| Author |
Message |
    
Sanny
Member
Post Number: 149
Registered: 6-2006
| | Posted on Monday, August 28, 2006 - 1:53 pm:
| 
|
Temp dial, Johnny? What's that? I don't have guru - just guru adapted door. Haven't used the gas door yet, since I've not gotten a bottle of gas. |
Lance
Member
Post Number: 300
Registered: 4-2003
| | Posted on Monday, August 28, 2006 - 2:22 pm:
|
|
Sanny -- If my top damper was only open a turn or two it would take a very long time to heat up. Of course here at 7000 feet I open things a lot more than the sea level folks do. I'd have the top open more like FOUR full turns or more. When I want things to get hot fast I leave the top open a full inch (maybe TEN turns) until it gets somewhat close to the target temp.
I also think that you need a "real" draft door (or your gas door -- I use mine full-time except when using the Guru) to be able to get a larger opening for those higher temps. High temps move a LOT more air through than low-and-slow. One inch of opening is pretty near the lower limit for a 400 degree cook up here.
Another thing that can prevent rapid heating is if you fill your firebox with little tiny bits of charcoal, which can choke the flow even if there's plenty of air coming through the lower damper opening. Once or twice I have been careless or lazy when adding lump and have allowed a lot of those tiny bits (the stuff at the bottom of the bag) to plug things up. The same thing happens if you don't stir any partially burned lump before re-starting it -- the small coals can plug the firebox openings. BTW this happens both with the original firebox plate (circular plate with holes in it) OR with the lumpsaver that comes with the gas models. Ask me how I know.... |
Kbuck
Member
Post Number: 495
Registered: 3-2005
| | Posted on Monday, August 28, 2006 - 2:34 pm:
|
|
Couple of things on high temp. Get as many large chunks of lump in the LS as possible and avoid using too many coal crumbs, it's all about air+fuel to get up into the 500+ range. Too many fines will impede the air flow. Spin the top open several turns and watch closely. If your goal is a hot fire, don't worry about the thing getting out of control. Most of the discussions about runaway temps are with a firebox full of fuel and a target temp of 220. In that scenario it’s a bitch to bring the temp back down. If you are standing right there watching the temp rise and it races past 500, stopping it down will bring it under control quickly.
This weekend I had my draft door off and the top spun up about an inch away from the dome with a pizza stone on the 3rd tier and it never got above 475. Your draft/damper settings can vary dramatically depending upon how much gear you’re using.
|
Sanny
Member
Post Number: 150
Registered: 6-2006
| | Posted on Monday, August 28, 2006 - 2:35 pm:
|
|
Thanks, Lance. I didn't want to spin the top and make it fall off! I'll have to experiment 'cold,' so I know what to do 'hot.' I did try with the plate completely off, too. Didn't seem to make much difference. I'll try again. I think shaking the LS and emptying it, then refilling with big pieces, filling in with littles on top, could help. I wasn't conscientious about clearing the LS. Ok, so I did EVERYTHING wrong!! LOL. But I'm having fun.  And maybe I'm making some of the forum members laugh at my newbieness, too. |
Kbuck
Member
Post Number: 496
Registered: 3-2005
| | Posted on Monday, August 28, 2006 - 2:42 pm:
|
|
Lance, I didn't see your post... Good thing we said basically the same thing. Since you mentioned old lump, for high temp I would start with fresh lump. |
Kbuck
Member
Post Number: 497
Registered: 3-2005
| | Posted on Monday, August 28, 2006 - 2:57 pm:
|
|
Unless they have changed things, the damper bolt is really long. I cut mine down because it interfered with the meat hanger and it’s still seems unnecessarily long.
After a few more unsuccessful attempts the only difference is we move from laughing with to laughing at.
|
Rodan
Member
Post Number: 464
Registered: 9-2003
| | Posted on Monday, August 28, 2006 - 3:38 pm:
|
|
Sanny,
I tend to think that if your only lower ventilation is the Guru port in the door, you don't have enough air flow for a hot fire. Also, the bolt on the "hat" is quite long and the threads are rather fine so it takes a lot of turns to get it off. Look at the inside of your dome & check the length of the bolt & you'll see what I mean. As several have said above, it's probably a fuel/air problem. You might want to order a regular draft door for when you're not using a Guru. Get plenty of air flowing and you'll get that temp cranked up.
Rod |
Lcubed
Member
Post Number: 45
Registered: 6-2006
| | Posted on Monday, August 28, 2006 - 3:55 pm:
|
|
i'm not sure, but i think that they may have gone to a more coarse pitch
on the top damper rod. about a quarter turn gets my #7 up to ~ 200 F
and a full half turn up to ~ 350F.
to get to 500+, i open my bottom damper a full 1 to 1.5" and the top has a gap
of ~ 1". i'm on the other coast this week and i've been playing w/ my dad's
brand new # 7 and it behaves similarly.
it could be that the lumpsaver needs to have the ash knocked out to clear the air path. last week, i had a fire nearly go out since the cowboy lump i was burning
clogged the grate and hadn't fallen thru to the ash pit. a stir with the grill floss
solved that problem. |
Sanny
Member
Post Number: 151
Registered: 6-2006
| | Posted on Monday, August 28, 2006 - 4:03 pm:
|
|
Rod, not just the hole. I had the door out on its rods almost as far as it would go. Probably a combination of clogged lumpsaver, not enough open on top, and cosmic dust. Probably the demotion of Pluto, too. Messed up the whole universal balance. ;) |
Linuxwrangler
Member
Post Number: 199
Registered: 10-2005
| | Posted on Monday, August 28, 2006 - 5:28 pm:
|
|
Sanny, my $0.02.
You don't need the bottom open very much for high-temp. I did some playing and measuring and with the top opened up (so the bottom was the limiting factor), I hit over 650 with the bottom open about 1/8". And I can be pretty sure that if I open my cap 3/4 turn and bump the bottom open "enough" (it's not really the controlling factor as long as it's at least 1/8" open) then I will eventually stabilize at 350.
It's the eventually part that's frustrating and I've found that the thing that's slowed me down is moisture. Somehow no matter where I've gotten charcoal, it has anywhere from "some" to "a pretty fair amount" of moisture. When I made my measurements I was using dry charcoal - ie. a pretty full lumpsaver of leftover charcoal so it was well dried out from earlier cooks.
I had a frustrating time waiting to get up to temp on a few cooks till I noticed all the water condensing on the inside of the dome. Temps got to ~200 then stall till the moisture had been driven out - a slow process if the damper and cap are only cracked.
I've now changed my lighting technique - especially if I have a bunch of new charcoal in the K. My new technique is to light the K and leave the lid up and the bottom open at least an inch. I want lots of air flow to carry away any moisture and I don't want the moisture condensing and dripping back. When the coals are going, I close the lid and set the dampers as desired. The K will stabilize pretty quickly.
You do have to watch a bit more carefully as you don't want to forget and leave the K for an hour. But it's OK for your coals to get quite a bit hotter than they will be during the actual cook as they will get up to temp relatively quickly this way and the K will still be warming up so you won't have too much trouble with overshooting. The coals will calm down as soon as you close the lid. |
Johnnyboy
Member
Post Number: 308
Registered: 10-2004
| | Posted on Tuesday, August 29, 2006 - 10:49 am:
|
|
Sanny, I'm talking about the needle on the temp gauge. My #5 can get so hot the temperature dial needle goes past max and starts over again. |
Sanny
Member
Post Number: 153
Registered: 6-2006
| | Posted on Tuesday, August 29, 2006 - 2:00 pm:
|
|
Oh my!! That's bigger than pegged! |
French loaves
