbor door just seems like too much work for a non existent problem plus it’s ugly lol.

Don’t put your billows screen that close to the cooker they say to keep it under 120 deg F

Other than that I love it! Nice work !
 
David Cleveland said:
The mods I have done to my WSM 22:
Silicone Grommet for probes - replaced metal grommet I initially used.
Stand off for Auto Temp Controller - Thermoworks Signals with 2 Billows connected
Garage door handles for each side of the middle section
Locking Clamps between lower and middle sections
Lava Lock Door
Polyurethane locking skate wheels for the legs

Not seen:
Lid Hinge
Arbor Fab Large basket and minion basket
Lava Lock gasket between top and middle section

I can say I am thrilled with all of the mods I've made and not encountered any problems in the process. Cooked a 9.57lb pork butt on Smoke Day at 225 degrees for 19 hours, pulling at 195 degrees. Was simply the most fall apart pork butt I have ever cooked. The Thermoworks Signals was absolutely the right tool for that job. Prior to it I would have to monitor using a Thermoworks Smoke and adjust the vents manually. The stand off is absolutely essential in my book.


View attachment 52049
Click to expand...
That's one tricked out 22" WSM! I wouldn't mind a close up of your billows to vent connection.... that part looks very interesting to me. I think the lava lok door is cool. I'm not that handy so I went with the Cajun bandit door. The stock door is OK but I like the aftermarket ones a lot better.
 
M Andreyka said:
Constructive criticism here… I did my lower body clamps the opposite way utilizing the top screw in the aluminum leg

Not a fan of the arbor door just seems like too much work for a non existent problem plus it’s ugly lol.

Don’t put your billows screen that close to the cooker they say to keep it under 120 deg F

Other than that I love it! Nice work !
Click to expand...
Leakage with the stock door and gasket was just too much, the sealing from smoke and heat leakage is a lot less with the lava lock. Only downside is that it puts more weight forward on the middle section which can make it harder to handle even with the garage door handles on the side.

The Signals and the Smoke before it hold up nicely with that stand off. My previous smoke actually melted when I used the magnets on the side of the smoker. I'll have to measure the temp on the point where the units and the standoff meet. Or try to determine the amount of heat transfer via calculation.

I like the idea of mounting on the leg, but right next to and upside down to yours is not giving me any significant issues,

Thanks for the constructive criticism.
 
John K BBQ said:
That's one tricked out 22" WSM! I wouldn't mind a close up of your billows to vent connection.... that part looks very interesting to me. I think the lava lok door is cool. I'm not that handy so I went with the Cajun bandit door. The stock door is OK but I like the aftermarket ones a lot better.
Click to expand...
I'll try to get a picture of that this weekend, but it is simply a spring that forms a V which you compress, push through the hole, then adjust the seal on the outside of the unit to insure a good seal. One thing I noticed though is that my 3rd vent would not seal with tape because of all the air coming in from the 2 fans I may just need a new vent damper that is a little tighter and that I can adjust with a screw vs the stock one that is attached via rivet. Other issue I have to figure is that the coal usage is toward the fan side of the smoker making the usage un-even. I'll need to play with that and I'm glad I have the Arbor Fab Ring that is higher than the stock ring and can load more fuel toward that side if need be. For this last cook I simply added new coal to the side that was going down faster and it lit up just fine.
 
David Cleveland said:
Leakage with the stock door and gasket was just too much, the sealing from smoke and heat leakage is a lot less with the lava lock. Only downside is that it puts more weight forward on the middle section which can make it harder to handle even with the garage door handles on the side.

The Signals and the Smoke before it hold up nicely with that stand off. My previous smoke actually melted when I used the magnets on the side of the smoker. I'll have to measure the temp on the point where the units and the standoff meet. Or try to determine the amount of heat transfer via calculation.

I like the idea of mounting on the leg, but right next to and upside down to yours is not giving me any significant issues,

Thanks for the constructive criticism.
Click to expand...
I used the Cajun bandit door, manipulated it a little to get it as close as possible body then used that gasket tape can’t remember the name of it.

As for the clamps your setup is perfectly fine it just saves some drilling the way I did it

I need to go back and look at your signals mount, it doesn’t get hot? Here in Phoenix everything gets hot 🥵 so I put mine display in the shade when using
 
M Andreyka said:
I used the Cajun bandit door, manipulated it a little to get it as close as possible body then used that gasket tape can’t remember the name of it.

As for the clamps your setup is perfectly fine it just saves some drilling the way I did it

I need to go back and look at your signals mount, it doesn’t get hot? Here in Phoenix everything gets hot 🥵 so I put mine display in the shade when using
Click to expand...
Here is a better picture of the standoff. The holes allow airflow to dissipate heat so that is should be nominal by the time it gets to the base. It's made of steel, (Not stainless), that I've painted black but did not clear coat at the time. IMG_9076.JPG
 
Nice get up brother. I have a question for you though. I have an 18.5 and the billows, and I’m looking to get the Arborfab basket. Have you had any issues with the Arborfab basket being too close to the bottom vents for the billows? I’m concerned about heat mainly.
 
Moose Stover said:
Nice get up brother. I have a question for you though. I have an 18.5 and the billows, and I’m looking to get the Arborfab basket. Have you had any issues with the Arborfab basket being too close to the bottom vents for the billows? I’m concerned about heat mainly.
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I have not had any significant issues with the Arborfab basket being too close to the bottom vents. It does make it a little more difficult to get the spring clip in all the way (you may have to adjust the basket and the clip together when setting up), and taking it out was a pain (clip can wedge in the holes of the basket and you definitely want the coals to be cold when you take the Billows out), but from a heat standpoint I have seen no issues to the billows unit or the rubber sealing gasket niether have shown any heat related warping or stress. Now I've only been running low and slow with max temp at maybe 275 at the grate, so I haven't tested it on a high heat cook. For High Heat I use either my Weber Kettle or my Genesis II without the billows. Just give yourself plenty of time in the set up, be well planned on your steps and you should be in good shape.
 
David Cleveland said:
The mods I have done to my WSM 22:
Silicone Grommet for probes - replaced metal grommet I initially used.
Stand off for Auto Temp Controller - Thermoworks Signals with 2 Billows connected
Garage door handles for each side of the middle section
Locking Clamps between lower and middle sections
Lava Lock Door
Polyurethane locking skate wheels for the legs

Not seen:
Lid Hinge
Arbor Fab Large basket and minion basket
Lava Lock gasket between top and middle section

I can say I am thrilled with all of the mods I've made and not encountered any problems in the process. Cooked a 9.57lb pork butt on Smoke Day at 225 degrees for 19 hours, pulling at 195 degrees. Was simply the most fall apart pork butt I have ever cooked. The Thermoworks Signals was absolutely the right tool for that job. Prior to it I would have to monitor using a Thermoworks Smoke and adjust the vents manually. The stand off is absolutely essential in my book.


View attachment 52049
Click to expand...
I just made the same mod with the body clamps. The ground is kind of uneven where I roll my smoker on the stand. I could not chance an accident as multIple times the body shifted from the bottom. That would be a disaster. It took a lot of preparation to get the spacing right and drill the holes, but I'm very happy with the end result. I oriented my clamps the same as you did.
 
David Cleveland said:
The mods I have done to my WSM 22:
Silicone Grommet for probes - replaced metal grommet I initially used.
Stand off for Auto Temp Controller - Thermoworks Signals with 2 Billows connected
Garage door handles for each side of the middle section
Locking Clamps between lower and middle sections
Lava Lock Door
Polyurethane locking skate wheels for the legs

Not seen:
Lid Hinge
Arbor Fab Large basket and minion basket
Lava Lock gasket between top and middle section

I can say I am thrilled with all of the mods I've made and not encountered any problems in the process. Cooked a 9.57lb pork butt on Smoke Day at 225 degrees for 19 hours, pulling at 195 degrees. Was simply the most fall apart pork butt I have ever cooked. The Thermoworks Signals was absolutely the right tool for that job. Prior to it I would have to monitor using a Thermoworks Smoke and adjust the vents manually. The stand off is absolutely essential in my book.


View attachment 52049
Click to expand...
If batman had a WSM. very cool.
 
I’ve not had any issue with the legs this far, however my smoker has its place and generally does not move more than a few feet between set up, cook, and clean up. Even then I am dealing with relatively stable brick (no grass transitions)
Tony Coloma said:
My worry is the legs. They need support. A triangle and some bracing.
Wonderful job. I woild do much the same if I got serious. (Competent)
Click to expand...
 
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