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Survey. How long does your charcoal take to extinguish.

In a LBGE what is the average time it should take the charcoal to extinguish, no more red embers not dome to cool, after say an 1.5 hour cooking at 350-400 dome temp.

Is there a way to check for air leaks other then the dollar bill test. How would you test the bottom and top dampers for leaks.

Comments

  • anton
    anton Posts: 1,813
    I have gone back outside to egg an hour after cooking and still saw some red coals when I opened it, I usually see mine drop temp back to 0 after a few hours, If you don't have a good sealing gasket, it could take a little while even with all vents closed. Hope this helps you.
     Using a MBGE,woo/w stone,livin' in  Hayward California," The Heart Of The Bay "
  • SkinnyV
    SkinnyV Posts: 3,404
    With the smokeware cap, too long.
    Seattle, WA
  • Terrebandit
    Terrebandit Posts: 1,750
    I don't have a clue and I don't care. I just put the lid down, shut the vents, and walk away. There is always some lump leftover for the next cook.
    Dave - Austin, TX
  • Jeepster47
    Jeepster47 Posts: 3,827
    @Tinyfish ... is there a specific reason you want to know that piece of information?

    Washington, IL  >  Queen Creek, AZ ... Two large eggs and an adopted Mini Max

  • Tjcoley
    Tjcoley Posts: 3,551
    edited January 2015
    For those who store in a garage this is important to prevent CO.  It's surprising how long the Egg can keep a fire going.

    http://eggheadforum.com/discussion/1146798/long-burn-time-33-hours-on-one-load-in-lbge#latest


    __________________________________________
    It's not a science, it's an art. And it's flawed.
    - Camp Hill, PA
  • boochsr71
    boochsr71 Posts: 267
    I am too busy enjoying the food to notice!!

    Booch- from Medina, Ohio

  • Tinyfish
    Tinyfish Posts: 1,755

    @Tinyfish ... is there a specific reason you want to know that piece of information?

    @Jeepster47 it just seems the charcoal is not going out fast enough, still glowing after 2.5 hours last night. I've read that the charcoal should exstinguish almost immediately. Not sure if my bottom vent is sealed tight. My gasket has a nice seal.
  • Jeepster47
    Jeepster47 Posts: 3,827
    @Tinyfish ... are you using the daisy wheel or the ceramic cap for shut down? 

    The bottom vent leaks a little air period ... a result of the design.  Thus, the top cap is the primary "snuffer" component.  What happens when you use the ceramic cap with a seal?  No seal ... then use several layers of aluminum foil over the top before you add the ceramic cap.

    Even with the ceramic cap, I've gone back and rekindled the fire after dinner ~ 30 to 45 minutes.  Tailgaters should be able to give you a reasonable figure on time to extinguish in the smaller units.

    Washington, IL  >  Queen Creek, AZ ... Two large eggs and an adopted Mini Max

  • CPARKTX
    CPARKTX Posts: 2,095
    Much longer with smokeware cap
    LBGE & SBGE.  Central Texas.  
  • Nick311
    Nick311 Posts: 45
    I would agree with about an hour and a half with the cooking temp around 350.
  • Jeepster47
    Jeepster47 Posts: 3,827
    @CPARKTX ... longer with the Smokeware cap?  Yep, that's what I noticed also.  Kind of the equivalent of snuffing with ugly daisy.  But, the fix is so easy ... here's what @RRP made recently for a forum member:

    image

    Washington, IL  >  Queen Creek, AZ ... Two large eggs and an adopted Mini Max

  • Tinyfish
    Tinyfish Posts: 1,755
    Thanks all. I will try some of the advice given
  • YEMTrey
    YEMTrey Posts: 6,835
    I think I'm going to add some felt around the chimney on my XL.
    The XL will take a couple of hours to cool down to a point I'm comfortable putting the cover back on.  I know it's much smaller, but my Mini Maxx cools down in well under an hour and is cool to the touch and can be picked up and moved.
    Steve 
    XL, Mini Max, and a 22" Blackstone in Cincinnati, Ohio

  • SkinnyV
    SkinnyV Posts: 3,404
    edited January 2015
    Is the smokeware guy aware of this issue with his cap?
    Its $40 for a cute accessory that works in the rain and looks pretty good but as far as shutdown he should let buyers know "some" may want to keep their ceramic cap.

    I've seen some here raise a stink about the CGW guy and his stuff at times , the smokeware is not without flaws especially to new users who mighy not be aware.
    Seattle, WA
  • lousubcap
    lousubcap Posts: 36,660
    Never worried about how long for the lump to die-just loosely monitored the temperature rate of decline and quantity of lump remaining the next time I used it.  All seemed reasonable in that regard with my LBGE. If you pass the dollar bill test then the likelihood  of any leak extending the fire is around your ceramic cap.  I had to line the cap for my SBGE with foil as the seal was very poor.
    Another contributor to the cool-down rate is the final cook temp and duration at that temp.  Once the ceramic gets hot then the fire can be out for a few hours and your thermo will still be reading well above ambient.  FWIW-
    Louisville; Rolling smoke in the neighbourhood.  Life is too short for light/lite beer!  Seems I'm livin in a transitional period. CHEETO (aka Agent Orange) makes Nixon look like a saint.  
  • theyolksonyou
    theyolksonyou Posts: 18,459
    Squarely in the don't know, don't care camp. All i know is there's always plenty left next time.
  • stlcharcoal
    stlcharcoal Posts: 4,757

    Even if it takes 2-3 hrs to cool down, that doesn't mean the fire is still going.  That ceramic holds a lot of heat--that's why these things work so damn good.  You could have a leak, but it's probably not anything significant.

    It doesn't take much O2 to keep a fire going in a BGE, especially if it was a 300-400+ fire.  The heat component of the fire triangle is already there as is the fuel.  Even if you remove the O2, the ceramic is still 200-300+ and the coals are much hotter.  Both will start to cool off very slowly by means of radiation, but any O2 that sneaks into the BGE is going to slow the cool down process. 

  • Zmokin
    Zmokin Posts: 1,938
    Tinyfish said:
    In a LBGE what is the average time it should take the charcoal to extinguish, no more red embers not dome to cool, after say an 1.5 hour cooking at 350-400 dome temp. Is there a way to check for air leaks other then the dollar bill test. How would you test the bottom and top dampers for leaks.
    I never open mine to see when the embers are out because I know that by doing so I just let in a huge amount of oxygen.  Once, I shutdown, I leave her for at least a couple of hours and if she feels cool enough, then I put the cover on.  Quite often though, I don't go outside again at night so the cover may wait until the AM.

    I do know that when I was using the Smokeware cap to shutdown, my shutdown times were much longer and onetime I was able to witness leaking smoke.  since then, I now always use my ceramic cap for shutdown
    Large BGE in a Sole' Gourmet Table
    Using the Black Cast Iron grill, Plate Setter,
     and a BBQ Guru temp controller.

    Medium BGE in custom modified off-road nest.
    Black Cast Iron grill, Plate Setter, and a Party-Q temp controller.

    Location: somewhere West of the Mason-Dixon Line
  • RRP
    RRP Posts: 26,449
    @CPARKTX ... longer with the Smokeware cap?  Yep, that's what I noticed also.  Kind of the equivalent of snuffing with ugly daisy.  But, the fix is so easy ... here's what @RRP made recently for a forum member:

    image
    Tom, my recommendation before using this wooden disc was to take a flat brick and pass over the dome throat a time or two to knock down any build up of hills from creosote so that the wooden disc has a better chance to sit flat. OTOH a sheet of sandpaper on a flat board would do the same trick.
    Re-gasketing the USA one yard at a time 
  • NPHuskerFL
    NPHuskerFL Posts: 17,629
    I've never timed it.
    LBGE 2013 & MM 2014
    Die Hard HUSKER & BRONCO FAN
    Flying Low & Slow in "Da Burg" FL
  • Ybabpmuts
    Ybabpmuts Posts: 989
    @Tinyfish ... are you using the daisy wheel or the ceramic cap for shut down? 

    The bottom vent leaks a little air period ... a result of the design.  Thus, the top cap is the primary "snuffer" component.  What happens when you use the ceramic cap with a seal?  No seal ... then use several layers of aluminum foil over the top before you add the ceramic cap.

    Even with the ceramic cap, I've gone back and rekindled the fire after dinner ~ 30 to 45 minutes.  Tailgaters should be able to give you a reasonable figure on time to extinguish in the smaller units.
    The egg is kinda like an eskimo, it needs a nice tight seal to put the internal fire out.

    See you in hell.  
  • Canugghead
    Canugghead Posts: 13,630
    bump
    canuckland