The throat is the opening from the firebox to the cook chamber and it's OK for it to be bigger than the calculator states. In your design I would suggest your reduce the size by making the throat hole shorter. You'll have a lip under the baffle plate and that's a good thing - it helps reduce the hot spot on that end of the cook chamber.
The baffle plate gap should be no more than the designed throat size and can be 25% smaller. I made mine slightly smaller and it works great.
Still having doubts if I should place a butterfly air inlet in the door or not. I'v read that it could have a positive effect .....something about the draw etc....can't find the source off this info anymore...What do you guys think?
Main parts or know ready to make cut files so....soon....welding, welding ....welding
The location doesn't affect the performance because the air isn't being forced through the cooker it's being drawn through the cooker by the hot air going out of the stack. I believe that it is better to have intakes on both sides because it gives you the option to close off one side and open the other if you get wind blowing directly into the intake.
Thanks for the feedback guys!!!!
Just one more question ....
Now the exhaust is 40 inch long (4"x4"), is shorter and wider better or will this be ok? have a round pipe in stock that is 6.2"....but then the length of the exhaust should be shorter....
It's based off of volume so either will work fine. I like for the exhaust to be tall enough to keep the smoke out of my eyes but not so tall that it won't fit through the garage door.
After welding the steering cart it was timz to put the larger parts together. Finally I got my welding table free again.
Today the stainless steel arrived for the racks [emoji847]
BUT....now I'm a bit stuck. Really don't know what to do with the smokestack.
Initially I wanted to install the chimney where you see the round hole above the fb.
I putted som square tubing in the tank to simulate the height off the bottom rack.
Do you guys think this is the right place or??? Should I install a collector? And then ....I have 4inch and 5 inch square tube and 6 inch round pipe....which one should I use?Really not sure about all that.
You could ask 10 guys the same question and probably get 8 different answers. I'm personally not a fan of the stack being so low in the CC, I mount them as high as possible, either on the end or top. If you want to mount it at that height then I see no problems using the existing opening as long as it is equal to the size of your stack. As for the diameter, I would run them through the calculator, get a length for each and see what works best for you. I like the stack to be tall enough to keep the smoke out of my eyes but not so tall that it doesn't fit through the garage door.
I’ve had a low mounted stack and never did like it. Mine is now high at top dead center.
How is your counter weight working? It appears to be much taller than most and only raked back a couple of degrees. How well does it function for you in keeping the door balanced throughout the entire swing? I would think it would pull the door open pretty hard and then be pretty heavy to close from looking at it.
Just curious and hoping to learn from your design.(Or, it could just be the angle of the photo has distorted reality a bit, lol.)