# I'm looking for some ideals ????



## shoneyboy (Jan 9, 2012)

I have a homemade smoker, the box is 24”x24” x48”T (16gage black iron steel)and I’m having some concerns with how it is working. For some reason the flame will just blow out some times, making me concerned that if it blows out and the gas is still on I may have one big fire cracker on my hands…… It seems like the flame  is burning  too far off the burner at times,  making me feel like I’m trying to push too much gas through the burner……but when I turn it down (like in the picture) it will do the same thing
	

		
			
		

		
	







	

		
			
		

		
	
…….When I light the burner it has a nice pretty blue flame on it, so I felt that it was getting plenty of oxygen, but maybe the burner is just not big enough for what I want to do….  I’m considering changing out the burner with a larger one……. In the past I have mostly hot smoking , but I have been wanting to try my hand at cold smoking (trying my hand at bacon and cheese a little more). I would still like to smoke some ribs and chicken at times…so I guess what I’m saying it I want something that is more general purpose……… I’ve been looking at installing a burner like Pop’s has in his smoker
	

		
			
		

		
	






	

		
			
		

		
	
 (from Northern tools….) to try to over come this issue...before I spend a lot of money on this I thought I would ask and see if anyone else has a problem like this ?  and if so how they fixed it ????? If someone has this burner.....  What the lowest temperature that you have been able to achieve?  What the highest temperature that someone has been able to achieve (within reason)? Here are a couple pictures of how I have it set up right now ....Maybe someone can see something that I'm doing wrong....(sorry about that fat guy in the picture, he was just too excited about his first smoke run at the time ......ROFLOL)


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## adiochiro3 (Jan 9, 2012)

My upright is about that size, and I harvested a small side burner off of a propane grill (similar to your first pic).  Temps at low setting: 245*; highest I've seen is pushing 400*  That small burner should be perfect for that sized smoker box.  It may need a different jet or the regulator may be sketchy.


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## big casino (Jan 9, 2012)

I take it you already know that you have the right orifice in it?

maybe it goes out due to lack of O2 in the smoker?


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## rbranstner (Jan 9, 2012)

Did that regulator that you have hooked to your propane tank(last picture) come with the cast iron burner that you are using(first picture) or did you piece it together yourself? I know there are high and low pressure regulators but as far as I understand you can use either regulators with that cast iron style burner you have but I could be wrong. Hopefully someone can clarify that or not.

I have the exact cast iron style burner in my smoke shack but it has a high pressure regulator hooked to it because I am using a turkey fryer burner/stand and I haven't ever had an issue with mine blowing out. How often is it blowing out? Does it happen to be windy when it goes out?


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## rbranstner (Jan 9, 2012)

Oh by the way that burner from Northern Tool is on sale right now if you decide to go that route.

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_15490_15490


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## boykjo (Jan 9, 2012)

The reason the burner will blow out is due to the lack of o2 . Fire needs three things Fuel, oxygen and ignition/heat to burn. When your burner first starts up it looks great but as the temps go up the heat carries/rises the oxygen rapidly away from the fuel source and the fire goes out. I would try to vent somewhere below the burner and get air flow up through the burner. Is your buner totaly enclosed in the smoker....

Joe


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## doctord1955 (Jan 9, 2012)

From ur pic I'm wondering if you are blowing flame out when u close the door also!  What does the end of your burner look like for air mixture?


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## dewetha (Jan 9, 2012)

i too think it's lack of Oxegen. i don't see nay airflow around the base but that could just be pics.


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## shoneyboy (Jan 9, 2012)

Rbranstner,    No, this is not the regulator that came with the burner. It is a 30 psi regulator that I used for boiling crawfish. One site that I looked at said that it would not be a problem to hook this up this way…..  I did buy the burner new and  it seems to blow out at least once or twice every time I’m smoking…

Big Casino, the burner has the original orifice that came with it.....

At first, I was having problems with wind (the burner was mounted about 1” below the chamber), so I moved it up into the chamber about ½” and it started blowing out. So I moved it to the middle (almost even with the bottom of the smoker as of now) less problems….. I was thinking it may be lack of oxygen too, but I wanted to make sure I was not trying to make the burner do something it was not designed to do…..When I installed the burner I cut a 6” circle to give the burner some combustion air. The burner is 4”, so that gives it an inch all the way around for combustion air …. This is the only combustion air that the burner gets, so that is why,  I was considering cutting the 6” circle to maybe 9” or 12”, giving me 2 ½” or 4”  around the burner for combustion air. Here are some pictures that may clarify it a little more…












BTW: Rbranstner, I did notice that it was on sale too….I may just have to pick one up just in case…I can always use something like that ….Thanks for the advice everyone.....


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## big casino (Jan 9, 2012)

How would you feel about putting a vent at the bottom  of one of your side walls so that the air fueling your burner wasnt getting pulled right up through it?

It is true you need to mix air with the gas to make it burn properly, which is the purpose of the Venturi, but what if the air being sucked in to your smoker box, from around your burner is what is blowing out your flame, if you had a vent on the side of the smoker near the floor it would suck air in that vent rather than through your flame?

The only problem might be  your vent hole would probably need to be bigger than the hole you cut in the bottom, since the laws of physics say, all things travel the path of least resistance, the bigger the hole would mean the least resistance in this situation.

By all means I am no rocket surgeon, but like to try to help, and solve problems,  but lets break down your description:

on high, the  flame sits high off of the burner: maybe there is too much air rushing through the 6 inch hole, lifting the flame off the burner?

on low it blows out: maybe on low it doesnt pull enough O2 in the smoker, or  it is till pulling enough air flow through that it over powers a low flame.

here is a thought and you may have already done this, remove the burner from the smoker and light it and see if it reacts the same...

if it burns the same  as in the smoker maybe there is something wrong with the burner or regulator, if it starts burning the way it should, then perhaps it is the air supply to your smoker.

Any way, hope you get all the kinks worked out and get to some good smokin


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## clyde79 (Jan 10, 2012)

try a shield blocking the end (where the line hooks in) from the draft going into the smoker. my turkey fryer does that on windy days when i lean sheet metal against it to block wind and mess up the air flow to those two little vents


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## boykjo (Jan 10, 2012)

with the pics your showing you should have an ample amount of 02.... I would look into your changing the burner. If you are using it at a very low flame they will blow out. You may be able to place a wind deflector around it just like the turkey fryers... kinda whats in this pic at the bottom


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## shoneyboy (Jan 16, 2012)

First off “THANKS” for all of the information that you all gave me… I took it all in and decided to cut the opening around the burner to 10” and made a wind guard for it…Today I gave it a try with my 2[sup]nd[/sup] try at Pops wet cured BBB….During my run I had to leave for about an hour and asked my son to keep an eye on it. He called and said that it had blown out and he turned it off…..When I got back, I re-lit it again and never had another problem with it the rest of the day…So, I’m not sure if it really blew out or if he just didn’t want to watch it or maybe he couldn’t tell that it was lit when it really was. Anyway it worked after I returned and never had another problem with it…So it seems that yawl were right!!! “THANKS” for the information it saved me some $$$.  Here are some pictures from the new opening and the BBB from today’s run…..I used Pops wet cure and added some garlic powder, onion powder and black pepper then I cut back on the salt and sugar….I kind of seasoned it like I like to pan fry pork chops….Smoked it for 10 hours between 90 and 120 with hickory only…..and you talk about came out looking good….So good.... that I had to test a little piece…I fried up a couple of small pieces so the wife and kids could taste it….They said that it was great !!!! Then the neighbor came by wanting to know what I was doing that stunk so bad????  I showed him the BBB in the smoker and he wanted to taste some too… He asked that if he bought some meat, would I make him some too??? I told him that it stunk to bad to do it again….ROFLOL  
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





( The vice grips are only to hold the burner on till I was able to center it up and drill another hole in it to bolt it together again)


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