Hi Guys,
I did a little work on my smoker today - with the hope of using the thing when winter comes (much too cold here to use it outside). Anyway, my plan is to use it in the garage and vent the smoke outside. Today was the trial run and Im not sure if this is going to work as there is a lot of moisture at the end of the dryer vent.
(http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a329/DrEvilx/110_25211.jpg)
(http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a329/DrEvilx/110_25251.jpg)
(http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a329/DrEvilx/110_25231.jpg)
I have the vent open all the way - seems like a lot of moisture. Is this a problem with the setup (Im under the assumption that moisture buildup in the smoker isnt good).
So what do you think? Good? Bad? Real bad?
And advice/thoughts/tips/suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
You definitely do not want moisture dripping back into the smoker.
Just spitballin here, but try setting a box on top, with the hose offset from the side (somewhat away from the top hole in the smoker). Might even want to mount a computer fan to blow the smoke through the hose. I would think this would allow the smoke to exit, and would eliminate moisture dripping back into the smoker. Been thinking about doing something similar so when the rain/cold comes I'm set.
The first thing I would change is to have that vent pipe going up and exiting at a height above the top of the smoker. The natural flow of heat and smoke is to rise so that would help. Adding a duct fan into it would be a good idea also, but you would want to raise that piece that sits on the smoker up a little bit to create an air gap. That will prevent the fan from drawing the heat out of you smoker.
I agree with Hawkeye here. I would also recommend that you lessen corners in the tube and make it shorter. The longer you expose the smoke to a cold surface the higher would be the possibility for condensation.
HR
http://forum.bradleysmoker.com/index.php?topic=11554.msg127689#msg127689 (http://forum.bradleysmoker.com/index.php?topic=11554.msg127689#msg127689)
Heres a link to my setup , it is working very well, once I added the fan in line. It is great having the smoker setup all time in the garage.
Mike
Dr E....just remeber, moisture is heavier than air. treak the vent tube
Yeah, Ive come to the conclusion this isnt the best design - it was an experiment and Im very much a novice. I would like to vent the smoker out the garage wall but for a few months more were in a rental.
Looks like I should have tried ABS pipe instead of aluminum.
Thanks everyone. ;D
Quote from: Dr. Evil on October 26, 2009, 07:46:57 AM
Looks like I should have tried ABS pipe instead of aluminum.
Thanks everyone. ;D
The aluminum should be fine. Here's an easy fan that you could add to it.
http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1vZ1xkk/R-100073963/h_d2/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053
I was at Menard's today and they carry them in 4, 6 and 8 inch size. Price was less also.
Wouldnt that suck heat out of the smoker? I havent seen it run but I would think that would move a lot more air than is necessary.
Im not questioning you - just thinking out loud.
Thanks.
That's why I would raise the piece on top of your smoker and create an air gap. You might have to use some trial and error to get it right. That should prevent it from pulling the heat out of the smoker.
Or maybe use a rheostat or heavy duty light dimmer to regulate the speed of the motor.
Is there a window in the garage you can set it next to?
Quote from: Habanero Smoker on October 27, 2009, 03:00:24 AM
Or maybe use a rheostat or heavy duty light dimmer to regulate the speed of the motor.
Good suggestion Habs. Just make sure that it's a variable speed switch rated to control an AC motor. A light dimmer switch won't work for it. Here's a link to one. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0015S1U82
Quote from: watchdog56 on October 27, 2009, 04:23:15 AM
Is there a window in the garage you can set it next to?
Negative.
Our new garage wont have a window either, unfortunately. So it looks like I will have no choice but to cut a hole on the garage wall when we get into our new house.
I might not be the brightest crayon in the box, but from the looks of things the moisture is traveling down and away from the vent. One would think that this setup would work. Might make a mess in the driveway but it would work. Myself I just crack open the garage door and let the smoke fly makes the garage smell real good during the winter, as long as there is air oving around and it doesnt get too smokey in there.
Chris,
That was my thought as well. The warm air smoke travels away from the heat source and as it cools when travelling through the cooler vent pipe that is being cooled by the outside air, the condensation is forming. Before I went to a lot of modifications I would try that set up again and place some sort of pan or something on the top rack of the smoker, run it for an hour or two and then open the smoker and see if there is any moisture in the pan or running down the interior walls of the tower.
KyNola
Well, if 10.5 isn't the brightest crayon in the box, I'm probably the broken crayon next to him.
The fact that you're getting the moisture outside would indicate that it's leaving the smoker. Basically, the moisture is condensing in the vent hose and running downhill. The problem with a longer vertical run would be that the moisture will condense in the duct and then run back into the smoker - not good. I might even go with a 90 degree fitting to minimize any vertical run.
Try this on your next smoke using your setup. Put a few layers of newspaper on the top-most shelf, below the vent. A few layers 6 inches square should do it. It shouldn't ignite due to the low smoking temps - but keep a fire extinguisher handy, which you should have anyway. Then, see how wet it is when you're done cooking. You'll likely have some grease and moisture. But, if it's soaking wet, that's not good.
Gee, I guess Ky and I think kinda alike. His pan idea is probably safer than the paper.
If you can only do the configuration as you have, then a fan is probably necessary and will likely, at least partially solve the condensation problem also. What is happening there is no air movement in the Bradley save convection type currents. The hot air is rising into the duct like it is supposed to do, but since there is little back pressure from the Bradley, the exhaust has to cool before it travels down the duct - a slow process. The slow moving exhaust has lots of time in contact with the thin cold duct - so you are getting lots of condensation. Likely you will or are getting condensation back down into the Bradley. Air movement will help this. Adding a fan is the ticket - problem is how big and what volume to install without sucking out all the hard earned heat and cooling the cabinet down. I would suspect it would not be a very large fan, maybe the size of a computer fan. Might even find a battery operated one that would work - just set it in front of the end of the duct. Even then you might get some condensation. If you do, insulate the vertical part of the pipe by wrapping with duct insulation or just the pink stuff - maybe even a couple feet down the sloped part.
If you do decide you can have the duct sloping up rather than down. I would recommend you put a capped tee in the duct before the verical part with one of the legs of the tee pointing towards the floor. Theoritically any condensation rolling down the duct back toward the Bradley will be trapped by the tee.
Quote from: KyNola on October 27, 2009, 10:21:54 AM
Chris,
That was my thought as well. The warm air smoke travels away from the heat source and as it cools when travelling through the cooler vent pipe that is being cooled by the outside air, the condensation is forming. Before I went to a lot of modifications I would try that set up again and place some sort of pan or something on the top rack of the smoker, run it for an hour or two and then open the smoker and see if there is any moisture in the pan or running down the interior walls of the tower.
KyNola
I should have mentioned that there didnt seem to be any moisture on the inside of the unit. I opened it up a couple of times and felt around near the vent on the inside. It was dry.
Thanks guys.
Did you notice if any smoke was backing up by the smoke generator? If so, that would be bad.
What Hawkeye said. If you see smoke coming out between the SG and the cabinet, the smoke (and moisture) is backing up. If that's not the case, it sounds to me like you're good to go.
Again, smoke didnt appear to be backing up.
It was about 35-40 degrees outside so I think that with the big temperature difference, it was just consensing a LOT. Seemed to work ok but there was condensation on top of the smoker since I was using a foam type gasket between the smoker and the dryer vent.
Ive been going through some of the pics on the site - looks to me like the way to have it is to have a rangehood/fan, large piping 3"+ and run it outside in the shortest distance possible.
Well, the ribs must have still been good....even the cat was liking them:
(http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a329/DrEvilx/110_25521.jpg)
;D ;D ;D
This thread really interests me. I posted yesterday in a different area asking about this very thing. I like the picture of the venting. I have a window in my garage and opened it and put a fan in it buy it doesn't exhaust all the smoke. Garage now smells like a smoke house :) which isn't all that bad ;). My plan is to cut a piece of plywood to the size of the window and attach some of the aluminum venting to it and the top of the BDS. I considered putting a fan in the vent but thought it likely would pull too much heat out of the smoker so I'll try it with out. When not in use the plywood can be removed. I've thought of putting a shelf in the garage as a permanent home for the smoker and then venting it outside.
Another couple of questions. How did you attach the venting to the top of the smoker, and how do you adjust the vent?
RAF, this is just an FYI. MR started a thread on venting last month. This is just in case you didn't see it.
http://forum.bradleysmoker.com/index.php?topic=11554.0
Quote from: RAF128 on October 31, 2009, 05:49:06 AM
Another couple of questions. How did you attach the venting to the top of the smoker, and how do you adjust the vent?
Raf, I drilled some holes in the top (4 to be exact) and used 4 #10-24 nutserts in the top of the smoker (if you dont know what that is, it is simply some connectors that have internal threads and they require a special tool to attach to the smoker. Its kind of like a pop riveter.
Anyway, if you are interested, I can take a pic of the internals and post it for you.
After looking at what some of the guys here have in their garages, i think the way to go is to install an old range fan, vert it to the outside and put the smoker under it.
Quote from: Dr. Evil on November 03, 2009, 11:48:32 AM
Quote from: RAF128 on October 31, 2009, 05:49:06 AM
Another couple of questions. How did you attach the venting to the top of the smoker, and how do you adjust the vent?
Raf, I drilled some holes in the top (4 to be exact) and used 4 #10-24 nutserts in the top of the smoker (if you dont know what that is, it is simply some connectors that have internal threads and they require a special tool to attach to the smoker. Its kind of like a pop riveter.
Anyway, if you are interested, I can take a pic of the internals and post it for you.
After looking at what some of the guys here have in their garages, i think the way to go is to install an old range fan, vert it to the outside and put the smoker under it.
The range hood sound like a good idea. It would help to vent the cigar smoke from the garage ;). Have a little cigar lounge in there.
I actually attached the vent hose to the top and used some sheet metal screws. So far it seems to be working.