Hey gang....
I've been obsessing on automatic temperature control for my WSM lately. I have had a FlameBoss 300 and now have a BBQ Guru CyberQ Cloud plus a DIY temp controller that I made up. All three work well in their own ways. One slight down side to all three of them is that they all struggle to get the pit temps beyond around 270*F on my WSM 22.5, so I started experimenting and came up with some ideas.
My theory is that the automatic temperature controllers are limited by using a single fan on just one of the WSM's three inlets. You have to close off the other two otherwise the air and a little heat will push out the other vents. The inlet air is also not evenly distributed like it is in full passive mode (no controller). I also do not believe the "CFM" (cubic feet per minute of air flow) ratings as these are likely the ratings of the raw fans themselves when not installed into a BBQ adapter appendage on your smoker. Anyway, my theory is that not enough oxygen is getting into the bottom of the pit with a single fan on one inlet.
To be fair, I can absolutely get my WSM into the 350*F range by just opening all of the passive vents (three bottom and one top). I just want to be able to do the same thing when using a temperature controller and i do like to cook some things in that temperature range that do not fit well in the kettle. The kettle is awesome but you lose a bunch of grill real estate when going indirect and you are a little height-constrained in a kettle vs WSM.
Anyway, I started by using two fans (I'm calling them twin turbos) that I wired to come on at slightly different temperature offsets on my DIY temp controller. Then I made up a dual fan Y-adapter for the CyberQ using one male and two female 5.5mm OD x 2.5mm ID barrel connectors. Using dual fans with either controller worked better than one. I got to 325*F on auto pilot, no problem.
Then I got to thinkin'.... why can't I use THREE fans?!?!? So here is how I wired it up with my DIY controller. I still have to make up a tri-Y adapter if I want to put three fans on the CyberQ, which I think I will eventually do as well.
Wiring-wise, the Pit Viper fan is on the main fan output of the controller and the two other fans are wired into the alarm circuit using the aformentioned Y-adapter.
Anyway, I left the BBQ Guru Pit Viper fan on the front vent, beneath the door. Then I added my two DIY fans (with flapper doors) to the back two vents. The way that I configured my DIY temp controller, one fan output kicks on when the temp is 1*F below the set point and then the second output (wired in through the alarm circuit of the controller) kicks on when the temp is 2*F below the set point.
So here is how it works.... I started by using a full charcoal chimney of charcoal doing the minion method, putting the lit charcoals in the center, directly under the sand-filled water pan. Then I closed it all up and clicked on the temp controller set to 350*F. All three fans are on until it reaches a temp of 348*F, when the two back ones click off. The Pit Viper then eases the temp into 350* and then it too shuts off.
I've done two cooks so far under triple turbo and it is working like a charm.
You guys interested in this junk? Shall I go on? If anyone is willing to try this DIY, it would be great to read about your feedback here. I will eventually do a video on this and can share it here.
FWIW, I run a full pan of sand instead of water for better efficiency and temp stability.
Admins:
I wasn't sure if this was more appropriate in the modifications Forum or the WSM forum - please move the thread as you see fit.
Topic: Triple Turbo WSM (Read 1648 times)
