Off Topic - Build Mod for HM


 
I'd like to see where the HM is going to live and the cable routing, especially the seal into the cook chamber.
 
JKalchik said:
I'd like to see where the HM is going to live and the cable routing, especially the seal into the cook chamber.
Click to expand...

Basically in the same place as WBegg has his. I picked up some Halex connectors. They have a rubber fitting that when the connector is tighten compresses. Its not perfectly air or water tight with probes and the TC, but i can get it close enogh.

The cat5 and power supply will also be routed through a Halex connector.

I welded up the 6x6x6 area for the heatermeter last night and did some grinding this morning on it, it looks pretty good. I just need to take it into work so that i can get the holes drilled.
 
WBegg said:
Dang! Your getting this built quickly! Looks great! You're gonna love it once you get some meat in there.
Click to expand...

Yeah, its coming together better then I thought it eould. I need to have it completely finished before March, as I'm smoking pulled chicken for the homeless.
 
John Bostwick said:
Basically in the same place as WBegg has his. I picked up some Halex connectors. They have a rubber fitting that when the connector is tighten compresses. Its not perfectly air or water tight with probes and the TC, but i can get it close enogh.

The cat5 and power supply will also be routed through a Halex connector.

I welded up the 6x6x6 area for the heatermeter last night and did some grinding this morning on it, it looks pretty good. I just need to take it into work so that i can get the holes drilled.
Click to expand...

Hrrrm. I'd be concerned exposing a rubber seal directly to a 225-275 F cooking chamber. Wonder if I could find a sheet of the high temp silicon rubber...... here we go: https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00XLVN5ZC/tvwb-20 I'd be really tempted to cut gasketing out of something like that instead.

And the more I consider this..... the pocket where the HM lives will have to be oriented roughly towards the WiFI AP, and the cover (if it has one,) has to be RF transparent.

My apologies.... in all of my nitpicking, I did neglect to mention that I am rather envious of your progress.... I'm starting to really look forward to building one of these some time around May.
 
JKalchik said:
Hrrrm. I'd be concerned exposing a rubber seal directly to a 225-275 F cooking chamber. Wonder if I could find a sheet of the high temp silicon rubber...... here we go: https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00XLVN5ZC/tvwb-20 I'd be really tempted to cut gasketing out of something like that instead.

And the more I consider this..... the pocket where the HM lives will have to be oriented roughly towards the WiFI AP, and the cover (if it has one,) has to be RF transparent.

My apologies.... in all of my nitpicking, I did neglect to mention that I am rather envious of your progress.... I'm starting to really look forward to building one of these some time around May.
Click to expand...

The Halex connectors are used in high heat applications also. People use and also smoker companies use grommets in there smokers all the time, I had them in my uds. The rubber is a hard black rubber and will be safe to use in tempetures below 900°.
 
John Bostwick said:
The Halex connectors are used in high heat applications also. People use and also smoker companies use grommets in there smokers all the time, I had them in my uds. The rubber is a hard black rubber and will be safe to use in tempetures below 900°.
Click to expand...

Ah. I didn't know that.
 
JKalchik said:
And a winter project may be in genesis..... multi-channel temperature acquisition to measure heat distribution. Probably 12 channels (okay, maybe 16,) rPi based. A coworker got me looking at bulk resistive temperature devices for only a couple of bucks, and multiplexed readers for them.
Click to expand...

And after snooping through some of the posts on the Smoker Plans forums..... I'm probably not going to bother with this. It sounds like the insulated cooking chamber is generally pretty even, so a couple of test runs with an HM running probes top to bottom in strategic locations will probably be more than sufficient. Very little gain for a whole lotta work.
 
Nice graph, John.

I don't see a damper/blower in your shot. Just using the ball valve for temp control? Ambient temps? What's your external skin temps look like?

Still have to mount the latches, I see.
 
I added the blower and damper to the ball valve after the pic. I just have electrical tape holding it on for now, lol. I need to make a adapter to the RD25 first.

The outside around the Firefox area is surprisingly hot. But the rest of the smoker is not to bad. The door is cool to the touch and its only warmer around the frame areas.
 
I'd expect the frames to be warmer, you'll get pretty good conduction through the steel frame. Same with the firebox.

I like the idea of an HM housing in it.... for me, I'd have to make sure mine is oriented towards the access point.
 
My temp was going down and I couldn't go out and see why until now, as I had my kids. Bit found that my servo screwed up and was closed instead of being open. Should be good now
 
I'm amazed at how stable these smokers are. I did not change anything on the heatermeter from what I had on my UDS, except change the max blower setting from 30 to 35%. I thought I would need to learn how to control a gravity feed, but I guess not.
 
Looks very nice, John. I appreciate the the view with the HeaterMeter and the probe passthrough. Is anybody considering RF transparent covers over the cavity for weather protection? Hey, there's a thought..... I may think about making a drip edge around the bottom edge and keeping my HM on a shelf below.

Is there any chance that I can get some rough dimensions on your build? Height (from bottom of wheels, to top of stack,) width (from left side to outside of firebox latch,) and depth (opposite side from firebox, including door?) Turns out that fairly soon after I build mine, I'm gonna end up running it 600 miles to smoke food for 40+ people, and I'm wondering if there's any chance I can get it in the bed of my truck under the cap (lying on the left side of the cook chamber, wheels forward.) I have alternatives, but that would be by far the easiest way.
 
Send me a PM

I doubt you would be able to transport this size of smoker in a truck bed. It weight is over 1200 pounds. The mini GF would be in the 500 to 700 pounds.

Its about 76 inches tall from wheels to top of the stack. The main box is 50 inches and the depth is about 30 inches and its about 44 inches wide
 
Thanks for the dimensions. I'm still pretty sure that I'm going to build the double pan, rather than anything smaller.

It's close on weight. Truck with me, cap & a full load of fuel weighs in under 7,800 lbs, and 9,600 GVW (Dodge says a 2,340 lbs total payload.) After adding my g/f, tongue weight for the pop-up camper and all of our fecal matter for a long weekend, and I'd be close to GVW (not like I'd be likely to take out a bus load of nuns....) Hmmmm.... Back should be flat, it'd go between the wheel wells on either it's side or it's back, but I think that the door height would require that it gets hauled on it's back, not it's side. Firebox latch might be an issue, interference with the wheel well. I'm gonna have to go outside with a tape measure, I don't remember if this is a 72" or 78" box.

I do believe in overkill when it comes to roadworthiness, though, you & I do agree on that aspect. The homebrewers' club I belong to had been hauling cider for the annual members' buy on rigs that I considered ...... let's leave it at somewhat less than desirable (reference your weight comment.) I can haul 4 full totes on my flat bed and not exceed legal limits, and we've only been buying 2. The first year I volunteered, the cider buy organizers were completely shocked at how well the transport came off (comes from overkill and being prepared.)

Worst case, use my shop crane to load it flat on my 18' flat bad trailer, then the pop-up camper behind that. It'd look a little goofy, a trailer on a trailer, but there'd be no question about weights or dimensions at that point.

Puyallup... one of my nieces works at the Space Needle up on Seattle. If I ever make out out there, first round is on me.
 
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