Making Box Insulation and Sealing on a Gasser

[Marauderer]

I have had trouble regulating the temp while smoking on my Weber S470. I read what MH said about smoking with a Gasser and decided I needed to seal and better insulate the box as you can see in the pic. The vent at the top and the sides is way to much. But, you say its a Gasser and needs to be vented that much. The vent system on a Gasser is set up for the worst case scenario. All burners on high with complete inattention by the operator. I finally understand it now. When I am smoking I usually have one main burner on medium or lower and the smoker burner on medium or lower


I finally started covering the box with foil


And left about 4-6" vent and the left side open. I didn't have a pic of this with the foil but this is showing some of my new sealing insulation.


So reading what MH said about insulation I ordered from Amazon the recommended insulation rated to 1300*F


More in the next post

[Marauderer]

The insulation as you can see is foil lined on one side and has a foam rubber backing and a self adhesive glue on the other side that is yucky. I decided to use two layer back to back with the foil; facing in and out. Soo I started measuring and cutting.







The main vent I also made sealing baffle that is removable. In fact the whole cover is removable easily when not needed.


And trimmed at the one end to provide a vent.


I used HVAC aluminum tape to seal all the exposed foam surfaces and I will just have to wait and see what the adhesive does in the heat

[Jon Solberg]

Thats looking really good Barry!

Whats the name of that stuff?

[Marauderer]

Hi Jon, I posted a link below. I sure hope it works but, if I don't try I can't get there

http://www.amazon.com/Fantasycart-SOUND-Shield-INSULATION-BLANKET/dp/B0055B016M/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1408364150&sr=8-1&keywords=Fantasycart+Heat+Sound+Shield+Foil+Insulation+Blanket

[Huskee]

Nice going Barry!

[Marauderer]

I have a couple of racks of St Louis Ribs I am going to try it out on.

[Marauderer]

Say a nice word for me to the Big Guy so it will have a better chance of working.

[Jon Solberg]

Will do but you got this Brother! Its going to be EPIC!

Thank you for the link.

[Marauderer]

Didn't get anything done on the grill insulation yesterday got side tracked on getting my truck running. I did get the ribs salted that I am going to test this new insulation and the inside configuration changed. I have been thinking about getting one of these.


18" SMOKE TUBE

From Rec Tec.
The smoke tube may be the perfect accessory for those that want to cold smoke with their RecTec. If its a heavy smoke flavor you are after, the smoke tube can also be used during the normal operation ...
If it works as advertised my Gasser will have some serious smoke

[Jon Solberg]

You aint kidding. Wonder how many ounces can fit in there?

[dmkbbq]

It will work just fine provided you get it well lit. I have a 6 inch tube and I had trouble keeping it lit in my Weber Genesis gas grill. I was using a little fireplace lighter which didn't get enough of the pellets lit. I now light it using a small propane "blowtorch" which gets the fire going really well. I light it in a few seconds.

[Marauderer]

I had a Map gas torch that I used. The problem was my 18" burned in around two hours. I think because I used the main burner next to ity it made the pellets to hot and they fired off.

[Marauderer]

They didn't say just that after you lite the pellets it would smoke for 6 hrs. That's will be great for me. I ordered it from RecTec but, I could have ordered it from Amazon and had free shipping. I did order some hickory pellets from amazon. I got these. I wanted Hickory only and the Pellet guys give this a good review. But like MH says there is no guarantee that you are getting what is advertised.

[dmkbbq]

If the hickory seems a little strong, try apple wood.

[Marauderer]

Thanks I will. I was also looking at some applewood and hickory pellet mix

[Marauderer]

I worked some more on the cover this morning. This shows the overall vent plugged/ blocked except for the 6" of opening left.


I cut the cover and fared it in so the vent went externally. It is going to be interesting to see what the adhesives do on the cover at temperature.

[docblonder]

Barry- great job putting this together. But, as you noted in the first post, too little ventilation can be a real safety issue. Whenever you reduce the manufacturer's airflow by blocking some of the vents, it is CRITICAL to be able to look at the burner flame and confirm they are blue and only the very tips are yellow. Otherwise, a real danger they might blow out or produce excess carbon monoxide. So you need a way to view the flame while the lid is closed.

BTW, good insulation helps, even if all the vents are left open, PROVIDING you block cold wind from rushing into the smoker. So placing the unit in a wind shielded area (away from flammable walls and intake vents for the house), and then only reducing half the top vent slot, may be the best solution.

The smoketubes will run for around 4 hours on one filling, depending on the pellets and how they are packed. Good smoke flavor, but often not enough nitric oxide for a ring.

[Marauderer]

Thanks for the input Doc. Yes, I had planned on checking the flame, hopefully today. If I don't have a good flame I will open the vents more.

I am probably beating a dead horse and need to get a dedicated smoker. I am looking real hard at the Rec Tec pellet smoker.

I have noticed that most of the hard core "Q"ers have multiple units to do their specialized work because no one unit can do it all.

I have also considered building a wind baffle that is portable to keep the wind off my Gasser. I just have to sit down and design it so it will be articulated sufficiently and strong enough to handle some moderate winds.

[Marauderer]

I was going to check my flames yesterday but I needed to clean the grill up, it had been a while. I was not happy with the flame pattern with the cover open so I will work on the air vents first and get a good pattern before I put the insulation on and closed down the vent. I am getting a little yellow flame at the outer edge of the combustion flame. It is bright blue at the burner holes but, I want to see if it can be improved. I will get a picture while it is still dark and post if it takes.

[Marauderer]

All burners are on high and it doesn't matter if I have one burner on or all on the flames still look the same.. The flames look like they are rich because of the yellow tips on the flames.. That the air adjustments need to be opened a little more leaning the flames out. All suggestions and comments are appreciated.