Installing PBC Stacks

[Spinaker]

Hey guys/gals,
I know some of you ave put mods on your PBC's. Im looking into putting some stacks on my for increased airflow in the barrel. Does anyone have some pictures or even a parts list they could shoot over. Thanks a lot guys/gals

[Jerod Broussard]

I went 1/2" when 3/4" might be a little better.

1) Valve
2) 90 degree joint
3) I think I have 12" extensions

Same level as existing vents...

[Jerod Broussard]

Close up......I used JB weld to seal the outside....FYI- assembled in Texas

[Spinaker]

hahaha just noticed , "Assembled in Texas." I love Texans man. So much pride, wish we had more of that up here.

[ATXBill]

God Bless Texas.

[Jerod Broussard]

I'm actually from Louisiana, but parts have "Made in China," so I needed to clarify.

[Jerod Broussard]

My second fave mod is the wheels....sooooo nice...

[HC in SC]

JB Weld - is there anything you can't do?

I really like the caster mod also.

Only mod I have made on mine was adding a Tel-Tru thermometer.

[Jerod Broussard]

I had a Tel-Tru, took it off. Just prefer the Maverick, and didn't want to have to worry about the probe contacting any meat.

I welded a joint on a deer stand in high school, my cousin looks at it and says, "hey, JB weld."

[Guy]

LOL good one Jerod. JB Weld

[mtford72]

Spinnaker - I'm just in the process of finishing this off. I like the kind of brasserie look. I'll put a full report on it up soon, with graphs of temp, control and what I did to the inside. It looks like fully open, it'll hold at a high temp. Half open it seems to hold at 300. (both tests were without food. Trying it for real later today).

I set the vent location lower in an effort to minimize the convection within the PBC. Whether that worked / is noticeable is another matter.

Cheers, Matt

[smarkley]

OH Yeah... it looks really coool!

[Jerod Broussard]

That thing looks BAD-TO-THE-BONE!!!

[HC in SC]

Wow. The PBC looks like it went all Steampunk!! Awesome!

[mtford72]

Spinaker - I'm still working out the stack length. Another experiment tonight, then I'll have a better answer for you. I looked for a rule of thumb for stack height, but beyond "longer = more draw, but too long results in cooling and so less draw" the guidance was pretty light. These are about 18" to 2', I have a smaller pipe that I'll try and monitor the difference. If there doesn't seem to be much, I'll stick with these.

They are copper, so the cooling is probably the concern. I probably end up trimming to about the height of the lid.

Matt

[Spinaker]

Sounds good. Im going to put my stacks in-line with the other holes for the re-bar. Im using 3/4" pipe and a quick ball valve. Im going to put 6 inch stacks on top of the valve so the overall height should be about 8" above the rim of the PBC. This is my plan anyway. Let me know what you find out tonight on the length. I can always swap in a longer stack pipe on to my ball valve.

[fzxdoc]

Matt, that mod looks awesome. I'm eager to see how it works for you.

Kathryn

[The Burn]

I am seriously jealous of you guys/gals that have metal working/welding skills to do these kinds of things.

[HC in SC]

Me too. I am a carpenter. I do metal work about as good I as do electrical. Lol

[Spinaker]

Well I got it all done. I used 3/4" black steel pipe. I welded the elbows directly to the side of the barrel. I use two 3/4" brass ball valves that I bought at Grainger. Then I put a 6'' pipe into the ball valve and I topped them with a 3/4" coupler because I thought it looked kinda funny with just exposed threads on the end of the pipe. I used BBQ black Rust-oleum high heat paint that is supposed to be good to 1200 F.

I got her fired up this morning, and they seem to be working well. I am going to get the PBC super hot to burn out any paint that may have landed in the inside. (I had the top and holes covered, but you never know) I hope this will help me with better airflow when she is loaded down to the max!!! Pictures below. What a fun project!! Thanks for your help guys!!

[mtford72]

Looks fantastic! Well done. I'm interested to see how the different vent locations perform. I'll post some temp graphs today.

[Spinaker]

Thanks Brother!! I was pretty happy with the results. I'll be interested to see what you come up with on the graphs. Just curious, how did you attach you stacks to the side wall of your PBC?

[mtford72]

I used a threaded elbow, a cuff and then a short threaded nipple. From inside out the sequence:
nipple - washer - barrel - washer - cuff- elbow. Tightening the nipple / cuff clamped the whole lot to the pbc. To improve the seal I sprayed some PAM in therror to get a gunk build up going. It was probably unnecessary.

[_John_]

Looks good, if i'm going to keep cooking in this cold I better get on board myself.

[Spinaker]

Man this was a fun project, Anyone else have PBC mods that they would like to share? Just thought I would re-fresh some ideas for those looking to Mod their PBC.

[Jerod Broussard]

This be my ASAP, Auber Supplemental Air Pipe. I see what the temp will settle down at when I have it really full of meat, and set the Auber for about that temperature so that when the stall hits and the cooker starts to cool off, the Auber will kick on and bring it back up to where it was originally.

If I could do it over I would put it just a little higher so that when it blows air it would blow up right against the side of the charcoal basket. No real problems with this setup, and I would probably still need a couple of plates so that the air doesn't go around and impede the air coming in through the main vent. But it would've been a whole lot easier to get the conduit nut onto the pipe that's for sure.

The next picture is just a miscellaneous picture of a bunch of food I can't eat for 14 more days.