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Needle or Ball Valve?

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  • Needle or Ball Valve?

    Need some finer heat adjustment on my Masterbuilt gasser so I want to add a valve just past the regulator. What kind of valve will work best for this. I know some of you have added them.



  • #2
    Needle valve for better fine tuning.


    Tom

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    • #3
      Needle.
      In God I trust- All others pay cash...
      Check out the Mad Hunky and products at https://madhunkymeats.com or https://www.facebook.com/MadHunkyMeats
      Lang 60D, The Beast, 18 and 22 WSM, Brinkmann Backroads trailer, Weber 22 Kettle, gutted MB burning watts

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      • #4
        Hey Gunny, How ya doin man? Haven't talked to ya in a coons age. I see where you're coming from and the fine tuning with the needle valve. Don't most needle valves have more that one 360º rotation between full open and closed? That would mean that you'd have to write down how many full and partial turns to get an approximate temp in the smoker, right? Whereas a 90º ball valve only has a quarter turn to play with. How fine of a tune do you need on a gasser after you get it fairly close with the smoker control?


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        • #5
          360 is all you need in a needle in my experience. They are a fine adjustment. You MAy need to open it 180 to start...but,,,you get the picture.
          In God I trust- All others pay cash...
          Check out the Mad Hunky and products at https://madhunkymeats.com or https://www.facebook.com/MadHunkyMeats
          Lang 60D, The Beast, 18 and 22 WSM, Brinkmann Backroads trailer, Weber 22 Kettle, gutted MB burning watts

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          • #6
            Originally posted by Richtee View Post
            360 is all you need in a needle in my experience. They are a fine adjustment. You MAy need to open it 180 to start...but,,,you get the picture.
            I open mine 180° to light. And for heat control I bet I don't use more than about 30° of it's range. But then my gas smoker is pretty small with a pretty big burner.


            Tom

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            • #7
              Re:

              So where can you get a reasonably priced needle valve. I asked my LP supplier and they had never heard of such. He just suggested regulating it with the valve on top of the Q Grill tank.

              ???
              http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gc1URQgQWNo

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              • #8
                Originally posted by eDJ View Post
                So where can you get a reasonably priced needle valve. I asked my LP supplier and they had never heard of such. He just suggested regulating it with the valve on top of the Q Grill tank.

                ???
                I bought mine here.
                http://www.tejassmokers.com/products...ngs.htm#valves

                I've also bought a log lighter from them and various other items. Service is good.

                You can also use the valve from your turkey fryer. Most of them are equipped with needle valves because the oil temp needs to be finely controlled.


                Tom

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                • #9
                  Graingers carries all kinds of needle valves...I think mine cost me aboot 6 bucks.
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                  • #10
                    Originally posted by eDJ View Post
                    So where can you get a reasonably priced needle valve. I asked my LP supplier and they had never heard of such. He just suggested regulating it with the valve on top of the Q Grill tank.

                    ???
                    Just about every hardware store around here caries them but they may not know what you are talking about when you call it by name. At least that's what I have found. But if you go to their department where they have all of their pipe fittings and dig through the bins I'm sure you will fine one. You may need to buy fittings for the ends to fit the size hose you are using but they should have those as well. Every place I asked about a needle valve they didn't know what I was talking about but when I looked through their stuff they had them. Not sure if there is another name for them or what. Maybe bring in a picture of one that you can show them.
                    Propane Smoke Shack
                    UDS
                    Great Outdoors Smoky Mountain
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                    • #11
                      Originally posted by MichChef View Post
                      Hey Gunny, How ya doin man? Haven't talked to ya in a coons age.
                      I've been busy since dropping all the weight. We just completed our first sorghum harvest (although small) and made sorghum molasses. You should check out the post. I restored a 130 y/o cane mill.
                      How have you been John?
                      What kind of smoker are we working on?
                      I just added a gas burner to an old charcoal smoker. So no thermostat or anything. Even though I get really close with the needle valve, I still have to really fine tune it with the vents. I suppose that wouldn't be a problem with a thermostat though.
                      The gas furnace in my house has a ball valve for a shut off. A few years ago, I was having problems with the gas pressure being too high and blowing my flame out. The propane company kept saying the pressure was right on. So one day I decided to adjust my pressure with that ball valve, since they wouldn't adjust my regulator. They told me it wouldn't matter what I did to the ball valve because the pressure would be the same on both sides of the valve. Simple physics tells me that's right, until the gas starts moving. Got it adjusted to where it doesn't blow out the fire and the flame is perfectly blue after messing with the vent and primary air a bit. I hate it when the experts are stupid.
                      Anyway, my whole point was this; I have fine tuned with a ball valve, so I guess I'd get one and see what happens. BUT - a furnace moves a lot more gas than a propane cooker.


                      Tom

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                      • #12
                        Originally posted by Gunslinger View Post
                        Simple physics tells me that's right, until the gas starts moving. Got it adjusted to where it doesn't blow out the fire and the flame is perfectly blue after messing with the vent and primary air a bit. I hate it when the experts are stupid.
                        Anyway, my whole point was this; I have fine tuned with a ball valve, so I guess I'd get one and see what happens. BUT - a furnace moves a lot more gas than a propane cooker.
                        For further reading... here's the deal.

                        http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernoulli's_principle

                        I can't for the life of me figure why they said restricting flow would not help?
                        In God I trust- All others pay cash...
                        Check out the Mad Hunky and products at https://madhunkymeats.com or https://www.facebook.com/MadHunkyMeats
                        Lang 60D, The Beast, 18 and 22 WSM, Brinkmann Backroads trailer, Weber 22 Kettle, gutted MB burning watts

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                        • #13
                          Originally posted by Richtee View Post
                          For further reading... here's the deal.

                          http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernoulli's_principle

                          I can't for the life of me figure why they said restricting flow would not help?
                          Hey RT, thanks for the science lesson. Never knew the actual principal name, but knew the propane guy was an idiot. In fact, I changed propane providers over this and the next guy said the same thing. Dumped them too.


                          Tom

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                          • #14
                            "I've been busy since dropping all the weight. We just completed our first sorghum harvest (although small) and made sorghum molasses. You should check out the post. I restored a 130 y/o cane mill.
                            How have you been John?"

                            I've been all right. I really need to lose some weight too, but it ain't easy cause I have to eat carbs several time a day to keep my blood sugar up. I can't walk more'n a coupkle hundred feet without having to take a breather. Really cutting into my outdoor photography hobby. Might have to talk to the doc and see about some kind of weight loss surgery. From what I've read some kinds of surgery get rid of diabetes.
                            I bet your home made molasses is great. Makes for some super BBQ sauces and on pancakes.
                            this is the Masterbuilt smoker I want to add the valve to. Went to Home Depot and Lowes today and neither one carried a needle valve. Lowes had a 1/4" ball valve that I might have been able to adapt, but I'm not in a big hurry so I'll look around and check out the internet until I find what I want. Might check out a couple heating and plumbing shops too.


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                            • #15
                              Glad this thread came up cause I had to buy a new burner for my little gas smoker and the base I got was a Bayou Classic which works like a badass but I can't get the temp below 350 without it going out and that taint no good for smoking and I wasn't sure what to do about the problem.
                              There is a cure...http://phoenixtears.ca/

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