Tuning a Lang 84

[kw]

Hey all,


A few years back, a smoker was donated to the church I attend. When I spoke with one of the pastors about it, in the recesses of my mind, I was thinking this was probably some thin skinned cheap sheet metal unit, that was all rusted out, and in need of transport to the local landfill.


I was quite surprised to find out I was mistaken, as it turned out to be a first generation Lang 84.



It was in need of some repairs, though. It seems the previous owner had an aversion to removing the lower grates and scraping down the baffle plate (for lack of a better term). There was considerable debris built up and once I got the clinkers out of there, it was pretty clear the smoker needed some attention.


I contacted Ben Lang, and he gave me some tips on how to rebuild the pit. A friend of mine, now retired from the welding profession, has a son attending welding school out in Ohio. Together, the two of them cut out the old metal, and welded in new stuff, based on Ben's instructions.


Since then, I've done several cooks on the pit, some for personal use, and some for church functions. I can't say enough good about this thing. It still needs a little more attention, and I'm planning on hauling it back to the house for a paint job once the weather turns a bit warmer.


I have noticed there's a considerable temperature difference between the firebox side of the pit, and the far side, of about 40 degrees. Is this normal? I find myself playing musical meat during the cooks, which may be just the way things are with an offset, but I'm asking the board if any of you may know of ways to tune this thing to get things a little more uniform.


Thanks for any advice you can give me, and I'm attaching a few snapshots of the pit, before and after the repairs.


Kurt

 

[sudsandswine]

Nice restoration :thumb:

 

[Chester]

I think 40 degrees is fairly normal. Cook your poultry closer to the firebox, and others meats on the other side.

Nice pit.

 

[PaPaQ]

Very nice job on the restoration.

 

[Cookb4]

I cook on a similar smoker (Lang Clone) at work. I found that if I close the smoke stack a little it evens out the temperature across the grate.

 

[SMOKE FREAK]

Man, that's some serious neglect.
It's a great thing you are doing by restoring it for them.

 

[sackedbysapp]

I have Generation 2 84. I’ve never had even temps, some do. You could join Lang Facebook page for more help. As you can see highest temp closest to firebox.

 

[cowgirl]

Looks like a nice smoker!
I've never had to "tune" anything in. I get to know what the smoker can do.... then work with it.

 

[OSD]

Leave the exhaust wide open. Raise or lower the tongue of the unit til it evens out. Don't worry about the pit being level. It usually doesn't take much up or down to get the heat to change. It's been a long time, but if remember right, I would say lower the tongue to raise the heat on the end farthest from the firebox.

I used to have do this on a Lang 60 I had to get it to even out.

 

[SmoothBoarBBQ]

I'm in agreement with @OSD that you will want to try going a few degrees negative at the end opposite the firebox. This will force the heat and smoke to move downwards, which will then enter the smoke chamber at a bit of a slower velocity, and then move out the exhaust stack. This is why people tend to refer to reverse flow offsets as "fuel hogs" because you're literally forcing the smoker to draft a bit harder, and in turn consuming a bit more fuel.

 

[sackedbysapp]

When I lower the front end I find that the heat builds right near fire box even more and temp drops opposite of firebox.

 

[BBQ Freak]

i would drop the nose a little like others have said or you might try putting a water pan on the firebox side on the baffle plate might help but i would not strees too much on 40 degrees .

 

[dummy que]

SWEET JEASUS a little neglect wow i halve a lang 60 if i close the damper some it will even out to within 4to6 deg.

 

[kurtsara]

SWEET JEASUS a little neglect wow i halve a lang 60 if i close the damper some it will even out to within 4to6 deg.

I had a 84 that would even out also and I could play with the temps just by cranking the jack on the hitch up or down

 

[Big George's BBQ]

Nice restoration Looks like you will be having some fun with that