Yoder Smokers Community Forum

It's going to rain tomorrow. Is the smoke coming out of the stack to hot to have the 640 under a pop up?

Not a problem. We regularly do this for comps. Just be aware of the grease. It's gonna stick to the metal and fabric if your cooking greasy meats such as hamburgers.

Thanks for the reply Stony.
I figured if I used my EZ-Up for this one time it would get greasy and be good for smoking only. I just wondered if the smoke would melt the nylon.

My only concern when I have done this is making sure it's not right up next to my house by a window or door. The pop up will trap some carbon monoxide from the exhaust and I don't need any of that drifting into my house with my family and I inside. Maybe that's just me being paranoid, but it's a thought I consider. Otherwise, I wouldn't worry about temps unless the cooker was really close to the pop up.

We have done this 2 ways, put the chimney end of the cooker just outside of the tent, or, put the cooker right on the edge of the tent and angle the chimney out.

Kirby
I keep the smoker away from the house. I noticed the smoke on the burn in was swirling towards the house. I didn't want grease to get on the siding so I keep the pit far enough away so the smoke goes up.

Herb
If I tilt the chimney will that affect the draw in the pit at all?

No, the pellet cookers use positive air flow through the cooker, and do not depend on draft like the stick burners do.

This is one of my favorite uses for the adjustable gas vent 90 degree elbow I have stuck to the top of the chimney on my 640. I'll try to post a picture soon, but it works fantastically under a pop up. Cost me about $3 or $4 bucks at Home Depot.

Here's a photo of the adjustable elbow I mentioned above...works like a dream under cover of any sort and let's you keep your chimney in the same, upright position all the time. Nowhere as beautiful as the stainless one Herb posted, but it works great and lets me get better directional flow of the smoke. The off-white thing covering the YS640 is my welding blanket.

Thanks for the picture and the tip

Thanks T-Jed I'm gettin' me one of those!

Is there any reason I couldn't run a vent like that 24-36" above the Yoder stack? I'm thinking of running out the top of the ramp door on my trailer while I leave the trailer locked up.

Hehe, like I did. I got dryer vent tube and ran it off the corner of the porch above the roofline. Prolly a 5-6' pipe. It doesn't fit really tight (not at all really) Prevents the nasty smoke from staining the porch top. I got a link to the issue, but can't post links here.

I dunno about putting something like that in a locked trailer running. Bad things can happen.

Why do you need to lock up a running Yoder? Maybe you have one of those trailers with the ramp door. You'll leave it open at the top so you have airflow. The idea of a locked up Yoder while running still scares me. Make sure you got it leveled in the trailer for the drip bucket too.

I was considering the same thing...running venting to extend the 640 exhaust out from under my covered patio. So, I had a guy who has been installing pellet stoves for over 20 years come out, take a look and give me some advice. His advice?

Don't do it.

The reason(s)?

First, pellet stoves (for heating your home) are designed with a vent fan in addition to the pellet stove's fan (for positive air flow). He was seriously concerned about the 640 not being able to push that much additional air and having a significant, negative impact on performance.

Second, each elbow you install in the run causes drag (reduction) in air flow (I would have needed 2).

Third, moisture can build up and condense inside of the venting and drain back into the 640.

If you've ever dealt with a damper on an indoor fireplace, messed it up and gotten a houseful of smoke, you know what #1 is all about.

So, unless someone from Yoder says "hey, no problem at all", I'm going to have to stick with greasing up my patio roof.

Leaving a running cooker in an enclosed space is a serious safety and danger hazard. The CO2 potential is enormous in an enclosed area. We are talking about an active, burning fire after all.

Here is a picture of what I use under the roof of my patio and under a canopy when we can't get the chimney just out from under it (this works for a YS480 and YS640, but not for a YS1500):



And here is the under side of the vent:



Using this works perfectly, except, it does drip grease down on my stainless side shelf (or the floor/ground if the shelf is removed) from the top hat portion on longer cooks, and needs to be cleaned. For me, this is much better than the alternative huge grease and smoke stain on the underside of the patio roof.

We'll I never said it was a good idea... Lol. Thanks guys

Prairie Smoke wrote:We'll I never said it was a good idea... Lol. Thanks guys

Funny! Yep, you need open air for the Yoder intake. Hate to see you walk into the trailer with the door mostly closed for a long time and fall down not to get up. Like that for all combustion devices. Too many die with heaters, grills etc and poor ventilation.

Yoder_Herb,

Mind me asking where you obtained the chimney cap? I'm looking to do the same. I have another hokie type solution that I'm currently using, but yours seems more practical and easier to break down at the end of the day.

The parts are from NovaVent. You will need to find the parts at a dealer.

Item: Z Flex NovaVent Appliance Adaptor for 3 inch diameter Stainless Steel Vent Pipe - Category III - 2NVAFF3

Item: Z Flex NovaVent Rain Cap for 3 inch Stainless Steel Vent Pipe - Category III - 2NVWC3

McMaster Carr sells vents and such and the firmer dryer tube material, probably a lot cheaper. Don't need to seal the tube on the exhaust, the smoke does not leak out.