Hello Everyone

[frnresq911]

Hello everyone,
New to forums and just received my new Bradley 4 rack digital smoker, Jim Beam edition. I'm soooo ready to start smoking. Been lurking on here for awhile and doing my research on this smoker, im hoping its as good as some of you say. Just got it all hooked up and ready to season it. Just thought i would stop in and say hello. Not sure yet how to post a pic, as soon as i figure it out ill post a pic of my BBQ/Grill Shack.

Thanks everyone for the good research.
Shane

[piratey]

Welcome to the forum.  We'd love to see some posts and pictures once you've done a smoke or two.

[frnresq911]

[Smoker John]

Welcome, great setup you have there.

[tskeeter]

Nice set up.

Unsolicited advice:  I found that when I installed my smoker in a plastic shed, that the shed was so air tight with the doors closed that smoker wouldn't draw properly.  After cutting in over 500 square inches of insect screen covered vents, I got the smoker to draw the way it should.

[frnresq911]

Ok, just got finished with the seasoning process. A few things come to question. It seems to draw ok, smoke goes right up and out the stack, but there seems to be a bit, not alot, of smoke to come out from around the generator, not sure that's normal. Also, i set the oven temp to 150 like it says but the temp showed 173 around the end of the hour. Also thanks Tskeeter for the input, i do have a window and door you cant see in the pic, its far from air tight, hot but not air tight, lol.

Thanks
Shane

[Habanero Smoker]

You don't want smoke exiting from around the generator. Smoke backing into the generator will deposit smoke residue, and moisture on your components inside the generator. The only time you should see smoke exiting that area is when you close the door, or on a windy day, if wind is blowing down your top vent. You are not getting enough draft, or you may have a backdraft. Make sure there is no wind coming into you duct, and that your vent is opened wide enough. At least half opened.

[frnresq911]

Any suggestions on how to get a good updraft? Inline duct fan?

[Wildcat]

I think some members on this forum utilize a computer fan.

[Rodsmachineshop]

just install a flue trap like for a wood burning stove

[Habanero Smoker]

I don't, but either of the above suggestions should help.

[tskeeter]

FnR911, I see you are having some issues with how your smoker draws air.  As Habs said, the first thing is to make sure your vent is open far enough.  At least half open is a good rule of thumb.  Several forum members (I'm one) have completely removed the vent damper from their smoker, so the vent damper is wide open all the time.  (I removed the damper to goof proof my smoker after an unfortunate session of smoking sausage with the damper closed.  The sausage ended up with a greasy looking coating of soot and tasted kind of sooty.)

The next think I'd check is whether or not you have an adequate air supply into the smoker shed.  Even though my shed had molded in vents, they were far from adequate.  To see if I have enough makeup air available for the smoker, I just opened and closed the door while looking at how smoke vented from the cap on vent flue.  When the same volume of smoke came out the vent was the same, regardless of whether the shed door was opened or closed, I had enough makeup air available for the smoker.

If your shed is close to the house, a large tree, or another obstruction, you could be experiencing a downdraft that prevents the smoker from drawing properly.  Generally, you want the vent to be at least three feet horizontally from any obstruction that will influence air flow.  And, if reasonably possible, you want your vent to extend above the roof of your shed or any nearby obstruction.  If these conditions are met, do you have a cap on your vent pipe, or is it open at the top?  It could be that adding a cap will prevent any down draft from getting into you vent pipe and allow your smoker to draw better.  To keep rain out of my vent pipe and compensate for the wind in this area and for the placement of the shed next to the house, I use one of those round, louvered vent caps.  If the problem isn't resolved yet, I'd try extending the vent flue higher.  While I'm no HVAC expert, it's my understanding that the longer the flue, the stronger the draft.  Maybe someone who knows more about venting systems than I do can either confirm or correct my understanding.

If nothing else works, then I'd consider adding a fan to boost the draft.

[frnresq911]

Thank you everyone for the responses. Tsk, im thinking i made need to extend my pipe outside going up. And im not sure, you guys could tell me more, but i think i need somewhat of a gap between by pipe and the top of the smoker. And, like yourself, i removed the damper on top all together. There is plenty of air flow in the building, with a window and overhead door. So im really thinking i dont have the vent pipe on the outside up high enough, so i will start there first. Again i really appreciate all the help from you all.

Shane

[Salmonsmoker]

 "And im not sure, you guys could tell me more, but i think i need somewhat of a gap between by pipe and the top of the smoker."

Shane
[/quote]

Yes on this Shane, an exhaust connection like a gas fired H2O heater. Too much of a positive draw will suck the smoke and heat out of the smoker. You may need to extend the chimney stack to get a better draw. Another possibility- if your shed is unheated cold weather can cause condensation of the warm moist air inside the pipe and run back down into your smoker. Insulating the pipe on the inside of the shed will help alliviate this. Also, if your pipe turns another 90 degrees to the vertical outside, you can drill a small 1/8" drip hole in the bottom of that "90" so that any condensation in the external section can drain out instead of pooling up in the horizontal section of pipe. The small hole won't affect the draw. An old trick....some of the old wood fireplaces didn't have enough draw when first being lit. Twisting up a newspaper , lighting it and holding in the flue would warm up the stack enough to get a draw started so the fireplace wouldn't push smoke into the room. That would be another option on start-up if the draw is being stubborn. a propane torch or the like would work.

[frnresq911]

Thank you Salmonsmoker for the advice. I have extended the pipe up to about 5.5 to 6 feet above the 90 on the outside. And i also put the weeper hole in the 90 bend as you was saying. Was wandering, is there a general guideline for how much gap i should have between the top of the smoker and the exhaust pipe?