seattlepitboss
is one Smokin' Farker
- Joined
- Feb 5, 2009
- Location
- Seattle, WA
Those of you who faithfully made a discada cooker a few years back may remember the style of burner that was recommended for them. They were made overseas by a company whose American distributor labeled them Alpha. Here is an example:
I bought one of those about 11 years ago and bolted it to a stand made from an old truck brake drum. It has sat outside my kitchen door mostly out of the rain since. I have had to take it apart many times because it stops working. Every single time it was due to an insect making some kind of nest. I found it easy to blow them out. The pretty wrinkle paint is now gone, replaced by hi-temp paint. I have really tried to do the maintenance on it.
This year, it had been down for a few months. I took it apart and got into it. I blew out two bug plugs and then hooked it back up again. It lit, with blue flames, but the flames on the outer ring were 1/8" tall or less where normally they would be closer to 3/8". And the heat was much lower.
I can't find anything wrong with it. The hose and regulator test fine, and I have gone much farther than ever before in trying to remove any obstructions. I wound up swapping in a more expensive Alpha burner with a lot more heat. Now I'm supposed to scrap this old one, but dang it, it still seems like a perfectly good appliance to me except something's wrong.
This post isn't about cooking Q, more about building/maintaining them. Lots of you guys used to be very knowledgeable and helped me immensely on the builds I did a decade or so ago.
If you have any suggestions I'd love to hear them.
seattlepitboss
I bought one of those about 11 years ago and bolted it to a stand made from an old truck brake drum. It has sat outside my kitchen door mostly out of the rain since. I have had to take it apart many times because it stops working. Every single time it was due to an insect making some kind of nest. I found it easy to blow them out. The pretty wrinkle paint is now gone, replaced by hi-temp paint. I have really tried to do the maintenance on it.
This year, it had been down for a few months. I took it apart and got into it. I blew out two bug plugs and then hooked it back up again. It lit, with blue flames, but the flames on the outer ring were 1/8" tall or less where normally they would be closer to 3/8". And the heat was much lower.
I can't find anything wrong with it. The hose and regulator test fine, and I have gone much farther than ever before in trying to remove any obstructions. I wound up swapping in a more expensive Alpha burner with a lot more heat. Now I'm supposed to scrap this old one, but dang it, it still seems like a perfectly good appliance to me except something's wrong.
This post isn't about cooking Q, more about building/maintaining them. Lots of you guys used to be very knowledgeable and helped me immensely on the builds I did a decade or so ago.
If you have any suggestions I'd love to hear them.
seattlepitboss
