Brinkman w/mods and pic.s.

[Hugh_Jass]

Greetings,
Initially, I was going to build an UDS with PID control, but found this in my mother's shed. I had forgotten I had it.

http://i759.photobucket.com/albums/xx233/jstewart8/DSC02294.jpg

Wanted to make it electric. Here's a pic with the element mounted.

http://i759.photobucket.com/albums/xx233/jstewart8/DSC02298.jpg

Added a Weber smoke box. It sits directly above the element and gets quite warm.

http://i759.photobucket.com/albums/xx233/jstewart8/DSC02297.jpg

here it is with the grates and thermocouple mounted

http://i759.photobucket.com/albums/xx233/jstewart8/DSC02295.jpg

The controller box is an old fishing tackle box with the trey taken out. On the far left is the PID controller and SSR. Middle front is a toggle switch to manually control the element. Middle rear is an outlet to distribute power. Right is a temp panel with a meat probe for internal meat temps.

http://i759.photobucket.com/albums/xx233/jstewart8/DSC02293.jpg

Another view of da gutz.

http://i759.photobucket.com/albums/xx233/jstewart8/DSC02292.jpg

Always test before you plug

http://i759.photobucket.com/albums/xx233/jstewart8/DSC02291.jpg

How it'll look when it's cookn'

http://i759.photobucket.com/albums/xx233/jstewart8/DSC02299.jpg

I know it's small, but I'm a noob smoker and wanted to throw something together to smoke some butts. I'm just learning and hope to use some of these same parts in other builds.

Thanks for looking

:cheers:

[killswitch505]

really nice set up my friend but i want to see her cookin
_________________
Club Disco

[BigPhil32]

that is really kick arse....I will be following this build....can't wait to see some photos of your first cook!
_________________
1 homemade UDS smoker
1 18.5 WSM
Check out my blog on BBQ joints: http://lordofthesmokerings.wordpress.com/
Smoking since November of 2009...

[k.a.m.]

Hugh_Jass, you sure brought that cooker back to life in a high tech way. I love the setup very nice work indeed. Now lets see some smoke.
_________________
Always remember slow and steady wins the race.

Hybrid Cooker

[Hugh_Jass]

Guys,
Believe me, no one wants to have this thing cooking more than me.

Thanks for the kind words.

One issue I ran into last night was bringing it up to temp. The element is 1650W. I could not get temps past 220. I'm thinking of putting some flashing around the base and under the smoker to keep the air exchange to a minimum.

Stay tuned.....there's going to be light weight metal and duct tape flying.

Any other thoughts, concerns or improvements?

[pyper]

Heat radiates in all directions. I bet if you could get some insulation on the bottom it would work better. Maybe two sheets of metal with an air gap?

Looks good though. Keep us informed.

[Hugh_Jass]

Well, I had an epic failure over the weekend.

The SSR output remained open and kept the element engaged. I decided to roll with it and try to adjust the temps by venting more heat from the smoker. Things were going along well. The smoke box was filled with cherry. It was giving off plenty o' smoke. I was able to keep the temps ~235F for about 2 hrs. That's when the SSR decided it had done enough work and let all of the smoke out of it's lil body. It's fried. With the relay remaining open, the heat from the current melted the SSR and the tackle box's bottom where the SSR was mounted.

Either the SSR was faulty (probably not)or I had the PID settings wrong(I vote this one). When I put a voltage meter to the SSR, no voltage was apparent. I changed an output setting on the PID and voila, the voltage meter read in the proper range. It also cycled on and off when the temps fluctuated above and below the PID's set point. Gonna give it another test, this time with some kind o' fattie, after the next SSR arrives.

As for the pork butt, it was moved to the oven, cooked til internal temps read 200F, wrapped in foil and allowed to rest for another hour, then pulled and served on a toasted roll with Q sauce on the side. The meat was good, but the day, all in all, was a disappointment.

Stay tuned.

[BigPhil32]

That sucks!!! Do you think this time you will use something made out of metal to house the electirc elements? That way, next time it won't melt the plastic...I am sorry to hear this as I have this build bookmarked and was hoping you had posted good news!!! Keep us posted!!!
_________________
1 homemade UDS smoker
1 18.5 WSM
Check out my blog on BBQ joints: http://lordofthesmokerings.wordpress.com/
Smoking since November of 2009...

[killswitch505]

sucks dude was your SSR rated for the load if it was your pid is just opening and closing the ssr their is a chance that it might be as simple as a lug was not tight on the ssr or you may need to change your pulse rate in the pid logic I would turn the pulse off all together this may cause you to overshoot a little
_________________
Club Disco

[Big Bailey]

the ssr requires a heat sink to dicipate some heat.the ssr probly overheated
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low & slow don't you know