# New Dyna-Glo vertical offset smoker



## surgtech2006

Hey all,

Just bought one of these off of Amazon, I wanted to try vertical as opposed to another horizontal smoker. For the money, this thing is really NOT all that bad.

I'll get back with some unboxing pics and the initial mods I did as I've been putting it together.

Jerry

Edited title to make search easier.


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## fire34

Hello, I just purchased a Dnya Glo offset smoker a few weeks ago and love it. I have used it twice so far with plans to use this weekend. The only issue I have had it maitaining my temp. Any suggestions? I have adjusted my ventsd but haven't found a sweet spot yet. Overall I have been super happy. good luck


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## surgtech2006

fire34 said:


> Hello, I just purchased a Dnya Glo offset smoker a few weeks ago and love it. I have used it twice so far with plans to use this weekend. The only issue I have had it maitaining my temp. Any suggestions? I have adjusted my ventsd but haven't found a sweet spot yet. Overall I have been super happy. good luck


Hi Fire34.. Havent fired mine up yet. I'm hoping it warms up a bit so I can finish putting it together.

I hope that the gasketing I did between the firebox and the smoke box and also the doors on each box will help keep the temps somewhat consistent. Hopefully I will get to finish and fire it up today or tomorrow.


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## gary s

We'll be watching

Gary


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## fire34

I did notice a gap between the fire box and smoke box and had thought about sealing that myself. I guess I was so excited to start smoking I didn't even think of modifying it. This weekend looks to be cold here in the mitten but Sunday looks to be my window to smoke it will be a balmy 42 outdoors. Would love to see pictures of your mods.


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## surgtech2006

OK, I'm going to try and keep this in order, and hopefully the pics will all upload correctly. I'm going to start with the unboxing to show the individual parts and a little insight as to quality. All in all, I think its excellent for the money.. would love to see more people get one and post their mods and experiences as well.

I'm going to grab the next post as my starting point with the unboxing pics and follow with my mods in the next one after that.


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## surgtech2006

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__ Mar 27, 2015






?? How do I rotate this pic ??

The main shipping box had all the other boxes inside the smoke box. It was extremely well packed for an Asian made product. All arrived safely with no missing pieces or damages.













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The tiny little chimney.. this may end up getting replaced.













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Nice design, even well made, just seems small. Powder coating(?) on all parts seems good.













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Temp guage reads in degrees! Yay!













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Drip pan













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Legs













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Rack holders. Plating looks good.













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Charcoal box setup. I will be making a one piece box, this seems odd to me..













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Ash pan













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Charcoal box "assembled"













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Screws, all neatly arranged on blister pack...













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Proper English! Is this thing really from China?













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Handles













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Latching mechanism













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Not the best welding in the world, but serves the purpose of the part.













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Racks or grates as you may like to call them.













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Some sort of defelctor on the inside surface of the door.













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Lots of empty boxes!

Up next.. Initial mods.


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## surgtech2006

Well, the weather or the silicone sealer I used,  or both. .we're against me!  I had some issues.

I used a length of silicone tubing and scewed it around the perimeter of the smoke box. I cut a tiny slot in the tubing on the side which would seal against the door and put the screw in to the box itself.

In theory a good idea and it did work. It's more bulky than I was hoping. But being screwed in place,  it should stay where it is with our worrying about glue failure. It also necessitated me drilling/slotting the door latch to compensate for the extra thickness (As opposed to moving the hinges outward.)

The fire door was another story. I decided to run the red silicone hi temp sealer around the door and fire box and ruin over it with a spreader to make a nice thin gasket.  It worked out well,  until I closed the door after I thought it was fully dry. Epic fail upon opening the door.. 

I also ran a bead of high temp red around the fire box,  and used a notched spreader to form a nice consistent gasket.  That worked well,  for the most part. I'll explain later. .

Going to attempt to post pictures from my phone.













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A few days later.. I assembled. The weather has been crappy in the northeast, and I'm not sure if thats why i had issues with the sealer. 













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## surgtech2006

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The firebox setup is kind of odd, but it serves the purpose.













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I layered some wood and the end of last years charcoal in the box. I then lit up some Stubbs brickettes in the chimney..



I lit up about a half a chimney of coals.

The charcoal basket holds a pretty good amount of fuel. Its a bit of an odd design, I may change it depending on how it functions.

  

Theres quite a bit of play in that firebox door. The chimney has positive stops at different openings, I started at full open. The firebox was set at 1/4 open.


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## gary s

We'll be watching

Gary


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## voodoochile

cool ... I bought one also .... I have had it for a few weeks and I just finally got it assembled last weekend . I havent put a fire in it yet .


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## surgtech2006

Cool, glad to see people buying these and finding their way here to SmokingMeatForums!
I fired mine up today, despite some issues with the mods I made and the cold weather. I'll update the above posts I saved when I get back home later on or tomorrow.
will say I was able to get it up over 225 for a pretty decent amount of time, despite the leaks and the 42° temps. Actually got up over 250 and held for while. 













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__ Mar 29, 2015


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## gary s

Nice


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## ericf517

Good to see, I am going to be picking one of these up here shortly.


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## surgtech2006

EricF517 said:


> Good to see, I am going to be picking one of these up here shortly.


I dont think you will regret it,  its pretty good for under 200 bucks.


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## voodoochile

Thinking of adding a DigiQ DX2 to mine .Can you make a silk purse from a sows ear ????


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## surgtech2006

voodoochile said:


> Thinking of adding a DigiQ DX2 to mine .Can you make a silk purse from a sows ear ????   :yahoo:


IDK.. It costs more than the Dyna, silk purse or not, I don't think the biggest issue is draft. I was able to hold temp for a good while just using the dampers. The thinner metal, on the other hand, I feel is more of an issue. 
My plan is to move on to insulating after I straighten out the firebox door sealing issues.


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## fire34

This last weekend I had better luck maintaining my temp not sure if it was because I used less charcoal or the cooler  weather (40's). Surgtech2006 did you have any heat control issues when you fired your up?


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## surgtech2006

fire34 said:


> This last weekend I had better luck maintaining my temp not sure if it was because I used less charcoal or the cooler weather (40's). Surgtech2006 did you have any heat control issues when you fired your up?


No issues to speak as far as temps are concerned, but then I was really just trying to season it up. I ran it up to the end of the black on the dial which I think is 275. It held there pretty well for about 3 hours. I had the lower set to about a 1/4 as seen in the video in the above post, with the chimney damper at full open. I ran about 40 mins or so like that and then dropped the chimney to the 1/4 open setting. The temps went up pretty quickly at that point. I think I got about 6 hours out of that basket of charcoal and wood. I have some more pics to post up shortly.


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## ericf517

Good, would love to see more pics of how it is going.  

I was looking at someone else's idea on here with the tubing, insulation, and extra layer of sheet metal.  Think I will be doing the same by the end of the fall so it can be used all winter up here in the great north.  

Wife asked me if I am worried about the wind causing issues with the temp, why not just build a shed for it to go in so the wind doesn't beat on it.  So I might just do that.


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## shaowstrike

Hi, I ordered this vertical smoker as well! How many tubes of the high temp sealant did you wind up using on all the leaks? Also, have you considered using something like this to seal the firebox door?


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## ericf517

I ordered 2 tubes, and the nomex tape strips.  Haven't been delivered yet, but that was my guess.


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## JckDanls 07

thinking maybe the red sealer failure was dew to the oil on the new metal...  The best way I've seen the sealer used is to put a bead on one side (usually the door after it's been cleaned with alcohol or something to get rid of the oil)...  and then put saran wrap over it and close the door and latch it..  leave it this way for at least 24 hrs to let the sealer cure...  remove saran wrap after it's dry .... saran wrap keeps it from sticking to the chamber (or firebox) ... hope this helps....


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## iggythump

I've been eyeing this smoker for some time now as well.  This thread was just what I needed to pull the trigger when the time is right.  Just finished my mini a little over a month ago and that thing is a dream, but for a crowd, its a nightmare.  I'll be looking into investing in one of these fellows soon.  Thanks for the post!!


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## ericf517

I was able to silicone everything (fire box to smoke box, and chimney) with about half a tube.  I used one 15' roll of 1/2"x1/4" nomex tape to seal the doors.

As soon as the silicone is set up I will be firing it up for it's seasoning burn.


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## gary s

We will be waiting

Gary


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## ericf517

Well, after about 3/4 tube of silicone, and a roll of nomex the smoker was ready to be lit today.  Gave the silicone about 24 hours (22 probably) and lit it up today.

Getting the fire started.













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__ ericf517
__ Apr 13, 2015






After it was going for about an hour.  Probably went a little heavy with Pam spray Olive Oil, but oh well.  Have a few small leaks, one at the top of the door, one at the handle hole, and one that will have to get repaired on the back top of the fire box.  Other than that it seems to work just fine.  













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__ ericf517
__ Apr 13, 2015


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## surgtech2006

Nice work! How did the silicone tape work out for you? How is it held in place? I may switch over to that depending on how long it lasts for you. I used to be in the boiler industry and had access to a teflon packing/gasket material I was thinking of trying as well. I think silicone is probably more "repeatably" conformimg for a door that is opened and closed as opposed to a stationary seal that just gets bolted together though.

Were you able to hold temps?


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## surgtech2006

gary s said:


> We will be waiting
> 
> Gary


Youre doing a lot of waiting Gary! ;)  :BEER:


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## gary s

Coffee and Tea,   Love Beer but quite years ago


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## ericf517

surgtech2006 said:


> Nice work! How did the silicone tape work out for you? How is it held in place? I may switch over to that depending on how long it lasts for you. I used to be in the boiler industry and had access to a teflon packing/gasket material I was thinking of trying as well. I think silicone is probably more "repeatably" conformimg for a door that is opened and closed as opposed to a stationary seal that just gets bolted together though.
> 
> Were you able to hold temps?


I didn't use silicone tape, I used the nomex tape.  Seems to be working just fine.  I used black FDA high temp silicone on the firebox to smoke box, and it is doing well so far.  

The temps seem to hold perfect with the bottom air vent closed and the top open.  Been running around 230-245 the whole time.  Started it around 0900 and just had to refill the charcoal just now, 1400.  Probably could have gotten a few more hours easily in the temp zone, but wanted to open it up and let it run a little hotter.  I mixed in some split oak I had around, and some hickory chips I used to use in the gas grill.


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## ericf517

Just found another leak, just a small one around the temp gauge


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## ericf517

Ok well been burning all day, now I decided to thrown on some chicken legs for the fun of it.  Rub is 1tbsp pepper, 1tbsp salt, 1tbsp garlic, and 2 tbsps brown sugar.  Apple juice in the pan, fresh charcoal, and apple wood.













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## ericf517

Chicken was yummy!!!  Took it out at 175-184 IT













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## gary s

That's some nice looking Chicken 

Gary


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## remmy700p

Chicken looks delicious.

The apple juice pan is unnecessary. Liquid flavors do not "evaporate" into the meat (water boils away but the solids stay in the pan), and in a 250-275F smoker, it will simply leach your heat.

How do you like the height of this smoker? It seems you'd be doing quite a bit of bending over to tend the fire, open the door, etc.


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## surgtech2006

I dont find I'm tending and bending much, it burns quite a while on a full charge. I'll have to see when I do a shoulder or brisket next weekend.


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## surgtech2006

EricF517 said:


> fresh charcoal, and apple wood.


What kind of charcoal are you using? I always love the lump, but I used Stubbs brickettes recently and found they seem to be way more consistent burning.


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## ericf517

surgtech2006 said:


> What kind of charcoal are you using? I always love the lump, but I used Stubbs brickettes recently and found they seem to be way more consistent burning.


I am using up the Kingford I had from last year.  

Today is brisket and pork butt day.  Don't get me started about how the butcher cleaned off 65% of all the fat cap off the brisket.  Wife ordered it, and picked it up for me since I have been working until the shop closes.  Well I guess now I know to tell them to leave the fat cap on the brisket.  Oh well!!  

Today's cook started at 0640.













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## ericf517

Well after the first day of real use my thoughts are as follows.

It will hold temp just fine once you get it where you want it.  

I have had to leave the firebox door open for a few minutes to get the new charcoal that I added to start going, or I would have a temp drop.  Was from 244 down to 205.  When I left the door open for a few minutes I would only drop to 225ish, and then right back to where I wanted it.

I need to make a basket that holds more charcoal for this thing.

I have only had to reload it twice so far, and added wood 3 times.

Now if I can just get past the stall on both the brisket (154) and the pork (160) I would be happier.  I am getting hungry LOL


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## ericf517

Ok just wrapped the meat, and have had to top off the firebox 4 times total.  Hoping this one gets me through the rest of the cook.  Just foiled the meat, pork was at 173 and brisket at 165.


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## vvosleywhodat

Hello.. I just got my new smoker a couple of weeks ago. I know ill have to modify it a little but my 1st couple of cooks have been nice. Looking forward to learning more from the rest..


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## beerdrinker

I bought this smoker off Amazon for $160. I sprayed it with high heat paint before assembly to cover any scratches and to hold off any rust. I used the nomex gaskets around the doors, between the firebox and cooking chamber and behind the thermometer. I drilled 2 holes in the side and put grommets in for the remote thermometer probes. I put a cushion on the front off the handle where the cooking chamber door hits to prevent a big dent if it swings open. While seasoning it a gap opened at the top of the firebox where it meets the cooking chamber which I now see someone else mentioned. I drilled 2 more holes and added 2 more bolts to it and it now seems solid. The firebox door is a little warped so I had to double up the gasket in one spot. I also added a baffle to spread the heat out.













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At 225 the built in thermometer is only off about 10 degrees so that's good. After all the mods I ran it and it held 225 for about 4 hours with a full basket. 

For the money this is not a bad unit at all if you follow all of the advice of the people who have one.


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## ericf517

Are you just using a cooking sheet as a heat deflector in the smoke chamber?  

I know I am going to have to build me a new fire basket, or I sure would like to so it will actually fill the fire chamber better.


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## timtimmay

Nice smoker Jerry.  The chicken shot made me hungry!  I haven't seen any dyna glo products first hand.  I am interested in their dual fuel grill, it looks to potentially be the highest quality in that market.


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## beerdrinker

It is a baking pan that I cut to fit. It will sit on the bolts I added to secure the firebox better. I am thinking about putting holes in it to allow even heat displacement. I also added a screen between the chambers because when I was adding fuel to the firebox I was getting a coating of ash in the cooking chamber. I haven't tested it yet.


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## voodoochile

ok ...... last week I had my seasoning fire in my Dyna glo verticle smoker and it worked great . Heated to well over 300 and stayed steady after adjusting the draft @ 225 - 250 for several hours . I had previously sealed all connection points and the doors with Hitemp silicon ( I used plastic wrap on the doors so they were not glued shut ! 
	

	
	
		
		



		
			






 Now today I had my maiden voyage to  meat smoking so for a nearly failsafe trial run I smoked a store bought cured ham . I decided to put in a water pan on the bottom rack . I also used my redi check thermometer to check both meat and smoker temps . I was delighted that the thermometer in the door of the Dyna glo is accurated . I will not need to use my redi check for the smoker in the future . One problem I did have was that I was having trouble getting the smoker up to temp ( I was wanting 225 - 250 ) . It struggled from 190 - 210 for thw first couple hours and finally got to trhe highest reading of 232. It took a couple extra hours to get my ham to 145 . When I removed the ham from the smoker I also took the water pan out . To my surprise 30 minutes later the smoker was heated up to 360 .

 I did not realize that a water pan would affect the smoker temp to that extent . I will probably leave the water pan out for the next smoke .

 The ham was still GREAT  tho !!!!


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## ericf517

I have been having a hard time getting mine up to temp with the chunk charcoal.  The lump will only get up to about 195-200.  Not sure why but that is about all I am getting.  The Kingsford would have no problems getting up in temp even with a water pan.  I have had to, with the chunk, add wood in order to get the smoker up to temp and basically run straight wood.


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## voodoochile

I used Kingsford Charcoal


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## gary s

I usually have better heat with lump.   BTW    Lowe's and Home Depot  have Kingsford  on sale today 2 - 20 lb. or 18.5 lb. for $9.88

Gary


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## ericf517

gary s said:


> I usually have better heat with lump.   BTW    Lowe's and Home Depot  have Kingsford  on sale today 2 - 20 lb. or 18.5 lb. for $9.88
> 
> Gary


Wife and I went and got 4 bundles yesterday.  Should be good for a while!

On a side note, I got sick of the cooking off paint, and some of the drips I was getting coming from areas in the door.  Mainly around the name plate and thermometer.  I also want to get the "baking sheet" baffle done up and installed.  So today I spent about 4 hours sanding the crap out of the smoker.  Wife wanted it to be candy apple red and black, so it will be.  Smoke chamber is being painted with "bright red" VHT engine paint, along with one carry handle, both door handles, and top of the chimney.  Firebox and the rest will be painted with black header paint.  Thought 2 cans would have been enough red, but that only got one coat on today, so I have to get back to the store and grab more.  

I did notice that the interior is almost glassy looking which was sort of weird to me.


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## ericf517

Beginning of the new face lift.













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## ericf517

Got the red done













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## gary s

Looks Good I Like Red !!!

Gary


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## drlchi

Figured I chime in here...I've had this smoker (Dyna-Glo DGO1176BDC-D) since 2013, before they made the nice ash catcher. I cleaned it out and put new gaskets on it today so I took a picture:













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__ drlchi
__ May 28, 2015






As you can see, no sweet charcoal box and no sweet ash catcher/remover...I'm thinking about contacting Dyna-Glo and seeing if they'll send me one. I may end having to go to a department store that sells them and see if I can snag one there, I'll let everyone know in case anyone has an older model like mine.

I actually really like this thing, absolutely wasn't air-tight when I got it - but that's what makes you an expert in fire/heat management 
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





 I've since put gaskets on it and those seem to make it a little easier, but I'm sure if I had a welder I could make everything perfect.

*For Those Thinking About Purchasing It...*

For $200 when I got it, this is a really nice vertical smoker that can be used for smoking anything you really want (with the exception of a full pig, for obvious reasons). The racks are easily removed/rearranged, the only problem is it's not deep enough to fit a full rack of ribs on one smoker rack; you'll have to chop them in half to fit 'em...so essentially one rack of ribs sliced in half for every rack in the smoker. Not a big deal if you ask me because that equals 6 racks of ribs! Just get some gaskets (I have Nomex, was like $20 for 20ft or something..not terrible), line all the surfaces that you screw together and you should be fine.

I posted a few Qviews of some recent smokes with this thing, check 'em out:

Pork Butt

Brisket

I'll be doing another pork butt this weekend most likely, since I cleaned her out and slapped some new gaskets on her...I'll post pics of it when it happens!
-D


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## ericf517

Couple things left to put back on, but the painting is done!













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__ ericf517
__ May 29, 2015


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## bpinmi

I am so ready to upgrade from my ECB and have been eyeing this smoker. I am a little disappointed to see some Mods are required. Was hoping that wouldn't be needed.


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## gary s

Man !!!  That's Plumb Pretty    Looks to good to cook on     "Show Smoker    Great job    
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





Gary


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## ericf517

BPinMI said:


> I am so ready to upgrade from my ECB and have been eyeing this smoker. I am a little disappointed to see some Mods are required. Was hoping that wouldn't be needed.


All the mods are pretty easy to do.  

Gary, thanks!!  It was the wife's choice of color, or else it would have been zombie green and black.


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## gary s

Red and Black My favorite colors

Gary


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## timtimmay

EricF517 said:


> Couple things left to put back on, but the painting is done!
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> __ ericf517
> __ May 29, 2015


Awesome job, looks fantastic! :points:


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## drlchi

EricF517- looks awesome!

For anyone who has the older model of this smoker and would like the updated firebox like this picture:













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__ drlchi
__ Jun 3, 2015






I just called their customer service line (1-877-447-4768) and ordered these 3 parts for $40 with shipping:

Charcoal Chamber – Part # 314-00002-02 – Price $15.00 
Charcoal Grate – Part # 314-00001-01   - Price $7.50 
Ash tray – Part # 70-01-254 – Price $13.68
Not bad as that's pretty close to how much it was going to cost me to fabricate that stuff anyway. I'll post pictures when I get the stuff.

-D


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## moloch16

Hello everyone,

I just bought this smoker.

How much charcoal do you use?  Do you fill the basket with unlit charcoal, and then dump some lit charcoal on top to get things started?

Instructions seemed to indicate lighting the entire basket at once, but that's now how I imagined doing it.


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## drlchi

moloch16 said:


> Hello everyone,
> 
> I just bought this smoker.
> 
> How much charcoal do you use?  Do you fill the basket with unlit charcoal, and then dump some lit charcoal on top to get things started?
> 
> Instructions seemed to indicate lighting the entire basket at once, but that's now how I imagined doing it.


Hi moloch...I think for your first run, which should be your seasoning run (no meat), fill her up all the way and let it burn. This way you'll burn off any oil on the metal and you can gauge how hot the thing gets, where smoke leaks out, etc. Once you season it and get a feel for how hot it can get and for how long, then throw some meat on!

Let us know how it goes or if there are any more questions! I will post some pics of my next smoke, maybe today or over the weekend!

Good luck!
-D


----------



## moloch16

Yep, will do that for seasoning.  When I want to smoke some meat seems like you put some lit coals ontop of unlit coals.  At least that's what some pics in this thread show.

I used some hi-temp silicone to seal between the coal box and main box.  Will see how much it leaks and maybe get some nomex gasket for the doors.

Should be fun!


----------



## idsmokethat

Hi Thanks for sharing your pics.  I just ordered the smoker and it's going to be my first.  I'm curious if anyone have an opinion between the nomex tape and hi-heat silicon between the firebox and smoker.  I've seen some people use nomex pretty much everywhere.  

Thanks in advance!


----------



## moloch16

Definitely hi-heat silicon between firebox and smoker.  The gap will be irregular and the silicon molds nicely to these irregularities.  I also used the silicon to seal the door for the same reason.  Nomex would probably work fine on the doors too.

You can get a tube on Amazon for $5 (Permatex 81160 High-Temp Red RTV Silicone 3oz).  I was able to seal the firebox and leaky portion of doors before running out.  The bottom and back of doors near hinges don't leak on my somker.


----------



## idsmokethat

Thanks for getting back to me! How do you seal the door with silicon...won't it stick to the firebox and the door causing it to stay shut?  Thanks agian!


----------



## moloch16

Place saran wrap, wax paper, or something similar between the door and firebox when you shut the door and let the silicon cure.  Then after curing, you can peel the paper off.  I used wax paper and it worked great, I've read about others using saran wrap.  I've also read about spraying the firebox with Pam and then the silicon won't stick.


----------



## idsmokethat

Thanks!  I'll definitely do that.  Have you done anything about creating a baffle or used a water pan?  I saw this one doesn't come with one and I'm not sure it would be necessary since the smoker is vertical and the heat doesn't have to flow too far over.


----------



## moloch16

I sort of created a baffle with a water pan.  I placed a cake-pan sized water pan on the first rack right above where the heat comes in from the firebox.  I think this helped distribute the heat and at the same time provided some moisture and helped with temperature control.

I should mention how I suggest firing the smoker.

I fill the coal chamber about half-way with unlit coals, positioned towards the smoker, and forming a bit of a ramp.  Then dump a 3/4 chimney on the other side.  This seemed to work well, bringing up the smoker to about 225 and holding there for about 3 hours, I didn't really have to do anything.  The unlit coals slowly lit over time.  This was in full sun on a 90+ day, so that helped.

I suggest these steps:

1) Fill chimney 3/4 full.  Light, and wait for 3/4 fully lit.  Don't want to see any smoke off the coals.

2) Dump that in the coal box, up agains the unlit coals

3) Wait for smoke from coals to become clear again.

4) Put your meat on

5) Throw some wood on hot coals

The reason for steps 1 and 3 is you don't want to smoke your meat with smoke off the briquettes (assuming you are using briquettes).  When they are hot enough, they stop putting out smoke.

Disclaimer:  I've only done one smoke on this smoker, so your mileage may vary!


----------



## idsmokethat

Thanks again!  I really appreciate the help and tips for getting it started.


----------



## voodoochile

I used Hi temp silicon on mine as well . Worked great . I had a roll of stretch wrap that I used to keep it from sticking to the door


----------



## maxkap

What size nomex tape are you guys using? How much of it did you need for both doors?  I tried fiberglass wood stove gasket on the smoker door, but it didn't hold very well. Tried again, pulling it a little less tight and letting it sit longer, but I'm not confident it will hold when I open the door again.


----------



## nathan179

I just ordered the Dyna Glo Wide Body smoker from the Depot and I couldn't be more excited.  Upgrading from a Char Broil Silver Smoker and looking for more real estate and am getting that and more with this one.  Should be here later this week and I'll get to work doing the mods people listed here and maybe add some pics to this thread to confirm i got it right.  I'll probably just use the Nomex tape on the doors and the hi temp silicone around the firebox/chamber connection for ease of completion. The slanted baffle using a cooking pan with some holes drilled in it is an absolutely perfect idea for temp control. 

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Dyna-Glo...ERCH=RV-_-rv_homepage_rr-_-NA-_-206289005-_-N

One mod that I haven't seen any advice on is adding wheels.  I'll be storing this in my garage but moving it out to the driveway to cook and I'll need some wheels for that.  I suppose I could put it on a cart which would help with the relatively low height of the unit but I'd rather just add some wheels.  Any suggestions?  My driveway is sloped a bit so I can't just add casters or it will roll down the street. 

Also, to the OP, where are you from in the Northeast?  I'm just south of Boston and don't know a lot of people around me that do proper BBQ so it'd be nice to have someone to talk shop.


----------



## idsmokethat

Put a really thick line of the silicon between the smoker box and the chamber.  I used steel wool and orange cleaner to get it good and clean before applying (wipe the orange cleaner off after use.

I've also been thinking of wheels..the metal on the legs isn't very thick so I've been nervous about drilling holes in it.  Post pics if you figure something out!


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## nathan179

This guy added wheels to the Dyna Glo vertical smoker, looks like it was pretty easy just drilled a hole and bolted it on.  Pretty confident this will work out fine I will probably put some lawnmower wheels on it as I might be rolling it on grass at times. 

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/167185/modded-dyna-glo-smoker

Here's mine, just finished putting it together yesterday.  They changed the latch method on this one, instead of the handle turning to latch it close there's a clamp at the top right and one on the underside of the cooking chamber that you have to latch closed.  Not sure I like it, but it gives a nice tight fit.  We'll put that to the test when I season it this weekend.  The firebox door is definitely loose and will need some nomex tape and it got dinged a little bit on the back too.  Just a little work, no big deal.  Happy with it and that I got it for under $100 out of my own pocket (gift cards for my birthday)













IMAG0397.jpg



__ nathan179
__ Jul 17, 2015


















IMAG0398.jpg



__ nathan179
__ Jul 17, 2015


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## wimpy69

Have you run your wide body yet? I'm leaning towards picking one up instead of the 1176. Yours come with the door gasket and if so how did it seal? If possible, whats the width of the vertical cook chamber so I can start looking for a diffuser pan. Have to order from depot also so I can't physically see one. Thanks.


----------



## beerdrinker

I used the nomex between the firebox and cooking chamber and also had to add bolts to close the gap that opens up when it gets hot.


----------



## idsmokethat

Hey everyone,

I had a pretty successful first run with my smoker.  I couldn't always tell when to add more wood/charcoal.  I didn't want to add it too soon and risk the smoker over heating, but didn't want to wait too long.  Any advice? I'm not using the extra wide, just normal dyna-glo vertical.

Thanks!


----------



## moloch16

With mine I know it can go about 3 hours before more charcoal is needed.  I wait until I see the smoker can't hold my desired temperature anymore and then light my chimney.  By the time the new coals are ready it might have dropped 15 degrees below target, but that's not a big deal.


----------



## idsmokethat

Moloch, do you use the minion method?  When I start, I have some unlit charcoal in my chamber...last time I went almost 8 hours before needing more charcoal (i added wood about every 90 minutes when it was all burnt up).


----------



## moloch16

Tried something like the minion but it wouldn't get hot enough I think due to lack of airflow, and I had that nasty smoke that comes from lighting charcoal.  Maybe I did it wrong but that experience led me to just dump a full cylinder 3/4 lit and go with that.


----------



## bakeray

Got my Dyna Glo together and seasoned. Ran it dry a couple of runs to figure out temps, got them dialed in. Smoked bone in chicken breasts and corn on the cobb. Everything was good but need to play with temps. Dyna glow runs a little colder than the CharGriller, That being said I have had the Chargriller forever and figured it out.

Couple of trys on this new smoker Ill be back to being a master


----------



## moloch16

bakeray, I think you'll be happy.  I see a lot of complaints with other smokers of not being able to control the temperature, but with my dyna-glo once I get it adjusted to 225-250 it hums along without intervention for 3+ hours.  I use a full chimney of charcoal briquettes, dump them when they are 3/4 lit, then adjust the vents.  Set-it-and-forget-it.


----------



## drlchi

To add to moloch's comment...keep messing with the smoker and get some gaskets. A lot of people are using the putty/gel stuff but I used the nomex tape all around the doors and where the firebox connected to the smoking chamber...works great and definitely helps regulate the heat/smoke much better.

-D


----------



## bakeray

Sealing it will be a job for this weekend. Biggest leaks are at fire box and cabinet and at upper left hand side of door and the thermometer. Have a product but still not sure about it. 3M fire barrier sealant #25wb+.  I am not sure about using it yet. Not sure how it is up close and personal with flames and heat.  I do Appliance Repair and our company does alot of outdoor kitchen stuff.  I use that sealant to seal off holes where gas lines come thru cabinets and build ins under gas grills. Not really in direct contact with alot of heat.


----------



## drlchi

bakeray said:


> Sealing it will be a job for this weekend. Biggest leaks are at fire box and cabinet and at upper left hand side of door and the thermometer. Have a product but still not sure about it. 3M fire barrier sealant #25wb+.  I am not sure about using it yet. Not sure how it is up close and personal with flames and heat.  I do Appliance Repair and our company does alot of outdoor kitchen stuff.  I use that sealant to seal off holes where gas lines come thru cabinets and build ins under gas grills. Not really in direct contact with alot of heat.


Make sure it's "high-temp" gel or tape...you don't want to smoke your meat with burning whatever that other stuff is made of. I got the 1/2" x 1/4" nomex tape which is wider than the other options I saw and it fit the doors great, almost perfectly. Just a suggestion.

-D


----------



## nathan179

Hey guys, holy crap sorry I dropped off here my summer has not included more than 1/2 of a day uninterrupted with kid's summer softball or taxiing them from one grandparent's house to the next or god forbid I go to work.... 

I was able to season my smoker though, but haven't cooked yet.  Hoping, please god.....give me the chance....to smoke this weekend.

I got the Nomex tape and did the inside of the firebox door, that's all that was needed.  I have a small leak at bottom right corner of door but nothing to worry about.  During the cure it held 250 for a good solid 3 hours with no intervention I was really impressed. 

The 3m fire barrier stuff I presume you got from Home Depot, I tried that in the gaps too and it chipped off after the curing process.  Maybe I did it wrong but it didn't hold, and turns out I didnt' really need it anyway.  The screws for the firebox were decent but I do have one big gap in the back

Other thing I did was took an old cookie sheet and drilled a bunch of holes in it, attached a hook and latched it to the bottom rack.  This should make a nice baffle and spread the smoke out while keeping the heat regulated due to the large cooking chamber. 

Saturday looks like it's going to be free, so I will take some pictures and put up a review.


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## nathan179

IMAG0414.jpg



__ nathan179
__ Aug 13, 2015






That's a lotta meat


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## nathan179

And away we go













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__ nathan179
__ Aug 15, 2015


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## bigwern

How'd it go with the wide body??? I've been eyeing it for a couple weeks and I'm thinking about pulling the trigger this weekend!


----------



## nathan179

I did a whole new thread about it

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/...ibs-shoulder-corned-beef-brisket#post_1449856

It was great, really performed well.  I pulled the shoulder yesterday and stewed it in a pot with some BBQ sauce yesterday and its off the damn charts.  The ribs were great, and I hope to figure out what to do with the pastrami later this week.


----------



## hd7766

I just ordered one of these on sunday and it showed up Tuesday. Now I'm waiting for the nomex and rtv to show up. Excited to put it together and try it out.


----------



## jrleonard

Has anything looked into putting an iQue 110 on one of these?


----------



## moloch16

Nifty device, I didn't know it existed.  I don't see the need for that though, I'm able to dump in a cylinder of lit coals, tweak my temperature using the vents, and then it just cruises for 2.5 to 3 hours.  It seems the smoker was design to run about 250 degrees so there isn't really much tweaking needed to stay around that temperature.


----------



## jrleonard

I was just curious as I have done a couple smokes on my Dyna Glo with little to no issue maintaining the temperature. I'm somewhat of a tech geek and like to find innovative ways to enhance my cooking experiences.


----------



## rommoz

Just curious...is this unit tall enough to hang St. Louis style ribs instead of cutting them in half?  I mainly smoke ribs and this will be a no go if I have to cut them. I can't justify much more than $300 bucks to the wife for my budget


----------



## bojosfarm

I need help, my Dynaglo offset smoker burns too hot. I've adjusted the vents, but still too hot... I need to slow down the smoke and the heat...everything cooks dry in less than 3hrs and burns outside badly... Can't believe the smoker came with no user/owners manual, other than how to put it together... Can anyone help?! Thank you!


----------



## bbqwillie

bojosfarm said:


> I need help, my Dynaglo offset smoker burns too hot. I've adjusted the vents, but still too hot... I need to slow down the smoke and the heat...everything cooks dry in less than 3hrs and burns outside badly... Can't believe the smoker came with no user/owners manual, other than how to put it together... Can anyone help?! Thank you!


kinda difficult to try and help without more information. How much charcoal are you loading? What are the vent settings? Is the chimney open or closed? What shelf are you placing your meats? Are you using a water pan? What temp is your smoker running?


----------



## ericf517

nathan179 said:


> And away we go
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> IMAG0415.jpg
> 
> 
> 
> __ nathan179
> __ Aug 15, 2015


Now I am totally jealous!  Then again I think I am just going to go custom instead.  My firebox is rusting already due to the heat, but the smoke box only runs around 240-270.


----------



## domscorp

I have read a LOT of the comments here. I am taking a delivery of this smoker tomorrow. I saw a utube video where the fire box top was burned bad and looked like easy enough to rust. Have any of you had this issue? I am waiting on the insulating stuff to arrive from amazon before smoking a full smoker full of pork shoulder.


----------



## domscorp

bojosfarm said:


> I need help, my Dynaglo offset smoker burns too hot. I've adjusted the vents, but still too hot... I need to slow down the smoke and the heat...everything cooks dry in less than 3hrs and burns outside badly... Can't believe the smoker came with no user/owners manual, other than how to put it together... Can anyone help?! Thank you!


If you are not using a water pan add it....will lower your temp and stop your meat from drying out. Some one said earlier in the thread that using a juice does nothing. Think humidifier for meat. as the water boils off it adds to the smoke/air water content. Also do you marinade or inject your meats at all???.


----------



## moloch16

Yes, will happen.  On mine it's the sides that are burned, top is still ok.  It happens where your chunk of wood for smoke catches on fire and the flames reach the top or butts right up against the side.  I'm not too worried about it if it gets bad I'll sand it and put some more paint on it.  I also keep it covered when not in use.

If you want, you can add an additional coat of heat resistant paint to the firebox when you first assemble.


----------



## domscorp

Thanks.....I am a computer nerd or was. So insulating this will be a new type of project for me


----------



## tredd4life

image.jpeg



__ tredd4life
__ Dec 9, 2015





I did a few mods to my Dyna glow that I believe will help anyone that buys it. So here they are.  
On assembly you will notice the firebox holes for the bolts are the same size as the inserted threads as a result there will be a gap between the two if u leave it this way .  I opened up the holes in the fire box mounted flush. To the smoker and used rtv sealer. This worked out great ! 

The next thing I did was the bolts that hold the sliding vent on the fire box.  I bought longer bolts and a pretty weak spring. I cut the spring into pieces put the bolt thru the spring then the fire box thru the vent and put the nut on. What this did was ad tension on the vent to the box to help control air flow. (this made a huge difference)

Of course I used nomax to seal all doors. But here is what this smoker needs the vent from the fire box to the smoking camber now has an extension to the center of the smoking chamber then made a damper to even the temp throughout. 


For the price and the results I give this product an 8/10 after all considerations m. Thanks for reading. Smoke on 












image.jpg



__ tredd4life
__ Dec 9, 2015


----------



## rober49

anyone tried this bigger version? $259.00 & free in store shipping.


----------



## moloch16

Thanks for sharing and great job on the mods!  How did you make the damper?  This on my to-do list.


----------



## tredd4life

I just used left over tin drilled holes and evenly spaced slots in it.  It holds the temp great with the damper in around 225 without the damper I can get it up to about 315 on a cool day. Thanks for reading


----------



## bbqandsmoke

I've used the green egg felt to seal the doors and also use a water pan on the very lowest rack and that regulates the temp good depending on how much water you put in.


----------



## loaf31

Hi everyone... New here and I was eyeing up the Dyna-Glo but I'm torn between the standard and the wide body.... 

Any thoughts?


----------



## bbqwillie

Loaf31 said:


> Hi everyone... New here and I was eyeing up the Dyna-Glo but I'm torn between the standard and the wide body....
> 
> Any thoughts?


Depends on how many you intend to cook for. If it's just a few then the smaller unit would be appropriate. Throw a lot of parties? Got a big family? Go bigger. Bigger units require more resources (fuel).


----------



## maxkap

My biggest issue with the smaller one is that I can't fit a full brisket in it and I have to trim my racks of ribs to fit them. If this is important to you then I'd go for the wide body. I didn't know the wide one existed when I bought mine, but I thankfully have a smoker that can fit a full brisket as well.


----------



## bbqwillie

maxkap said:


> My biggest issue with the smaller one is that I can't fit a full brisket in it and I have to trim my racks of ribs to fit them. If this is important to you then I'd go for the wide body. I didn't know the wide one existed when I bought mine, but I thankfully have a smoker that can fit a full brisket as well.


How big are your briskets? I can get 8 to 10 lb ones in with no problem. It's just me and the wife so I rarely do anything larger.


----------



## loaf31

I usually just smoke for myself and brother... Nothing too extraordinary. 

I think that I'm going to go with the wide body, bigger is better right? 

My thoughts are, I can always cook under the dimensions, but never over the dimensions


----------



## bbqwillie

Loaf31 said:


> I usually just smoke for myself and brother... Nothing too extraordinary.
> 
> I think that I'm going to go with the wide body, bigger is better right?
> 
> My thoughts are, I can always cook under the dimensions, but never over the dimensions


No one ever complains about having to big a smoker.


----------



## maxkap

The smallest brisket I can find are 12 lbs or so. Are we talking about the full ones or just the flats? I don't see them much smaller for a full brisket.


----------



## bbqwillie

maxkap said:


> The smallest brisket I can find are 12 lbs or so. Are we talking about the full ones or just the flats? I don't see them much smaller for a full brisket.


These are full briskets that I get from a butcher in town. I guess we have small cows up here or we get the culls from Texas. At $6 a pound (on sale) I couldn't afford a big one. Beef is outrageous up here so it's a "once in a blue moon" luxury. Lobsters are cheap though and make a great filling for ABTs. You can parboil them and finish in a smoker with lilac or plum wood. Very interesting taste.


----------



## loaf31

Just pulled the trigger on the Wide Body Dyna Glo Charcoal Offset smoker.....  Can't wait.


----------



## jlb1705

Hi all, I'm new here and new to barbecuing. Thanks to all of the posts and advice in this thread I decided to pull the trigger on a Dyna Glo offset smoker.  I had originally wanted to do a UDS, but I decided that the Dyna Glo would give me a better setup and still satisfy my inclination to tinker with things.  I spent today assembling and making mods - nomex on the doors, RTV in all of the seams.  Tomorrow I season and Monday I smoke.  I can't wait.

I don't have much to add in terms of my impressions of the build quality or assembly that haven't already been said by others in this thread - I just wanted to express gratitude to everybody who contributed here and made it so easy for me to start obsessing over getting this rig up and running.


----------



## workedtheworld

Put a sheet of wax paper over the red high temperature sealer when it is wet.  You can close the door to form a tight seal without the sealer sticking.  After a day or so, peel the wax paper off and you are off to the races.  Good luck.


----------



## keyos

I just assembled mine a week ago and did a dry run/season on Saturday. I used RTV where ever I thought necessary, still waiting for the nomex to come in this Saturday.


----------



## fatedimpala5929

Anyone have a pic of how they are arranging their charcoal and wood?


----------



## keyos

Anyone have trouble with the doors closing properly after puttin on the nomex lavalock?


----------



## chill

I'm having that issue on my firebox.  Once I put the gasket on there door wouldn't shut all the way.  The smoker box closed fine for me.


----------



## keyos

CHill said:


> I'm having that issue on my firebox.  Once I put the gasket on there door wouldn't shut all the way.  The smoker box closed fine for me.


 same here. Smoker box closes fine but the firebox had trouble closing so I just removed it and left alone.


----------



## smokingma

Keyos said:


> Anyone have trouble with the doors closing properly after puttin on the nomex lavalock?


No problem closing the firebox door but the smoke chamber door has me using a lot of push to latch it.  I may have to move the latch forward a little to make closing easier.


----------



## khigh402

I just got mine.... And I am having a heck of a time getting this thing to maintain a temperature. It goes down I add charcoal (I am seasoning so no wood yet) and it spikes up really high like 300 high. I have the chimney get open all the way and the fire box vent closes. Seems like no matter what o do the vents have no effect on temp. Also could I be adding too much charcoal at a time (15 pieces?)


----------



## smokinginpa

I recently got one also, and I am having the same problem with temperature spikes even when the intake damper is fully closed.  I have not sealed mine yet, and I have some leaks, but I assume that would not be causing the temperature to be higher?  Am I correct in thinking this, or could not sealing it be causing temperature spikes?


----------



## vilecanards

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A few modifications I did before using this for the first time.... 1. Painted the firebox with high-heat spray-paint, inside and out. 2. Had casters welded to the feet. 3. Had a local metal fabricator cut a piece of sheet steel that I then bolted through the bodies of both boxes to deflect the heat down towards the bottom, which will hopefully prevent anything on the bottom racks from burning up. and 4. Sealed all the places where heat and smoke are likely to escape... fire-box to smoker-body, any bolt-holes that penetrated either box, and around the chimney bottom.  When I fire it up to season it, I will note where any smoke escapes from the doors and apply nomex strips accordingly. I'll know in the next few days how the mods work out!


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## vilecanards

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__ vilecanards
__ Aug 26, 2016






I finally got a chance to get my smoker dirty! And it tasted great!


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## dwaytkus

Folks,

Need some help.  I just got this smoker and am having temperature issues.  First off during installation I sealed where the firebox attaches to the  smoking chamber with high temp silicone and I sealed all the seams of the firebox.  I also added a gasket to both doors.  

During my initial seasoning and again another time to practice with temps I can't get this sucker down below 400 degrees!  This is with the intake vent fully closed and the exhaust open.  I am using Royal Oak lump charcoal and chunks of hickory.  

I was able to get it to settle at around 250 once I put in a full pan of water on bottom rack and that was also with a quarter of the charcoal left after hours of burning.  

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Dan


----------



## vilecanards

Are you depending ONLY on the temperature gauge that was supplied with the smoker? I have heard that a lot of them are defective at worst, and not totally reliable at best. I was lucky, and the one that came with mine was within 2-3 degrees when inserted in boiling water, but it's a good idea to measure the temperature in another part of the smoker besides the door... all of the heat from the fire box has a direct line to the gauge in the door, unless you have some kind of baffle/deflector installed between the fire box and smoking compartment. Hickory burns VERY hot!  An electronic temperature probe that measures the oven temperature also... besides just the food temperature... is also a good idea, so that you can approximate the average temp. of the box from two different sources/areas.  Your grill may not be running quite as hot as indicated by only the one temp. gauge.... good luck!


----------



## dwaytkus

Knowing how unreliable these temperature gauges are that come with smoker I was monitoring the temps with my Maverick.  I had the smoker probe mid cabinet and 1/4 of the way down from the ceiling.  I was not aware to the fact that hickory burned hotter.  This is my first go around with a charcoal/wood smoker.   I am also using lump charcoal.  But i didn't expect the temps to shoot up as high as they did.


----------



## rootsman

> "After all the mods I ran it and it held 225 for about 4 hours with a full basket."


4  hours at 225 that ain't bad.....Can you describe how you loaded the firebox?  Do you use a variation of the minion method?  Do you put the lit in a corner or on topAbout how many lit to unlit ass


----------



## rootsman

Heat management on this thing is tricky.  I've had ok success doing this in hot weather:
1.   Fill the charcoal box up as full as possible with Kingswood while leaving a donut style hole with no coals in the middle.
2.   Pour 12 lit coals in the middle.
3.  Leave the basket pulled out for about 10 minutes to let the coals catch and then close door.  Leave all vents full open.  Add dry wood chunks to coals.
4.  Let smoke box get to 250 (measured) digitally at same level as as dial thermometer.
5.  Load smoker with meat.
6.  Put pan of hot water on lowest rack flush against right side of cabinet.  
7.  Temp should stabilize and hold in the 225-275 smoke zone for 2-3 hours.
8.  When temp starts to trend downward (about 2+ hours) add 20 unlit coals and then 20 lit coals on top of that.  This will get another 2 hours of stable smoking heat.

Assumes doors have been gasketed and joints/gaps RVT'd

Ribs have been my longest smoke at 5 hours.  Not sure I have the patience for a shoulder on this unit....would be interested in hearing how others manage the heat.


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## rob sicc

My girls gave me one of these for fathers day about 2 years ago.  After modifying it by adding gaskets everywhere, it has been working great since.  I use it once a week through out the week except in winter.  

The biggest flaw in this smoker is that anything on the bottom 3 shelves closes to the fire box tend to burn and the FB gets hot.  The flames comes through.  Has anyone else found this to be true?  If so, has anyone figured out a fix?


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## fricard

Just installed a heat-deflector baffle.
Had a random piece of sheet metal lying on my work bench.

Took the tin-snips to it, drilled some smoke holes too.

Secured it in place with three pop-rivets.













IMG_20161018_101916.jpg



__ fricard
__ Oct 18, 2016


















IMG_20161018_101903.jpg



__ fricard
__ Oct 18, 2016






Can't wait to see if it helps with that pesky hot-spot on the right side of the lowest 2 racks.

--FR


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## rob sicc

fire34 said:


> I did notice a gap between the fire box and smoke box and had thought about sealing that myself. I guess I was so excited to start smoking I didn't even think of modifying it. This weekend looks to be cold here in the mitten but Sunday looks to be my window to smoke it will be a balmy 42 outdoors. Would love to see pictures of your mods.


I ha ve had mine for about 2 1/2 years.  I had the leak between the cooking chamber and the FB also.  I took it apart and put in gaskets.  I also put gaskets on both doors and changed the thermostat. 

The only thing I haven't addressed is putting a damper in the CC where the FB opening is.  I find that I burn anything on the the bottom 3 trays closest to the opening.  If you don't need those trays you should be fine.  I make beef jerky with mine so I need every grate.  I only put jerky on the far half of the bottom 3 trays.  I finally ordered a new vertical smoker for jerky.  Not sure what to do with my Dyno glo. 

One last thing.  I found this site immediately after i bought the smoker.  This site is invaluable.  I like the charcoal box in teh fire box.  I ordered that in my new smoker.  It's easy to set up a fire with charcoal and put chunks of wood throughout it so the smoke from the wood is ongoing.  

Good luck with it and reach out with any questions.


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## rob sicc

fricard said:


> Just installed a heat-deflector baffle.
> Had a random piece of sheet metal lying on my work bench.
> 
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The only thing I would mention is any other deflectors that I've seen were on a angle downward.  Don't know if that will make a difference.  How did it work for you?


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## blamac

Hello I'm new to this forum. I am new at smoking and to get started with smoking I bought a 1890 dyna glo off set vertical smoker. I just assembled it yesterday. I am wondering what you think of seasoning your smokers and if you agree with season which is the best way of doing it?


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## fricard

Rob Sicc said:


> The only thing I would mention is any other deflectors that I've seen were on a angle downward.  Don't know if that will make a difference.  How did it work for you?


It's looking like I won't get a chance to see until this weekend, Rob.
It does have an _ever-so-slight_  slope to it already, just enough to let drippings run off the edge, but it's pretty easy to bend it down a little bit more, if needed.
I've seen some pretty big offset barrel smokers that have one running horizontally under the grate, so that was my inspiration.  

I have no problem increasing the angle if the bottom rack is still hot.

Thanks for asking.

--FR


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## rob sicc

fricard said:


> It's looking like I won't get a chance to see until this weekend, Rob.
> It does have an _ever-so-slight_  slope to it already, just enough to let drippings run off the edge, but it's pretty easy to bend it down a little bit more, if needed.
> I've seen some pretty big offset barrel smokers that have one running horizontally under the grate, so that was my inspiration.
> 
> I have no problem increasing the angle if the bottom rack is still hot.
> 
> Thanks for asking.
> 
> --FR


LEt us know how it goes this weekend.  Best of luck to you.


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## fricard

Rob Sicc said:


> LEt us know how it goes this weekend.  Best of luck to you.


Ah, I forgot to report back.  My heat deflector baffle worked like a champ.

:-)


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## rob sicc

fricard said:


> Ah, I forgot to report back.  My heat deflector baffle worked like a champ.
> 
> :-)


Awesome.  I am going to need to find someone that can weld one in for me.  I ordered a new larger smoker but it would be nice to keep this for smaller projects.  It's a great unit except for that one issue.


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## rootsman

A 13x9 baking pan half filled with boiling water placed on the bottom rack works well if you can forgo the rack space.












IMG_20161106_1217462_rewind.jpg



__ rootsman
__ Nov 6, 2016


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## fricard

My next mod was to put on wheels! 













IMG_20161104_225124.jpg



__ fricard
__ Nov 6, 2016


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## deatony

I had did some major mods to mine.













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__ deatony
__ May 25, 2016


















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__ May 25, 2016


















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__ May 25, 2016


















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__ May 25, 2016


















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__ May 25, 2016


















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__ May 27, 2016


















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__ May 27, 2016


















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__ deatony
__ May 27, 2016


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## madjax1720

Just got mine on Tuesday assembled Tuesday night (about 2 hours with rtv) sealed firebox to smoking chamber and every screw hole also made a gasket with the rtv and wax paper. Fired up and seasoned Friday night and when I got up on Saturday morning and inspected I could see the heat trail in the racks( where the hot spots were) Saturday night threw on 15 chicken drummies to see how it ran and held smoke. Worked great but I did pull the bottom rack out and put a water tray in to help divert some of the het also a old cookie sheet we had and angled that on the bottom to divert a lil more. Worked great temp held awesome between 215-240 for the 2.5 hrs only opened box to add wood. I'll add some pics tomorrow of the mods and unboxing


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## phil the thrill

smoker new.jpg



__ phil the thrill
__ Feb 20, 2017






Just got this unit. Did a lot of research before buying. I am a charcoal guy and my research lead me to this smoker, mostly because thought it was very great unit for the money. I had been looking for a vertical offset smoker for while. I am replacing a Brinkman straight  Vertical Smoker

Assembly was about 1.5 hours by my self. Despite instructions telling me I needed assistance to attach the firebox to the chamber I was able to do it with both pieces lying flat the back.. I put Nomex gasket between firebox and chamber to prevent leaks. When I fired it up there are leaks between firebox and chamber! I was expecting at least few small leaks!

Seasoning 

I liberally coated all areas of inside of chamber with Pam olive oil. Started fire with chamber completely empty (not even a water pan). Ran for 2 hours, Flue and vents wide open, opened chamber and all surfaces were coated with blackish liquid. Closed door and the fire off and was completely cooled off..Temps ran around 325-375.

Maiden Voyage

I didn't do ant mods yet and ran straight out of box. I then put 5 chicken breasts on, one on each shelf and stagger in position by either left or right side of chamber. The purpose for this alignment is two fold. First, I wanted check how evenly the smoker cooked. Secondly, I didn't want load it with alot of meat until I was sure I had at least reasonably learned to control temp. Simply didn't want to have a whole smoker full of meat either under cooked or completely burnt to a crisp. 

Fired it up with a mixture of Kingsford and lump charcoal, the coal holder was a little over halfway full. Put on Western hickory chunks that had been soaked for about an hour. Once smoker got into cooking range (at least according to the built in thermometer) and played with the Flue and vents to try to keep at 210. After 1.5 hours I opened the chamber. I noticed that chix breast on the left side of the were fairly charred. This told me too much heat was coming up the left side of the chamber, side opposite of firebox. During my research, I saw several posts where people put a  baffling device across the bottom of chamber to solve this issue. More on my solution to this issue during my 2nd smoke later on.

Moved all the breast to right side of chamber directly above the water pan on bottom rack. Let cook for another 45 mins and pulled them off. Aside from the initial charring, there was little addition charring This told me that above the water pan, heat was ideal for cooking. So yes appears without any mods, the smoker does not heat evenly, which was mentioned several times throughout my research. See my next to see how I solved this problem

Until then my friends

Happy Smoking!


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## ckrull

Wife got me this smoker for Valentine's Day started assembling it Sunday. We did a few mods, RTV'd the smoke box firebox connection, handles, chiminey, and anything that mounts to the smoker (probably overkill but wanted to play it safe). I added casters to the legs, so I can move it around for clean up. I plan on doing my seasoning run this week after I get the nomex installed and finish it the assembly. My question is do we need to coat the inside with Pam for the seasoning run? I thought the first run is to remove any of the oils that may have been left on the metal surfaces during manufacturing?

Here are some pictures of my progress.

Casters that were added, bought them at Home Depot for $6 each, originally planned on using some 4in casters. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a nut that would fit the thread.













20170220_192003.jpg



__ ckrull
__ Feb 21, 2017






Shots of the RTV job my wife did, she was quite proud of her work.













20170220_191951.jpg



__ ckrull
__ Feb 21, 2017






My clean up job of some of the extra RTV on the temp probe.













20170220_191944.jpg



__ ckrull
__ Feb 21, 2017






Almost complete.













20170220_191936.jpg



__ ckrull
__ Feb 21, 2017


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## mstphrchrstphr

Hey, 

brand new to the forum (found it while searching about this smoker) but just read through all the posts on this topic.

Thanks for all the great info and pictures of your mods.

Just ordered one of these off amazon so now looking to get the materials to mod.  When ordering the RTV did you guys order the 4500 or 6500, is there one that's better for high heat (like the fire box)?

Will make sure to post picture of the smoker and mods when it arrives.


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## ckrull

We ordered the 

Silicone RTV 6500 FDA Grade High Temperature Silicone Sealant


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## ckrull

Anyone heard of the BBQ Guru devices? I am wondering how they would install on this smoker. Was looking at this one https://www.bbqguru.com/storenav/gurucookerguide?DeviceModelId=202&kitId=16


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## wilsteiger

I searched this thread and Googled like mad, but I cannot find any reference to someone using the Dyna-Glo vertical offset (wide or standard) to smoke a turkey.  I like smoking an 18-22 lbs turkey every year for Thanksgiving and I'd like to know if either the standard or wide smoker would allow one to fit (obviously having to remove some of the racks).

If anyone who owns one could let me know their thoughts and let me know which model you have (wide or standard?) I would appreciate it very much!

Wilson

- Just moved back to the US, left my WSM 21" in Japan


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## wimpy69

Regardless of the model, racks are only 14" deep. You'll have to gauge your bird to leave airspace around for even cooking. Why not cook two smaller birds that fit  confortabley in smoker.
1176-rack-14"dx14"w
1890-rack-14"dx22.5"w


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## wilsteiger

Thank you for the response, Your point is interesting, the Lowe's website states the unit is 21" deep, I can understand a 1" delta front and back (2" total), but seven inches difference?


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## wimpy69

There is a 1"space from rack to body. 21" is od from outside leg to outside leg.


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## gvbyus

Does anyone have any pics or descriptions of how they have filtered ash from the FB to the CC? Does a deflector or baffle help keep this down? Much appreciated!

Also, the new wide body comes with a great gasket and latches for the CC door, a much needed improvement!


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## mikethehammer

so what charcoal do you guys use, was looking at kingsford Professional. anyone use that?


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## rob sicc

mikethehammer said:


> so what charcoal do you guys use, was looking at kingsford Professional. anyone use that?


I have been using Royal Oak Natural Wood Lump Charcoal.  I get them at Home Depot.

I think I learned about it on this forum. Either way, mo complaints.  I also buy the wood chunks from Home Depot.  They have a reasonable selection of wood species.  

I've used both in this smoker for 2 years.


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## mikethehammer

And it holds the heat? I'm not questioning u I'm new to this. In fact my smoker just got delivered and hour ago. I'm a newbie and just wanna learn as fast as I can. Thanks for the reply and your help.


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## rob sicc

mikethehammer said:


> so what charcoal do you guys use, was looking at kingsford Professional. anyone use that?


Royal Oak Natural Wood Lump Charcoal   from home depot


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## mikethehammer

What did u use to insulate it? 





Deatony said:


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## mikethehammer

I was wondering the same thing. What do u guys think of just using sheet metal to wrap the smoker? That's what I'm looking to do mayb



mikethehammer said:


> What did u use to insulate it?


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## randomsteve

I want to thank everyone for their input on this smoker. I had many concerns and questions and I was able to get most of them answered by this form. I put together a couple videos on mine to help. Please note I am a novice / amature smoker and super excited to really expand my smoking abilities.







Enjoy


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## lakesidesmokers

gvbyus said:


> Does anyone have any pics or descriptions of how they have filtered ash from the FB to the CC? Does a deflector or baffle help keep this down? Much appreciated!
> 
> Also, the new wide body comes with a great gasket and latches for the CC door, a much needed improvement!


Anybody have info on this yet? Modding our smoker this weekend.


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## deatony

I used 1200 degree firewall insulation from summit auto racing, used some sharp sheet metal shears to cut. Comes a roll 5 x20 measure each side and used the spray on adhesive and sprayed with the black high heat paint.


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## mikethehammer

Just a quick update on my smoker. A little over 2 hours putting together with my little helper and putting on new gaskets high temp sealant and adding 2 new gauges. More mods to come when I get time.


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## mikethehammer

Shoot now I don't know why it won't let me post pictures


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## mikethehammer

20170325_145427.jpg



__ mikethehammer
__ Mar 25, 2017


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## mikethehammer

20170325_145508.jpg



__ mikethehammer
__ Mar 25, 2017


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## rob sicc

mikethehammer said:


> 20170325_145427.jpg
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> __ mikethehammer
> __ Mar 25, 2017


I saw this and was thinking about it.  How is it?  Does if have a baffler of some kind where the firebox connects to the CC  inside the CC?


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## mikethehammer

There is no baffle but I'm am going to add one. Got a piece of sheet metal from work but home depot has them also and ordered ceramic grill bricks from Amazon. I'm hoping 2m I can do the baffle and fire it up. I'm still didn't get the time.





Rob Sicc said:


> I saw this and was thinking about it.  How is it?  Does if have a baffler of some kind where the firebox connects to the CC  inside the CC?


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## mikethehammer

Ok here are pics with no baffle and with baffle added.














20170403_171110.jpg



__ mikethehammer
__ Apr 3, 2017


















20170403_171135.jpg



__ mikethehammer
__ Apr 3, 2017


















20170403_171202.jpg



__ mikethehammer
__ Apr 3, 2017






and these will be placed on lowest rack












20170403_171224.jpg



__ mikethehammer
__ Apr 3, 2017









Rob Sicc said:


> I saw this and was thinking about it.  How is it?  Does if have a baffler of some kind where the firebox connects to the CC  inside the CC?





Rob Sicc said:


> I saw this and was thinking about it.  How is it?  Does if have a baffler of some kind where the firebox connects to the CC  inside the CC?


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## quinngarcia

First off I would like to thank every one here on this thread.  I am a certifiable Newbie in the realm of smoking meats.  I can grill properly with a propane grill or regular charcoal but this is something else completely.  I will share my thoughts and impressions, like everyone else, on this smoker. 

I wanted to initially get the smoker that came combo with a propane grill, but they are not cheap items and after paying taxes, well you know.  So this was priced within budget from Amazon.  A pity they lowered the price after I bought it but whatever.  I did my research on sites like this and purchased the FDA class High Temp Silicon (Sil Bond), additional 3 inch thermometer, and Lavalock self adhesive gasket 15 ft at the same time on Amazon.  Like in previous posts I applied the gaskets to the doors to prevent leakage, the silicon on all potential gaps and folds, and drilled a hole slightly smaller than the thermometer clearance to have a tighter threading (applied the silicon to back of thermometer as well).  I want to put wheels but that's a project for another day.  Now for the seasoning.

Seasoning:   

I initially applied a Minion method but I don't think I did it correctly.  I soaked the wood as so many sites/YouTube vids say, and included a water pan at the very bottom. I put wood on top and within layers of the surrounding coal.  About 6 pieces the size of baseballs and smaller. I experienced temperatures as high as 380 before it started to cool.  I adjusted the Firebox vents and smokestack vent but it was very slow to lower.  For example: 1140 AM it was 380 degrees F.  208 PM it was 283 degrees.  So you can see it's a wild ride.  I'm trying to get to 250 for a 12 hour brisket recipe (Franklins BBQ).  That was an epic fail. 

I found the reply above (Thank you, Rootsman)  that clarified what I was doing wrong with Minion method.  Circle of coals with doughnut center of nothing.  Light 12 coals.  Once they are all grey, put it in middle of firebox in the center of coal doughnut.  Wait 10 minutes and close box with all vents open.  Put wood on the coals and let the smoking begin. Let it get to 250 or desired temp.  Here's what I think regulated the temp:  Put a water pan on lowest rack flush to right side (Firebox side).  I had mine at the very bottom and it really failed to lower temp to where I needed.  Now I am ready for Easter.  

First Mission:

I will update as the week goes by.  













20170410_145958.jpg



__ quinngarcia
__ Apr 10, 2017


















20170410_150005.jpg



__ quinngarcia
__ Apr 10, 2017


















20170410_154739.jpg



__ quinngarcia
__ Apr 10, 2017


















20170410_155019.jpg



__ quinngarcia
__ Apr 10, 2017


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## rob sicc

I've been using this smoker for 3 years now.  IT was such a great starter smoker.  Everything I learned regarding how to use it I learned here.  With that said, I have 1 great and very simple piece of advice for you.  I saw how you layered the charcoal in the fire box.  Here is my suggestion if you want to get some wood flavor into your cook.  simply put a few chunks of wood under the charcoal.  As the coals burn down they will burn the wood without creating a fire which is the biggest issue I've had with this smoker.  If fire occurs flames will flow through and burn what ever is on the bottom 3 shelves closest to the FB.  I get wood chunks at Home Depot.  They have a descent selection and they always have something.

Just a friendly piece of advice that I was given here a ways back.  Good luck and let me know if you try it and how it turns out.


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## mikethehammer

20170506_141601.jpg



__ mikethehammer
__ May 6, 2017





Just got the lavalock minion basket, fits perfect.


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## quinngarcia

Looks cool. Let us know how it works out


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## moloch16

mikethehammer said:


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> __ May 6, 2017
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## mikethehammer

moloch16 said:


>


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## ahakohda

Hi everyone 
Thank you all for 10 pages of useful info. 
I use Webber 18" smoker for 7 years now and getting an itch to buy a brand new smoker. 
 I am trying to decide if I should go with 22" Webber for $400 or to get a wide model of dyna Glo. 
 Only thing that stops me right now is a price tag of Webber and smoking time on single load with Dyna.

Is it really only 2-3 hours of smoking on a single basket load with Dyna smoker?


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## moloch16

You can go two hours easy, I've gone three but it's more challenging because you have to load the basket up which reduces airflow through the coals so the beginning of the cook temps might be on the cool side but it will go for three hours plus.

What I usually do is light a full chimney worth of lump charcoal.  Once lit I dump that lit chimney on top of a single layer of unlit coals in the basket.  That will go two hours easy.  At about two hours (give or take) I will add more unlit charcoal to the basket which will light itself.

I use to use brickets but they are harder to light off the already lit coals, and more importantly brickets give off an odor until they are lit fully, lump doesn't have that problem.


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## ahakohda

This alone is a deal breaker :(
I guess I'll go with Webber. Pay once cry once.


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## moloch16

Yes this is definitely not a smoker you can light and walk away for 8 hours like you can a weber.


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## cromans

Buying this smoker next week and I'm planning on doing the mods. I have a question though. If I use a water pan on the bottom grate, will I still need to install a baffle?


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## cmcvay

Got the smoker together with all the mods listed. Quite a fun project actually. Did my seasoning this morning and was pretty impressed that I maintained my temp between 235 amd 260 and thin blue smoke for 2 hours and 45 minutes. Main temp more between 240 amd 250. 

Used Kingsford Pro unlit ramp method in the FB with about a 3/4 lit chimney. Added hickory chunks initially and about an hour in. Then added 1 good size chunk of Apple for the last hour or so. Regulated temp with intake between 3/4 closed and nearly closed. Never opened the smoke chamber til the 2 and half hour mark. Had it open for about 10 minutes. Closed it back up. Opened the intake and temp shot back up to 220 within 10 minutes. 

A few small leaks bit no major concerns. Overall I am impressed and happy I made the decision to go this route for my first smoking experience. Smoking is like being an artist. It's all about attention to detail. 

I'm glad I found SMF. I'll post after my first official cook, hopefully in the next couple of days.

Happy Memorial Day. 

All gave some, but some gave All!













20170527_115443.jpg



__ cmcvay
__ May 27, 2017


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## mikethehammer

AHAKOHDA said:


> This alone is a deal breaker :(
> I guess I'll go with Webber. Pay once cry once.



I'm going on 3 hours now 1st hour CC warm-up and temp still holding at 240°, so far so good, doing Jeff's double smoked spiral cut ham, as I need to use now


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## mikethehammer

20170527_172753.jpg



__ mikethehammer
__ May 27, 2017


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## cmcvay

4 slabs of ribs, 2 1/2 hours in, temp is good, smoke is good. Gonna let em go 30 more minutes then double wrap! Will post the finished product on my maiden voyage!












14960749574822014246417.jpg



__ cmcvay
__ May 29, 2017


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## simsfmly

This is about to be my third smoker.  Started with a little, bullet smoker that lasted a few seasons and really set the hook on smoking.  We winter in Texas, got a golf cart and had to get a storage unit, perfect reason to get a big offset smoker that we store there in the summer.  Needed a smoker for our summer in Ohio and this Dyna Glo is going to be the ticket.  Getting it from Amazon on Thursday and can't wait.

Thanks as always to the good folks on this wonderful forum for all the information on, not only this smoker, but all the aspects of smoking.


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## cmcvay

Here's my first official smoke. Baby backs and 1 St Louis slab! Did the 3-2-.50 method, with Applewood chunks and Kingsford Pro Briquettes. Think I'm going to do 2-2-1 next time. Overall I'm pleased with my first smoke. Family loved it. 













20170529_153651.jpg



__ cmcvay
__ May 29, 2017


















20170529_154129.jpg



__ cmcvay
__ May 29, 2017


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## wimpy69

Looks great, nice and evenly colored, did you have to turn them or move them around in smoker. Same ramp method? What was your refuel time if any.


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## cmcvay

Thanks, I was really impressed with the color and taste. Having leftovers tonight! :)

Ramp of unlit coals in the basket, 3/4 lit chimney. I staggered the ribs bone side down, one on each rack, smoking for 3 hours. At the 2&3/4 hour mark I lit a 3/4 chimney and got it white hot for refueling! Tightly wrapped the ribs at the 3 hour mark in double foil and placed them back on the racks meat side down for another 2 hours.Refueled with the 3/4 lit chimney and a couple of Applewood chunks. After 2 hours wrapped meat side down I removed the foil and placed them back on the racks bone side down for about another 30 minutes. 

The next time I cook ribs I may try 2 and half hours bone side down, 2 and a half tightly wrapped meat side down and then just about 20 minutes loose wrapped rest time.


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## wimpy69

Thanks


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## simsfmly

2017-05-31_18-36-48_063.jpeg



__ simsfmly
__ Jun 1, 2017






Smoker came yesterday, a day early.  Just perfect.  

I will say, the smoker box sounded like something was loose, and indeed, the nuts and bolts holding on the air vent had come undone and one of them fell out when I opened it.













2017-05-31_18-41-44_593.jpeg



__ simsfmly
__ Jun 1, 2017






15 minutes?  Um, no. It took me more time to find the bolt that fell out.  With all the mods that I did and taking the requisite beer breaks required during any construction like this, it took me about an hour and a half.













2017-06-01_09-15-02_966.jpeg



__ simsfmly
__ Jun 1, 2017


















2017-06-01_09-15-28_840.jpeg



__ simsfmly
__ Jun 1, 2017






Put the lava lock around the fire box and the smoke box.  Sealed tightly, but the smoker box wouldn't shut real well.  I took off the spring clip, and the handle fit.  I'd rather have a tight door and a sloppy handle than the other way around.













2017-06-01_09-15-42_881.jpeg



__ simsfmly
__ Jun 1, 2017


















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__ simsfmly
__ Jun 1, 2017






I used the Permatex red high temp gasket goo everywhere.













2017-06-01_09-16-06_027.jpeg



__ simsfmly
__ Jun 1, 2017






I added a piece of stainless that I picked up at Lowe's for a baffle.  18" piece was perfect.













2017-06-01_09-10-15_084.jpeg



__ simsfmly
__ Jun 1, 2017






I also spent a couple of other bucks for the cover.

Let things set overnight to cure.  This morning, I sprayed the entire inside with Pam Grilling spray.  I lit a box of charcoal using the minion method, with no wood, to run it dry.

Temperature raced up as others had.  I put in a 12 ⅝" x 10 ¼" foil oval baker filled with water after an hour, and she came right down to a good 225-250 degrees.

Found a couple of places that need fixed.  Where the handle goes into the smoker box, that whole thing leaked so I'm going to put the Permatex on the inside of it.  The back right corner of the fire box inexplicably leaked, so I'm going to take a look at that.

With no wood, only briquettes, she held the temperature for about 2 hours and 30 minutes.













IMG_4932.JPG



__ simsfmly
__ Jun 1, 2017






Wasn't happy that the lava lock came off the of the firebox when I opened it to check on the charcoal.  That will take a little bit of a redo and rethink.

Can't smoke anything today or tomorrow, looking forward to smoking a couple of hams on Saturday and something for the family on Sunday.

Thanks again to all who have posted on this thread.


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## simsfmly

IMG_0336C7BA95D9-1.jpeg



__ simsfmly
__ Jun 3, 2017






Freezer had no lunch meat, semi boneless hams were on sale, I had a new smoker.  First test with food underway.

I am finding that as I seal more leaks, I find more that are created.  As I noted earlier, there was a separation in the back part of the fire box that I sealed.  Today, I'm finding that same place in the smoke box (at the top, opposite of the fire box) is leaking and needs sealed.

Holding temperature really well.  Started with a small pecan log under the charcoal, then filling the basket with Kingsford briquettes.  Took the center briquettes out, put them in the smoker (less than half full) and lit it.  Once they were fully involved, I dumped them back into the basket.  Finding the sweet spot is about a ¼ of the air vent open and the chimney on the next to the top damper gets me right at 250 degrees.

Still have the oval baker filled with water on the bottom shelf.  For the hams, I use a glaze of brown sugar, a hint of Fireball Whiskey, garlic powder and mix in pineapple soda to make it a slushy consistency.  Put them in pans and added to the bottom two shelves that they would fit on.

Smoker never really got much over 275.  I'm a pretty firm believer Kingsford charcoal is only good for about two hours.  Had some pecan logs that I brought back from Texas.  Alas, they were too big for the basket, so I had to cut them.

On for three hours no, and IT in the hams is about 120 (heading towards 140).  Will post some pics of the finished product.

So far, really ecstatic about this smoker.


----------



## wimpy69

The first thing I did after mine arrived(before assembly) was put a bright light in the fire box turned the room lights off and found all my leaks. Mainly where the top is welded to the sides. Between welds at least .003-5 gap down one side and spotty on the others. Also with the air inlet plate closed alot of light around rolled punches on plate. I laminated a plate onto factory inlet plate with slightly smaller ovals to get 100% closer. In the cook chamber some open gaps where top is mated to body. Light will show you every gap when it shines thru. Hope it helps.


----------



## jenos86

Hey Mike,

How did you find the baffle worked for your smoker? Are you getting more even temps top to bottom?

Jon


mikethehammer said:


> Ok here are pics with no baffle and with baffle added.
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> __ Apr 3, 2017


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## grillnchill12

Hi all. I am purchasing my husband a dyna-glo for Father's day and am hoping to get some feedback on what all I need to get in addition to the smoker. I want to make sure I get everything for the mods as well as a gift set to have ready when the mods are complete and he can start smoking. 
Here is what I have for the mods:
15ft 1/2" x 1/4" nomex high temp bbq gasket smoker pit seal
4 pack 3" casters with locks
2 pack 3" grill and smoker thermometer
2 cans black 2000 degree high heat spray paint
2 tubes 3oz high temp red rtv silicon gasket
1 sheet 1' x 2' steel for a baffle
Nonstick cooking spray
Saran wrap

Then the gift set:
Kingsford charcoal- please suggest specific
Wood- please suggest specific
High heat gloves
Rub- please suggest specific

I am so glad I found this forum and will give him the site as soon as he gets his gifts. But I want to make sure he is set up when I give it to him. Any and all suggestions and feedback are greatly appreciated.


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## wimpy69

Don't forget a chimney starter. A 18" roll of heavy duty foil can be used for a heap of stuff. Lucky guy. Enjoy


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## mikethehammer

I bought these gloves on Amazon and worked great, took my lavalock basket out and refilled and never felt any heat, as for wood it varies but oak,hickory,Apple,cherry,peach,pecan, hope this helps


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## mikethehammer

Opps forgot to put in the pic of the gloves I got













20170608_235928.png



__ mikethehammer
__ Jun 8, 2017


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## mikethehammer

I got 240° to 250° on top off CD and 225° to 230° on lower racks for around 4 hours.



jenos86 said:


> Hey Mike,
> 
> How did you find the baffle worked for your smoker? Are you getting more even temps top to bottom?
> 
> Jon


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## grillnchill12

Thank you all for the help!!


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## cromans

Thanks to everybody on this I got my smoker on Tues and finally had a chance to put it together today. I put nomex tape on both doors and used rtv on the fire box, both handles and the smoke stack


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## orgtizz

mikethehammer said:


> I got 240° to 250° on top off CD and 225° to 230° on lower racks for around 4 hours.



Mike, can you tell me the dimensions you used for the baffle plate?


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## shipwama

Hey guys and Gals, dont want to hijack this, but i was reading this for a while, and i purchased, but i wanted to let everyone know that walmart has this right now at 141.00 plus another 5 off for pickup at store..













Capture.PNG



__ shipwama
__ Jun 20, 2017


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## orgtizz

So has anyone used the 1/2" lavalock oppose to the 1"?  If so did you double up on it?


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## smokin lou530

My wife bought me this smoker for Fathers day. I fired her up for the first time right out of the box with no mods, and sure enough, she burned hot and gulped too much air. Of course, I couldn't resist using it anyways and controlled my temps by the amount of fuel I used. The first rack of ribs came out Great!













19225769_10212147590700223_1568347011354470253_n.j



__ smokin lou530
__ Jun 21, 2017






I have the Sili-Bond RTV 6500 on the way, along with a few more cans of paint to finish off my mods. My son talked me into painting Darth Vader on the door :) Hope to share more pics once I'm finished with the build.













Dynaglo.jpg



__ smokin lou530
__ Jun 21, 2017


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## simsfmly

You can follow me by clicking here  today as I'm using my Dyna Glo to smoke up a London Broil for Roast Beef.


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## shipwama

I did a sirloin tip roast today as my first cook( after a seasoning run) first ever attempt at smoking. I cooked to 60c or 140f as it was lean .. I just finished a shaved roast beef sandwich which was incredible. Thanks everyone for passing around the knowledge. Going to try ribs tomorrow.

I only added sealant between fire box and around thermometer and chimney vent. Waiting on tape for doors to help seal and allow for better control of temp. 

Thanks again everyone


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## smokin lou530

Congrats on a successful first cook! My silicone should be here Monday. I can't decide if I want to try using it on the doors with the wax paper or go for the nomex.


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## shipwama

1498338173958510119007.jpg



__ shipwama
__ Jun 24, 2017





Sorry if I missed in the pages previous. 
What does everyone think about this to seal the door and secondly what do you think of I cut it narrower length wise as then I wouldn't need a 2nd package?

Thanks everyone


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## shipwama

This thing is simply amazing. 2nd day of use. Today I did some Pork back ribs using a 2-2-1 method and they were incredible. After the first 2 hours of ribs I threw in a Whole chicken which I brined for 3 hours. Then I butterflied  it. And it was finished around the same time as as the ribs. Very tender not dry. Will be meal prep for work lunches this week.. YUM













20170625_120051.jpg



__ shipwama
__ Jun 25, 2017


















20170625_130338.jpg



__ shipwama
__ Jun 25, 2017


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## smokin lou530

Does anyone have any suggestions for modifications to the dampener on the firebox? Mine fits real loose and I have the nuts tighten down all the way.


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## wimpy69

You can go with a longer bolt with some springs to add tension to the damper plate. There are some pictures of this mod with other damper plates just go the search bar. Here's an example












Screenshot_2016-09-09-18-18-03-1.png



__ wimpy69
__ Jun 27, 2017


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## mikethehammer

Mine was to, but when mine is fired up and the metal expands it's a good fit. 



wimpy69 said:


> You can go with a longer bolt with some springs to add tension to the damper plate. There are some pictures of this mod with other damper plates just go the search bar. Here's an example
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> __ Jun 27, 2017


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## simsfmly

Smokin Lou530 said:


> Does anyone have any suggestions for modifications to the dampener on the firebox? Mine fits real loose and I have the nuts tighten down all the way.


I was worried about mine being to loose, but actually on the first cook it expanded to where I had to lube it a little to get it to move at all.  Actually bent back the thumb thing when I was trying to move it.


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## rootsman

How'd the lavaloc basket workout?  Worthwhile?


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## smokin lou530

It was easy to apply, I cleaned the surface really good with some hot soapy water and let it dry. Laid down a thick bead all around the firebox and screwed it back in place. I also added a bead around the outside. I haven't tried it yet, the cure time was 24hrs. I light a fire in it tonight and see how it goes!


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## smokin lou530

Here's how she's coming along so far. I got another coat of paint on it, and the lavalock.












IMG_0199.JPG



__ smokin lou530
__ Jun 27, 2017


















IMG_0200.JPG



__ smokin lou530
__ Jun 27, 2017


















IMG_0202.JPG



__ smokin lou530
__ Jun 27, 2017






Getting ready for my first fire with the ceiling place to cure everything. I'll put a water pan and it just like I would if I was doing a cook but no food.


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## smokin lou530

simsfmly said:


> I was worried about mine being to loose, but actually on the first cook it expanded to where I had to lube it a little to get it to move at all.  Actually bent back the thumb thing when I was trying to move it.


 Now that I added the lava lock to the firebox want to gets hot the air vents actually seal up nice. They did not do this until I sealed the box. I've been burning a chimney and a half of charcoal at 2:25 to 250 for an hour and a half now. Now I just need to nomex the doors.


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## mikethehammer

Rootsman said:


> How'd the lavaloc basket workout?  Worthwhile?


i had steady temp threw the whole burn on the basket, so i think it was good


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## papasmoker

I picked up my Dyna-Glo last week and I have it all set up with a lot of the mods I found in his post. Thank you all so much for putting the time in and being so detailed. This is my first real smoker I have always used my Webber Kettle before this. I have just a coulle of questions. 

1) I'm using this gen minion method with wood chuncks covered in lump coal around the edges and then putting about 1/2 of a chimney full of ready coals in the center. How long do you let it sit before adding your meat? 

2) What brand of lump do you guys recommend? I have kingsford blue that I use to get things started but I like to use big lump coal however I live in a small town and can only buy Royal Oak which I haven't had much success with. 

3) How much time do you plan to add when smoking a second or third product? For example if I want to smoke a 10 lbs brisket I would plan for 11-12 hours of cook time but what if I want to cook two 5lbs briskests? It's got to affect the heat in some way just not sure how to plan it out so my start time meshes up with dinner. 

Thank you all!


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## papasmoker

I picked up my Dyna-Glo last week and I have it all set up with a lot of the mods I found in his post. Thank you all so much for putting the time in and being so detailed. This is my first real smoker I have always used my Webber Kettle before this. I have just a coulle of questions. 

1) I'm using this gen minion method with wood chuncks covered in lump coal around the edges and then putting about 1/2 of a chimney full of ready coals in the center. How long do you let it sit before adding your meat? 

2) What brand of lump do you guys recommend? I have kingsford blue that I use to get things started but I like to use big lump coal however I live in a small town and can only buy Royal Oak which I haven't had much success with. 

3) How much time do you plan to add when smoking a second or third product? For example if I want to smoke a 10 lbs brisket I would plan for 11-12 hours of cook time but what if I want to cook two 5lbs briskests? It's got to affect the heat in some way just not sure how to plan it out so my start time meshes up with dinner. 

Thank you all!


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## smokin lou530

Congrats on the new purchase! I have had mine since Father's Day, I'm still getting used to it but I'll share what I have discovered so far.


PapaSmoker said:


> 1) I'm using this gen minion method with wood chuncks covered in lump coal around the edges and then putting about 1/2 of a chimney full of ready coals in the center. How long do you let it sit before adding your meat?


I leave my vents and fire door open until the ignition smoke dies down (10 minutes or so) then I'll add a few larger wood chunks to get things rolling.
As far charcoal my favorite so far is the royal oak briquettes. When I use lump I found s brand called cowboy, seems to work well for me!
As for #3, I'm not sure! Curious to learn about that as well!


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## killswitch

Just did my first test burn/seasoning on my Dyna-Glo today. The lump charcoal seems to burn very hot and I think I got too much of the basket going too early. It got up to 300 very quick and with the damper completely closed and the chimney choked it took a while to get down to 275. With it well sealed, Lavalock gasket on the doors it hardly leaked at all. I am thinking of making a minion like separator to split the basket down the center so one side burns and then the other side. Lower temps and longer burn time. I added a baffle that comes half way across the main cabinet and temps seemed pretty consistent top to bottom and side to side. I would imagine that a big piece of meat would suck up a lot of heat though. Planning on a brisket and 3 racks of ribs for the 4th.


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## smokin lou530

How did you use the lava lock on the doors? My firebox door is pretty even, but my cook chamber door has an even gaps not sure how to go about sealing that.


----------



## killswitch

The fire box was easy. I put it on the door side to keep the adhesive as far away from the fire as possible. Cleaned it with 409 and alcohol and stuck it on. The main door is more difficult because the gap is a bit thinner on the hindge side than the handle side. I applied it the same way but when I closed the door there were gaps at the top and bottom corners of the right side of the door. I used a drill with a round sanding head and thinned the lavalock gasket a bit on the hindge side. That helped a little and it closed better but didn't get rid of the gaps. I bought two 2 & 3/4 draw hasps and added them to the top and bottom of the door to close it up tight. Hard to see the one on the bottom of the door.













20170702_143309.jpg



__ killswitch
__ Jul 3, 2017


















20170702_143304.jpg



__ killswitch
__ Jul 3, 2017


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## killswitch

Close ups of the draw hasps.













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__ killswitch
__ Jul 3, 2017


















20170702_225035.jpg



__ killswitch
__ Jul 3, 2017


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## killswitch

Welded up my own minion style basket separator. Hoping it will lower the temps a bit and extend the burn time.













20170703_105044.jpg



__ killswitch
__ Jul 3, 2017


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## orgtizz

Killswitch said:


> Welded up my own minion style basket separator. Hoping it will lower the temps a bit and extend the burn time.
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> __ Jul 3, 2017



Honestly I found it is all in the baffle and the actual fuel I put in. The inside baffle works wonders.


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## simsfmly

I used a piece of steel from Lowe's slanted on a downward angle, and, along with the water pan, has done wonders.













Wwbb8S2YD7jG8zlV7wi0jltA99-lYj-Kas35ALBhARgpX92IB.



__ simsfmly
__ Jul 5, 2017


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## killswitch

I made an internal baffle as well. It ends in the center of the box in the hopes it would center the hot air going vertical. I would not use lump charcoal again. Briquets consistent size and cooler burn would be better. The fire box divider did a great job extending the length if time I got on a full basket. I went over 4 hours before I had to reload. In the second shot I was adding 2 more chunks of wood but you can see the right side is almost all burned and the fire has just turned the corner and started the left side.












20170702_115844.jpg



__ killswitch
__ Jul 5, 2017


















20170704_120030.jpg



__ killswitch
__ Jul 5, 2017


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## rob sicc

simsfmly said:


> I used a piece of steel from Lowe's slanted on a downward angle, and, along with the water pan, has done wonders.
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> __ simsfmly
> __ Jul 5, 2017


WOW.  That's makes so much sense.  I don't weld and never knew what to do about installing the baffler.  I never thought to just simply put a piece of sheet metal in long enough to just lay there.  

Simple but Brilliant.  Thanks.  Now where to get the piece of sheet metal.  lol.  Thanks


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## simsfmly

Rob Sicc said:


> WOW.  That's makes so much sense.  I don't weld and never knew what to do about installing the baffler.  I never thought to just simply put a piece of sheet metal in long enough to just lay there.
> 
> Simple but Brilliant.  Thanks.  Now where to get the piece of sheet metal.  lol.  Thanks


Available at Lowe's.  Have seen them at most every store I'm in.


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## smittsmoke

Smokemod1.jpg



__ smittsmoke
__ Jul 10, 2017


















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__ smittsmoke
__ Jul 10, 2017


















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__ smittsmoke
__ Jul 10, 2017


















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__ smittsmoke
__ Jul 10, 2017


















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__ smittsmoke
__ Jul 10, 2017


















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__ smittsmoke
__ Jul 10, 2017






Just joined and a newbie to all of this although took the time to upgrade my new Dyna with a good number of mods detailed in this forum thread.  You guys and gals are amazing with what you come up with.  So, only question I have is has anyone made the top of the firebox a functioning door to make dropping coals and wood in easier during the burn cycle?  Not real crazy about opening the side door, pulling out the rack and balancing it on the small rails.  Maybe if the rack had a positive stop although I can see myself pulling that out onto the ground some day...thanks for all the help!


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## cromans

Those mods look great. I would like to do the same thing with my fire box. I'm afraid to put my smoker on my deck because I've dumped my rack of coals once.


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## simsfmly

cromans said:


> Those mods look great. I would like to do the same thing with my fire box. I'm afraid to put my smoker on my deck because I've dumped my rack of coals once


I've burned my toes more than once when adding fuel while wearing my flip flops.  Those embers do drop out of that rack, I wouldn't put one on a wooden deck.


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## fricard

+1

NEVER put the Dyna-Glo on a wood deck!

According to the National Fire Protection Association:

_"Sparks, embers or flames from operated cooking equipment resulted in 24,900 fires and 120 deaths in 2016."_

Now, back to the mods.  Here's a pic of the insulation that I put on mine.

I chose these 1-inch thick mineral wool boards for a few reasons.  They're non-combustible (it's basalt, not glass) and there's no plastic to melt or give off noxious fumes.  Also, it's foil-faced to reflect radiant energy back inward.













IMG_20161111_192833.jpg



__ fricard
__ Jul 11, 2017






You can see to the left of the photo how I wrapped the edges in sheet metal angle, then foil tape over that.  The final step was to paint over all the foil with high-heat flat black paint.

I'd say it's worked out great because it'll hold 225F for a couple hours on very little charcoal.

_--FR_


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## shipwama

Looks great might have to try some mods. Yep I put it on a wooden deck and it now has some char marks after the first attempt I got some 24x24 stone for underneath for safety. I have no fears of fires now!


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## smittsmoke

Just picked up the steel from our machine shop.  Having it cut to size and I will begin the firebox mod tonight.  Pics to follow!


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## smittsmoke

SmittSmoke said:


> Just picked up the steel from our machine shop.  Having it cut to size and I will begin the firebox mod tonight.  Pics to follow!


No turning back now.   Have a piece of 416 stainless that will be the door, 1/2 thick.  Will use a stainless steel heavy duty piano hinge to secure. More to follow.













IMG-20170712-02990.jpg



__ smittsmoke
__ Jul 12, 2017


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## smittsmoke

Mock-up of door and hinge...













IMG-20170712-02994.jpg



__ smittsmoke
__ Jul 13, 2017


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## smittsmoke

SmittSmoke said:


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> __ Jul 13, 2017


Okay, drilled the door and countersunk the thru holes...













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__ smittsmoke
__ Jul 13, 2017


















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__ smittsmoke
__ Jul 13, 2017






Just flush or slightly below.













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__ smittsmoke
__ Jul 13, 2017






Then cut the hinge to length, cleaned it up a bit and installed.













IMG-20170713-03000.jpg



__ smittsmoke
__ Jul 13, 2017






Attached a piece of 1/2-13 threaded rod with a couple of nuts and washers.  The horizontal piece of rod will recieve a 6" nickel plated spring handle once it arrives from amazon tomorrow.  Relocated handle and will use a stronger bolt and nut combo.  The firebox top door must weigh in at 8 to 10 pounds!













IMG-20170713-03002.jpg



__ smittsmoke
__ Jul 13, 2017






Will install the rest of the Nomex when it gets here as well...more pics to follow.  Need to set-up a rest for the door when open next.


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## wimpy69

Looks like you sealed the double wall ceiling of fb? Product? So far looks good. Nice little flat top.


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## wimpy69

[Need to set-up a rest for the door when open next.]

Maybe some flat stock with acouple degree bend on center bolted on your thru holes for your hinge should work.


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## smittsmoke

No, that double wall is still open (false bottom inside the firebox and space between the actual top of the firebox).  Will be closing that off with sheet stock on all four sides.


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## smittsmoke

wimpy69 said:


> [Need to set-up a rest for the door when open next.]
> 
> Maybe some flat stock with acouple degree bend on center bolted on your thru holes for your hinge should work.


Yup. that will work!


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## wimpy69

Originally I was thinking about a chute refueling design w/cap and filling the double wall with sand but now------
Looking foward to feedback after you run it.


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## smittsmoke

wimpy69 said:


> Originally I was thinking about a chute refueling design w/cap and filling the double wall with sand but now Looking foward to feedback after you run it.


The sand act as an insulator or as a heat sink?


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## wimpy69

Insulator, I know it's not a large volume to have a dramatic effect but enough to quench raw heat from radiating to exterior surface. Down the road i'll be insulating and skinning my widebody anyway so it will improve the heat loss a little bit more.


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## smittsmoke

Okay, that makes good sense.  I just closed up that opening with U-Channel.  Looks clean and will keep excess heat from going into that air pace.













IMG-20170714-03005.jpg



__ smittsmoke
__ Jul 14, 2017


















IMG-20170714-03010.jpg



__ smittsmoke
__ Jul 14, 2017


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## smittsmoke

wimpy69 said:


> [Need to set-up a rest for the door when open next.]
> 
> Maybe some flat stock with acouple degree bend on center bolted on your thru holes for your hinge should work.


Ended up using an old gate hinge bent up a bit....attached it to the back of te piano hinge as suggested.  Wotrks perfect.













IMG-20170714-03009.jpg



__ smittsmoke
__ Jul 14, 2017


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## wimpy69

With a little bit of style I see.


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## smittsmoke

Still waiting on Nomex and spring handle...although here was the driver for this mod.  Chimney fits right inside when needed.  Large enough opening to add wood chuncks as well.  Almost ready for first fire to season!













IMG-20170714-03008.jpg



__ smittsmoke
__ Jul 14, 2017





 ALT=""]http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/content/type/61/id/542035/width/350/height/700[/IMG]












IMG-20170714-03006.jpg



__ smittsmoke
__ Jul 14, 2017


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## smittsmoke

wimpy69 said:


> With a little bit of style I see


Yes, I do like the look...thanks.


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## smittsmoke

Okay, seasoned her for an hour at 300 degrees.  Could not for the life of me get it lower.

Added a water tray, now running at 257 degrees for the last hour steady...used the minion method and then added wood.  All seesm well. First real cook tomorrow morning. A tad nervous although excited.

Modded firebox door came out awesome!  So easy to dump chimney and add wood.













IMG-20170715-03018.jpg



__ smittsmoke
__ Jul 15, 2017


















IMG-20170715-03017.jpg



__ smittsmoke
__ Jul 15, 2017


















IMG-20170715-03016.jpg



__ smittsmoke
__ Jul 15, 2017


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## smittsmoke

257 seems still too high for smoking...going to increase size of water tray.


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## smittsmoke

Did two racks of baby backs yesterday using the 3-1-1 method, sprayed them every 30 min with an olive oil and apple cider vinegar mix.  Struggled with really knowing temp due to all three thermometers disagreeing with each other.  In the end, they were excellent.  Did not boil them to a point where they were too soft, pulled away from the bone nicely as they were eaten.  On to a couple of chickens!


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## smittsmoke

Where the hell did everyone go???


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## fricard

Still here.

How'd the chickens come out?

--FR


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## smittsmoke

fricard said:


> Still here.
> 
> How'd the chickens come out?
> 
> --FR


Need to wait till this Sun...just no time this week.


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## ahakohda

So I finally pull the plug and got wide dyna.

Main reason was the price. It was 131.95 on AMAZon and i decided to price match with walmart which is $202. So I added smoker to my cart and contacting walmart support chat. Nice person asked me all the questions and i provided all the info. Person said Yes we can do pricematch do you have an order number? I said I am placing it right now. I placed an order with pickup at local store. And gave him order number. Here is what I got out the door thanks to extra discount for picking it up.













FullSizeRender.jpg



__ ahakohda
__ Jul 23, 2017






Now I have a new smoker to learn )))


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## killswitch

Holly crap! Incredible price. I wish I had gotten the wide version but it was much more when I bought mine. With a few mods it is a great smoker.


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## wimpy69

For $65 why not


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## smittsmoke

That's amazing!  Good for you.  Just finished two chickens with a Jermaican rub in my smaller version.  Fantastic meat, tough, chewy skin. Need tto keep it real low in sugar for daughter who has diabities.


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## wimpy69

AHAKOHDA said:


> So I finally pull the plug and got wide dyna.
> Main reason was the price. It was 131.95 on AMAZon and i decided to price match with walmart which is $202. So I added smoker to my cart and contacting walmart support chat. Nice person asked me all the questions and i provided all the info. Person said Yes we can do pricematch do you have an order number? I said I am placing it right now. I placed an order with pickup at local store. And gave him order number. Here is what I got out the door thanks to extra discount for picking it up.
> 
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> __ ahakohda
> __ Jul 23, 2017
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> Now I have a new smoker to learn )))



Thats a great deal, good for you. Plenty of info on mods in said topic you posted in. Other info posted, just go to search bar. You'll be happy with it. You wont need to do alot, sealing up,baffle and a reliable therm. Enjoy.


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## duke-wayne-fan

AHAKOHDA said:


> So I finally pull the plug and got wide dyna.
> Main reason was the price. It was 131.95 on AMAZon and i decided to price match with walmart which is $202. So I added smoker to my cart and contacting walmart support chat. Nice person asked me all the questions and i provided all the info. Person said Yes we can do pricematch do you have an order number? I said I am placing it right now. I placed an order with pickup at local store. And gave him order number. Here is what I got out the door thanks to extra discount for picking it up.
> 
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> __ ahakohda
> __ Jul 23, 2017
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> Now I have a new smoker to learn )))





Just doing this and they said that with the pickup discount, they couldn't do it. Said it was already not at regular price


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## ahakohda

Picked up and assembled 
Found one "major" defect. 
Can you spot it ))))

Will cure it tomorrow 













IMG_4268.JPG



__ ahakohda
__ Jul 26, 2017
__ 1


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## mikethehammer

My chicken thighs 240ish for a little over 2 hour came out great but tough skins, but that's always a problem to figure out.













20170708_173735.jpg



__ mikethehammer
__ Aug 4, 2017


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## smittsmoke

Yup..did turkey legs after a brine and rub, same issue.  Tried to finish them up on the grill, just not good enough.


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## ahakohda

Chicken turned out great. As well as some bacon. 












2D256F58-4BA2-4053-9CD1-556AE1216B80.jpg



__ ahakohda
__ Aug 5, 2017


















74289C56-911B-46FC-A22C-E9F67AC24E54.jpg



__ ahakohda
__ Aug 5, 2017


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## rob sicc

AHAKOHDA said:


> So I finally pull the plug and got wide dyna.
> 
> Main reason was the price. It was 131.95 on AMAZon and i decided to price match with walmart which is $202. So I added smoker to my cart and contacting walmart support chat. Nice person asked me all the questions and i provided all the info. Person said Yes we can do pricematch do you have an order number? I said I am placing it right now. I placed an order with pickup at local store. And gave him order number. Here is what I got out the door thanks to extra discount for picking it up.
> 
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> __ ahakohda
> __ Jul 23, 2017
> 
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> 
> Now I have a new smoker to learn )))


Congrats on a great deal.  This is a very easy smoker to learn on.  One thing.  Is there a damper on it?  If not, read through this thread and determine how to put one on.

Good luck.  Hope to see your first smoke threaded here.


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## Rings Я Us

Was wondering what size the racks are inside. Can't really find much info on the rack dimensions.


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## wimpy69

For which model?


----------



## wimpy69

I'll make it easy for ya. Post #156 on this topic.


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## Rings Я Us

The wide body.. Lol I see 14x22.5" [emoji]128077[/emoji] wanted to know if a full packer brisket fit ok. Last one I had was about 19" and didn't fit on the ECB grates. Good to know.. it's hard to find rack specs. Thanks. Was about 3 hours worth of reading in this thread. [emoji]128514[/emoji]


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## rob sicc

AHAKOHDA said:


> Picked up and assembled
> Found one "major" defect.
> Can you spot it ))))
> 
> Will cure it tomorrow
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> __ ahakohda
> __ Jul 26, 2017
> __ 1


Saw it after I enlarged the picture.  Thats pretty funny.


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## Rings Я Us

Lol the name plate [emoji]128514[/emoji]


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## simsfmly

Rob Sicc said:


> Saw it after I enlarged the picture.  Thats pretty funny.


Whoops.


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## rob sicc

simsfmly said:


> Whoops.


LOL.  I finally bought a new smoker earlier this year but I'm still tempted to buy this one especially if I can negotiate that price.  However, I think my wife will kill me.  lol


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## powder74

Hi I am based in the uk & have just bought one of these, I'm looking to seal the firebox to the main body but what is the heat rating of the silicone? Struggling to find anything rated above 250c ? Thanks in advance :)


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## wimpy69

I opted to mate firebox to cook chamber with nomex gasket instead of high temp silicone and didn't have any leakage. The higher temp silicone's(650*+) i found didnt have FDA ratings for food contact and was concerned with off gassing over a long period of time.I did add additional bolts to tighten up and strengthen mating surface. 













20170716_104218-1.jpg



__ wimpy69
__ Aug 19, 2017


















20170716_161248.jpg



__ wimpy69
__ Aug 19, 2017


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## powder74

I went to buy this today but inwas so dissapointed with the quality i didnt purchase in the end just weighing up the cost of the mods adds 50 ish to the price  i keep looking at the tepro fairfax, much heavier guage steel but 350 price tag, just can help thinking if i get the dyna im gonna regret not getting the fairfax, the uk is very limited on vertial smokers!  But i really like the look of the dyna glo!... so torn lol


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## wimpy69

Powder74 said:


> Hi I am based in the uk & have just bought one of these, I'm looking to seal the firebox to the main body but what is the heat rating of the silicone? Struggling to find anything rated above 250c ? Thanks in advance :)


I was under the impression you had already purchased unit. The smoker you have mentioned (Tepro) looks identical to a Brinkman Trailmaster here in USA. There is still mods you'll have to do-seal firebox to cc, fb door and cook chamber door to eliminate air leakage. You'll have to weigh the differences. Use the search bar for mods too each unit for a decision. Stop by Roll Call and introduce yourself,  i'm sure some trailmaster user's will chime in.


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## smittsmoke

Half the fun for me is the mods!  Baffling, firebox lid, fire brick and so on....love this smoker.


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## smittsmoke

[h1]LavaLock RTV 650 F BBQ grill smoker sealer Hi Temp FOOD SAFE Silicon adhesive 3 oz[/h1]


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## Rings Я Us

I used this stuff. I doubt it's toxic on a smoker but it says not for stoves or stove pipe. 
I put the gasket on my ECB outside the lid with it. Good to 450 or 500°












IMG_20170819_122403.jpg



__ Rings Я Us
__ Aug 19, 2017





 Bought at a fireplace shop.


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## wimpy69

Firebox air damper was becoming a PITA, so dug into my pack rat box of s-crap at work and finished this up this morning. Real back saver for me and after it gets mounted to cart should work even better with no bending over at all. Next on the list,
secondary upper air intakes.













20170820_115214.jpg



__ wimpy69
__ Aug 20, 2017


















20170820_115318.jpg



__ wimpy69
__ Aug 20, 2017
__ 1


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## powder74

IMG_0489.JPG



__ powder74
__ Aug 20, 2017





Decided i really like the design of this regardless of the mods that need to be done... next weeks job awaits!


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## Rings Я Us

Lol [emoji]128521[/emoji]  Will be fun.. I saw YouTube video of a guy bought the dyna glo and his seal mods he made. He seemed to be happy.


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## powder74

i may have watched that Lol, figured whatever i but i will have to seal it up!!


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## uprr

Hey someone else from MA and not far away!! LOL!! I'm in Brockton and love my Dyna- Glo. I'd love to see your mods!!


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## fricard

Powder74 said:


> IMG_0489.JPG
> 
> 
> 
> __ powder74
> __ Aug 20, 2017
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Decided i really like the design of this regardless of the mods that need to be done... next weeks job awaits!


You will not regret it, Powder.  Despite the seemingly inferior materials, the fact is, this thing works well.  

You can really turn out some quality smoked meats with this vertical-offset design.

The many mods shown in the previous pages of this thread add much quality (I've done several myself) but the basic design was spot-on to provide a platform that heats the chamber in a very consistent fashion.

For a newbie like me, I often see it holding right at 225F for hours.

Looking forward to see what you do with it.

--FR


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## powder74

Well no suprise i couldnt wait to get it assembled lol got some high temp rtv sealer & gave a good bead all the way round the fire box & have ordered some thermal tape for around both doors ( thats bloody exspensive!) its not arrived yet though, i have also added a small deflector plate in the smoke chamber near the fire box hole... but will be giving it a couple of dry runs over the weekend to season it in, the issue is can I then wait for the thermal tape for the doors or will sneak some test meat in there ... we all know whats gonna happen!!!


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## wimpy69

Sure, when you do apply your sealing tape make sure you clean your mating surface well. Soapy water, alcohol wipe and apply. Best results have been applying tape to firebox door rather than firebox body. Have fun.


----------



## smoke and suds

fricard said:


> +1
> NEVER put the Dyna-Glo on a wood deck!
> 
> According to the National Fire Protection Association:
> _"Sparks, embers or flames from operated cooking equipment resulted in 24,900 fires and 120 deaths in 2016."_
> 
> Now, back to the mods.  Here's a pic of the insulation that I put on mine.
> I chose these 1-inch thick mineral wool boards for a few reasons.  They're non-combustible (it's basalt, not glass) and there's no plastic to melt or give off noxious fumes.  Also, it's foil-faced to reflect radiant energy back inward.
> 
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> __ fricard
> __ Jul 11, 2017
> 
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> 
> You can see to the left of the photo how I wrapped the edges in sheet metal angle, then foil tape over that.  The final step was to paint over all the foil with high-heat flat black paint.
> 
> I'd say it's worked out great because it'll hold 225F for a couple hours on very little charcoal.
> 
> _--FR_





fricard said:


> +1
> NEVER put the Dyna-Glo on a wood deck!
> 
> According to the National Fire Protection Association:
> _"Sparks, embers or flames from operated cooking equipment resulted in 24,900 fires and 120 deaths in 2016."_
> 
> Now, back to the mods.  Here's a pic of the insulation that I put on mine.
> I chose these 1-inch thick mineral wool boards for a few reasons.  They're non-combustible (it's basalt, not glass) and there's no plastic to melt or give off noxious fumes.  Also, it's foil-faced to reflect radiant energy back inward.
> 
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> __ fricard
> __ Jul 11, 2017
> 
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> 
> 
> You can see to the left of the photo how I wrapped the edges in sheet metal angle, then foil tape over that.  The final step was to paint over all the foil with high-heat flat black paint.
> 
> I'd say it's worked out great because it'll hold 225F for a couple hours on very little charcoal.
> 
> _--FR_



This may be a dumb question but how did you attach the mineral wool board to the smoker? 

Thanks!


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## fricard

Smoke and Suds said:


> This may be a dumb question but how did you attach the mineral wool board to the smoker?
> 
> Thanks!


The metal frame is screwed to the cabinet.  That's what holds the insulation in place.  
First I bend the angle into the proper picture-frame shape, drill 1/8-inch hole in the angle, then use self-drilling/self-tapping screws to attach frame to smoker cabinet.

The last step, which is entirely optional, was to cover the angles, gaps, seams, etc. with foil tape; thus blocking any airflow in & around the insulation (too prevent heat loss).

--FR


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## Rings Я Us

You can't see well where the metal screws or where the molding is . Blends well. Did it get painted yet?
How will that stay waterproof? Is that gonna get soggy?


----------



## smoke and suds

fricard said:


> The metal frame is screwed to the cabinet.  That's what holds the insulation in place.
> 
> First I bend the angle into the proper picture-frame shape, drill 1/8-inch hole in the angle, then use self-drilling/self-tapping screws to attach frame to smoker cabinet.
> The last step, which is entirely optional, was to cover the angles, gaps, seams, etc. with foil tape; thus blocking any airflow in & around the insulation (too prevent heat loss).
> --FR



Sounds good, thanks for the reply. I just picked up the wide set version and being in Minnesota, I think I would definitely need to insulate it (pretty thin metal) if I want to run it in the winter at all. I have an Acorn which works great in the cold but it has very limited cooking space.


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## fricard

Rings R Us said:


> You can't see well where the metal screws or where the molding is . Blends well. Did it get painted yet?
> How will that stay waterproof? Is that gonna get soggy?


It was painted afterwards, flat black.  As for waterproofing, I do store it undercover.  However, one of the additional benefits of the mineral wool is that it's free-draining (doesn't hold water).  That's why it's so popular in rainscreen cladding systems.  That said, I never plan to let get it wet.

--FR


----------



## fricard

Smoke and Suds said:


> Sounds good, thanks for the reply. I just picked up the wide set version and being in Minnesota, I think I would definitely need to insulate it (pretty thin metal) if I want to run it in the winter at all. I have an Acorn which works great in the cold but it has very limited cooking space.


Let us know how it works out!


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## Rings Я Us

Ahhh...ok cool..


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## smoke and suds

Just finished up prepping my new wide set last night and a big thanks to everyone who has posted on here, got some great tips and mod advice.

I had quite few obvious gaps through out the body of the smoker, mainly between the chamber and fire box as many others have stated. I used some high temp food grade silicone for the gaps and anywhere there was a screw and used nomex strips to seal up the fire box door. Probably went a bit overboard with the silicone but figured I would rather use too much than not enough. I put an ultra bright led lamp in it and turned off all the lights, pretty sure I have every possible area sealed up. 

One area I sealed that I didn't see suggested on here was the drip pan hole. I usually clean my smoker after every run and use a drip pan that I can set on the ground. I just took a small chunk of steel that was leftover after adding a baffle and put it over the hole and sealed it with silicon. Figured if I'm not gonna use it might as well close up one more spot for air to come through.

Gonna season it tonight to check temps and to do a burn off so hopefully I can do a cook this long weekend.


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## Rings Я Us

applause-smiley-emoticon.gif



__ Rings Я Us
__ Aug 30, 2017





Good deal!
@ Smoke N Suds


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## smittsmoke

wimpy69 said:


> Firebox air damper was becoming a PITA, so dug into my pack rat box of s-crap at work and finished this up this morning. Real back saver for me and after it gets mounted to cart should work even better with no bending over at all. Next on the list,
> secondary upper air intakes.
> 
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> __ Aug 20, 2017
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> __ Aug 20, 2017
> __ 1


That is awesome!


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## wimpy69

Thanks


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## jackdowney

My sister owns a Dyna-Glo Offset Smoker and it surely is worth the money. We use it when we have large gatherings , which frequently happen at her place!! Its large cooking space is perfect for such large crowd! owing to its height, i notice that it uses lesser coal as compared to others.


----------



## wimpy69

wimpy69 said:


> Firebox air damper was becoming a PITA, so dug into my pack rat box of s-crap at work and finished this up this morning. Real back saver for me and after it gets mounted to cart should work even better with no bending over at all. Next on the list,
> secondary upper air intakes.
> 
> 
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> __ Aug 20, 2017
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> __ Aug 20, 2017
> __ 1



Upper air vents done. Two 1" nipple w/caps for now, gonna hit flea market for some seasoned older stlye gate/globe valves. 













20170909_174447.jpg



__ wimpy69
__ Sep 9, 2017





While tools were out, got rid of temporary baffle and fabbed one out of some 1/8" scrap with an  end  support. 












20170909_131628.jpg



__ wimpy69
__ Sep 9, 2017


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## neophyte

Wish I had found this forum before I put mine together. Oh well,... lol

Took it apart, sealed it and put it back together.   Took about 36 hours for seal to fully cure.    

Followed instructions for seasoning it, but initially couldn't get heat off 350.    So I put in a water pan, and heat came down to 240ish and stayed there for 2.5 hours.  

However, I couldn't tell if/where leaks were as charcoal didn't put off any/enough smoke.

Once it cooled off, I redid fire (layer of charcoal, 4 softball sized soaked chunks of hickory, another hefty layer of charcoal).  Once top layer of charcoal burned down (fuel off)m I added 3 more pieces of soaked Hickory to top of fire.   Once smoke got rolling so I could find leaks (2 on smokebox door) and I made sure heat was steady, I loaded it up.   













smoker1.jpg



__ neophyte
__ Sep 10, 2017


















smoker2.jpg



__ neophyte
__ Sep 10, 2017






I have 2 Cornish hens at back of top rack behind the 3 potatoes.  

next rack down are 4 chicken breasts.   

2 hours in, I put in some whole garlic on middle rack and  bacon wrapped mushrooms on bottom rack.   













smoker3.jpg



__ neophyte
__ Sep 10, 2017






Fingers crossed.   My first time with a "smoker".    Will post after comments once finished and sampled.


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## duke-wayne-fan

Ok well I got my wide body smoker in and put together. I've cooked on it 3 times. First time I smoked 1 rack of baby back ribs and put 10 lbs of leg quarters on later. Second time I did 2 racks of baby back ribs and 27 chicken legs. On my third smoke, I did 6 racks of ribs. I trimmed spares down to st Louis style and also smoked the rib tips as well as the flap of meat I trimmed off from underneath. The smoker was pretty full on that one. It was very hard to get smoker up to temp. Wasn't getting much air flow. I had to eventually shim the SC door at the top and had a small crack there and started getting better temps. Wrapped meat at 140° and after that, the temp came up to what it needed to be at. Temp stayed there for right at another 2 hours. I added wood periodically before I wrapped the meat, but didn't add anything after I wrapped it all. Didn't even have to touch the smoker until right at the end. Smoker temp started falling right at 188 internal temp so I added a piece of wood and a few pieces of lump. Ribs were heavenly












20170826_183906.jpg



__ duke-wayne-fan
__ Sep 12, 2017


















20170826_183853.jpg



__ duke-wayne-fan
__ Sep 12, 2017


















20170826_130519.jpg



__ duke-wayne-fan
__ Sep 12, 2017


















20170819_135848.jpg



__ duke-wayne-fan
__ Sep 12, 2017






You can see in the background my old smoker. It's much heavier and much thicker gauge steel, but even after sealing that one up it doesn't hold temps like this one does. Absolutely amazed by it. 













20170819_135811.jpg



__ duke-wayne-fan
__ Sep 12, 2017


















20170819_135732.jpg



__ duke-wayne-fan
__ Sep 12, 2017


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## qrk5001

I just bought the Dyna-Glo 36" vertical charcoal smoker, no offset. I figured it was time to upgrade from my cheap Char-Broil horizontal offset after learning/playing around with it all summer.

Seems like a great deal on Amazon, really looking forward to it coming. Unfortunately, shipping as backed up due to the recent hurricane (Irma) so the earliest arrival date is 11 days from now even though it was Prime. Oh well, gives me a ton of time to read through this thread and do some research on these Dyna-Glo smokers. I already have the high-temp silicone ready to go for when I assemble it.

I went with the straight vertical setup as opposed to the offset model because even though I had fun modding my cheap horizontal offset (added a metal baffle to even out the smoke/temp), I still had some trouble/frustration keeping the temperature consistent. Now, I know the fact that my Char-Broil's walls are basically paper thin doesn't help. But after talking to a few people, it seems that straight vertical is the easiest way to go for consistency. Does anyone have experience with both?


----------



## ahakohda

Last week I was able to experiment with wide dyna smoker. 
In particular cold smoking with amnps and pellets. And using it as an electric smoker. 
 With temp outside 70F and lit up pellets only, inside temp was around 90F. 
 I also got from Amazon some small electric grill and 1650W rated temperature controller which end up being very accurate and kept temperature within 3 degrees up and down. 
Using this combination I was able to easily maintain 180F smoker temperature. 
 I am now planning to add second controller and second electric grill to be able to get temp to 250F. 
Duck breasts, salmon and pork belly all came out great))












IMG_4686.JPG



__ ahakohda
__ Sep 18, 2017


















IMG_4672.JPG



__ ahakohda
__ Sep 18, 2017


















IMG_4676.JPG



__ ahakohda
__ Sep 18, 2017


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## chevy2413

New to smoking got this smoker from Home Depot. Got the Nomex tape a lot of you recommended for sealing the doors, by now I have a problem getting the doors to close because the tape is in the way. Is there something I am missing or should I just switch to the RTV like many of you have done.


----------



## FatFoodFat

Hey all. Someone posted these earlier in the forum and they did not post the name of these fire/kiln bricks. I can not for the life of me find them online... Thanks in advance peeps!!


----------



## wimpy69

> google
> ceramic grill tiles


----------



## djjubbajubba

With winter coming up, do you guys think this would be a good option to keep me smoking through the season?


----------



## wimpy69

View attachment 342468

	

		
			
		

		
	
 Mock up of minion divider proved well so did my final build yesterday since it was nice. Haven't layded out for a while and went old school -drill and fill.
View attachment 342466

After burn off figured why not-
Smoke dry Japs, Cayenne and Red Caribbean's. 12hrs over Stubbs/pecan/mulberry
170*
+/- 4oz
View attachment 342466


----------



## wimpy69

Beats me?


----------



## truman

fricard said:


> +1
> 
> NEVER put the Dyna-Glo on a wood deck!
> 
> According to the National Fire Protection Association:
> 
> _"Sparks, embers or flames from operated cooking equipment resulted in 24,900 fires and 120 deaths in 2016."_
> 
> Now, back to the mods.  Here's a pic of the insulation that I put on mine.
> 
> I chose these 1-inch thick mineral wool boards for a few reasons.  They're non-combustible (it's basalt, not glass) and there's no plastic to melt or give off noxious fumes.  Also, it's foil-faced to reflect radiant energy back inward.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> IMG_20161111_192833.jpg
> 
> 
> 
> __ fricard
> __ Jul 11, 2017
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> You can see to the left of the photo how I wrapped the edges in sheet metal angle, then foil tape over that.  The final step was to paint over all the foil with high-heat flat black paint.
> 
> I'd say it's worked out great because it'll hold 225F for a couple hours on very little charcoal.
> 
> _--FR_


Can you tell me where you sourced the insulation?


----------



## seaninva

I've had the wide body version for about a year and a half now and it's the hardest darn thing to smoke with. I recently installed a new door temp gauge, had to get a new smoke stack and RTV'd the seam between the chamber and firebox. I also added a piece of sheet metal to help spread the heat from the firebox.

This is my first smoke on it since then. I am having a heck of a time with temps, and always have with this thing. I'm doing a turkey and a duck today, and for the better part of 4 hours, I've been lucky to get the temp to 250 for more than 30 minutes in total. The first hour was down near 200 or below. I just put more charcoal on and some more wood and it's 225-230 and won't get higher. It burned through most of the whole filled basket of charcoal in about an hour and a half.

I've had to resort to putting a fan in front of the firebox with the dampers all the way open, and still can't get to 260+

I've attached a few pics - notice the large gap at the seam - this just happened today. The chamber warped and the RTV melted through. I pulled off what I could to keep it from ruining the food. There was a bad smell there for a bit. I've tried to block the hole with wood, but it keeps catching on fire as the flames wick out.

I'm about ready to chuck this thing in the trash :(

There's no water in the pan, it's just there to keep the duck from dripping over the turkey


----------



## wahoowad

seaninva said:


> *had to get a new smoke stack*



I didn't see this when I first read your message, and I kept thinking it seems like you don't have enough draft. So maybe you blocked off your airflow somehow? Make sure that smoke stack is wide open. Having to blow air in the side sure seems like you aren't getting much draft.


----------



## seaninva

Well, I've got it on a covered deck (despite the post a few above about how bad of an idea this might be), and the location and orientation means it doesn't get a lot of air flow from wind. However, this fan is a beast and blows very hard even on low. Smoke stack was open the whole time. I could typically get it cranked to 300 with forced air, but it was hard to hold it - yesterday I had a heck of a time holding 250 for more than 10 minutes. Yes, it was a bit cold outside too (40s).

Even before my mods, I can't get wood to actually catch and hold a fire unless I supplement with forced air. This is opposite my char-griller barrel grill, which I use to smoke smaller things - no offset. I have trouble keeping the wood from flaming too much. Both are setup on the same side of the deck, with the intake on the same side.

I am wondering if the addition of the metal plate to the smoke chamber caused that much of a reduction in flow? I did finally prop the hanging end up some with a block of wood but didn't seem to make much of a difference. I added the metal because I was noticing a large disparity in temps between the right side (nearer the firebox) and the left side - sometimes a difference of 30-50 degrees, especially if I was able to get a fire going with the wood. 

I also think that may have something to do with the warping that occurred. I suppose I can drill a hole there in the middle and stick a third screw through to try to warp it back.


----------



## wahoowad

Maybe put a pan of water or sand on the lowest grate to force air/heat to flow differently and remove or relocate that plate. It seems a draft or combustion issue to me. Coals look hot enough though.


----------



## wimpy69

Before you toss it, acouple questions and comments.
Was the firebox sealed to the cc during assembly?
What smoke stack change did you make?
By your pics of the fb it appears the sealant was applied after the fact and heat leakage cooked it causing the failure.
If it wasn't sealed pre-assemble alot of your heat is leaking at the mating of fb and cc probably causing your lower temps.
In the pic of your diffuser plate, at your connection point, the steel definitely looks overheated which coincides with your warping area probably from the heat leakage.
Your diffuser plate looks well thought out with hole pattern but really shouldn't extend below invert of top opening into cc. It appears in the pic it extends down pretty low which might be slowing your airflow causing your fb to overheat hence sealant failure and warping.
As far as wood ignition problems, its definitely low airflow.
The smoker was designed to run with no diffuser/tuning plate and a 2"(1 7/8" actual) exhaust (not chimney) and flow changes to it will affect preformance. All is not lost, and you can easily fix the problems your having. Plenty of good info in this dyna glo topic about the same problems. Grab a beverage, take a deep breath and you'll get it.
If you still want to toss it, send it to me, i'll pay the shipping.lol
After my mods (posted in topic),plate, upper secondary air intakes, fb to cc sealing, fb door sealing,seam sealing , 3"w×4"h chimney and minion divider I can average 5+ hrs @235*+/- on a load of charcoal and burn wood cleanly. With some thought out mods it can be run efficiently.  Good luck


----------



## seaninva

wimpy69 said:


> Before you toss it, acouple questions and comments.
> Was the firebox sealed to the cc during assembly?


No. At the time I had a lower temp gasket maker (400f) and I was worried about using it on the fb.



> What smoke stack change did you make?


OEM replacement. I managed to break the plate off the axle on the original.



> By your pics of the fb it appears the sealant was applied after the fact and heat leakage cooked it causing the failure.


 It did fine until the warping happened. That said, if I were to apply at assembly, wouldn't it still get cooked from the inside?



> If it wasn't sealed pre-assemble alot of your heat is leaking at the mating of fb and cc probably causing your lower temps.


Possible. Before applying the rtv, only minimal smoke was escaping, but there was some.



> In the pic of your diffuser plate, at your connection point, the steel definitely looks overheated which coincides with your warping area probably from the heat leakage.
> Your diffuser plate looks well thought out with hole pattern but really shouldn't extend below invert of top opening into cc. It appears in the pic it extends down pretty low which might be slowing your airflow causing your fb to overheat hence sealant failure and warping.


This definitely makes sense. However I see others in the thread that appear to have done similar but laid the plate at a 45 degree angle, and without holes. I would expect my current setup to reduce flow much less than the others.



> As far as wood ignition problems, its definitely low airflow.


No doubt. I wonder if I had it on the ground where it had better access to drafts if that would resolve itself.



> The smoker was designed to run with no diffuser/tuning plate and a 2"(1 7/8" actual) exhaust (not chimney) and flow changes to it will affect preformance.


I've not noticed much difference in performance with the smokestack open or closed. What are your experiences?



> All is not lost, and you can easily fix the problems your having. Plenty of good info in this dyna glo topic about the same problems. Grab a beverage, take a deep breath and you'll get it.


Lol, no doubt. Others are having success so its obviously possible.



> After my mods (posted in topic),plate, upper secondary air intakes, fb to cc sealing, fb door sealing,seam sealing , 3"w×4"h chimney and minion divider I can average 5+ hrs @235*+/- on a load of charcoal and burn wood cleanly. With some thought out mods it can be run efficiently.  Good luck


Thanks for such a detailed reply, I really do appreciate it. I've added a couple more stainless screws to fix the warp. I did reseal the fb/cc seam as well, and will prop the end of the diffuser so that its horizontal. Will see how it goes.


----------



## wimpy69

I've not noticed much difference in performance with the smokestack open or closed. What are your experiences?
-Mine was never used, but the plate only closed 75% and has 1/4"+ space between plate and wall so effectiveness I feel would have been minimal as you have seen.
--------
It did fine until the warping happened. That said, if I were to apply at assembly, wouldn't it still get cooked from the inside?
-The sealant is sandwiched between the fb and cc. The heat flows thru from fb to cc not allowing any loss. By just sealing gap, when it warped from heat loss it pulled away thats why it came off in that area. I opted to use nomax with additional ss bolts as seen in post #285. Extra hardware will help. But a proper Fay seal will eliminate any heat loss and you'll be done with it. Plenty of instructionals here in topic.
-----------
This definitely makes sense. However I see others in the thread that appear to have done similar but laid the plate at a 45 degree angle, and without holes. I would expect my current setup to reduce flow much less than the others.
- Here's my plate, 35* w/a 5*+ return to assist flow. Another pic in post #311.


----------



## praisethelard

fricard said:


> My next mod was to put on wheels!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> IMG_20161104_225124.jpg
> 
> 
> 
> __ fricard
> __ Nov 6, 2016



How's this holding up for you? Can you take a few more pics? I'm thinking of trying something similar.  Thanks.


----------



## kejtar

Woohoo!  My smoker just came in.....  I have read this thread twice and I will start by insulating the fire box to the smoker, insulating the firebox doors (the smoker doors are already insulated) and I will add wheels.....  

Now regarding seasoning - the instructions say season for a short period at fairly low temp while others here seem to have indicated that higher temp and longer time period is advised.... thoughts?


----------



## wimpy69

Since I figured i'll get to see how the smoker reacts to air adjustments I filled the basket(left a void), dumped 2/3 chimney in void, ran it up to +/- 200*, choked it back til ran at temp for about a hour as seasoning oil heated. Bumped to 235* held 265* held then to 325* till it stopped smelling like a deep fryer, about 30 min +. Then choked it down to 200* to simulate low fuel temp drop. Then dropped some wood on to see how recovery worked. Figured I do it on seasoning run and pretty much been running it the same. Brushed on thin coat of canola oil and used several types of wood.


----------



## wahoowad

kejtar said:


> Now regarding seasoning - the instructions say season for a short period at fairly low temp while others here seem to have indicated that higher temp and longer time period is advised.... thoughts?



I'd use it as a test drive to see how well it heats and holds temps. That means firing it up, getting the smoke going (I have to crank my propane up at the start to get the smokewood going), then back it down as needed to cruise at 225 orc250.


----------



## kejtar

I just finished the assembly and I am a bit perplexed - it says to use 6 bolts between the firebox and the smoker body yet there are only 4 places to use the bolts at.... am I missing something?


----------



## wimpy69

There are 6 bolts to mate. 2 underneath , 2 inside bottom, 2 inside top.





I added additional hardware just to tighten up mating surface and strengthen connection.


----------



## kejtar

Thanks! Found it... Wasnt easy to install them as the holes were a wee bit off and I have siliconed pretty nicely the surfaces between the fire box and the smoker box. 

For all those that are sealing with silicone - please remeber to put on a bead, let it set for 20 minutes and then mate surfaces.  This allows for the silicone to set a bit and not get all squeezed out. 
After the surfaces are mated let it sit at finger tight level on all bolts for another 10-15 minutes and then fully tighten.

In any case - tomorrow I will set it on fire... Or rather set the charcoals on fire ;)

Btw - the charcoal box is kinda flimsy/cheesy..... Probably going to have to upgrade it....

Last thing - airflow control on the fire box.... Gonna add some springs there as its very loose.


----------



## kejtar

So - tightened the fire box slider a bit too much.... couldn't move it when thhings got hot!!!! Forgot that metal expands ;)

On a different note - no leaks anyplace I assembled but I did have a slight leak from the upper right hand side of the door (right at the corner).  Gonna have to look and see if I can reshape the factory gasket or if I will have to add something at the corner.

Lastly - 250 F for nearly 2 hours with half a box of coals


----------



## wimpy69

Try adjusting you cc door clamp if you hadn't already. On mine, the top right corner weld wasnt complete leaving a small hole which I sealed.  There is alot of thermal expansion on the rear of fb as you've seen. I had to adjust my springs loose to compensate for expansion so there was still play when hot. You'll get it.


----------



## kejtar

wimpy69 said:


> Try adjusting you cc door clamp if you hadn't already. On mine, the top right corner weld wasnt complete leaving a small hole which I sealed.  There is alot of thermal expansion on the rear of fb as you've seen. I had to adjust my springs loose to compensate for expansion so there was still play when hot. You'll get it.


Actually what happened is that the door got "stuck" to the fire box wall.  The nuts and bolts were loose enough to move but the slider was just stuck.  When the FB cooled down I had to pry it away from the wall and then it started moving.... Weird...


----------



## Artie1

After reading the last several pages of posts on modifications to the Dyna-Glo offset I decided to post a reply on what I have done and what I still plan to do. First off I have sealed off all leaks as others have done. Also the biggest mod I have made is to insulate the outside of the smoker which has really helped in keeping my temps in and also reduced the amount of fuel needed which I figure will pay for the insulation in a short period of time. I have also played around with the damper effect by putting one of the shelves at the lowest position and wrapping it with Aluminum foil from the FB end to within about 6 to 8 inches from the opposite end of the smoker box. When using my digital thermometers placed in 4 locations in the smoke box I found I was able to maintain temperatures through out the entire smoking area, top to bottom at pretty much even. I plan on having a local fab shop make me a damper to slide in so that I can utilize all of my shelves when cooking. I will post photos of that mod once it is finished. Today I am adding the photos of my insulation job and hope that all enjoys what they see. Enjoying all of the comments on here and have learned so much. Thanks to everyone.


----------



## smokingpreacha

Artie1 What type of insulation did you use and where did you purchase it.


----------



## Artie1

smokingpreacha said:


> Artie1 What type of insulation did you use and where did you purchase it.


Hi Smoking Preacher. I purchased a Tillman Welding Blanket - Thermofelt 615. It comes in 3' sq. and 6' sq. I used a 6' sq. I purchased it on line at https://store.cyberweld.com/panfelwelbla.html. It is good for 1200 degrees F. I've been trying to upload some photos but I keep getting an error and it wont let me. I'd be glad to send you some if you want to share your email. Hope this helps you.


----------



## Artie1

Artie1 said:


> After reading the last several pages of posts on modifications to the Dyna-Glo offset I decided to post a reply on what I have done and what I still plan to do. First off I have sealed off all leaks as others have done. Also the biggest mod I have made is to insulate the outside of the smoker which has really helped in keeping my temps in and also reduced the amount of fuel needed which I figure will pay for the insulation in a short period of time. I have also played around with the damper effect by putting one of the shelves at the lowest position and wrapping it with Aluminum foil from the FB end to within about 6 to 8 inches from the opposite end of the smoker box. When using my digital thermometers placed in 4 locations in the smoke box I found I was able to maintain temperatures through out the entire smoking area, top to bottom at pretty much even. I plan on having a local fab shop make me a damper to slide in so that I can utilize all of my shelves when cooking. I will post photos of that mod once it is finished. Today I am adding the photos of my insulation job and hope that all enjoys what they see. Enjoying all of the comments on here and have learned so much. Thanks to everyone.


I have tried and tried to add photos only to get an error and not allow me to upload. If anyone has any suggestions they would be greatly appreciated. I have contacted the forum and waiting for their reply. Thanks


----------



## wimpy69

Is this your pic from the review on their site,


----------



## kejtar

Looks like you riveted it to the smoker?  I sort of like the idea but am concerned with the possibility of trapped moisture....


----------



## smokingpreacha

Artie1 said:


> Hi Smoking Preacher. I purchased a Tillman Welding Blanket - Thermofelt 615. It comes in 3' sq. and 6' sq. I used a 6' sq. I purchased it on line at https://store.cyberweld.com/panfelwelbla.html. It is good for 1200 degrees F. I've been trying to upload some photos but I keep getting an error and it wont let me. I'd be glad to send you some if you want to share your email. Hope this helps you.


[email protected]


----------



## Artie1

wimpy69 said:


> Is this your pic from the review on their site,
> View attachment 347428


Yes it is. Not sure I understand how you found it as it showed an error when I tried to upload. Can you explain how you found it. Thanks for posting


----------



## Artie1

kejtar said:


> Looks like you riveted it to the smoker?  I sort of like the idea but am concerned with the possibility of trapped moisture....


Hi Kejtar. Thanks for your reply. I didn't rivet it, I used #6 sheet metal screws with escutcheons. As far as moisture, I keep the smoker covered with a Dyna-Glo fitted cover that I bought on Amazon and also if there would be any type of moisture once you fire it up it is going to be dry. Also It sits outside so the heat of the sun every day will keep it dry as well. So far all is well and I am enjoying this great smoker.


----------



## wimpy69

Artie1 said:


> Yes it is. Not sure I understand how you found it as it showed an error when I tried to upload. Can you explain how you found it. Thanks for posting



Went to site posted
Went to reviews
Image
Screenshot
Upload a file
Attach


----------



## NCSU_MSE

I got one of these for Christmas and immediately ordered the RTV and nomex, which arrived today. 

I unboxed my Dyna-Glo only to discover a major problem:  no hardware!  Of course I realized this 30 minutes after their customer service line closed. Hopefully they can overnight some hardware tomorrow...I was planning on smoking Friday.


----------



## Alana

NCSU_MSE said:


> I got one of these for Christmas and immediately ordered the RTV and nomex, which arrived today.
> 
> I unboxed my Dyna-Glo only to discover a major problem:  no hardware!  Of course I realized this 30 minutes after their customer service line closed. Hopefully they can overnight some hardware tomorrow...I was planning on smoking Friday.


My boyfriend also got me one for Christmas. As he was unboxing it he noticed no hardware. In the end he found it in the big flaps at the bottom of the big main box. It’s a small flat piece of cardboard with the hardware “ vacuum packed” to it. Hopefully it’s there


----------



## marc74

So I found the widebody on sale at Lows on my birthday for $118 in November. I've been following this forum for the past year and this is the smoker I wanted, so I ordered. Little did I know the wife ordered a Smokey Hollow Propane Smoker for my birthday! I feel like a bit of a jerk but we sent hers back. I'm going to start assembling and doing the mods next month. I'm in no rush. I live in New Hampshire and the outside temp is 9 degrees today. Anyone smoke in freezing temp before? Anyway looking forward to getting this assembled and posting pictures of my first smoke. 

So does anyone use their smoker in freezing temp? If so, do you have any tips on maintaining the temp?

Thanks.


----------



## nhansen7231

I just got a digiq dx2 for the narrow dyna-glo smoker and will be trying it out in the next week, warmest it will get is 19*F, I will get back to yall on how it works out


----------



## wimpy69

Keep the fuel flowing, don't wait for too low of a temp drop before feeding. Welding blankets help out alot and having some kind of wind break will keep you constant.


----------



## nhansen7231

I smoked 2, 4 pound, 1/2 Boston pork butts, I had a hard time getting the smoke to temp (it was -12 f with wind chill) with the digiq and the smoke ended up taking 9 hours. I wanted to smoke them at 275 but maxed out at 215-220. My dyna-glo has no insulation to help retain the heat and will probably need to insulate it more in the future.


----------



## NCSU_MSE

Update:  Thanks for the tip on the hardware pack...I double-checked and mine was definitely missing.  To their credit, the manufacturer shipped a new pack out and had it here in a few days.  Assembly was very straightforward - the gasket and RTV took longer than anything else.

Yesterday I tried to smoke for the first time.  The cold weather and wind made for a serious challenge.  My 6lb Boston Butt ended up taking 12 hours, and the last 4 hours were wrapped in foil in the oven.  I pulled the bone around midnight last night and broke the shoulder into chunks, then placed the chunks in a foodsaver bag.  We're planning to reheat and pull the pork tonight.  I was pleased with a quick taste test of the pork - nice smoke flavor with a decent smoke ring.  

I can't wait to try this thing out in warmer weather!


----------



## nursewizzle

Has anyone converted this to propane?


----------



## Artie1

seaninva said:


> I've had the wide body version for about a year and a half now and it's the hardest darn thing to smoke with. I recently installed a new door temp gauge, had to get a new smoke stack and RTV'd the seam between the chamber and firebox. I also added a piece of sheet metal to help spread the heat from the firebox.
> 
> This is my first smoke on it since then. I am having a heck of a time with temps, and always have with this thing. I'm doing a turkey and a duck today, and for the better part of 4 hours, I've been lucky to get the temp to 250 for more than 30 minutes in total. The first hour was down near 200 or below. I just put more charcoal on and some more wood and it's 225-230 and won't get higher. It burned through most of the whole filled basket of charcoal in about an hour and a half.
> 
> I've had to resort to putting a fan in front of the firebox with the dampers all the way open, and still can't get to 260+
> 
> I've attached a few pics - notice the large gap at the seam - this just happened today. The chamber warped and the RTV melted through. I pulled off what I could to keep it from ruining the food. There was a bad smell there for a bit. I've tried to block the hole with wood, but it keeps catching on fire as the flames wick out.
> 
> I'm about ready to chuck this thing in the trash :(
> 
> There's no water in the pan, it's just there to keep the duck from dripping over the turkey








Hi I just read your post and can sympathize with you. Here is a photo of what I did to mine and it has helped tremendously. It is a 6' x 6' welding blanket from tillman welding supplies that I purchased and cut to fit and attached with @6 sheet metal screws w/ escutcheons. It holds in the heat and reduces my fuel supply tremendously.
I also have fabricated a damper that extends out from the opening of the firebox to smoker box. I don't have any photos yet but it is 12" wide and 18" long and half of the top is drilled with a total of 90 3/8" holes I have a second plate on top which is 9" x 12" that I can slide over the holes to help control the temps. I did a dry run today and it works amazingly well. I will send some photos once I get some made. Smoking is all about maintaining the proper temps as you will find out. I hope this helps you a little. Looking forward to hearing back from you. Thanks Artie


----------



## kejtar

So after 4 smoking sessions the smoker started "leaking" smoke between the coal box and the smoker body - right in the center about 2 inch separation in silicone occurred.  This was due to the fact that the smoker body kept "flexing" with temp changes.  So.... I cleaned it up, packed the whole with silicone, drilled a hole in dead center  between the other two bolts, bolted it tight and finished the silicone bead on top.  We'll see what happens.

A different issue I have ran into is cold smoking - I am in SoCal, so it is pretty nice outside even now.  I was smoking some tenderloins and I needed to keep temp about 125~130F for 4 hours... it was painful!  I was doing that with about 4 to 5 charcoal briquettes... had to keep dropping the number of briquettes every time I had a wood chunk in there as that generated a lot of heat!  Oh yeah, the main box is not insulated and I had to vent it with main door quite often.  I am trying to figure out if there is a trick too it as I want to cold smoke a whole eel sometime in the spring.


----------



## wimpy69

On the different issue, issue. Yes it's a pita getting long low temps like your after, even more when going lower for say, cheese. Instead of a whole chunk try breaking it down to 1/2"- 3/4" pieces and place around coals for smoke but manageable heat. Ive had better results by placing a expanded metal grate in my cook chamber floor and by using the air inlet along with fb door keep temps pretty steady to what i need. Minion method works well along with slivers of wood I can go light or heavy with smoke and amount of briquets for heat.


----------



## Robtivabin

So I got the regular body model of this smoker for Christmas/ birthday (same day). Did a lot of browsing on different smokers and was drawn to this one every time. So when it finally was delivered I pieced it together fired it up to season it. The excitement got to me as is does most of us. The next day I smoked an 8# pork shoulder, 4 dozen wings and 3# of almonds. All done with mesquite. It all turned out fantastic for my first go at smoking. Took roughly 8 hours total because of the shoulder. Now with this being said I did notice some leaks. Mainly around the smoking chamber door top right corner and some smaller ones here and there around the door. The door thermometer also seemed to have a leak around it. Firebox it self was fine no issues there. 2 weeks ago smoked 2 whole chickens and noticed the same leaks. Didn't really have any impact on the cooking itself but still taking note to it. Then last week I find this forum.....man should I have looked for this prior to assembly! Reading through this whole post on different mods and applications done to improve this exact smoker is great. Good to see lot of helpful hint tips tricks and out right assistance from "seasoned" vets, pun intended. 
 Now with all this said I brought in my smoker from outside, gave it a good bath, and took her apart. I bought one high heat silicone sealant from local hardware store and carefully applied some to smoker box where fire box meets. Once put back together put a liberal amount around the seam to close it up good and tight. As for sealing the smoking chamber, I didn't go with silicone. I went with rope style fireproof sealer, used commonly for fireplaces and pellet stoves and some bbq grills. As I close both doors I noticed a more tighter seal between door and chamber then before obviously there's more there, but I did take notice that before I put the seal on the door the handle had ALOT of play, telling me it was sealed properly before. Could be a warped door could be anything. Firebox as was never an issue but I sealed that too and now that is real good and tightly sealed. Took the stack off the top, caulked around the top with that, did the handles and the thermometer. Now it just has to sit and cure for 12 hours then I can toss in some charcoal and see what I got for leaks.
Now a few questions I have for your folks.
- anyone else use that rope style sealant and how does it work for you
- as for charcoal I read a lot about putting unlit in a circle with a void in middle then dumping lit from the chimney in the middle and let it go from there. Where should I place my wood, and as for chunks  of wood I'm doing store bought chunks there's roughly 1inch thick and vary in size.
- baffles... I do notice that I got fire from fire box into smoking box so I handed a pan of water on bottom shelf and closest to vents to help try to stop my food from getting scorched, should water pan be fine or should I get sheet metal for a baffle.

Any help and positive feed back would be appreciated.


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## AustinPynes

Have the Wide Body. Thanks to this forum went through and sealed up leaks around FB to Smoke Box and nomad around FB door. Smoke box already had good seal on mine. I also added a baffle that is screwed in just above the opening between boxes and goes 2/3 the way across slanting down.
I spent yesterday seasoning and testing temps. Tested gauge that came with smoker in boiling water it was close...maybe 5 degrees low. Bought a second one and installed it. I also bought a wireless probe so I could keep track in the house.

I have the slightest amount of leak around the FB door still but very little. 

My problem. I cannot get this above 210. I had made minions and after the first couple burns took them out thinking they were blocking flow. 

I tried half a box of charcoal and a couple pieces of wood and then I tried full box of charcoal..used lump charcoal..Bayou brand.


I don’t think it is leaks. Outside temp in AUSTIN was warm yesterday.
So it must be airflow right? Or lump brand?  I have a couple of others to try next.

Any suggestions will be appreciated.


----------



## wimpy69

Got a level view pic of your baffle install?


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## AustinPynes

Here is the pic


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## AustinPynes

Looking at it myself I see now the top hole is blocked....


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## AustinPynes

Reworked the baffle to be straight out and was able to get into the 300s...now comes the learning


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## wimpy69

Glad to see you got it. Stay above invert plane of top hole and you'll be fine. You can also drill some vent hole in the plate to balance out hot spots. 
	

		
			
		

		
	










	

		
			
		

		
	
 What i've learned from modding mine was once i got it sealed up tight and had my plate in it wanted more air to move heat thru cc to exhaust. Trimmed ash pan which sits in front of bottom of air inlets and blocks acouple sq"'s from under grate flow. I also added upper air inlets to help push air thru without affecting coals (read Dave Omak's -postings on upper air inlets, thanks dave) and opened up my exhaust to 3.5". Check out post #311 in this thread. Example, 60*ambient @235* I can average +/-5hrs full basket w/minion plate. Lower air open 10-15%, upper air 25-50%. With the bigger exhaust I can easily bring temps up fast by closing upper inlets and have all air go to grate. Really works well.


----------



## AustinPynes

wimpy69 said:


> Glad to see you got it. Stay above invert plane of top hole and you'll be fine. You can also drill some vent hole in the plate to balance out hot spots.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> View attachment 353448
> View attachment 353449
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> What i've learned from modding mine was once i got it sealed up tight and had my plate in it wanted more air to move heat thru cc to exhaust. Trimmed ash pan which sits in front of bottom of air inlets and blocks acouple sq"'s from under grate flow. I also added upper air inlets to help push air thru with affecting coals (read Dave Omak's -postings on upper air inlets, thanks dave) and opened up my exhaust to 3.5". Check out post #311 in this thread. Example, 60*ambient @235* I can average +/-5hrs full basket w/minion plate. Lower air open 10-15%, upper air 25-50%. With the bigger exhaust I can easily bring temps up fast by closing upper inlets and have all air go to grate. Really works well.



I was reading your post and felt like I have been here before...finally realized it was when I was modifying my Harley road king when I was riding...fly an airplane now...ruined me for riding...anyway..the point is we opened up the air cleaner, opened up the fuel injectors and opened up the exhaust....funny how same dynamics ...nature...physics work.

I did finally recognize I had a flow problem in the smoker. Just couldn’t figure out why.  Would be nice to replace the exhaust stock chimney with something bigger and more adjustable.....and of course the intake...will take a look at the ash pan and see about trimming her back....course the only thing left to do now is build a new firebox. Then I will need a new smoke box....and before you know it I have a new smoker...just kidding...think I will stick to the intake and exhaust.  From a Harley perspective we would call it a Stage II upgrade.

Thanks for the advice and I will look up Dave O.s posts. Thanks also for making me take a pic of my baffle....was a duh moment for me. Want to drill holes too...just need to go get the right bits that can cut the metal.


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## wimpy69

Step bits with plenty of lube, lower rpm drill motor works the best. If I get a chance i'll get a pic of how I did the ash drawer, when  it stops pouring rain--correct analogy, jetting your Dyna Glo, sounds impressive.lol


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## Midwest coast

Just got mine put together last night. I used  silicone everywhere where I thought it would be needed and used a lava lock gasket for both doors. I plan on seasoning it tomorrow and trying my first cook with it on Sunday. I'm going to do a couple racks of ribs and some chicken any tips on how I should burn my charcoal?


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## SmokyRick

Hey all! I've decided to sign up and join in on the conversation.  A few weeks ago, I finally purchased a reasonable grill (a Weber 22.5 inch) after a long time of not having a grill (or place to grill) and got back into bbq'ing. Mainly thanks to a friend of mine, who love to bbq as well, and kind of reminded me that "hey, I like doing this too!" 

All that said, I felt bad for my nice little Weber after multiple weekends of acting as a smoker, and never grilling (and the mess that was accumulating on the lid), so started looking at inexpensive smokers, and came across a good deal on the standard dyna-glo.  While waiting for it to arrive and many UPS shenanigans I found this forum.  I was pretty happy to see others using and talking about this model, since I hadn't heard much about it before. 

I got it put together last night, and honestly, I gotta say thanks to all of you in this forum.  I wouldn't have thought about some of the things like sealing it up and some of the basic issues that y'all have come across.  Because of those tips (and I believe someone even mentioned using a flashlight to help find holes BEFORE even lighting it up) I feel pretty good about the results of the assembly and sealing.  I'm looking forward to seasoning it tonight, after waiting for the silicon to cure. 

I'm definitely looking forward to sharing pics of the results with y'all, but most importantly I wanted to say thanks for all the tips and advice you've been sharing in here.

Unrelated to the Dyna-glo: Tri-Tip and Pulled Pork, smoked for 12 hours on Charcoal and Applewood (about 50/50) with my Weber.


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## AustinPynes

Follow up to earlier posts. Just smoked some Italian sausage and ribs......outstanding cook for this newbie. Will use less smoke next time but very good.  Thanks everyone on this forum for all the information.


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## wimpy69

Good to here and looks great. More you use it the, more you'll get it dialed in.


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## SmokyRick

Wow, what a weekend. I finally had the opportunity to cook with this little guy over two days. 

I have to say, I'm kind of up in the air about how I feel about this smoker. I think if anything, I'll start with the good news, which is basically that the food I cooked up came out well and cooked to temp based on time (12-13 hours).

So now the negative.

It's sealed up pretty darn tight (as I mentioned, I checked out what people had been saying about this smoker and the mods).  There's a couple of tiny leaks at the Cooking chamber handle and thermometer, but small enough to be pretty negligible.  If the thermometers are to be believed (using the thermometer that came with the unit, tested by sticking the probe side in boiling water (using chopsticks to hold it over), it's accurate, and my weber i-grill as ambient)... Fully stoked firebox, never really consistently got above 200 most of the time. Halfway through the cook, I was inspecting the fire and noticing that opening the door causes ignition (even with fully open vents), and noticed the ash-tray is definitely blocking airflow.  Pulling that out, I started to see a bit more heat coming in to the chamber and hitting a somewhat steady 218-220 (measured via i-grill on lowest rack, ambient), but still not really where I want to be. Cracking the firebox door slightly did help to bring in a bit more air in and get that temp up, but obviously not a viable solution long term. 

Some of this is still a bit questionable regarding my methods, as I noticed slightly better temps as my water tray became less full, and acting more as a baffle than an insulator, but without and while empty (during seasoning) I had seen temps range from 230 to almost 300 in different areas of the box, so as you can probably imagine it was reasonable to assume a baffle was/is needed, and waterpan is semi questionable (perhaps I need to use a smaller water pan just for moisture). 

If anything, the one thing I want to kind of let people know as a review about this unit, is that if you're looking for a cheap smoker to try your hand with, I don't think this is the one. Time and material cost alone, this unit probably cost more than something in the 250-300$ range, once I'm able to get it consistently working as intended.  As an apartment dweller, for me, I don't have the tools or space to cut metal reasonably or hardcore mod this little guy to really dial it in (like cutting the bottom of the firebox to move the ash tray, which I need to do now) or cut larger holes to get more air into the firebox. 

I think if you're just starting out, a Weber Grill is probably a good bet (because I have to assume you have one or another grill already), but if you want to step up your game and quantity of items you're cooking give this one a pass.  I don't think it's bad or horrible, it just takes a lot more than expected to get results (even when you're prepared by reading others' experiences).

Pics! 

The first two are from my first experimental run with a roughly 6.5lbs pork butt. Only registered around 160 before I pulled it off the grill ( it was late and I'd had enough for the day), but still fully cooked and pretty delicious. Smoked with Spent bourbon barrel (oak i'm sure) and cherry, with charcoal briquettes. 

The second two photos are from Sunday, around 10lbs and 8lbs butts (this is about halfway through cooking, no photos of the finished larger one... yet). The second photo is of the smaller one, fairly fresh out of the smoker, with the bone pulled right out, no fuss.  Good and huge smoke ring, moist and shredded up really well.  Cooked with lump charcoal, and a 70/30 mix of Bourbon barrel chunks and cherrywood.  Lump charcoal is definitely better in this smoker.

A good reason why I'm so mixed about this smoker. The result was good, but the inconsistency of it's function is hard to swallow, and I could have had the same results on my weber kettle grill with less fuel (I went through 4 bags this weekend just for these results.  That seems really excessive.  Maybe someone can enlighten me if that was their experience with this as well over a 12-14 hour period. 

Cheers guys!


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## Midwest coast

Ive used mine twice now. First time did four racks of ribs and some chicken thighs. Temperature held pretty well where I wanted it  but had problems getting it back up to Temp after my first round of charcoal burnt out. Second cook I did 2 chickens halfed. This time my temperature rose higher than what I wanted and I had problems getting it back down. On both Cooks I did notice the Flames coming into the cooking Chamber from the Firebox so I can see why a baffle would be needed. Any tips on getting a more consistent cook would be appreciated?thanks


----------



## SmokyRick

Midwest coast said:


> Ive used mine twice now. First time did four racks of ribs and some chicken thighs. Temperature held pretty well where I wanted it  but had problems getting it back up to Temp after my first round of charcoal burnt out. Second cook I did 2 chickens halfed. This time my temperature rose higher than what I wanted and I had problems getting it back down. On both Cooks I did notice the Flames coming into the cooking Chamber from the Firebox so I can see why a baffle would be needed. Any tips on getting a more consistent cook would be appreciated?thanks




Hey, glad to know I'm not the only one having issues.  Funny enough, something occurred to me as I was sitting at my desk about to order foil pans.

"It's the airflow stupid!" (which I had already sussed out), but it came as a "eureka" moment as my drip pans/water pans) are about the same size as my racks.  Yes, there is airflow around them, but in the standard version of this smoker, definitely not enough.  

So honestly, the reason why i'm replying to/quoting the poster above me, is because I can imagine that our issues are very related. 

Even if we aren't particularly using the same size drip pans (or perhaps no drip pan), if you're using the narrow version of this, consider exactly where and how you're placing your meat inside this thing. A butterflied whole chicken is going to disrupt airflow and act as a baffle restricting airflow quite a bit.  Perhaps that is the main downfall to the standard model. Even though it boasts a reasonable size cooking area, the reality is that it's not all practically usable, without a blower.  There's just not enough room around the sides to get the airflow/draft through the cook box. I was planning on taking a rest this weekend, but maybe I'll take a small stab at it with some chicken and reconsider how food is laid out in this little guy. 

If my suspicions are correct, then ribs would probably smother this thing if laid out on the racks, meaning hooks should probably be installed from the top to hang some cuts vertically.

I'd love to hear what others think of this philosophy. 

Cheers guys and gals!


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## Gwanger

fire34 said:


> Hello, I just purchased a Dnya Glo offset smoker a few weeks ago and love it. I have used it twice so far with plans to use this weekend. The only issue I have had it maitaining my temp. Any suggestions? I have adjusted my ventsd but haven't found a sweet spot yet. Overall I have been super happy. good luck


Fire I also own the bigger dyna-glo offset vertical, I noticed in the pics that your dyna -glo comes with a charcoal basket have you tried the minion method in you charcoal basket? I am already planning to fix some air gaps that I found when assembling the smoker. Mine did not come with a charcoal basket so I had to buy one with minion bars for $97. I am going to use rtv sealant and gasket tape when it gets warm enough for sealant to cure. If after sealing gaps and trying minion bars I am going for broke and try the Flame Boss 300 automatic temp controller.I hope I can get things figured out before having to buy the Flame Boss, it costs more than the smoker did, ouch!!!


----------



## endonesia

SmokyRick said:


> Hey, glad to know I'm not the only one having issues.  Funny enough, something occurred to me as I was sitting at my desk about to order foil pans.
> 
> "It's the airflow stupid!" (which I had already sussed out), but it came as a "eureka" moment as my drip pans/water pans) are about the same size as my racks.  Yes, there is airflow around them, but in the standard version of this smoker, definitely not enough.
> 
> So honestly, the reason why i'm replying to/quoting the poster above me, is because I can imagine that our issues are very related.
> 
> Even if we aren't particularly using the same size drip pans (or perhaps no drip pan), if you're using the narrow version of this, consider exactly where and how you're placing your meat inside this thing. A butterflied whole chicken is going to disrupt airflow and act as a baffle restricting airflow quite a bit.  Perhaps that is the main downfall to the standard model. Even though it boasts a reasonable size cooking area, the reality is that it's not all practically usable, without a blower.  There's just not enough room around the sides to get the airflow/draft through the cook box. I was planning on taking a rest this weekend, but maybe I'll take a small stab at it with some chicken and reconsider how food is laid out in this little guy.
> 
> If my suspicions are correct, then ribs would probably smother this thing if laid out on the racks, meaning hooks should probably be installed from the top to hang some cuts vertically.
> 
> I'd love to hear what others think of this philosophy.
> 
> Cheers guys and gals![/



This is the only picture I have, but, when doing ribs in the small offset, I hang them from the top rack. Also, I don't use a drip pan so to speak. I have the bottom of my smoker covered in foil, and I place a tin pan (I'd say 1/2 the size of a cooking rack) on the rack just above the FB to CC opening. I can maintain temps of 225-250 for 6-8 without refueling.  The only mods I have done are sealing between the FB and CC, after market thermometer (factory one got stuck one night after I opened up the gates to burn off the rest of the fuel). I haven't even lava rocked the doors yet. Usually when I smoke large amounts of food, I place the larger items up top and work my way to the lower racks with smaller items. This time of year (I live in Iowa) its cold, so starting in the late fall and most of the winter (depending on temps) I only cold smoke. I get all my cheese done for the year and any nuts, fish, salt and whiskey I may want/need throughout the year.


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## Midwest coast

Did my third cook today and the temperature held better at a consistent 225 to 230. I put my water pan on the bottom rack instead of the floor to also work as a battle. I also tried a different way of lighting my charcoal. Instead of putting my light coals in the middle like a volcano I put them all in one of the corners about 12. I didn't have any temperature spikes and it stayed at a consistent 225 to 230.


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## Gwanger

Midwest coast said:


> Did my third cook today and the temperature held better at a consistent 225 to 230. I put my water pan on the bottom rack instead of the floor to also work as a battle. I also tried a different way of lighting my charcoal. Instead of putting my light coals in the middle like a volcano I put them all in one of the corners about 12. I didn't have any temperature spikes and it stayed at a consistent 225 to 230.


I am glad to hear you had better temp control today, there is more than one way to burn charcoal using the minion method and a charcoal basket glad to hear you had better luck today without cutting up your fire box, as mentioned earlier. Don't panic you will figure it all out.


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## Midwest coast

So now it looks like I can get a consistent 225. Next to see how I can get it up around 250 consistently. Maybe start off with a few more lid briquettes?


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## Gwanger

Midwest coast said:


> So now it looks like I can get a consistent 225. Next to see how I can get it up around 250 consistently. Maybe start off with a few more lid briquettes?


are you using minion method to reach 225 deg. if so I would make small adjustments to air flo at fire box not much bc you are already at 225 deg.How much is exhaust vent  open. these are the two I would be playing with bc you are right there, to much correction might lead to frustration


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## Midwest coast

I do use the minion method. The first couple times I did it like a volcano with the 15 lit coals in the middle. But last time I put 12 lit coals in one of the corners. I had my vent all the way open on the Firebox. So after the 3 to 4 hours runs out and I need to relight again any ideas on what is the best way to do so?


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## wimpy69

Scrape hots to front corner and add new pre- heated charcoal. Open air intake till they're going then choke down to temp. Good time to empty ash pan while refueling.


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## Midwest coast

Thanks but how do you preheat your charcoal?


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## Gwanger

Midwest coast said:


> Thanks but how do you preheat your charcoal?


I think he means light it in a charcoal chimney and add to unlit coals open fire box damper.I usually wait till temps drop to 200 deg. and light another chimney of coals open your fire box damper and add chimney of lit coals or if you need an extended fire for pork butt or beef brisket add chimney to more unlit coals.Once you are back in your temp range start to adjust damper on the fire box It will all make sense soon.


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## Midwest coast

How much of a chimney do you usually put in when relighting?


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## wimpy69

(I think he means light it in a charcoal chimney and add to unlit coals open fire box damper.)

No, I mean I have a container of charcoal that I sit on top of firebox preheating along with my wood. Really cuts down on pre-light white smoke and doesnt rob all the heat out of the hots that are in the fire basket. The Stubbs that I use is a dense briquet and if it went in cold it would really delay a proper minion 're-light.


----------



## Midwest coast

I did my fourth cook on the Dyna-Glo over the weekend. I did some St Louis spares, pork belly burnt ends and some pork tenderloin. Everything ran pretty smooth at a constant 225 for the first 3 to 4 hours and when I did a relight it pretty much ran at about 250 for the rest of the time.


----------



## nursewizzle

endonesia said:


> This time of year (I live in Iowa) its cold, so starting in the late fall and most of the winter (depending on temps) I only cold smoke.



Whereabouts in Iowa? Iowa City here.


----------



## Gwanger

nursewizzle said:


> Whereabouts in Iowa? Iowa City here.


are you able to cold smoke on your dyna-glo, havent tried on mine yet.


----------



## The Butt Man

I got a Dyno-Glo vertical this past December. I’ve been cooking on it for the past 3 months and love it so far. Good luck with yours.


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## Gwanger

nursewizzle said:


> Whereabouts in Iowa? Iowa City here.


Nursewizzle,according to your original post at the end you say you only cold smoke,how do you do it with your Dyna-glo,keeping temps under 75-80* need to know your secret,or are you just blowing smoke?


----------



## nursewizzle

Gwanger said:


> Nursewizzle,according to your original post at the end you say you only cold smoke,how do you do it with your Dyna-glo,keeping temps under 75-80* need to know your secret,or are you just blowing smoke?



I've never said I only cold smoke. Sorry, I don't have any secrets to share.


----------



## endonesia

nursewizzle said:


> Whereabouts in Iowa? Iowa City here.


cedar rapids here


----------



## endonesia

Gwanger said:


> Nursewizzle,according to your original post at the end you say you only cold smoke,how do you do it with your Dyna-glo,keeping temps under 75-80* need to know your secret,or are you just blowing smoke?


I cold smoke whenever temps allow me too. I purchased a smoke tube for pellets and just fill it up and throw it in the firebox. I have probably cold smoked 250 pound of cheese this winter alone. If the ambient temps are close to 70, just move the smoker into the shade and allow it to sit to acclimate to the shaded temp before beginning to cold smoke.


----------



## duke-wayne-fan

wimpy69 said:


> Glad to see you got it. Stay above invert plane of top hole and you'll be fine. You can also drill some vent hole in the plate to balance out hot spots.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> View attachment 353448
> View attachment 353449
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> What i've learned from modding mine was once i got it sealed up tight and had my plate in it wanted more air to move heat thru cc to exhaust. Trimmed ash pan which sits in front of bottom of air inlets and blocks acouple sq"'s from under grate flow. I also added upper air inlets to help push air thru with affecting coals (read Dave Omak's -postings on upper air inlets, thanks dave) and opened up my exhaust to 3.5". Check out post #311 in this thread. Example, 60*ambient @235* I can average +/-5hrs full basket w/minion plate. Lower air open 10-15%, upper air 25-50%. With the bigger exhaust I can easily bring temps up fast by closing upper inlets and have all air go to grate. Really works well.



How did you open up the exhaust? Did you take the factory one off and put a new one on? I've been thinking about changing mine to a longer one to get better exhaust draft


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## wimpy69

Rotozip w/metal cutting bit. Actually I never installed the factory unit. At 1 7/8", I felt it was to small for proper draft especially after installing plate let alone filling the racks with spares. With 3.5" you can leave the rear 3 rivnuts in if you want to use them as attach points. For now I just use a 6"h piece of coiled flashing sealed by nomex tubing around cut edge. May go to 4" which I would trim out exsisting rivnuts then use either a flanged butterfly takeoff with new rivnuts for attach points or a 4" starter collar w/damper.


----------



## duke-wayne-fan

wimpy69 said:


> Rotozip w/metal cutting bit. Actually I never installed the factory unit. At 1 7/8", I felt it was to small for proper draft especially after installing plate let alone filling the racks with spares. With 3.5" you can leave the rear 3 rivnuts in if you want to use them as attach points. For now I just use a 6"h piece of coiled flashing sealed by nomex tubing around cut edge. May go to 4" which I would trim out exsisting rivnuts then use either a flanged butterfly takeoff with new rivnuts for attach points or a 4" starter collar w/damper.



Oh ok, here's what I did as a make shift solution. I cut off the hood piece from factory unit and took a section of my camping wood stove pipe and slid it over the current exhaust


----------



## Jerry Nelson

After a year of owning this I decided I like the smoker for the small initial cost. Instead of upgrading to a more expensive drum smoker I decided to do some research and get this one to work a little better. My two biggest issues with this smoker has always been the following.

1. Always getting thick white smoke during a cook
2. Hard to control temperatures; can't get the smoker hot enough with small fire, can't keep smoke down with large fires 

Because of the previous the smoker has made me great brisket and pulled pork (because they can handle more smoke), but horrible ribs over the past year.

After many hours of watching Franklin BBQ episodes  I decided the problem with this smoker if that the flue is too small, and in the wrong location. Watch this (http://www.pbs.org/video/bbq-franklin-episode-4-pits/). He places his smoke stack even with the cooking surface and is a significant diameter. Even on his small demonstration smoker (Old Country BBQ Pits) the flue is mid drum and large. I realize this is a vertical, and the flow will be different, but I thought it is worth a shot. So, I just got done cutting a 4" diameter hole in the cooking chamber just below the lowest rack and installing a stainless steel pipe held in with angle brackets and RTV gasket sealant.

Mcmaster parts 2561K15, 2561K811 https://www.mcmaster.com/

After installing I decided to do some testing with weather at 55 degrees and light drizzle. I initially used no water pan or tuning shelf with lava rock, and the temperature with a small fire (pictured) rocketed up to +350. I then added a water pan, a metal shelf and lava rock (shelf and rock is my usual setup) and the temp held firm at 250. For both of these configurations I never saw large plumes of white smoke and the fire always looked bright (air intake 25% open). I then decided to max out the firebox with wood while holding the air intake the same, the temperature peaked out at 325.

I initially planned to cap the factory flue, but will keep it through the first cook at least. During the test, the factory flue fully closed let out some smoke and the new chimney tons of heat with a little smoke. I realize I will probably go through more wood with this configuration. I just hope the temperatures are more stable and the smoke better quality.

First cook will be tomorrow and will let you know how everything turns out. Cooking some Porkbelly cubes and a slab of spareribs.


----------



## simsfmly

Pretty fascinating.  I like the shelf of lava rock, and might try that.  I really haven't had a problem keeping mine at a good temperature, but your ideas make perfect sense.


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## Jerry Nelson

Worked great to make porkbelly. Nice and clean smoke the whole time and easy to control temperatures. I am going to keep the factory flue


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## Patrick G

I just got this smoker for father's day and will be using it to smoke a pork should on Sunday. After years of using a modified cheapo smoke'n grill, I'm psyched about this unit. I just threw my cheapo out. It was pretty much completely rusted out. I used it for over 10 years and was able to produce some good BBQ on it. This Dyna-glo will be an upgrade for me regardless of what little issues it might have, so I'm going into this optimistically. Having spent years modifying and really having to hone my skills to make decent BBQ on that thing, I know what I'm getting into. 

I plan on assembling it on Friday evening so I can fire it up Saturday morning for curing and assessment run, then make some modifications early Saturday evening so I can start the shoulder first thing Sunday morning. I see lots of great info in this thread, so I already have a bit of a game plan going in. I'll update along the way this weekend.


----------



## Patrick G

I've noticed that several posters have used water pans and have struggled with getting to temp. I had to use one with my cheapo for years. It was the only way of getting semi-indirect heat and keeping temps stable with my setup. I suggest boiling your water before adding it. Otherwise, you will use half of your initial fuel bringing your water and smoker up to temp and will then lose some of your heat when you have to add more fuel. I am hoping that I won'tt have to use a water pan at all with this smoker, but that is what I suggest if you are using one.


----------



## simsfmly

Patrick G said:


> I just got this smoker for father's day and will be using it to smoke a pork should on Sunday. After years of using a modified cheapo smoke'n grill, I'm psyched about this unit. I just threw my cheapo out. It was pretty much completely rusted out. I used it for over 10 years and was able to produce some good BBQ on it. This Dyna-glo will be an upgrade for me regardless of what little issues it might have, so I'm going into this optimistically. Having spent years modifying and really having to hone my skills to make decent BBQ on that thing, I know what I'm getting into.
> 
> I plan on assembling it on Friday evening so I can fire it up Saturday morning for curing and assessment run, then make some modifications early Saturday evening so I can start the shoulder first thing Sunday morning. I see lots of great info in this thread, so I already have a bit of a game plan going in. I'll update along the way this weekend.


Enjoy!  Still love mine.


----------



## Rings Я Us

Patrick G said:


> I just got this smoker for father's day and will be using it to smoke a pork should on Sunday. After years of using a modified cheapo smoke'n grill, I'm psyched about this unit. I just threw my cheapo out. It was pretty much completely rusted out. I used it for over 10 years and was able to produce some good BBQ on it. This Dyna-glo will be an upgrade for me regardless of what little issues it might have, so I'm going into this optimistically. Having spent years modifying and really having to hone my skills to make decent BBQ on that thing, I know what I'm getting into.
> 
> I plan on assembling it on Friday evening so I can fire it up Saturday morning for curing and assessment run, then make some modifications early Saturday evening so I can start the shoulder first thing Sunday morning. I see lots of great info in this thread, so I already have a bit of a game plan going in. I'll update along the way this weekend.


I also bought the wide body.. just did ribs and jerky on it.  I did put a heat deflector inside above the fire box to cook chamber opening.  The heat there goes up and creates uneven distribution.

Also some heavy duty landscaping bricks covered in foil  help hold heat.
	

		
			
		

		
	















Here I only put in the pan and extra brick for scale and show.


----------



## Patrick G

Smoked a 6 pound Boston butt in it on Father's Day. I did not do any modifications. I sprayed it down well inside and out with Pam grilling spray and ran it for a few hours with some regular charcoal I had left over on Saturday. I was impressed at how well it maintained temperature with only 8 coals. 

I marinated my Boston Butt overnight in mustard and rub. I fired up my lump charcoal at 5:00 am and let it burn outside of the smoker for about 20 minutes before put it in the fire box. I started the butt at about 6 and fed the box with a handful of apple chips and a handful of Jack Daniels Oak chips every 30-60 minutes. I added 2-3 pieces of the lump charcoal when the temp needle got down near the bottom of the target range. After about 5 hours, I stopped adding wood chips as often. I noticed that the temp went high (to around 300) a couple of times, usually 10 minutes or so after I added charcoal. I just opened the fire box for a few minutes when I noticed it like this and it went back down. 

I put in a dutch oven of baked beans at 2. At that time, the pork had about 8 hours of smoke on it. It looked great, but I could tell that it had gotten a little too hot on the bottom side, probably when the temp was up to 300 or so and I didn't know. 

After a couple more hours. I removed the meat and the beans. The meat tasted incredible. As I expected, the bottom was crispy, so I had to remove it as I was pulling the meat apart for sandwiches. The beans were excellent as well. 

My overall impression was that this is a very good smoker for the price. It was very easy to use compared to my old modified cheapo bullet I used for years. I got 12 hours of cook out of about 7 lbs of lump charcoal and several handfuls of wood chips. I didn't have to open the smoker door until I put the beans in, and I wouldn't have had to do it then if I had not been adding something. I like the damper on the fire box and the chimney, but I honestly only had to adjust these a couple of times, because this thing cooked like a champ. I can see where these features will be more important in the fall and winter, however. 

Things I learned:

1) I can just add 1-2 big pieces of lump charcoal at a time and keep the heat from going up too high as well as avoid wasting any fuel. 
2) I can see the reason for the deflector plate mod. I might try that out. Have you noticed a significant benefit?
3) I will use more wood chips next time. I felt like the meat could have used a little more smoke. 
4) I don't see where I need to make any mods to it at this time other than maybe the deflector plate. 

I plan on smoking some wings and maybe some beef jerky this weekend. Next weekend, I think I'll throw some ribs on and maybe try some souvlaki in there.


----------



## fricard

Yes, the deflector plate is essential.  After 18mos, I couldn't imagine myself using this thing without it.
--FR


----------



## Rings Я Us

Patrick G said:


> Smoked a 6 pound Boston butt in it on Father's Day. I did not do any modifications. I sprayed it down well inside and out with Pam grilling spray and ran it for a few hours with some regular charcoal I had left over on Saturday. I was impressed at how well it maintained temperature with only 8 coals.
> 
> I marinated my Boston Butt overnight in mustard and rub. I fired up my lump charcoal at 5:00 am and let it burn outside of the smoker for about 20 minutes before put it in the fire box. I started the butt at about 6 and fed the box with a handful of apple chips and a handful of Jack Daniels Oak chips every 30-60 minutes. I added 2-3 pieces of the lump charcoal when the temp needle got down near the bottom of the target range. After about 5 hours, I stopped adding wood chips as often. I noticed that the temp went high (to around 300) a couple of times, usually 10 minutes or so after I added charcoal. I just opened the fire box for a few minutes when I noticed it like this and it went back down.
> 
> I put in a dutch oven of baked beans at 2. At that time, the pork had about 8 hours of smoke on it. It looked great, but I could tell that it had gotten a little too hot on the bottom side, probably when the temp was up to 300 or so and I didn't know.
> 
> After a couple more hours. I removed the meat and the beans. The meat tasted incredible. As I expected, the bottom was crispy, so I had to remove it as I was pulling the meat apart for sandwiches. The beans were excellent as well.
> 
> My overall impression was that this is a very good smoker for the price. It was very easy to use compared to my old modified cheapo bullet I used for years. I got 12 hours of cook out of about 7 lbs of lump charcoal and several handfuls of wood chips. I didn't have to open the smoker door until I put the beans in, and I wouldn't have had to do it then if I had not been adding something. I like the damper on the fire box and the chimney, but I honestly only had to adjust these a couple of times, because this thing cooked like a champ. I can see where these features will be more important in the fall and winter, however.
> 
> Things I learned:
> 
> 1) I can just add 1-2 big pieces of lump charcoal at a time and keep the heat from going up too high as well as avoid wasting any fuel.
> 2) I can see the reason for the deflector plate mod. I might try that out. Have you noticed a significant benefit?
> 3) I will use more wood chips next time. I felt like the meat could have used a little more smoke.
> 4) I don't see where I need to make any mods to it at this time other than maybe the deflector plate.
> 
> I plan on smoking some wings and maybe some beef jerky this weekend. Next weekend, I think I'll throw some ribs on and maybe try some souvlaki in there.


A 6 hour jerky cook last weekend turned out great with the deflector. I changed racks around 2 times to keep more even heat on it all. I used 4 racks for jerky and it was spaced out nice with 5 lbs of cut meat. This jerky cooked very evenly. No burnt pieces. I did keep it all away from the very edges of the racks. I maintained 150-170 bottom to top. 

 I suggest using briquettes and starting with  only half a basket. Use a torch and only light up 4 or so in one corner. After 30 minutes you should be able to close the intake down to almost closed. I used one big chunk of hickory for the entire 6 hours. Was plenty of smoke.


----------



## Rings Я Us

My updated deflector. I left 2 flaps bent over to allow aluminum foil to be secured under them.


----------



## Rings Я Us

Jerry Nelson said:


> After a year of owning this I decided I like the smoker for the small initial cost. Instead of upgrading to a more expensive drum smoker I decided to do some research and get this one to work a little better. My two biggest issues with this smoker has always been the following.
> 
> 1. Always getting thick white smoke during a cook
> 2. Hard to control temperatures; can't get the smoker hot enough with small fire, can't keep smoke down with large fires
> 
> Because of the previous the smoker has made me great brisket and pulled pork (because they can handle more smoke), but horrible ribs over the past year.
> 
> After many hours of watching Franklin BBQ episodes  I decided the problem with this smoker if that the flue is too small, and in the wrong location. Watch this (http://www.pbs.org/video/bbq-franklin-episode-4-pits/). He places his smoke stack even with the cooking surface and is a significant diameter. Even on his small demonstration smoker (Old Country BBQ Pits) the flue is mid drum and large. I realize this is a vertical, and the flow will be different, but I thought it is worth a shot. So, I just got done cutting a 4" diameter hole in the cooking chamber just below the lowest rack and installing a stainless steel pipe held in with angle brackets and RTV gasket sealant.
> 
> Mcmaster parts 2561K15, 2561K811 https://www.mcmaster.com/
> 
> After installing I decided to do some testing with weather at 55 degrees and light drizzle. I initially used no water pan or tuning shelf with lava rock, and the temperature with a small fire (pictured) rocketed up to +350. I then added a water pan, a metal shelf and lava rock (shelf and rock is my usual setup) and the temp held firm at 250. For both of these configurations I never saw large plumes of white smoke and the fire always looked bright (air intake 25% open). I then decided to max out the firebox with wood while holding the air intake the same, the temperature peaked out at 325.
> 
> I initially planned to cap the factory flue, but will keep it through the first cook at least. During the test, the factory flue fully closed let out some smoke and the new chimney tons of heat with a little smoke. I realize I will probably go through more wood with this configuration. I just hope the temperatures are more stable and the smoke better quality.
> 
> First cook will be tomorrow and will let you know how everything turns out. Cooking some Porkbelly cubes and a slab of spareribs.
> 
> View attachment 364281
> 
> 
> View attachment 364283
> 
> 
> View attachment 364284




Looks like a blacksmith could use that fire  for shoeing horses


----------



## Cap'n'Crunk

My in-laws gave us the Dyna-Glo wide-body vertical smoker as an early wedding present so they could cook 8 pork butts (4 at a time) to feed our wedding. It worked great. I put it together with some various modifications I've seen here and on other sites, but with a couple differences that some might find useful.

For starters, as others have done, I sealed all the joining surfaces, bolt holes, gaps between panels, and other manufacturing defects with Food Grade NSF FDA RTV Silicone Sealant as I was putting it together, to minimize air leaks and heat loss:













Seal 1



__ Cap'n'Crunk
__ Jul 8, 2018


















Seal 2



__ Cap'n'Crunk
__ Jul 8, 2018


















IMG_20180503_154040151[1]



__ Cap'n'Crunk
__ Jul 8, 2018






Also as others have done, I made a little baffle out of a 19"/19" square of stainless steel sheet metal from Lowe's. I attached it by using the existing 2 top bolts that hold the firebox on.













IMG_20180708_131139717[1]



__ Cap'n'Crunk
__ Jul 8, 2018


















IMG_20180708_131145073[1]



__ Cap'n'Crunk
__ Jul 8, 2018


















IMG_20180708_131148832[1]



__ Cap'n'Crunk
__ Jul 8, 2018






Initially I added some of the LavaLock BBQ gasket tape to seal the firebox (the gasket that comes installed on the smoke box works fine). However I've found that the firebox door closes unevenly which makes a bigger gap on the latch edge than on the hinged edge, and I can't get it to seal quite completely using this stuff (even doubling it up on one end). After looking at it some more, I'm going to remove this stuff and just make a gasket using a bead of RTV silicone, which squishes and conforms better.













IMG_20180503_154117841_HDR[1]



__ Cap'n'Crunk
__ Jul 8, 2018






Next, I saw that a number of people have attached some kind of insulation to the outside of the thing to retain heat and use less fuel, which is a great idea. But welding together frames to hold in rockwool panels or other methods of installing rigid insulation seem over-engineered and tedious. I thought there had to to be a better way.

Then I saw a few people using these Tillman carbon felt (not fiberglass) welding blankets to insulate their smokers with, which seems like way better material to work with.













IMG_20180503_153932272_LL[1]



__ Cap'n'Crunk
__ Jul 8, 2018






However some people just cut a hole in the blanket for the chimney and drape the whole thing over while it's in use (which seems sloppy to me). A better idea I've seen one guy do is cut it up into panels then attach it to the walls with rivets, but that just creates more holes for air ingress/heat escape, requires special tools, and still seems like too much of a pain. None of the ways I've seen people attach insulation to the smoker made any sense to me. They've either put in too much effort or too little.

So what I did was measured each outside wall of the smoker and cut the blanket up into corresponding panels, then glued them to the walls with the same food grade RTV sealant, using magnets and clamps to hold them on while the adhesive set.













IMG_20180506_141332130_HDR[1]



__ Cap'n'Crunk
__ Jul 8, 2018


















IMG_20180506_141341880_HDR[1]



__ Cap'n'Crunk
__ Jul 8, 2018


















IMG_20180506_141921162_HDR[1]



__ Cap'n'Crunk
__ Jul 8, 2018


















IMG_20180506_144155401_HDR[1]



__ Cap'n'Crunk
__ Jul 8, 2018


















IMG_20180506_145444560_HDR[1]



__ Cap'n'Crunk
__ Jul 8, 2018






Finally, after a couple cooks it became apparent that the little square stock chimney was worthless. The little damper inside does basically nothing, and I had ended up having to control the airflow by wrapping a leftover piece of welding blanket around the thing and loosening/tightening it as needed. This wouldn't do. So instead I ordered a 6" piece of 4" schedule 40 steel pipe from Metals Depot and a LavaLock 4 1/2" Teardrop Smoke Stack Damper Assembly for 4" pipe and replaced the original smoke stack with this. I haven't bothered welding it on because the metal of the pipe is so thick, and the walls of the smoker are so thin. Besides it works great just sitting on top anyway (I plan on cleaning it up and painting it black with the high temp smoker paint next).













IMG_20180708_131218104[1]



__ Cap'n'Crunk
__ Jul 8, 2018






It heats very evenly. All of my thermometers agree. The two probes of the electric one here were in opposite corners of the smoke box (top left corner farthest from the firebox, and bottom right just above the baffle over the firebox hole).













IMG_20180509_141336451[1]



__ Cap'n'Crunk
__ Jul 8, 2018


















IMG_20180509_141343691_HDR[1]



__ Cap'n'Crunk
__ Jul 8, 2018






(I know it's only 141 but this was just the initial dry run/seasoning session).

Here it is "finished." I still want to replace the stock thermometer and add another one farther down, and also attach it to one of those Harbor Freight wheeled utility carts so I can move it around easier. Maybe some other things, we'll see. It's working great so far though--8 pork butts, 40 sausages, and a brisket later.













IMG_20180708_131230401[1]



__ Cap'n'Crunk
__ Jul 8, 2018


















7234852489512984535



__ Cap'n'Crunk
__ Jul 8, 2018


----------



## NCSU_MSE

Patrick G said:


> I've noticed that several posters have used water pans and have struggled with getting to temp. I had to use one with my cheapo for years. It was the only way of getting semi-indirect heat and keeping temps stable with my setup. I suggest boiling your water before adding it. Otherwise, you will use half of your initial fuel bringing your water and smoker up to temp and will then lose some of your heat when you have to add more fuel. I am hoping that I won'tt have to use a water pan at all with this smoker, but that is what I suggest if you are using one.




I used a water pan on my first two cooks and struggled as well.  Now I preheat a lasagna pan full of play sand (covered in foil) in the oven while preheating the smoker.  I've been able to control temps much better this way.


----------



## larryfoster

Wow!
Just read all 21 pages of this thread this morning and lots of great information.
Thanks.
I just got the wide model a couple weeks ago and have smoked a spatchcock chicken and a pork loin.
Chicken was ok but the loin was to die for.
Family raved.

Until now, my smoking attempts have been feeble and so-so results.
I was using a 3 in one monstrosity from Tractor Supply.
Gas grill, charcoal grill and offset smoker.

I assembled without mods but may end up going back to retrofit a few things after I get a better feel for it.
No noticeable smoke leaks but the flashlight tip seems like a good way to verify.
I don't know if this is a recent improvement but the smoke chamber door seems to have a pretty good gasket.

Others have mentioned the vent on the fire chamber sticking.
That happened to me, too, and I bent the tab.

I did have a little trouble keeping the fire hot for a long time.
I did have a pan with water.
I will try it with less water

Also, since it's going to be getting colder, I may try a welding blanket to cover.

It will require some experimentation and learning but, at first blush, I'm pretty happy.

Looking forward to doing some butt and shoulder as well as a brisket but not sure I'm ready for the longer times.

I'd like to make some deer baloney in the next couple weeks.
The hanging hooks attracted me to this one.

Thanks for this great forum.
Looking forward to poking around and learning to become a pit master


----------



## 316sports

Hello;

I just purchased the Dyna-Glo offset smoker and am now just waiting for it to be delivered.  I have a pretty silly question to ask about sealing it up.  Do you put the red RTV sealer on when you are putting together the smoker or do you use the smoker to see where the leaks come from first.  Do you have to actually then take apart the the smoker, seal it up and then reassemble the smoker?  I'm new to all this and just want to make sure my smoker is ready to go.  Thanks

Andrew


----------



## larryfoster

Good luck, Andrew.
Since I haven't done any mods yet I'm like to see those answers, too.

I saw a YouTube video where the guy sealed everything during assembly.
It looks like I may need to run a bead between the fire chamber and the cooking chamber.
I don't plan on disassembly to do this


----------



## 316sports

Thanks.  I'm super excited to be smoking again (took a couple years off) and I just want to make sure I have everything right or squared away.


----------



## Gwanger

Andrew, I have the bigger Dyna-glo smoker and I assembled it b4 applying RTV sealant bc I only needed it between fb and cc and cured the sealant with a heat gun, I would apply sealant around entire fb where fb goes thru cc, on inside of cc.Hope this helps, any other leaks were minimal.


----------



## papasmoker

Ive had mine for two years now. I put the sealant on as I put it together. 
1) It’s eaiser to do it as you go rather than assemble then disassemble then reassemble. 
2) I think that as the smoker ages and the metal expands and contracts you will develop leaks you didn’t see at first. 

Also I used lavalock tape to help seal the door rather than try to use the sealant. 

LavaLock 12 GREY High Performance BBQ gasket smoker seal SELF STICK 
All and all this is a great smoker. I hope you love it as much as I have.


----------



## wimpy69

Finally found its permanent resting place. More to come.


----------



## wimpy69

Enough for today.


----------



## PrezidentRedz

Just getting Started.


----------



## Ronald Anthony Jr

Wimly69 with your idea of the extra intake I added a exhaust. I easily kept my dynaglo wide body around 225-250 in 45 degree rainy weather(under carport). I smoked these two beauties.


----------



## Ronald Anthony Jr

Not finished but still smoking along.


----------



## OldFartFarmer

Hi all, My G?F just bought me one of these, and i got it together with theRTV450,
but when i stuck the weather stripping (wrong name) to the smoker door the upper and lower corner won't close tight,
can one tweak the door--like a cabinet door to get it to bend into flush? i don't want to break the welds,
 i noticed it was leaking smoke today on its break-in run,
the fire-box door wouldn't even close, so i took it off the door,
ill use the RTV on that later,

this is going to be a fun smoker for me, as ive been using a 22inch webber and its not really a smoker, but a great BBQ rig,
but im wanting to smoke jerky  lots of jerky,,teriyaki jerky,,im addicted

here it is on its smoke break-in, 28 deg out and puffing away at 225 deg

cheers
John


----------



## CMD

I just purchased a new Dyna Glo vertical smoker, haven't use it yet. Gonna do seal tight mods on it first. I have read that there is an issue with bringing up to temp and /or holding temps.  I'm gonna try  2000 degree castable clay refractory on all the inner surfaces to help hold the heat and maintain temp...Has anyone tried this yet?


----------



## Rings Я Us

CMD said:


> I just purchased a new Dyna Glo vertical smoker, haven't use it yet. Gonna do seal tight mods on it first. I have read that there is an issue with bringing up to temp and /or holding temps.  I'm gonna try  2000 degree castable clay refractory on all the inner surfaces to help hold the heat and maintain temp...Has anyone tried this yet?


I see people use the heat proof tiles inside to insulate and hold heat.  Not in this smoker but in some others of similar type. Set some on the top and inside on the bottom and sides up to the bottom rack level maybe. Couple on the top of the fire box perhaps. 
However you do your smokers insulation, remember, it's cheap and works ok in the summer months. Lol. I would just buy a better smoker that was thick or insulated if I had to do it over again.  CHARCOAL at $5 or $6 a bag is cheap enough to just go ahead and use 2 bags during a cook. I used 2 full bags of ridge doing a double butt cook the other day. I expected that. No big deal. 
Good luck.


----------



## PrezidentRedz

Ronald Anthony Jr said:


> Wimly69 with your idea of the extra intake I added a exhaust. I easily kept my dynaglo wide body around 225-250 in 45 degree rainy weather(under carport). I smoked these two beauties.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> View attachment 382303
> View attachment 382302
> View attachment 382303
> View attachment 382302
> View attachment 382303




Have any pictures of the mods you did?


----------



## Ronald Anthony Jr

I'll get them for you


----------



## OldFartFarmer

so im working on a "Minion-Burn-Insert"
don't know if ill have to drill holes in the bottom sheet or not, I figure ill fill the center first as its larger, to get my
first heat high, then as it wraps around in the smaller area the heat hopefully will taper down for a long burn,
(I made a spiral one for my 22inch webber grill and it works great)

anyways thats what im hoping,
im going to use coat hanger, through holes to keep it together and it will just sit in there on the shelf grill,

oh and im going to cut out a deflector and get it in the smoker side too,
,
cheers--its a balmy 2 deg here
,


----------



## James Coburn

Ok guys, I have been looking at this smoker for a while now and decided this is the one i want to modify. My wife says i have enough projects on my hands but this one is for me!
Im going to seal it up good and install a heat baffle. Then im going to add a heat element in the cook box for when i don't want to use wood or maybe to add a little extra. Im going to install a pid to control the heating element. I wanted a smoker that i could do both wood and electric with. So here we go!


----------



## James Coburn




----------



## marc74

James Coburn said:


> Ok guys, I have been looking at this smoker for a while now and decided this is the one i want to modify. My wife says i have enough projects on my hands but this one is for me!
> Im going to seal it up good and install a heat baffle. Then im going to add a heat element in the cook box for when i don't want to use wood or maybe to add a little extra. Im going to install a pid to control the heating element. I wanted a smoker that i could do both wood and electric with. So here we go!


James, post pictures when you're done and let us know how it does! I've been thinking about adding an electric or gas burning too.


----------



## gary s

You may have just started a whole new trend !!!    Smoking in the Living Room 

Gary


----------



## PrezidentRedz

OldFartFarmer said:


> so im working on a "Minion-Burn-Insert"
> don't know if ill have to drill holes in the bottom sheet or not, I figure ill fill the center first as its larger, to get my
> first heat high, then as it wraps around in the smaller area the heat hopefully will taper down for a long burn,
> (I made a spiral one for my 22inch webber grill and it works great)
> 
> anyways thats what im hoping,
> im going to use coat hanger, through holes to keep it together and it will just sit in there on the shelf grill,
> 
> oh and im going to cut out a deflector and get it in the smoker side too,
> ,
> cheers--its a balmy 2 deg here
> ,
> View attachment 382610



Did you test this out yet?



Ronald Anthony Jr said:


> I'll get them for you


Any Chance you took those pictures?


----------



## James Coburn

Ok so the first 2 mods were the stop on the wood basket so it doesn't come all the way out and drop on the ground. The second pic is the heat baffle in the cook box. Still need to add a leg on the end but waiting to install that after i install the heat element in the bottom. More to come later when my supplies come in.


----------



## PrezidentRedz

What did you make your baffle from?, and it also looks like you haven't seasoned this yet.  I can tell you a couple cans of canola oil worked the best for me.


----------



## James Coburn

PrezidentRedz said:


> What did you make your baffle from?, and it also looks like you haven't seasoned this yet.  I can tell you a couple cans of canola oil worked the best for me.


Baffle is made of 1/16 stainless. Had a piece of scrap at work. Just punched some holes in it and put a bend on the end. 
I just lit the first thing of charcoal in it to see what it would do a few minutes ago.


----------



## PrezidentRedz

I tried to find some stainless and couldn't. so used the top of a rain guard from a fireplace


----------



## OldFartFarmer

My Minion baffle didn't work, so i took a BIG "real big" tomato can and have that sitting in the basket, on the right hand side, and center,, i load and burn around the can
thats working very well,
I made my smoke-baffle from a bread holder, its a 3 roll french bread metalbaking sheet with a zillion holes in it
I flattened it out, bent one end at a 90 and have it sitting on my lowest shelf for now  its working very well
id do pics but im smoking 5pounds of jerky as i type, 35 deg out and its chugging along nicely


----------



## OldFartFarmer

I like your "stop" you made, im gonna copy you if its alright


----------



## James Coburn

OldFartFarmer said:


> I like your "stop" you made, im gonna copy you if its alright


Thats what this forum is all about my friend! Its pretty easy to do you just have to install it with a washer between the angle and the grate so that it still slides.


----------



## James Coburn

Did some more mods yesterday to the new smoker. I installed a heat element and pid to help keep the temp stable and just because it sounded like a great idea..lol
My question is where i should instsll my thermocouple that tells you what the temp is in the cook box. I was thinking about 6 inches from the top on the left side or middle on the back. What's your thoughts?


----------



## James Coburn

So i had some free time this evening so i installed the thermocouple in the back about 8 inches from the top. I also installed the cover over the back of the heat element connections.


----------



## marc74

James Coburn said:


> So i had some free time this evening so i installed the thermocouple in the back about 8 inches from the top. I also installed the cover over the back of the heat element connections.


Do you have a picture of the element you installed?


----------



## James Coburn

marc74 said:


> Do you have a picture of the element you installed?


----------



## Ronald Anthony Jr

James Coburn said:


> Did some more mods yesterday to the new smoker. I installed a heat element and pid to help keep the temp stable and just because it sounded like a great idea..lol
> My question is where i should instsll my thermocouple that tells you what the temp is in the cook box. I was thinking about 6 inches from the top on the left side or middle on the back. What's your thoughts?



What PID is that?


----------



## James Coburn

Ronald Anthony Jr said:


> What PID is that?


Its the mypin ta6. I got it off amazon. The only thing extra i had to buy was the heat sink for the relay. I did however buy a different thermocouple that was a bit longer.


----------



## PrezidentRedz

So has anyone done any modifications to the Exhaust or Air flow vents?


----------



## wimpy69

My chimney mod (post #399) made a huge difference and will be adding the butterfly take-off this spring. Ive also trimmed the ash drawer which blocks the bottom of the air intakes by about an inch which allows more under grate air flow. The most important air imod was the addition of upper air intakes  that's made it extremly efficient.


----------



## Ronald Anthony Jr

PrezidentRedz said:


> Have any pictures of the mods you did?


Check out post 451 I used his idea but only one intake and added an extra exhaust.


----------



## mikethehammer

FatFoodFat said:


> Hey all. Someone posted these earlier in the forum and they did not post the name of these fire/kiln bricks. I can not for the life of me find them online... Thanks in advance peeps!!


yup that was me that posted, ive been mia ill check it out and try to get you the name and where i got them


----------



## mikethehammer

FatFoodFat said:


> Hey all. Someone posted these earlier in the forum and they did not post the name of these fire/kiln bricks. I can not for the life of me find them online... Thanks in advance peeps!!


found them heres the link


----------



## CarRamrod

I'm new here and just got this smoker.  I has already planned adding a deflector to the inside of the smoking chamber.  I have been making fantastic meat on my primo and needed something to cook more than one piece of meat.  Having cooked on a ceramic, I have been playing with ideas on ways to insulate this thing.   

Has anyone though about using perlite and fireglass to line the fire chamber?  

Also has anyone created a new air intake that can connect a heatermeter fan or guru fan?


----------



## CarRamrod

I hope some of the regulars come in soon to discuss.  But I got my smoker together, i already planned to seal it with  high temp silicone and but a plate to disperse the heat, prior to finding this thread. Well i did all of that.   But i also wanted to insulate the fire box.   I did with the method i provided above, and have some lessons learned.   Well look at what the smoker did.    this is with no fan, light the center of the charcoal box with torch,  damper open about 1/2 for 15 mins ( until it reached 150 or so.)  then the damper closed completely, The damper doesnt seal well at all.  Im working on a mod for that to i can attach my RD3.      pit probe was on first rack right above the defuser plate, probe 1 2 was 2 racks up, probe 2 was 2 racks up from 1.  and probe 3 looks to have broken. lol. im going to run a few more tests.  but it looks as though insulating the fire box.  blows out any notion that this smoker cant get hot.  Next i need to insulate the meat chamber.  Thinking of sewing some welding blankets together to make a koozie that i could drape over it.   but the door will be tricky. I could plays a thinner layer of this mixture in there.  but it takes so long to dry, but i could fire it right off the bat.  i want to test that first though.  we will see.


----------



## ahakohda

Did some smoking past two days using Wide body. Lump charcoal and mix of apple and hickory wood. Once again it reminded me that it’s a great smoker but for short runs.
I still prefer WSM for ribs.

Duck






Duck breasts and pork belly





Chickens


----------



## Hennessy

I've had the narrow body version of this for 2 years now. I think for the money it's a great buy. The only mod I did was to add some hi-heat tape to the main door to help it seal up a bit better. I definitely have some challenges depending on the weather - especially wind, but I find that part of the fun. If you want a set-it-and-forget-it smoker then this one is not for you. That being said, I think you'll get a chance to achieve a better smoke flavor when you compare it to an electric smoker. I have even managed to win a few rib cookoffs on my Dyna-Glo. Granted they were small competitions but a win is a win!

Pros: inexpensive, easy to assemble, great natural wood smoke flavor, lots of room for meats

Cons: long smokes require babysitting, metal boxes are thin gauge, intakes are subpar, have to cut ribs in half to get on rack 

I'll probably look into getting a Yoder when I'm older and hopefully have some more coin in my pocket, but for now I like what I've got.


----------



## mpaisley88

Hey all! New to the forums here. I just ordered this smoker after years on my modded stick burner. 

 wimpy69
 I'm really interested in your upper air intake mods. Could you tell me more about them or point me in the right direction to find a post on them? I'd really appreciate it!


----------



## wimpy69

All my info came from Dave Omak's posting's on the subject. Thanks again Dave. Give a shout out to him and I'm sure he'll help you out.


----------



## mpaisley88

@daveomak I was told you might be able to point me in the right direction to find your upper air intake ideas on this unit or in general. Any help would be appreciated!


----------



## OldFartFarmer

anyone done a beer can chicken in theres yet
what rack are you using and what temp ?
im looking to try it on mine


----------



## mpaisley88

Alright yall, I just got this smoker set up and I started seasoning it last night. I used 1 chimney and some hickory and apple chips. It was late so I figured I'll get up and do it tomorrow again just for extra peace of mind considering I used a good deal of rtv. I monitored the temp and it got up to like 160f. I started it again with 1 3/4 chimneys today and I threw in 3 chunks of hickory and for the life of me I cant get this thing above 172f... I'd say I'm a novice at this. Some experience but not a ton. My dampers are fully open and this thing has been going for at least an hour with no signs of rising. Anyone else had this problem with this smoker?


----------



## PrezidentRedz

Haven't had any issues getting it hot.  Your saying that if you dump a full lit chimney in and close the fire box door, and have the dampers full open it will not get above 170deg F?  Are you also using a air temp probe or anything or just relying on the thermometer in the door?


----------



## mpaisley88

Thanks for the reply 

 PrezidentRedz
 yes I've got this thermometer hooked up inside the grill. Ignore the timer, I was keeping it on my phone and just decided to start it on there.


----------



## mpaisley88

I decided to crack the firebox door and it shot up to 178f so I'm starting to think it's an airflow issue with the door shut.


----------



## PrezidentRedz

Just curious what does the door show? and where do you have the probe?


----------



## mpaisley88

Door shows 145f and the probe is on the rack just about level with the probe. Door thermometer is garbage apparently.


----------



## PrezidentRedz

I did this mod last night, I still need to RTV it and get hardware to bolt it down. so we shall see if it makes a difference or if I screwed my self.


----------



## PrezidentRedz

As you can see here, this is before my mod, I can get it to run around 250 for the most part.


----------



## mpaisley88

Nice setup, would love to hear the result! I'm hoping this is just because it's a rainy day, although its covered.


----------



## mpaisley88

I installed a baffle plate out of some sheet metal. Do yall think its smart to have a water pan as well?


----------



## mpaisley88

PrezidentRedz
 or anyone else quick question. Do you have a baffle installed on yours, I just came across a reddit thread and a guy had the same problem as me. It came down to his baffle. I installed on yesterday before seasoning so I'm wondering if that may be my problem. I just uses the existing screws to install a piece of air duct metal (without holes. May need them). That reaches across the cc. Thoughts?


----------



## ahakohda

From my experience with wide body.
 Doing minion method and playing with firebox intake and top exhaust I can not get it higher than 170-180. No modifications inside or out.
 Best way so far was dumping 3/4 lit up briquettes and place few large charcoal on top. Let it go a little and start adjusting intake/exhaust at around 180f.  As well as placing foil pan right above firebox opening. If needed with water.

Manual advises to use 5lb of lit briquettes about 90 pieces.


----------



## marc74

I can't get mine over 190 if I have a water pan in it. Don't know why. I add boiling water to the pan. Without the water pan, I can sit at 250 all day.


----------



## CarRamrod

ahakohda said:


> From my experience with wide body.
> Doing minion method and playing with firebox intake and top exhaust I can not get it higher than 170-180. No modifications inside or out.
> Best way so far was dumping 3/4 lit up briquettes and place few large charcoal on top. Let it go a little and start adjusting intake/exhaust at around 180f.  As well as placing foil pan right above firebox opening. If needed with water.
> 
> Manual advises to use 5lb of lit briquettes about 90 pieces.


And from my experience I cant get mine to stay below 300 without a blower controller.  And that is WITH the vent shut.   But i also insulated my fire box.


----------



## mpaisley88

ahakohda
 thanks for the advice. I'm gonna try removing the baffle and using a water pan instead. Will update hopefully later this week.


----------



## PrezidentRedz

mpaisley88 said:


> ahakohda
> thanks for the advice. I'm gonna try removing the baffle and using a water pan instead. Will update hopefully later this week.


 
Post a picture of your baffle.  I have one and I run a water pan with no issues.  Im modifying the exhaust to hopefully let it draft better.



mpaisley88 said:


> I installed a baffle plate out of some sheet metal. Do yall think its smart to have a water pan as well?


  Depending on what your cooking yes.  Ill post some pictures of my setup, but I used a half size hotel pan below the bottom grate and put it right by the fire box.


----------



## PrezidentRedz

Here is my Baffle and water box setup.


----------



## mpaisley88

PrezidentRedz
 here's how I have it now. After looking at yours, you think its hanging too low?


----------



## PrezidentRedz

You could try bending it up some and just see, its all trial and error with a cheaper smoker.  But yeah it looks like your blocking to much of the upper hole.

Also mine isnt as wide as the smoker... that way the air can still move around.


----------



## ahakohda

PrezidentRedz said:


> View attachment 397395
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Here is my Baffle and water box setup.


 
I keep water box above fire box. Just place it on lower shelf


----------



## mpaisley88

PrezidentRedz


 ahakohda
 thanks for the suggestions. I've trimmed the baffle sides down, bent it up further and drilled a few holes towards the very end and its seemed to help. 1 is thermostat level, 3 is about 6 inches from the top. Closed off the dampers now to get to around 235ish. We'll see how it goes. Will update.


----------



## wimpy69

Sorry coming in late, post #368 shows my baffle install. Full 3/16" steel plate which has worked out great. Has info on chimney mod as well.


----------



## mpaisley88

Will check it out 

 wimpy69
. Thanks!


----------



## mpaisley88

PrezidentRedz


 ahakohda
 looks like the baffle was the problem. After modding, was able to hold between 200f and 245f with 1 1/4 chimneys of charcoal and adding some hickory and apple wood over 3 hours or so. Decided to try a pork loin and it turned out pretty good for my first run. Gonna get a better smoke ring next time but I'll take it! Thanks again for all the help!


----------



## PrezidentRedz

Good deal man, fired mine up with the exhaust mod and man this thing rolls now.


----------



## mpaisley88

Nice work 

 PrezidentRedz
 , looks like you cut it down a bit or am I mistaken?


----------



## wimpy69

Did you open up chimney size from 2"?


----------



## PrezidentRedz

mpaisley88 said:


> Nice work
> 
> PrezidentRedz
> , looks like you cut it down a bit or am I mistaken?





wimpy69 said:


> Did you open up chimney size from 2"?



Yeah I cut it completely out, went to a 3" pipe.  I have a another piece that slips over this so I can play with lengths a little and also going to make a lid for it.


----------



## PrezidentRedz

Its super Ugly but here is the slip over im going to test.


----------



## HotRoutePod

This thread convinced me to get the dyna glo vertical offset smoker.

Showed up earlier in the week, charcoal grate for the smoke box was missing. Called up the customer service line and got a new one sent out easily enough. Might as well mod it while I wait. Step one is RTV and lavalock seal.


----------



## PrezidentRedz

Ran like a champ this past weekend, Used alot less fuel. and made some great smoke rings.


----------



## mpaisley88

PrezidentRedz
 looks good. Did you used the taller piece at all?


----------



## simsfmly

PrezidentRedz said:


> Ran like a champ this past weekend, Used alot less fuel. and made some great smoke rings.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> View attachment 397750


Looks delish.


----------



## PrezidentRedz

mpaisley88 said:


> PrezidentRedz
> looks good. Did you used the taller piece at all?



Oh yeah ran it the whole time. Sorry should have said that.


----------



## PrezidentRedz

Since yall seem cool so I'll spam a few more pictures from this cook.


----------



## mpaisley88

Looking good 

 PrezidentRedz
 ! Could you do me a favor and walk me through your chimney process when you get time? I'm thinking mine might need it.


----------



## PrezidentRedz

mpaisley88 said:


> Looking good
> 
> PrezidentRedz
> ! Could you do me a favor and walk me through your chimney process when you get time? I'm thinking mine might need it.



Hey man I honestly did this super quick. I used an exhaust pipe from another gas grill and then added the pipe and welded on a bracket to bolt the lid.  and was just super careful with a sawzall.


----------



## mpaisley88

PrezidentRedz
 sounds easy enough! Thanks! I'll post some pics hopefully when I get time to work on it.


----------



## PrezidentRedz

Hey guys Holy shit I placed First in pulled pork over the weekend!


----------



## wimpy69

Good for you.


----------



## mpaisley88

Nice work 

 PrezidentRedz
 !


----------



## PrezidentRedz

Thanks everyone, and yes I used the Dyna Glo


----------



## HotRoutePod

Congrats Prez! That is awesome and the chimney is a really interesting idea. Not trying to step on your toes here, just updating the thread when I get the next step in.

Got the mods done to the smoker last week. My dad's birthday is coming up so last weekend we traveled up to MN so his granddaughters could wish him a happy birthday in person.

Today is the only day this week where it's not raining in Omaha. So this is the only day I can get in a test run before a week long vacation to see the wife's family. So this is the only day to get a test run in really before the 4th of July and me hanging around smoking actual meat all day. I'll get a picture or two up tonight.


----------



## PrezidentRedz

HotRoutePod said:


> Congrats Prez! That is awesome and the chimney is a really interesting idea. Not trying to step on your toes here, just updating the thread when I get the next step in.
> 
> Got the mods done to the smoker last week. My dad's birthday is coming up so last weekend we traveled up to MN so his granddaughters could wish him a happy birthday in person.
> 
> Today is the only day this week where it's not raining in Omaha. So this is the only day I can get in a test run before a week long vacation to see the wife's family. So this is the only day to get a test run in really before the 4th of July and me hanging around smoking actual meat all day. I'll get a picture or two up tonight.



Hey man this is what its all about... Looking forward to seeing your mods!


----------



## HotRoutePod

Fired the smoker up for the test run yesterday. Everything ran better than expected for my first time. 

Got the temp up to 250 and held it there for a few hours before it ran out. Best part of all is there was no visible smoke leaks.


----------



## mpaisley88

Let us know how your first cook goes 

 HotRoutePod


----------



## Chasebanks

I bought the wide version of this smoker. Should get here tomorrow. I also got the RTV and seal strip from lavalock. I work in an automotive shop so I have access to metal, question I have is if I add the baffle and new exhaust, does it need to be stainless or can I used cold rolled or A2 metal? Don't think the exhaust should matter, more so for the baffle as the heat on the baffle transferring taste to the meat. Also I was thinking of adding in some sort of grommet to poke my probes through the side or back and adding a shelf for my digital temp gauge to sit on, just not sure if the rubber grommets I see on Amazon will do the trick or not. Another question I have is the seal for the firebox, if the RTV I have is only rated to 650* should I use that for the door or should I use the strip with adhesive. I currently use an offset barrel smoker and that fire box gets damn hot.


----------



## mikethehammer

Chasebanks said:


> I bought the wide version of this smoker. Should get here tomorrow. I also got the RTV and seal strip from lavalock. I work in an automotive shop so I have access to metal, question I have is if I add the baffle and new exhaust, does it need to be stainless or can I used cold rolled or A2 metal? Don't think the exhaust should matter, more so for the baffle as the heat on the baffle transferring taste to the meat. Also I was thinking of adding in some sort of grommet to poke my probes through the side or back and adding a shelf for my digital temp gauge to sit on, just not sure if the rubber grommets I see on Amazon will do the trick or not. Another question I have is the seal for the firebox, if the RTV I have is only rated to 650* should I use that for the door or should I use the strip with adhesive. I currently use an offset barrel smoker and that fire box gets damn hot.



I used the adhesive tape on both doors, 2 years now still no issues


----------



## OldFartFarmer

ive just got done scrubbing the heck out of mine cleaning the insides up,
Im MAD at mine, the firebox got to hot and warped the side,
(I was using that wood chunk-charcoal ,
I usually use kingsford briquets) where the sliding vent is and now it lets a ton of air in,
so ive ordered 2-4inch pinwheels and a 2inch ugly drum top vent
ive cut some thick sheet metal to mount the pinwheels to,
if they dont work like i want ill buy 3 2inch top vents and use them on the side,
,
I also took off the darn useless drip-AIRLEAK-tray
and took 2 small canning lids and gooped them up bolted those over the hole,
,
ill take some pictures and post them,
I get my parts next week


----------



## Chasebanks

Got my smoker today. Took about an hour to put together with adding in the RTV and gasket for fire box door. Also went and picked up some sheet metal for making the baffle. Going to do a seasoning run with out the baffle then another hot pass with the baffle. If I get this weekend off of work it'll be ribs and beef kabobs on the smoker. Pics to come.


----------



## OldFartFarmer

ok all, I put scotch tape around my door frames, smoker side and firebox
yesterday then smeared the calk-sealer on the doors closed them up
and let them sit till this morning,
MY DOORS won't open LOL
the sealer is stuck to the tape that is stuck to the door frames,,,

HELP

im an idiot,,shoulda used saran wrap


----------



## OldFartFarmer

Took a heat gun and started heating up the doors,
got them both opened, got the tape removed,
sprayed pam around the frames,
started a smokey fire in the box,
closed the doors,
no leaks except a slight one around the handle on the smoke box side,
closed the sliding firebox vent,
capped off the exit vent
fire went out,  nice being able to put the charcoal out, like my webber,
now i have a lot more control over the heat


----------



## PrezidentRedz

Did you do anything with the sliding firebox vent? to seal that better? im curious to see a picture of how you did the doors.


----------



## jmtyndall

PrezidentRedz said:


> Did you do anything with the sliding firebox vent? to seal that better? im curious to see a picture of how you did the doors.



For the firebox vents on mine I bought some partially threaded stainless steel bolts, with nuts and springs. The springs push the sliding door tight against the smoker body to seal. It's not perfect, but pretty it was the best I could come up with for a part that has to slide back and forth all the time. I'll try to take a picture if it stops raining later.


----------



## OldFartFarmer

im waiting for my pinwheel to get here,
I did get the top vent today, got it painted and mounted,
im going to take pics of my pinwheel-build/replacement
and ill post it,

right now with vents closed and warped, top vent open all the way,
using the wood-charcoal im hitting 300F tops, so sealing the leaks on the doors and sealing the stupid drip pan has helped cutting off excess air flow
if i close the top vent half way (and it fits over the original hole on top)
i can keep it at 270
I also noticed im getting more clear heat out the top vent and not tinted smoke
so its burning more efficiently


----------



## OldFartFarmer

the top vent is so much better than the one it comes with,
it actually closes down tight, where the one that comes with it has gaps on the sides as it flaps open and closed, still leaking air,
not a bad upgrade for 24 dollars


----------



## jmtyndall

Edit: Nevermind, I misunderstood what you were saying. I know the mod you're talking about.


----------



## Chasebanks

So, fired up the smoker today to do a seasoning run. Vent on firebox is halfway open and chimney on the first click to going back closed here are my temps. 1) right by chimney 2) 2nd grate down left hand side 3) 3rd grate down right hand side 4) bottom grate middle.












Haven't made my baffle yet due to not being sure if the sheet metal I bought has and zinc to it or maybe galvanized ( says it's just weld steel 22guage). Possibly going to metal by the foot and just pick up some good A2 that I know is good. Here are the rest of the pics.























Back porch is a little messy, joys of having a toddler and trash from the new smoker lol.


----------



## Chasebanks

Or for the baffle should I just run an aluminum serving pan full of water like I did in my horizontal?


----------



## Chasebanks

Using lump charcoal ended up getting it to stable out at 285 +/- 10 degrees on the 3 guages towards the top of the unit with having the intake vent open about 1/3 the way and the chimney flu on the first notch up for 5 hours on 1 basket. I think after I get the baffle installed it'll probably need more air and a bigger vent


----------



## OldFartFarmer

heres the pics i promised, excuse the poor pics it is pouring out, and the sun was just rising, I couldn't wait and started its first burn using lump-hardwood charcoal, vents wide open it would go to 250.  easily dampered down to
150 close all vents and poof coals went out, im a happy smoker,
to go above 250 and up all i need to do is barely crack the door,
but this is for jerky and bacon, so im good--I can alway add another pinwheel later ill see how it goes.
I only cut out the front-original vents then placed my sheet holding the two pinwheels over it, using the felt tape and the heat proof goo I bolted it down all along the outside edges, 
,
the screen is a bread/baking rack with a zillion holes, I flattened out and bent to fit-been using that far a long time now,
,
the drip-hole is covered with goo and two small casing lids,

this thing now does not leak air
,


----------



## PrezidentRedz

Where did you get the new exhaust pipe and pinwheels?.


----------



## jmtyndall

PrezidentRedz said:


> Where did you get the new exhaust pipe and pinwheels?.



Same question, I'm interested in changing mine. The stock air vent has an air gap even when all the way closed, so I wouldn't mind something that seals a little better.

Also, never considered the air leak from the grease drain before. Is this something other people seal on their smoker as well?

For clarification: I have the 36" vertical, not the offset version

Edit: I found the following 3 options for pinwheel dampers. I believe the first one is what's used above. The other two look easier to install (less extra hardware) but not as thick and probably don't seal as well since they don't appear to have springs.

 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0178PSQJQ/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_mGlkDbCEGKDR6

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0178QBLEW/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_mElkDbF0B56QB

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01M4FH2MH/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_FFlkDbFNTEVY3


----------



## Chasebanks

So I added a foil pan with water and now it's hard for me to get up to temp. When I install a baffle or run with a foil pan and water will my temps be lower? Will I need a larger air intake and or smoke stack? Running the smoke stack and air vents that came with unit. Was thinking of dissecting my old charcoal grill to take smoke stack off of it if I need a bigger exhaust vent.


----------



## OldFartFarmer

*from amazon,*
*2-*
*LavaLock® Smoker Pinwheel BBQ air Damper Pit Grill Vent, Steel 4 6 8 12 (4" Diameter)*
*,*
*1-*
*UDS Ugly Drum Lid Exhaust 2" Teardrop Flanged Vent Damper Builder Part*
*by lavalock*


----------



## OldFartFarmer

I ground off the tab on one of the pinwheels, then i drilled 1-hole
in each side of the meaty side large enough for an angled head bolt to go through and sit below flush,
then placed the other pinwheel on top of that, running my bolt through the center hole , I cut a spring placed that on the bolt, then a nut
now i have a closing double stacked pinwheel
then i cut the 1st baffle bar out of my smoker box made sure my pinwheel would fit
measured and cut my sheet of metal to cover the original vent plus some extra
took pinwheel set apart, marked and drilled center hole, then traced out the pinwheel vents and cut those out, gooped up the pinwheel and bolted it on
with the two screws-then ran bolt in center hole and placed second pinwheel on
with spring and nut

bolted my metal plate on the firebox with smoker gasket and BBQ-calking
smoker gasket inside of screws, goop outside of screws

waited overnight then started fire

MY firebox had warped, so I needed to use 2 pinwheels-stacked- to make sure it
was a flush tight fit, and a large sheet panel to get as much of the bow away from interfering when i bolted it all on

THE Top vent went right over the ridge on the top panel
AFTER I ground/filed an angle on it,
a very nice fit,

hope this helps someone


----------



## OldFartFarmer

I dont know if anybody has covered up there grease hole,
Ive read every page here and dont remember anyone mentioning it,
maybe im the first to be stupid?
but to me a tin-foil pan and no air leak is worth ot
with the small trouble with grease
fold up the foil and toss it when done


----------



## OldFartFarmer

I got a 5hr smoke from one basket framed full with lump hardwood charcoal
and was able to keep my temp at 175deg
didn't have to fuss and fart with it, so im happy

before I always had to fuss and fart with the temps always going up
as the box fire burned more coals

doing a test with kingsford briquets today as i use those the most


----------



## OldFartFarmer

needing to get my probes into the smoker,
I carefully cut away some of the gasket the width of the cables
just above the top hinge (I hang my little probe-box on the handle)
there was just a slight wisp of smoke, Im going to goop the probe wires together just around where they go through by the hinge,
should seal it up,


----------



## OldFartFarmer

tested with kingsford briquets 
lit 15 in my chimney 
filled basket in the back
dumped lit ones in across the front of basket
filled it up to top of basket

went up to 300 deg
then dampered it down to 175
it cooked at the temp for  7.5 hrs with steady temp
it was 83 deg out


----------



## jmtyndall

OldFartFarmer said:


> LavaLock® Smoker Pinwheel BBQ air Damper Pit Grill Vent, Steel 4 6 8 12 (4" Diameter)
> 
> UDS Ugly Drum Lid Exhaust 2" Teardrop Flanged Vent Damper Builder Part
> by lavalock



Thanks, I think I'll get these ordered. Are you finding the 4" big enough? I smoke a turkey so I like to be able to get up to 350, and down to 225 for things like ribs.

The vents appear to have the following free area when fully open: 4"-4.0 sq in, 6"-9.25sqin, 8"-16.25sqin. I spent this weekend doing some research about vent sizing. I spent this weekend doing some research about vent sizing. It looks like the UDS smoker people are using 1-3 square inches of intake area, which was shocking to me because my smoker has quite a lot more than that. Calculating the area of the stock vents with both sides fully open gives me over 20 square inches. That probably explains why on my seasoning cook the grill got over 500 degrees! I looked at the vent position my smoker was in for my last cook and it was about 25% open. So my normal cook position is somewhere around 5" of intake opening.

Then I measured the air gaps when fully closed and calculated that between the grease drain, and 2 dampers which don't seal completely I have nearly 3" of free area with everything closed! I went ahead and plugged the grease drain hole with a 3/4" pipe and cap, but based on my calcs I may need the 6" pinwheel (or 2x 4") to hit the same opening areas. It's weird because the UDS guys are using much less opening, a single 4" wheel is more than sufficient for them.

Worst case make the plate big enough to accept a 6" wheel, but only put 4" wheel on now and do a test cook to see if I can hit 350. If not, order the 6" later and just enlarge the inlet holes in my plate.


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## OldFartFarmer

im just guessing here,
I think you'll get your 350 with a 6 inch,
i havnt gone full out for any length of time, and started tampering down when i hit the 250 zone, although it was on the rise,
I figured id use the 4 inches and if needed add another one next to it,
but im happy right now with just the one 4 incher

I do jerky,ribs,and chickens, have yet to try a turkey,,someday ill snipe one traveling through my yard


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## OldFartFarmer

doing a beercan chicken for dinner,
full basket of briquets --kingsford
10 lit dumped in
1/8 slice on my 4inch vent
top vent half closed
temp has been a steady 240
2 hrs and a half into the cook, bird is at 112deg

I dont see any problems hitting 300 or 350
with the top vent fully open and the 4 inch fully open or even less,

hope this helps anybody,
cheers
John


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## Roadblock

I hope this thread isn't too old to be resurrecting. Is the consensus that the bottom drain hole should be plugged?


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## jmtyndall

Roadblock said:


> I hope this thread isn't too old to be resurrecting. Is the consensus that the bottom drain hole should be plugged?


I would plug the hole. On the offset version it's a bit less of a problem than on the vertical. On the offset it let's a bit of cold air in and can affect the draft a bit, lowering the smoker temp and making it harder to hit higher temps.

On the vertical it feeds air to the fire and tends to make it a bit harder to control temps .


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## PrezidentRedz

Mine drains a ton of grease when I cook, to the point I use a hotel pan under instead the the lame thing it came with.  I wouldn't plug it.


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## Roadblock

My thought was that I can see the benefit in plugging it, but I wouldn't want to lose the ability to drain it. So I thought that I might just put a cap and valve on it. That way it will be sealed until I open the valve to drain it.


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## PrezidentRedz

I think its a small enough hole and if you run a good fire it shouldn't really matter, its so far under where the heat even rises.


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## RyanMoore

surgtech2006 said:


> Hey all,
> 
> Just bought one of these off of Amazon, I wanted to try vertical as opposed to another horizontal smoker. For the money, this thing is really NOT all that bad.
> 
> I'll get back with some unboxing pics and the initial mods I did as I've been putting it together.
> 
> Jerry
> 
> Edited title to make search easier.


I have the Brinkmann Trailmaster vertical which is exactly like what you have. I have found that I had to add the extra latches for the door because when the heat gets too hot it expands the cook chamber in the door always popped open. I have photos the difference between the Dyna-Glo in the Brinkmann is the metal I believe.


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## RyanMoore

PrezidentRedz said:


> I think its a small enough hole and if you run a good fire it shouldn't really matter, its so far under where the heat even rises.


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## Hickey77

I have noticed a few people have painted the SC door and handles and I'm wondering how that has held up? I don't want to paint the fire box just the smoke box door and some of the accessories and planned to use high heat engine enamel, anyone else tried this or have any tips?


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## RyanMoore

Hickey77 said:


> I have noticed a few people have painted the SC door and handles and I'm wondering how that has held up? I don't want to paint the fire box just the smoke box door and some of the accessories and planned to use high heat engine enamel, anyone else tried this or have any tips?


My old vertical Trailmaster above was completely Rusty in the Firebox area. I will try to post a picture of it if I can find it before, I took a wire wheel grinder to it and stripped it down to bare metal. Then I replaced all the screws and bolts to the whole thing with stainless steel. You have to get lacquer thinner to strip it down of any residue in oil or Grease. That process will take three or four good cleanings. Wipe it once let it dry, wipe it again later let it dry once more. That may be enough, if you do not do this any product that you put on there Will Fail. High heat engine enamel from what I understand takes a process to bake it at a certain temperature to make it cure? I am not sure, I have the link of the product that I bought. You're interested message me. I love to cook meat but I am also a project manager of a product applique Ting company of different types of enamels and epoxies on structural and Commercial surfaces. I use the same process we would have to use at work on my smoker to make it last. If you do not make sure you get all residue off before you paint it will just ruin it once you make a fire. We are in the process right now of making our own fire dial for the inside that fits in place of the water pan I will post pictures of that also. The regular fire dial does not come in this particular size for my shelves which is 17 in. We have started custom making our own part because some of the things that we need no longer are available. Like happy cooker internal Ash pans, doing that at the moment. Making our own happy cooker bottom vent covers which are smaller than Weber. So far everything is turning out pretty awesome


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## RyanMoore

I bought it like this, the previous owners house


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## RyanMoore

Chloraseal this is an industrial rust killer. Goes on white, turns purple then black. It makes it easier to grind off.


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## Crzyhorse

I was looking for an affordable smoker and after alot of reading and research I settled on the Dyna-Glo Widebody vertical offset. 
Got it in Monday and assembled and proceeded with my mods, to this point I have added temp gauges, Red RTV'd all seams, fabricated and mounted baffle from FB, added fire bricks for thermal mass, as well as 16ga steel channels in bottom of Smoke box, used steel I had to regulate smoke and temp in smoke box, waiting on my exhaust stack to get here to replace the stock one, also have a 6" pin wheel vent on it's way  (contemplating replacing the firebox inlet). 
Planning on seasoning it this weekend.


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## ohiosmoking

Just got one of these wide body smokers myself, finally got the  time to put it together, did the red RTV sealant, but have not gotten to any other  mods yet. Cannot wait to get it fired up and show some Qvue :)


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## snow_leopardd

I have been wanting to try and smoke for a few years.  Found this thread and thought, as I will be home a bunch over the next month, now is a good a time as any. 

One modification question I had already was the top exhaust.  Does it need to be changed to a larger one?  Has anyone had reasonable success with the stock one? 

 I have RTV to seal the firebox and smoke section together, and a roll of nomex gasket material for the doors.  I am currently looking for sheet metal to make the heat deflector for the inside of the smoke chamber.


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## PrezidentRedz

It will run fine as is with charcoal, but I have found it to run great with a larger exhaust hole when running a wood fire.


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## PrezidentRedz

Crzyhorse said:


> I was looking for an affordable smoker and after alot of reading and research I settled on the Dyna-Glo Widebody vertical offset.
> Got it in Monday and assembled and proceeded with my mods, to this point I have added temp gauges, Red RTV'd all seams, fabricated and mounted baffle from FB, added fire bricks for thermal mass, as well as 16ga steel channels in bottom of Smoke box, used steel I had to regulate smoke and temp in smoke box, waiting on my exhaust stack to get here to replace the stock one, also have a 6" pin wheel vent on it's way  (contemplating replacing the firebox inlet).
> Planning on seasoning it this weekend.




You went crazy and I love it.


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## snow_leopardd

So I got the smoker seasoned yesterday.  first cook today.  Tried for pulled pork, ended up with sliced pork roast.  Still tasted good.  IT only got up to 183, so I wansn't overly surprised it wouldn't "pull" from what I had read.  Learned a few things.  Definetly need to learn how to keep the fire going more consistently.  I am going to look into seeing if I can make dividers for the fire box so the coals burn better. Found one small leak where the handle comes through the front door.  Not sure that can be sealed up.  Also some smoke came out the bottom of the door once or twice, but I wasn't concerned about that, as the grease trap hole lets smoke out as well.


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## snow_leopardd

Tried some burgers tonight.  started with less charcoal in the firebox and the chimney.  Seems to have run a little cooler.


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## mauricioov

Hi Guys, 

This is my first post and I really want to contribute to this threads that helps me a ton to set up my Dyna Glo vertical.

Just a quick tip for the people having trouble keeping a stable tempin this smoker. I had a little frustration with this also so I decided to experiment with a fan from ThermoWorks that connects to their Signals thermometer. I was skeptical as my assumption was that this things only works for Kamados or high quality / high insulation smokers.

I was very surprise that this thing held the temp constant with a 3 degree difference.
I did a brisket to try this out and came out excellent.
 Attached some pics if you’re curious about the set up, not the prettiest one because I cover the vents with foil,  but really works. 

Happy smokes for everyone this weekend from Mexico City!
Mau


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## snow_leopardd

Very nice!  Did it make a noticeable difference in your wood/charcoal useage?  So that is now the only airflow into the fire chamber?


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## RyanMoore

snow_leopardd said:


> Very nice!  Did it make a noticeable difference in your wood/charcoal useage?  So that is now the only airflow into the fire chamber?


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## mauricioov

snow_leopardd said:


> Very nice!  Did it make a noticeable difference in your wood/charcoal useage?  So that is now the only airflow into the fire chamber?


Yes! I saw an improvement of an extra hour on a “regular” packed coal box with briquettes from 3 hours to 4 hours at 240F. I’m in Mexico City and altitude is crazy high so I think is not very efficient for combustion, for sure you can get better results at more sea level altitudes places.


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## PassTheFlux

So, i have fully insulated my dyna-glow and have noticed that if I put more than half a basket full of charcoal it will skyrocket in temp.  If I put that much I only get 2ish hours out of it.  Am I doing something wrong?


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## PrezidentRedz

PassTheFlux said:


> So, i have fully insulated my dyna-glow and have noticed that if I put more than half a basket full of charcoal it will skyrocket in temp.  If I put that much I only get 2ish hours out of it.  Am I doing something wrong?



Hey man, from my experience so far, the exhaust hole inst big enough.  I made mine large so now I can control the heat and flow much better I can run at 200 or 400 depending how much charcoal and or wood I use.


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## PassTheFlux

PrezidentRedz said:


> Hey man, from my experience so far, the exhaust hole inst big enough.  I made mine large so now I can control the heat and flow much better I can run at 200 or 400 depending how much charcoal and or wood I use.


So the exhaust hole controls the burn rate as well? I typically run very small amounts of coal and wood in there then keep the vents open minimally to keep the temp down and hope it is making the coals last longer, am I doing this incorrectly?


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## JWFokker

PassTheFlux said:


> So the exhaust hole controls the burn rate as well? I typically run very small amounts of coal and wood in there then keep the vents open minimally to keep the temp down and hope it is making the coals last longer, am I doing this incorrectly?



Restricted exhaust will slow the draft through the cooker and firebox, effectively stifling fresh air coming through the intake. Not what you want with an offset smoker. Exhaust should be wide open. Ideally you leave the intake wide open as well and regulate the temperature with the size of your fire. On the little offset box cabinet smoker you'll likely need to restrict the intake to keep temps down.


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## JWFokker

Offsets are not about fuel efficiency. They're about a clean burning fire and that requires copious airflow. Kamados, insulated vertical cabinets and drum/bullet smokers are fuel efficient because they do not waste heat and require choked down airflow to run at low and slow temps. The offset firebox is intended to shed some heat from the hot wood fire and run unrestricted. The flavor profile is completely different between the two styles of smokers.


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## PassTheFlux

Thank you for explaining it.  I was wondering, as I have seen some people say they are getting 4+ hours out of their charcoal at low temps and I am just not able to get that long of time.  Cannot figure out why I cannot get more than 2 hours with a lower amount of charcoal, keeping the temp in check.


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## BlackDog

I built a base for it using a 1x4 and some hardware I had lying around, and added some wheels so I can more easily move it in/out of the garage.


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## JWFokker

PassTheFlux said:


> Thank you for explaining it.  I was wondering, as I have seen some people say they are getting 4+ hours out of their charcoal at low temps and I am just not able to get that long of time.  Cannot figure out why I cannot get more than 2 hours with a lower amount of charcoal, keeping the temp in check.



In order to get a long cook time out of this style of smoker you have to run it like a kamado, with the exhaust and intake choked down and probably a coal basket with dividers. They're really not meant for it. It's an offset smoker. You should be out there adding fuel every 30-45 minutes.


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## PassTheFlux

ah, ok, so I am actually getting a good burn time as is with a half a basket lasting 2'ish hours.


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## JWFokker

Yeah about as good as you're going to get without resorting to extreme measures.


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## Biggy1

nathan179 said:


> I just ordered the Dyna Glo Wide Body smoker from the Depot and I couldn't be more excited.  Upgrading from a Char Broil Silver Smoker and looking for more real estate and am getting that and more with this one.  Should be here later this week and I'll get to work doing the mods people listed here and maybe add some pics to this thread to confirm i got it right.  I'll probably just use the Nomex tape on the doors and the hi temp silicone around the firebox/chamber connection for ease of completion. The slanted baffle using a cooking pan with some holes drilled in it is an absolutely perfect idea for temp control.
> 
> http://www.homedepot.com/p/Dyna-Glo...ERCH=RV-_-rv_homepage_rr-_-NA-_-206289005-_-N
> 
> One mod that I haven't seen any advice on is adding wheels.  I'll be storing this in my garage but moving it out to the driveway to cook and I'll need some wheels for that.  I suppose I could put it on a cart which would help with the relatively low height of the unit but I'd rather just add some wheels.  Any suggestions?  My driveway is sloped a bit so I can't just add casters or it will roll down the street.
> 
> Also, to the OP, where are you from in the Northeast?  I'm just south of Boston and don't know a lot of people around me that do proper BBQ so it'd be nice to have someone to talk shop.


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## Deezel13

Hey all,
Smoker noob from Canada here!!!
First of all thank you all so much for sharing your thoughts and ideas for the Dyna-Glo offset vertical smoker.
Just ordered mine on Sunday and it has arrived today and I can't wait to get home and get started on putting it together.

Couple questions, and sorry if it's a repeat.
1) What type of silicone ( brand/model) is recommended as I see so many out there.
found this one at local Home Depot - DAP HIGH TEMP 100% RTV Silicone Sealant ( says Safe for incidental food contact.)

2) What type/size of heat gasket is best suited for the doors on this unit?

appreciate any advice, I will be sure to post pics of my unit tonight.


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## Deezel13

Well, i went ahead with the DAP HIGH TEMP 100% RTV Silicone Sealant from Home Depot.
Made a bit of a mess but will clean it up today before I season the smoker for a few hours.


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## BlackDog

Deezel13 said:


> Well, i went ahead with the DAP HIGH TEMP 100% RTV Silicone Sealant from Home Depot.
> Made a bit of a mess but will clean it up today before I season the smoker for a few hours.


That's the same stuff I used and it worked great. 

You can also use that to put a bead around your door to seal up the smoke box, or go the gasket route. I used the silicone for the door and it worked well, although I did have to redo it after a few years to fix some leaks that developed. I don't know if a pre-made gasket needs to be replaced regularly or not.


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## Deezel13

New question...
for the first "season" burn in.. spray all the inside with oil ( type preferred) or do that after initial burn in?


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## Deezel13

seasoned/cured Dyna last night for a few hours.. temps maxed out to about 450f.
Of course... the back of the fire box had a mark on it.. i wiped it with a rag and it took the paint off... lol
Ahh well, I'll just have to accept that and keep it oiled after each smoke to hopefully prevent rusting.


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## wimpy69

So, here I am picking up where I unfortunately left off over three years ago due to a winning battle with renal cancer and then a bout with sudden cardiac arrest. Much is to say about putting them away clean, double tarped / outside / over hang, had some cobwebs but no raisonettes and a little surface rust on fire box grate. Finished shelf for therm, beverage,etc. Wipe down, blow out with air compressor and did a burn. 325/50 (3hrs) with a spritz steam clean then oiled and apple/cherry wood season. Was nice to run her again and is now ready for meat.


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