I've used my billows 4-5 times with a drum and also the SnS. I use it with my Smoke X4. For the drum, it works great and is very nice for cooking all night unattended. The battery is especially handy as it cuts down on all the wires / cables. For the SnS, it was kind of a disaster because the air from the billows fan would pump out of the exhaust on top but also the intake at the bottom enveloping the entire setup with smoke and ash. I'm not talking about a little smoke, I'm talking tons of smoke "billowing" out of the intake at the bottom. The SnS leaks air at the bottom when it is completely closed, whether your cooking with the billows or without the billows. Those aluminum fan blade geometric curves aren't designed quite correctly to match the curve of the bowl. They lift up away from the bowl as they gain length away from center. Not that it matters much since the SnS holds temp very well without the billows. But it's a shame the intake doesn't seal better. The leak is significant. By contrast, the Weber blades touch the Weber bowl perfectly from end to end, top to bottom. No, I haven't tried the billows in the Weber, I don't have a smoke hole drilled (yet?).
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One comment on Billows that might be of use to someone: when it's not running (i.e. fan off), air is still entering the grill through the Billows. In other words, it doesn't cut off air flow when the fan is off. As a result, my Pit Barrel Cooker was running at about 270 even if I set the temperature lower. Thermoworks makes a little do-hickey that lets you throttle the air flow through the Billows. It only costs $3 and I don't know why the don't include it with the fan.
In any case, if you see your grill running hot with the Billows installed and don't have the do-hickey, you can just re-install the yellow plastic plug that comes with the Billows. It shuts off the air flow through the fan and the temperature will drop quickly. Pop it back out when you reach your target temperature.Comment
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