thank you will post pictures of the tank and fire box. Yes that is snow. I am to the point on my tank I will be asking all kinds of questions. I tried to use the calculator, do not think I did some thing right. When I put the reverse flow plate in how much gap at the end do I need? I want to keep the shape of the tank. I have a set of basic plans that are hand drawn with the plate on a angle towards the fire box, can I leave the plate level and have a bigger opening in the fire box? my fire box is 24x24x24x1/4. thanks
Your FB size should be ~24 x 20 x 20 to get ~104% diff with your 120 gal tank. That needs a throat area of 77sq in. If you cut a 5 1/2" h throat in the tank you can mount you BP at that ht. That will give you ~6" to your first grate. A 4" round stack will need to be ~38" long as well. The BP gap should be the size of the throat area but could be closed down some from there with some extra metal when tweaking.
If it's tourist season, how come I can't shoot 'em?
the plans that I am using call for a 5" inside diameter smoke stack 26 inches tall, and a 7 inch throat opening from the fire box to the cc. How much difference does this make? Thanks
Sorry forgot to add that the bp starts at 1 1/4 inch from the top of the bottom grate to the top of the bp with a 1" fall to the fire box. From the instructions that came with the plans.
I don't think you want and angled BP...especially if it's angled towards the fb. You want your drippings to be under your food, not pooling on the fb end where they are more likely to burn instead of steam back into the cc.
A 4" stack 38" tall is ~1500 cubic inches, a 5" x 26" is ~1600 cubic inches so they're close.
Make sure your throat is measured in square inches. Total area should be 77 square inches. I made mine as wide as possible and then just figured out how big the trapezoid shape could be from there.
Thanks for the help, I will make the bp level with the grates about 2" from the top of the bottom grate. the plans call for an opening 7 inches from the top of the cut to the bottom the same as my tank shape, like a smile. just trying to get this right the first time.
Where are the plans from? If you size the FB correctly that throat would be way too big. The dims I gave you are the correct size for that sized tank. The larger FB would indeed need a bigger throat but it's too big for your tank at 24" square. The stack length is dependent upon the inside diameter so if you go bigger then it would need to be shorter, but again, all the dimensions work together.
If it's tourist season, how come I can't shoot 'em?
Sorry I do not remember who I got them from. I think they are for a bigger tank then what I am using. I can cut the 4 inch's off my fire box and reweld no problem there, will use your recommendations for the openings. Thanks
Pete has you pointed in the right direction, there's nothing worse than putting in all that work on a smoker that doesn't perform very well. I like to keep my stack tall enough to keep the smoke out of my eyes but not too tall to get through the garage door. Some guys make theirs removable if the height ends up being a problem.
thanks to every one for the help. I think I got the calculator down, I put my tank size in and came up with the same dimensions, 20 1/8 wide by 5.5 inch high. Again thank you every one for the help.
Cool log rack....did you support it or are you relying on the welds? Neat idea.
Out of curiosity, how did you sizes the air intakes? They are cool but just don't look big enough. Have you done them before? I was wondering how easy they are to adjust (I'm guessing they screw in/out) once hot.
thank you for the nice comment's, there are 4 of the air inlets, same principal as my wood burning stove, they are 3 inch pipe with plugs from a water header, when I welded them in I tried them with the heat from welding and they worked. Yes they do screw in and out, will find out when I put fire to it may have to change them. the chain I found in a scrap yard and thought that it would work good for the grate, there are 4 pieces of 2x2x1/4 angle iron under it to help support it, plus I welded the chain to keep it from moving.