# Extending the Oklahoma joe chimney stack question



## ollygee (Jun 21, 2017)

Hi all, great forum!
I've been doing a lot of reading about getting more heat through my joe highland, as the other night it felt like I loose a lot out the firebox end, so I decided the stack might not be drawing enough. 
After running the sizes of the highland through the smoker builder calculator I make the stack 200mm narrower than it should be. 
Has this been discussed before? 
My idea is to extend it slightly to save me building a whole new chimney stack, would this work to draw air through making the smoker making it hotter and more efficient? 
I know building a bigger fire is often the answer, but getting more draw seems like a better approach. 
Thanks for your time


----------



## hardcookin (Jun 23, 2017)

ollygee said:


> Hi all, great forum!
> I've been doing a lot of reading about getting more heat through my joe highland, as the other night it felt like I loose a lot out the firebox end, so I decided the stack might not be drawing enough.
> After running the sizes of the highland through the smoker builder calculator I make the stack 200mm narrower than it should be.
> Has this been discussed before?
> ...


I'm under the understanding that offset smokers like to breathe, moving a lot of air.

 Hopefully Dave or somebody can better answer your question.


----------



## kam59 (Jun 23, 2017)

Increasing the length of an already too small diameter exhaust usually results in stalled smoke because it cools as it climbs. In my opinion you would be better off increasing the diameter of the exhaust to let the cooker breathe. I cut the 3" off my son-in-laws and added a 4" plus tuning plates and reduced the opening into the firebox the results were amazing.

I hope this helps.

Here are some pics of what I did.













HPIM5125.jpg



__ kam59
__ Jun 23, 2017


















HPIM5126.jpg



__ kam59
__ Jun 23, 2017


















HPIM5121.jpg



__ kam59
__ Jun 23, 2017


















HPIM8066.jpg



__ kam59
__ Jun 23, 2017


----------



## ollygee (Jun 23, 2017)

That's some great feedback Kam! 

What things did you find once upgrading the stack in that way?


----------



## kam59 (Jun 23, 2017)

Out of the box the cooker was a happy at 200° or happy at 300°+ cooker no real in between. My son-in-law wanted more stable like 225°/250° I plugged the numbers into the Pit Calculator and started bringing the cooker into spec with what I knew would work. With the exhaust and plates along with reducing the opening the cooker now can be maintained at decent temps. She likes 250°/275° on a minimal coal base.


----------



## ollygee (Jun 23, 2017)

That's good to hear, that's what I'm shooting for on mine.

I run the lavalock baffles and they even it out in the same manner as well as reducing the intake to the main cooking chamber.

Would chopping the existing elbow and welding the bigger 4'' gauge pipe have the same effect, or would you advise 4'' from the cooker including the elbow?

Also, is the pipe you fitted the same height as the stock one on the Ok JOE ?


----------



## kam59 (Jun 23, 2017)

Increasing from a small opening will not help much you will need to eliminate the restriction. I cannot recall what size was original but the 4" is 24" tall.


----------



## ollygee (Jun 24, 2017)

This is great info kam, did you bore out the existing hole or move it closer to the grate  level


----------



## kam59 (Jun 24, 2017)

I used my torch and over sized the hole to 4" ollygee.


----------



## ollygee (Jun 27, 2017)

Hi Kam, looks like I can get 45 degree 4'' bends, would a sweeping pipe help even more with the flow?


----------



## kam59 (Jun 27, 2017)

Yes it will help. It will flow well regardless on that size cooker. If you cut the one 45° as close as you can on the chamber mating side and still be able to weld out it would look better in my opinion getting the exhaust closer to the cooker.


----------



## ammaturesmoker (Jul 10, 2017)

kam59 said:


> Increasing the length of an already too small diameter exhaust usually results in stalled smoke because it cools as it climbs. In my opinion you would be better off increasing the diameter of the exhaust to let the cooker breathe. I cut the 3" off my son-in-laws and added a 4" plus tuning plates and reduced the opening into the firebox the results were amazing.
> 
> I hope this helps.
> 
> ...


Wonderful baffle plate mod.


----------



## joes bbq ribs (Jul 17, 2017)

kam59 said:


> Increasing from a small opening will not help much you will need to eliminate the restriction. I cannot recall what size was original but the 4" is 24" tall.


Regarding the 4" smoke stack for the OKJH using a 4" stack it should be almost 14.5" in length  the 24" stack  is causing to much air flow.   Which in the end causing you to burn a lot more fuel/ wood charcoal etc.   
something to think about.


----------



## kam59 (Jul 17, 2017)

I have no issues with the 4" exhaust I placed on the OK Joe it works quite fine at 24" tall. Reduce the intake and watch her idle with minimal fuel usage it is all in balancing the cooker.


----------



## joes bbq ribs (Jul 17, 2017)

No worries just given you a little insight,   you can choke down the fire anyway you want too but, when a   
chimney that is too short may produce insufficient draft (drawing of air). When a chimney that is too long may cause the air to cool before it exits, reducing effective draft and worse, dripping of exhaust materials onto food!
  Happy Smokin'


----------



## kam59 (Jul 17, 2017)

I have been building working cookers for over 30 years my friend I understand draft completely but thanks for caring. :)


----------



## ammaturesmoker (Jul 18, 2017)

kam59 said:


> I have been building working cookers for over 30 years my friend I understand draft completely but thanks for caring. :)




So you bought a crappy OKJ from China that'ts metal bonded together?


----------



## kam59 (Jul 18, 2017)

ammaturesmoker said:


> So you bought a crappy OKJ from China that'ts metal bonded together?


I didn't buy anything ammaturesmoker. As I said in an earlier post in this thread the cooker is my son-in-laws not mine I just modified it so it could breathe and perform as it should. This is an early model OK Joe the chamber is 3/16".


----------



## yankee2bbq (Jul 18, 2017)

Well, I believe my piece of crap ok joe is making some pretty good BBQ.  And maybe you can save the money for me and by a 1200 smoker for me.


----------



## kam59 (Jul 18, 2017)

yankee2bbq said:


> Well, I believe my piece of crap ok joe is making some pretty good BBQ. And maybe you can save the money for me and by a 1200 smoker for me.


Me or *ammaturesmoker? I have no issues with OK Joe cookers yankee2bbq I merely offered ollygee my knowledge on how to modify the cooker based on the problems he is having.*


----------



## yankee2bbq (Jul 18, 2017)

Ammaturesmoker.  I respect your knowledge of smokers kam59.


----------



## ammaturesmoker (Jul 18, 2017)

gotcha!!.....


----------



## ammaturesmoker (Jul 19, 2017)

kam59 said:


> Increasing from a small opening will not help much you will need to eliminate the restriction. I cannot recall what size was original but the 4" is 24" tall.


I was just thinking about this yesterday.....tossing the stock pipe and going with a wide one. My Old Country Brazos has a 6 inch wide pipe. It sucks that air!! It also has a smaller opening between firebox and main chamber. Kudos on the mod.


----------



## ammaturesmoker (Jul 19, 2017)

yankee2bbq said:


> Well, I believe my piece of crap ok joe is making some pretty good BBQ. And maybe you can save the money for me and by a 1200 smoker for me.


Sorry man but my question was for the builder......I actually had this smoker. It leaked like hell out of the box and never really fit correctly. Finally broke down and had a metal guy weld it all up and re-bend and shape the doors. It had to be done a certain way as when it was welded the first try, the outside of the main chamber was coming off. It was held on by a metal bonded glue and buckled from the high heat of the welding. He had to remove all of that and redo the whole side with real welds. But from what I found even after that was still troubling. The single air vent was not enough come to find out and temps still kept fluctuating all over the place even after I added a top vent on the top part of the firebox. Had baffle plate and convection plate also installed. Came to the conclusion it was a metal thickness problem. Because my Brinkmann Cimmeran never acted this way. What was the difference? The steel!!! Only reason I no longer have the Brinkmann is it was damaged in a car wreck coming back from the beach in Cali when I used to live there. Was in the back of a trailer and it went flying over a mountain cliff when the trailer tongue snapped. I broke down and took a trip to Texas when I visited a friend and brought back an Old Country unit from Uvalco out of Uvalde TX. Did not have to mod one thing. Paid 689 as it was on end of fall clearance. Thick 3/16 steel like most Yoder smokers and consistent heat and air moving.


----------



## kam59 (Jul 19, 2017)

Thank you Sir. :)


----------



## Rings Я Us (Jul 20, 2017)

Pretty cool! 
   Maybe some people here could open shops up and be Smoker Dr. And fix peoples smokers for like a side job. 
   Charge like a Mechanic would. 

  I bet most people wouldn't believe how much it would cost to fix their smokers up to work right.. Some wouldn't be worth hauling to be fixed. Lol


----------



## kam59 (Jul 20, 2017)

Rings R Us said:


> Pretty cool!
> Maybe some people here could open shops up and be Smoker Dr. And fix peoples smokers for like a side job.
> Charge like a Mechanic would.
> 
> I bet most people wouldn't believe how much it would cost to fix their smokers up to work right.. Some wouldn't be worth hauling to be fixed. Lol


I have repaired some pretty rugged ones lol.


----------



## cksteele (Jul 20, 2017)

i just added  a piece of metal piping  in the cook chamber seemed to bring the heat down closer to the grate  and helped with the draw. ideally id like to add a 4 inch pipe  on my okjoe similar to this cooker 













smoke stack.jpg



__ cksteele
__ Oct 5, 2016






 this is what i did 













smoker mod1.JPG



__ cksteele
__ Jun 7, 2017


----------



## BigBubbs (Oct 30, 2019)

kam59 said:


> Increasing the length of an already too small diameter exhaust usually results in stalled smoke because it cools as it climbs. In my opinion you would be better off increasing the diameter of the exhaust to let the cooker breathe. I cut the 3" off my son-in-laws and added a 4" plus tuning plates and reduced the opening into the firebox the results were amazing.
> 
> I hope this helps.
> 
> ...


I just did this exact mod along with welding everything else that was only bolted before, adding extra 1/4 plate to the inside of the fire box for better insulation, and cutting an extra vent above the firebox door, and it worked like a charm. Perfect draw, super clean smoke, way better temp and fuel consumption, and with tuning plates end to end temps within 5 degrees each other. Now I have a decent pit! $300 for the Ok Joe, and a couple hundred bucks in supplies, bit of time. Totally worth it.


----------

