ThermoWorks Billows Fan Control on a Weber Performer Grill

[ChadRex]

Just in time for Thanksgiving grilling season.
I added the ThermoWorks Smoke X 4 + Billows fan control to the factory holes on my Weber Crimson Performer 22.
(I have it set sideways to show the damper and connection. In normal use the fan should be pointing down.)

It fits perfectly in the factory hole for the ignition assist, with no drilling. I added the SnS Smoke hole cover for when the Billows isn't attached.
As you can see I also added the Billows damper to allow more precision in the airflow.

One thing to point out is that the Billows foam insulation piece isn't permanently attached to the Billows, so it does move a bit when attaching the tension springs. It looks to seal well, just need to be mindful that the insulation square doesn't shift out of alignment when attaching to your kettle or WSM. I should find some heat tolerant double sided tape or use left over LavaLock lid gasket.




I will fire it up later this weekend. I did attach the Smoke X4 with a probe just to hear the fan come on. It is very quiet.

This is just to show a visual that the Billows will easily attach to the factory ignition assist hole of a Weber Performer Deluxe kettle (the Performer Deluxe has the LP ignition assist).
On the Weber Summit Kamado there is a factory smoke hole/fan control port added, The Billows would fit perfectly on this.

As detailed here: Weber Crimson Performer Deluxe. I put a Performer Deluxe kettle into a standard Performer 22" cart.
I decided to make use of the factory holes of the Performer Deluxe by adding fan control unit.

 

[Mark_E]

I tried this once with the SnS Kettle, same set up you have here, and it was a disaster. When the fan goes on, the smoke and ash blows out of the lower intake even though the intake is fully closed! So much smoke blows out, you can't even see the kettle! This is because the damper blades on the SnS kettle lift up away from the bowl which of course means there is not a tight seal. Not even close. And there's FIVE of them.

The Weber damper blades, OTOH, are perfectly fitted to the bowl, so hopefully you won't have this problem. I have not tested it on the Weber though, although I did do the smoke hole mod on my basic 22" Weber kettle.

Good luck

 

[ChadRex]

I tried this once with the SnS Kettle, same set up you have here, and it was a disaster. When the fan goes on, the smoke and ash blows out of the lower intake even though the intake is fully closed! So much smoke blows out, you can't even see the kettle! This is because the damper blades on the SnS kettle lift up away from the bowl which of course means there is not a tight seal. Not even close. And there's FIVE of them.

The Weber damper blades, OTOH, are perfectly fitted to the bowl, so hopefully you won't have this problem. I have not tested it on the Weber though, although I did do the smoke hole mod on my basic 22" Weber kettle.

Good luck

Thanks for the feedback. I will text it this weekend. Hopefully the Weber One touch system is tight enough.

You added a smoke hole to your 22", do you plan on using a temp control fan on that one?

 

[Mark_E]

Thanks for the feedback. I will text it this weekend. Hopefully the Weber One touch system is tight enough.

You added a smoke hole to your 22", do you plan on using a temp control fan on that one?

No, I actually use the billows with my OK Joe Bronco drum smoker. I use the smoke hole on the Weber when I want to slow cook or slow smoke with the Weber.

Let us know how your billows works out on the weber! Good luck

 

[ChadRex]

No, I actually use the billows with my OK Joe Bronco drum smoker. I use the smoke hole on the Weber when I want to slow cook or slow smoke with the Weber.

Let us know how your billows works out on the weber! Good luck

I have used the smoke hole on my Weber for a couple slow cooks, it made dialing the temperature a lot more precise.