UDS wind problem

Discussion about Ugly Drum Smokers (UDS)
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Gizmo
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UDS wind problem

Post by Gizmo » April 15th, 2012, 5:48 pm

Since I don't have a UDS I need to ask you guys that do for some info about how wind is effecting them...

Do you think the wind is stripping heat off the skin? (running cold on a windy day)

- or -

Is the wind messing with the airflow through the drum? (running hot on a windy day)

- or -

Is it a combination of both of these and if so which do you think is mostly to blame?

I might be smoking my socks but after 2 years of fooling with fires/cooking chambers/draft designs and Nebraska wind, I THINK I can fix most of this problem if I had some input ...

So what do you say? - let's rid the world of cantankerous UDS's :)


And on the eighth day God created barbecue …. because he DOES love us and he wants us to be happy. :D
Current smokers: Egor (trailered RF) and Easybake (tabletop pellet drive)

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Re: UDS wind problem

Post by Frank_Cox » April 15th, 2012, 6:57 pm

the problem is the same as with any smoker. the wind blows into the firebox/ drum and causes temps to either skyrocket or it will draft out the other air inlet instead of the stack. usually fixed by rotating the drum a little :grillin:



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Re: UDS wind problem

Post by The Czar » April 15th, 2012, 7:00 pm

:yth: .....or do it what I do and cook in a car port so the wind isn't an issue.... :grillin:


If you can't fix it by sheer force or cursing......then it can't be fixed.....


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Re: UDS wind problem

Post by Smokeone » April 15th, 2012, 7:48 pm

I agree with Frank.
Of course the Mrs refers to this as Windy Hill Acres, so if you can help fix that I would be appreciative!


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Re: UDS wind problem

Post by Frank_Cox » April 15th, 2012, 8:04 pm

dcman wrote::yth: .....or do it what I do and cook in a car port so the wind isn't an issue.... :grillin:
what a resourceful photo czar we have.... :wsm:



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Re: UDS wind problem

Post by Gizmo » April 15th, 2012, 8:07 pm

Okay - I'll try posting a drawing here .... stay tuned ... :)


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Re: UDS wind problem

Post by maccas66 » April 16th, 2012, 1:36 am

Roger that Rick!...... :help: ...................don`t carports only have roofs! :-s


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Re: UDS wind problem

Post by Gizmo » April 16th, 2012, 6:35 am

I thought so mac but maybe DC had the assembly instructions turned wrong so it's a wall instead of a roof now ... =))


And on the eighth day God created barbecue …. because he DOES love us and he wants us to be happy. :D
Current smokers: Egor (trailered RF) and Easybake (tabletop pellet drive)

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Re: UDS wind problem

Post by The Czar » April 16th, 2012, 7:02 am

Not my carport.....it was walls about 4 foot high then it is all screened in....my bad.... #-o .....it used to be a carport until I screened and walled it in.... :huh: ....but its not a garage really....so what would you call it.... :-w


If you can't fix it by sheer force or cursing......then it can't be fixed.....


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Re: UDS wind problem

Post by Frank_Cox » April 16th, 2012, 7:09 am

I would call it the garaport



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Re: UDS wind problem

Post by The Czar » April 16th, 2012, 7:23 am

Frank_Cox wrote:I would call it the garaport
:wtf: .....carage is what I was thinking.... :huh:


If you can't fix it by sheer force or cursing......then it can't be fixed.....


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Re: UDS wind problem

Post by RDRASH » April 16th, 2012, 11:13 am

We took some old signs, cut up an old belt. Take the pieces of belt about 4 inches long rivited them to two signs as a hinge. Set them on the ground as a wind block. Got the idea to use them as a wind block for our out door fish cooker/turkey fryier and old coleman stove when we were out camping.


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Re: UDS wind problem

Post by Smokeone » April 16th, 2012, 1:26 pm

Czarport? =))


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Re: UDS wind problem

Post by The Czar » April 16th, 2012, 3:06 pm

smokeone wrote:Czarport? =))
That's enough of out you...... :wtf:


If you can't fix it by sheer force or cursing......then it can't be fixed.....


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Re: UDS wind problem

Post by Smokeone » April 16th, 2012, 6:45 pm

Who, me? O:-)


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Usually more beers than smoke.

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Re: UDS wind problem

Post by Magnificen tFoods » April 16th, 2012, 7:26 pm

Hell sounds like the smoke house!!!!!!!!!



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Re: UDS wind problem

Post by Frank_Cox » April 16th, 2012, 8:46 pm

czarport! I love it....
I here by declare the photo czars' "car port" shall forever be known as the "czarport" =)) =))



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Re: UDS wind problem

Post by The Czar » April 16th, 2012, 10:03 pm

S1.....yes you...and Frank you are now on the line.... :lurkblast:


If you can't fix it by sheer force or cursing......then it can't be fixed.....


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Re: UDS wind problem

Post by maccas66 » April 17th, 2012, 12:28 am

:kewl:


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Re: UDS wind problem

Post by Smokeone » April 17th, 2012, 7:13 am

Frank dont be scared, the Czar just cant ake the heat............................thats why the Czarport is ventilated! :bigfoot:


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Re: UDS wind problem

Post by Gizmo » May 10th, 2012, 8:43 pm

It's time I made good on my promise but instead of trying to transfer a drawing I'll show you one I'm building for Edna now that she runs on charcoal instead of the pellet drive. For lack of a better term I call this a wind fence.


Start with the end of your stack and a 1 inch wide strip of thin sheetmetal - I'm using some scrap 14 gauge I had...

Image
Bend the strip into a loop around the stack pipe so that it is a half inch larger radius than the stack pipe

Image


Image

Make 3 Z-clips about half inch wide with rivet holes in the ends

Image

And attach the loop you made at the top of the stack
Image
Image

You want the wind fence to be centered vertically over the top lip of the stack pipe so there is metal above the stack pipe and below it.
Image


This is the finished wind fence on Edna's stack on the left and the one I've been using on Edgar on the right...
Image

As most of you have pointed out, wind blowing over the end of the stack is just like the soda straw experiment in school where it sucks the fluid up out of the bottle and it does the same to a smoker by sucking too much air through it and causing it to stoke itself and run too hot. Fortunately wind is a horizontal concept - who ever heard of the wind blowing straight down? So when the wind blows across the wind fence it does 2 things - 1) it pulls air from AROUND the stack's outside where we left the half inch gap and because of this it 2) rolls forward instead of running across the top of the stack in a straight line which would have created a low pressure area like the top of an airplane wing.

This is just the first half of solving the problem with wind effecting an enclosed fire - but it's the half I had the materials to do tonight - so there ...

Next post will be fixing the draft - it's similar but I don't have the materials yet so stay tuned... :)

P.S. If you have a UDS or smoker with a top exhaust hole and no stack - I would suggest you add a short stack and fence it - it's kinda like inviting the problem out to play and then killing it :D


And on the eighth day God created barbecue …. because he DOES love us and he wants us to be happy. :D
Current smokers: Egor (trailered RF) and Easybake (tabletop pellet drive)


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Re: UDS wind problem

Post by Gizmo » May 10th, 2012, 8:50 pm

Thanks Frank :D


And on the eighth day God created barbecue …. because he DOES love us and he wants us to be happy. :D
Current smokers: Egor (trailered RF) and Easybake (tabletop pellet drive)

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Re: UDS wind problem

Post by Smokeone » May 10th, 2012, 8:51 pm

Nice job Rick! :kewl:


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Re: UDS wind problem

Post by Gizmo » May 10th, 2012, 8:56 pm

Thanks S1! :D


And on the eighth day God created barbecue …. because he DOES love us and he wants us to be happy. :D
Current smokers: Egor (trailered RF) and Easybake (tabletop pellet drive)

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