COLS SMOKE ADAPTER

[Mr Walleye]

MrPhillips

The only difference that I can see between a cold smoke adapter or a carboard box and using the Y is the fact that you are allowing air to be introduced after the burner. This is where you are trying to create a draw. I suspect you are real close to getting it but the wind is probably blowing air up the dump portion of the Y and creating the backdraft. I also suspect the reason Muebe's doesn't have a problem with a backdraft is it's in a cabinet. To test this theory just try covering the dump portion of the Y while it's running and see if it corrects itself.

Mike

[muebe]

Your pipe does not go straight up and that is the problem. The travel from the bottom to the top needs to go straight up. An adjustable elbow will allow you to get the degree that you need to go straight up with the pipe. If you add a tee to the y-pipe it will be beyond 90 degrees because the y-pipe has to be raised up on an angle slightly to keep the smoke from coming back out the generator.

The reason why the cold smoke box and cardboard box work is because the pipe comes straight up out of the top. And there is enough room in the box for the smoke to rise and go out. You do not have that advantage with a y-pipe setup.

[muebe]

And if you omit the y-pipe setup then the spent pucks will have no where to go ;D

[mrphilips]

i'm going to have to think about this for a bit.
i don't think i'm following you at all, though it seems it should be easy enough...

my y-pipe is designed slightly differently from yours... it seems a fair bit longer, and i think that's more of an issue than the angle of my up-pipe. honestly, i hear what you're saying but i don't see that much of a difference in the angles from these pics, but as i said - maybe i'm missing something.

but i wasn't sugegsting i omit the y-pipe, just throw the metal dish in the cardboard box, or use the t-pipe.

[mrphilips]

mr walleye - good testing point.
next time i get it all out i'll try that, but where i am - on a deck on the thrid-floor - i think wind is the bigger issue and even if i block that dump, it's not going to get much better.

i think i'll try the cardboard next - or build a cabinet for everything. will post back with deets and pics when i get there!

[muebe]

I added a red line to your picture to try and convey what I am talking about...

[Quarlow]

I smoke in the cooler temps with a bowl of ice inside. My temps were 70 to 75 degrees which I would like the temp to have been higheer. Like 85 to 95. I just need to put less ice in the pan I used.

[mrphilips]

ok, i see what you're saying.
i'd need the elbow and a bit of re-positioning... which i could do, but now i have my doubts that that in itself will fix it - i think the draw would definitely be assisted by it, but that the ever-present wind would be more of a restricting factor over-all
as walleye said, as soon as it breaths into the dump-end, i'd lose that gentle draw... what do you think about that?

i can block the wind a bit, but i am up in the clouds here...

[muebe]

Place a tall metal paint bucket underneath the puck dump tube on the y-pipe so it can catch the burn pucks but also protect the pipe from the incoming wind...

[mrphilips]

that's a thought!

[mrphilips]

hey, with all this ingenuity going around, i'm still stuck with a question... wouldn't the cardboard box just be easier?

i like to macguyver as much as the next guy, but... what in your opinion (and walleye's too, if you're still on here) is the draw backs to the box?

[Quarlow]

The way I see it and I am no pro, but the cardboard box acts as a plenum. It allows just the right amount of air go up the pipe. If you have to much air going up the pipe it spoils inside and the draw is effected. If you don't have enough you get a similar effect.
If you use a T-pipe it should line up with the burner so the heat causes the smoke to rise straight up the pipe via convection. You may also need to put a damper on the bottom side so that you don't get to much air going into the pipe. Of course then you would have to tip the damper down to let the pucks drop into the bowl. You could rig it up so the damper would tip when the puck dropped but returns to closed after the puck dropped out which may take some balancing with weights or something.
It would be fun to tinker with but why?
One of the nicest ones I have seen was made with a unused hydraulic tank from Princess Auto which he cut a door into the front and put a pipe out the top. shortly after Bradley came out with there version for about what it cost him to build his. That said I will still build my own when I find time as I like to make stuff.

[muebe]

Well there is a durability issue with cardboard obviously....

I would use the cold smoker setup that uses the metal mailbox IMHO if you are not going to stick with the y-pipe design. That seems like the most simple and cost effective design.

You can add some pipe to the y-pipe puck dump tube to decrease the wind entering into it and use a large metal bucket. That should create enough protection from the wind.

[Quarlow]

I agree Muebe, the box won't last long and could dry to the point of being combustable and unsafe.
The mailbox is a great option and it looks so cool too.

[mrphilips]

i'm nodding silently and contemplating.

i reject the mailbox option at the moment as my tin-snipping is deplorable and i doin't trust the silicon stuff.

i think i may have alreday spent more on this that the adapter costs to buy...