Need Excel 20 help

Mack wrote:I didn't mean without the water pan in place, but it is another option if you have 3 stackers, I know Roxy and DM sometimes do this.

Off topic alert...

Ian, Check out your new user logo...500 must be the next benchmark of forum discussion...pretty cool.

Any joy with the temps Bill?

Mack wrote:Bill, I was under the impression that the whole purpose of water in the pan, was to regulate the cooking temps at between 200 - 250 deg F, it would be hard to acheive higher temps with water (the WSM does, because of the large gap between the side and pan, thus alot of hot air goes up around the sides. I still can't figure otu why you still can't get temps higher without water in the pan, but will do a few tests myself.

Ian

Ian,
Cooking with a medium other then water in the pan (like sand, foil balls, clay pot base, etc.) is a common practice with WSM users, so I thought I would give it a try (foil balls) to see if it solved my issues. But it has not. And my Q has come out very good using both methods (Ribs, chicken, pork butt), so I am not sure that the moisture produced with water in the pan has any effect. At least I could not notice. The last batch of ribs I did came out awesone, would of been proud to turn them in at any comp. And had much better color then from my stick burner. But since I have not been able to control the heat, I would be reluctent to use it at one. At least I get some good eats while I try to figure this thing out.
Thanks,
Bill

All Weather Griller wrote:Any joy with the temps Bill?

Thanks for asking.
No, same issues. Have cooked five times now, still have to leave all vents wide open to maintain temp. Tried some of the best Lump out there last time (Wicked Good) with same results. Don't know that I will get to use it again for a few weeks, have a comp coming up, but I have a couple of ideas to try for the next run.
But as I said, the Q has been very tastey.
Bill

Bill I honestly cant get my head around this issue. Can you post up pictures of exactly how your are firing the 20 up?

I now only fil my pan half way with water and the temps always hold.
I'm thinking if there is an air leak then the temps would spike so that's not the issue.

Is the fuel packed to tightly?

Is there too much water in the pan? Even if it's hot water it takes energy to keep it there so cut down to about half a pan.

Are you using the thermo on the lid or one like a et73 at grate level to check the cookers temps?

Dr_KY wrote:Bill I honestly cant get my head around this issue. Can you post up pictures of exactly how your are firing the 20 up?

I now only fil my pan half way with water and the temps always hold.
I'm thinking if there is an air leak then the temps would spike so that's not the issue.

Is the fuel packed to tightly?

Is there too much water in the pan? Even if it's hot water it takes energy to keep it there so cut down to about half a pan.

Are you using the thermo on the lid or one like a et73 at grate level to check the cookers temps?

Dr,
I am baffled too.
As I mentioned, the problem has been with both water and no water in the pan (foil lined with foil balls).
I have used all briquettes, all lump, and a mixture of both. I have used Royal Oak and Wicked Good lump. The first time I thought it might be because it was too tightly packed, but since have had the same issue with a loser fill in the basket. Most of the time I have filled the basket all the way, but also tried not filling it as much. I started the fire by using a 3/4 full lit chimney of coals on top, and a heaping chimney full.
This last time I held my hand over the fire before I assembled the unit, and the fire seemed very hot, could only hold over for a second or so.
I have dropped a probe of a digital thermo down the air vent (would not fit through the probe hole), and it read very similar to the dome thermo. I did not have my ET-73 handy. I used an oven thermo last time, and upper grate temp was reading higher then dome temp, which kind of surprised me.
What I expected was to see high temps (300+) when first starting the unit, and then for me to back down the temps using the bottom vents to control. But that is not happening. It holds the temps for a long time, but it just gets up to 200-235 (dome temp) and stays there with all three vents wide open. I saw the video that was posted by Jim (I believe) and seems that I am doing it similar to them, but not seeing the same results.
The next time I use it, I will try and take photos of all the steps. I am going to try a couple of ideas of mine to see if it corrects the problem. One of the things I will try is to assemble it without the water pan, let it heat up, then add the pan.
Thanks,
Bill

I understand that 200-235 is where we want to be most of the time but then again in say doing a high temp brisket you need more heat.

Now I have to ask myself if just how much math Ian used in building the 20. It would appear to be designed to perfectly run at those numbers (sort of like a long distance runner in comparison to a sprinter) so the simple solution could be you need more air intake for a hot ride and thinking so I would also assume that only using one stacker would help bring higher temps due to the lower overall volume of the cooking chamber.

The other obvious solution would be to add another intake but I wouldn't want to be the first to drill out my 20.

How about you try sticking a stopper/ cork in one of the holes on the exhaust side and see if you get higher temps. This would change the numbers of intake vs exhaust. ...or simply adjust the dial down a bit.

Dr_KY wrote:
How about you try sticking a stopper/ cork in one of the holes on the exhaust side and see if you get higher temps. This would change the numbers of intake vs exhaust. ...or simply adjust the dial down a bit.

I have always been taught that you always leave the Exhaust vent full open, and throttle by the Intake vents. I did try and adjust the exhaust down a hair one time, but did not help much.
Actually, I am feeling a little better now. I just watched Jim's videos again, and if I am not mistaken, his dome temp hit 250 (on ProQ gauge) with all vents wide open. I did not see them mention that they closed any of them down. The first time I watched it, I thought the temp was higher.
I know others here have posted higher temps though. Is that correct, have others been able to get higher temps before adjusting the intakes down?

I'm from the school of full open exhaust too, I was just curious if it would change the dynamics of the cooker.

I have never had mine past 230 full open and honestly never attempted to.