CG grate level thermo install...

[porkbutt]

Finally had a minute while the wife was gone to her Mother's with baby girl so I got busy installing the grate level thermo's I found last weekend. They are Char-Broil units that I found at my local Lowe's in the outdoor/grilling section. They require a 3/8" hole and come with mounting hardware (a wing nut).

**Edit to add a couple pics of the thermos...





I used a #1 Uni-Bit and drilled the holes 8-1/2" from the ends and 1-1/2" from the bottom edge of the top half lip on front. This put them somewhere around 1" above grate level. No fire yet to check them but they're in. Hopefully I'll get to smoke something for Thanksgiving Day lunch and see how they work.

The Uni-Bit... Simple... Just drill until the section marked with the size hole you want goes into the metal...





Both installed...





Grate level is somewhere near the lip seen in this photo. The temp probe on the thermos are about an inch above the lip...





And a close-up of the thermo. I installed them per suggestion of a fellow cooker but I can't remember who it was so can't give credit... but I installed them rotated so that 250º was straight up. According to the one who made the suggestion this allows quick glance info as to whether or not you're in your desired temp range without having to actually read the thermo exactly. I may rotate it so that 225º is straight up but not sure. I also wish the thermo had more graduated markings, but in all honesty the temp varies within a semi-loose range anyway, so knowing EXACT temp is really not necessary. Where they are now, I'll know that if the needle is straight up or past it, I've got problems...





I just hope they are fairly accurate...

 

[flagriller]

Looks like you did a fine installation! Now you can gauge all of the temps going on in your fine smoker! I have the same one

 

[hawgheaven]

Nice job Chris! I did that mod to mine also, it sure helps monitor the temps from end to end!

 

[porkbutt]

I just hope they're accurate within reason...

 

[flagriller]

They are, and that is one fine smoker that makes great Q. Mine never fails me.

 

[porkbutt]

Well, with these installed, the only problem I guess I'll have is the cold wind this winter... My temps were all over the place last smoke. Every time the wind blew halfway hard the temps would drop way down. Went from +/- 235 down to 204 one time... Not technically out of smoking range I guess, but sure kills cook times... If it were made of 1/4" or 3/8" metal it would be an AWESOME cooker.

But then it wouldn't cost $180 either would it?

 

[deejaydebi]

Chris -

I installed two of those on my horizontal they are quite good and can be calibrated. I double checked mine before installation against 2 dial thermometers and one digital. ALso checked under fire with the digital and it was as right on as I could tell with such large incredmental scales.

Nice job BTW!

 

[hawgheaven]

Yup, what FlaGriller said! I have the same smoker, it is a workhorse!

 

[porkbutt]

How do you adjust/calibrate them? I'll have to look again. Didn't see any adjustment on them...

 

[capt dan]

That thing looks way too clean, lets get some tar and juice on it!

I don't even want to put a pic of my CB on here. lots of rust spots, wood handles are cracking, been repainted many times just to peel off again.

I would like to make some new handles out of Epea(sp). Just have to do it. I like the steel handles on the new Charbroil 2 door smoker, real nice!

good job on the mods, make sure you get a temp on the grill itself inside, and use it to judge what you need for a temp on those new grills.

I was gonna lower my ext temp guage, but since I splurged for the ET73 I am good to go with the grill temp.

 

[porkbutt]

Yeah, I haven't had the time to smoke as much as I would like to since I got the CG. Hope to get more war wounds and battle scars on it soon! For what it's worth though, there's no paint left on most of the top half of the fire box.

 

[ron50]

To lessen the effect of the wind, build a wind break. It can be as simple as a couple of pieces of plywood with some hinges. Cover the back and side of the smoker and leave the front open for easy asccess. You can even built a vented roof to keep off the rain.

 

[richoso1]

Try inserting the tip into boiling water, water boils at 212* at sea level. You might have to adjust for elevation.

 

[porkbutt]

Actually, I never thought about it before today, and don't know why I didn't... but for daytime smokes I have this in the backyard. It is 40' X 52" and should be big enough to knock the wind off of my little Char Griller.

I need to run power to it from the house so I can do night cooks in it as well. It was built a couple years ago and now has grass. This pic was taken just after I got it framed and got the metal on. It has a walk in door and a roll up drive-thru door now. Oh, and the roof is leak free, but there are enough cracks around the ends to probably ventilate the smoke out pretty good. One heck of a smoke shack! I had thought of putting the Lang or DPP I want in there and venting it through the wall, but never really thought about putting the CG in there... Duh!

 

[porkbutt]

I used that method to check my Pyrex digital and could do it with these, but didn't see a way to adjust to actually calibrate these thermos.