GOSM Sentry MOD

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mysticalman

Fire Starter
Original poster
Apr 19, 2007
33
10
I decided that the Sam's Club MES sucks! So I took it back and decided to mod my GOSM big block to have automatic temp control instead.

So here is my step by step MOD.

1. Order and wait patiently for the sentry temp control to arrive in the mail. I got mine from this place cheap 8 bucks vs 25 plus shipping every where else I saw them. http://turkey-shoppe.nwtf.org/product128.html

2. Go out and find a fry cooker bottom with burner. I went to Menards and picked one up cheap with a 5psi control nob and hose for 29.99.

3. Take off and entirely disassemble the bottom burner.

4. Then I made the whole that was originally there bigger so I could fit in the new high output burner.

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5. Making it a bit bigger so the burner sits even across the bottom.

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Here is a pic of the new burner

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Picture of it going in its new home

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6. Once you are ready for your burner on the bottom side (no pictures) there is a nut that I put through the hole and secured it with a bolt to keep the burner secured.

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7. Next I removed all of the front control panel so I would have room to stick the new Sentry controller out the front.

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Here is a picture of the entire procedure completed. The only thing left to do know is route the temp probe up the side and hook up the gas line.

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8. The sentry has a nice little clip that I used to mount the temp probe on the side of the smoker. So I didn't have to drill any holes I took a bolt out of the handle and used that to mount the probe holder.

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Inside of where the probe will be going

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Pic of what the probe holder looks like. I did have to drill it out to accept the bolt from the handle.

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Here is what it looks like mounted inside of the smoker.

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Well that was it.

A couple of issue's that I had trying to get everything working.

1. On the Sentry Temp Controller do not tighten the nut with anything other then your hand. I was pissed off when I first tried to fire everything up and I didn't get any gas flow. What I found is that inside the controller there is a rubber washer and my guess is that when I tightened things down it blocked off the gas hole from the hose and I didn't get any flow. If your gas doesn't come out like you think it should simply loosen up the gas hose and it should start to flow much better!

Temp control:
I fired it up and let it come up to temp. Used my dual probe temp gage and the temp was within 5 degree's.

It is also nice to hear that when ever I open the door to check on things or add food I can hear the burner turn up and temp recovery is very quick.

Thats it!

Let me know what you think.

Update 1 - 3 hours in a smoke:

I had to give it a try today so I am smoking up a chicken and a bunch of abts.

So far the temp control has been set it and forget it.

When I first tested the temp I had a temp difference of about 15 degree's from side to side but I was testing everything empty.

Now that I have the chip pan, water pan and some grates in the temp difference between sides with the new burner is about 3 degree's.

So all-in-all I would consider this a success!!!!!

Second test:

21 lbs of chicken wings

The temp didn't seem to regulate as accurately so I think that I need to move the temp probe to a better spot and mount it to a piece of wood. When I took the wings out and did another temp test the results were the same as my first trial run.

I am thinking what happened is that the metal that I attached the probe to heated up, but the internal temperature was not keep the same pace.

I also did not use water in the pan so that may have caused some of the temp issue's.

Conclusion for test 2.

The temp did remain constant so the only adjustment I had to do was turn up the temp on the Sentry to my ideal temp, once there it was able to maintain a temp within 5 degree's.
 
do you have the menards part number for the burner/gas hose? i did not see anything like what you describe at my local menards.
 
Hey MysticalMan,

Good job on the modification!

I have a question, when you say the temp was within 5°, 5° of what, the degree indications on the knob and the temp probes inside the smoker or the difference between the two temp probes?

The reason I ask is I bought the same controler to build a propane smoker before I bought my WSM and I stoped with step #6 on the back of the package that says the probe must be submerged in oil. Are you saying it senses the temp correctly outside of a liquid environment? That would be great because I want to build a vertical propane smoker and I could use the Sentry control valve.

Thanks, Gene

Omahasmoker, I bought my burner and hoses from Tejas Smokers on the web, try googling it.
 
omahasmoker: I have since thrown the receipt and the box. Next time I am at Menard's I will make sure to get a duplicate to get you the number.

Just for clarification I bought a turkey fryer bottom. So it is the stand, regulator, and burner in a box. I didn't find what I was looking for the first time I was thinking about doing the mod, so I ended up calling the 2 Menard's in town, only 1 had what I was looking for.

Amazon also has a similar burner available, not sure if the burner has the bolt like the one that I picked up - http://www.amazon.com/Bayou-Classic-...=1VMSED0OCLOWA


JustPassingThru The temp difference was within 5 degrees of what I set the Sentry and the reading of my temp probes.


nater3: The reason I went with the high output burner was due to another person that did the same mod, and used the same burner.

They said that they were not able to get a high flame since the regulator used on the smoker is a low PSI regulator it runs around 1/2 PSI.

The regulator that I am using is rated at 5psi and is variable from 0 to 5 psi.

Now that I have done the MOD I wonder if the reason they were not able to get a good flame from the stock burner is that they over tightened the gas line going into the sentry regulator. I had the same issue when I tightened the hose with a wrench.
 
i talked with bayou classic today. the stock GOSM burner will not work with the high (10psi) pressure. it was designed to work with 1/2 psi not 10.

i ordered the sentry control, a 10PSI regulator with needle valve, the burner, and some gas hose today from them. the sentry just screws into the end of their burner so install will be a snap.

wish me luck
 
I ordered a few sentry valves to do my GOSM, my brothers, and one for my fish fryer. I already have a needle valve and regulator on my GOSM, so I am hoping that if I don't over tighten the sentry valve that the stock GOSM burner will work. If not, I will rob the burner off of the same turkey fryer I stole the needle valve from.
 
How is the smoker after the mod? Is it constant TBS or does it put out a bunch when the burner kicks on and then taper off until the next blast?
 
the regulator on your GOSM is a .5 psi regulator. the sentry valve will not work properly on that pressure. it needs 10+ psi to do its job. the stock GOSM burner is not up to the task either. you need a 10 psi turkey fryer burner and regulator to get it all to work properly. if you get a burner from bayou classic, the sentry valve will screw into the end of the buener itself.
 
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