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Mounting a Pit Viper on a Napoleon Kettle (Weber owners, please give this one a read)

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    Mounting a Pit Viper on a Napoleon Kettle (Weber owners, please give this one a read)

    So my BBQ Guru adaptor arrived today, and I rushed out to buy a step drill bit as I've been looking at loads of YouTube videos, which of course, are all about Weber Kettles. So I'm left with 2 questions (and this is why I asked Weber owners to read this post):
    1. The Napoleon kettle I have does not have the Weber type ash sweepers which I've never had a problem with as I just use a little whisk to sweep everything down into the ash catcher. My question for the Weber owners is, if you didn't have to worry about interfering with the ash sweeper, would you mount the adapter lower than you're required to do so? I'm just curious as to where I should mount this given that I have way more latitude.
    2. I have the SnS Deluxe which I really don't see myself ever removing from the kettle other than to dump ashes. Should I mount the adaptor directly across from the SnS (such that a line drawn from the adaptor to the SnS would be perpendicular to it, off to the side?
    Yes, I'm probably overthinking this, but that's what I do and I know for sure from reading posts here that I'm not alone in this behaviour.

    Thanks!

    #2
    I personally would not want it to interfere with the ash sweeps on my Weber kettles. I would locate it in relationship to the SnS as you describe. It doesn't have to be perfectly perpendicular. On my 22, the SnS is at 9 o'clock and the fan port is at about 2 o'clock for purposes of not interfering with the ash sweep. On my 26, there is enough room between the ash sweeps and the charcoal grate to mount it radially anywhere.

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      #3
      I don't know much about the Napoleon Kettle but with the success I've had with the placement on my 26" weber kettle I would try and duplicate the location.

      Comment


        #4
        On #1: I'd still mount it just under the charcoal grate so theres room for ash to pile up without interfering during a cook. I usually foil that grate so all the air heads over to the underside of the SnS.

        On #2: I do opposite side fan, to keep it on the cool side, but 90 degrees is probably fine as well.

        Comment


        • Rod
          Rod commented
          Editing a comment
          Polarbear777 That's a great point about leaving as much room as possible for ash build up.

        #5
        pkadare since you don't have to worry about the sweeps of the Weber mount the adapter directly across from the SNS, just below the charcoal grate.

        Comment


          #6
          1 _ as menttioned, mount just under the charcoal grate to avoid built up ash and also to spread the airflow out a bit. That will cover more of the SnS and make the airflow a bit gentler when it reaches the lit coals. I'd also cover the portion of the grate outside the SnS with foil to help direct air flow to the SnS.

          Comment


            #7
            pkadare even without ash sweeps, I would still mount it across the kettle from where you like the SNS to live, just below the level of the charcoal grate, with the opening of the adapter pointing down towards the bottom of the bowl. That allows the air to flow along the bottom of the bowl and up into the charcoal in the SNS. If you have a DNG on the charcoal grate, that helps direct the air even more.

            I had to rethink where I kept my SNS when I got the fan. I wanted the fan on the front of my kettle since it is sometimes up against a wall, so had to start putting the SNS at the rear instead of the front. In my case, I have a Weber Performer, so it is mounted in a table, and really has a front and a back to it. You can probably get to the sides of your Napoleon grill better, but I know some of those are in a cart as well, so you might run into the same issue, and want the fan in the front for easy access to plugging the wires in and such.

            Comment


              #8
              Thanks all for your input. I was planning on below the grate, I should have been a little more clear that I was really asking:
              1. As a Weber guy, if you didn't need to worry about the ash sweeps, would you mount it even lower than you currently can.
              2. Where, radially, would you mount it.
              Sounds like for #2 the answer is what I was planning, such that a line from the adaptor to the SnS would wind up being perpendicular to the SnS.
              Drove an hour round trip today to get a step drill, planning in the install for tomorrow. I'll let you know how I make out. Oh, one more question, BBQ Guru says to drill a hole between 7/8" and 1 1/4". That seems to me to be a big range. Thoughts?

              Comment


                #9
                I drilled mine to 1". I could have went bigger if I wanted to. Look at your adapter with it on the fan and measure. You'll see that range is ok.

                Comment


                • pkadare
                  pkadare commented
                  Editing a comment
                  Thanks Rod. I'm not the most handy guy in the world (but what I do have are a very particular set of skills, skills I have acquired over a very long career) so I may well ruin my kettle or even possibly lose an appendage or two tomorrow, but I'm going for it.

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