Kingfisher Offset problem

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DATsBBQ

Head Chef
Joined
Jan 11, 2006
Messages
1,763
Location
Galveston TX
Pics at http://www.ncre.biz/ktc.html

3rd attempt on this cooker. This time had the upper exhaust stack wide open, clean-out flap down, Baffel/cleaner rod at the half-way position (per manufacture), firebox intake vent wide open, burned only Lump.

1. No black food but,
2. Had the smoker chugging at 250 then loaded it with a chicken and a fatty. Temp dropped to 200 and no matter how much lump I tossed in, temp stayed between 200 & 255 for 4.5 hours when the wife decided for me that it was oven time cause she was hungry and I over shot my turn in time by over 1.5 hours. She was not willing to wait any longer.

I would think that with the amount of Lump that I was using, with both vents wide open, that the temp should have been pushing the mid 300s. Previous test using Oak and Hickory produced simular results but turned the bird black.
Which leads me to a couple of possible conclusions.
A. The exhaust pipe is 2 1/4 OD. Perhaps it should be 3 1/4 OD.
B. The intake vent on the fire box is too small, but when I cracked the door I lost 15 degrees within 2 minutes.

The guest cook at the Merc is on hold until I can get some better results.
 
My first impression is that the intake is too small. On mine to get higher temps I will even leave the door open to get needed fresh air in to combust. I can get up to 400* if I wanted. Just adding more fuel on mine won't help unless I have a good airflow. To get a good start on the fire I leave the lid open on the cooker for pretty much unrestricted exhaust. Once the fire is going good I will close it and let the cooker come up to operating temp.
Just a couple pennys :P :LOL: Good luck with it. There is a learning curve with it ;)
 
That exhaust is below grate level. Makes me wonder if there is a connection. There seems to be some issue with draw. The heat is going somewhere isn't it ? Where is that thread that you showed several pics of this smoker ?
 
Nearly got to believe you aint being meticulous to keep them dead ashes cleaned out from under the fire grate. Vividly recall on the first post you say there aint but and inch or two room under that thing. Now is this hot or cold? If you got any form of exhaust on the beastes it should build up some heat with the fire door standing slightly ajar even if you got the worst intakes which was ever birthed. Only other thing I have seen that can cause this kinda marlarky is a bird nest in the flue pipe. Check to see if a bald eagle has built a nest in there..otherwise figger out some way to clean out the ashes under the fire grate.

bigwheel

DATsBBQ said:
Pics at http://www.ncre.biz/ktc.html

3rd attempt on this cooker. This time had the upper exhaust stack wide open, clean-out flap down, Baffel/cleaner rod at the half-way position (per manufacture), firebox intake vent wide open, burned only Lump.

1. No black food but,
2. Had the smoker chugging at 250 then loaded it with a chicken and a fatty. Temp dropped to 200 and no matter how much lump I tossed in, temp stayed between 200 & 255 for 4.5 hours when the wife decided for me that it was oven time cause she was hungry and I over shot my turn in time by over 1.5 hours. She was not willing to wait any longer.

I would think that with the amount of Lump that I was using, with both vents wide open, that the temp should have been pushing the mid 300s. Previous test using Oak and Hickory produced simular results but turned the bird black.
Which leads me to a couple of possible conclusions.
A. The exhaust pipe is 2 1/4 OD. Perhaps it should be 3 1/4 OD.
B. The intake vent on the fire box is too small, but when I cracked the door I lost 15 degrees within 2 minutes.

The guest cook at the Merc is on hold until I can get some better results.
 
.



COALS = COOKING TEMP


Don't rush the food onto the cooker.

Let everything ...everything...... lid ......door .....vents....ALL stay wide open till you get an awesome bed of coals.

10-20 minutes extra waiting for a good bed of coals is priceless!!!!

The black chicken with the Oak tells me you choked it down with an inferior fire bed.

The ashes shouldn't be too too much an issue here, being you can burn a good fire directly ON the ground if need be....all you require in air inlets...and you have them.

Did your lump get damp? Damp lump takes a good bed of coals to produce higher temps.
 
Bigwheel: Started out with a clean fire box but didn't remove any ashes throughout the cook.

Smokey_Joe. I did the exact opposite of your good advice, adding the food just as soon as it got to the 250 mark.

Cliff, the heat has to be going some where. I'll run a bottle brush through the flew just in case there is a partial cresote blockage...had that happen to a spark arrester on woodstove chimney once and backed smoke all into the house.

For the next test, I'll raise the coal grate up 2 inches and leave everything open until an awesom bed of coals has formed.

Lump lit fast, so I don't think it was damp. I keep it in a big rubbermaid bin. This was a fresh, unopened bag.

If these relatively easy fixes work, great...continue to practice. If not, well it's not my pit so I ain't gonna cut holes in it.

Thanks all,
Dave
 
I feel stupid. Had a friend over who has an HVAC background. It was his opinion that it was a draft problem. We went out and pulled all the grates out of the smoker so all we were left with was the shell. The exhaust pipe had a little bit of crud but not that much.

Then we looked at the other end. We moved the cleaningrod/baffle to mid point and had a look see. Between where the cleaningrod/baffle rests when set up for grilling (direct coals) and the entrance from the fire box was a build up of grease, cinders - call it crud blocking about 20% of the opening. I took a scraper and wire brush to it and cleaned all that crud out. Took about 10 minutes.

I am hopeful that the problem has been solved. Will try again this weekend.
 
My speculation is that at sea level the blockage might not have such an effect. At 6,900ft I suspect that it makes all the difference in the world. Only the next test will tell. :D
 
Cliff wrote:
You may not get a good draw at that altitude unless you are directly under the hole in the ozone. Laughing

Called NASA and they won't the change the position of the Ozone hole for me, so I'll just make sure the firebox is over a RADON vent. :shock:
 
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