WTH happened to my drum?

bbqclyde

New member
WTH just happened to my barrel? I was burning it out to make a smoker. Once the fire had died down I went to put the lid on it to put out the coals. As soon as I did it sucked the lid down and within 15 seconds the barrel collapsed in on itself. Just wasted a lot of time and money on that thing. That was a brand new barrel i picked up today. Cost me $90 :mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:

1925343_3955104453592_1093669206_n.jpg
 

BabelBBQ

New member
Unfortunately you had a really good seal on your drum. You have no place (none at all) for any air to get in to your drum. The drum temp was hotter than the air outside. Hot air takes up more space than cold (heat expands air). As that constant supply of air inside the drum slowly cools the air compresses and sucks in the sides of the drum. The same thing happens when you take a half empty water bottle out in the cold. The sides cave in. Sorry that that happened.
 

BabelBBQ

New member
I hope my previous post to your drum prep question didn't influence you putting the lid on the drum to snuff the coals. I did not put the lid on during my prep because I didn't have my holes drilled, and didn't have a handle to take it on and off. With no holes, I would have been concerned that the heated air inside compressing as it cools would make it seal up to tight to get the lid off, best image I can think of here is canning your own veggies in mason jars. Based on your results and Djporkchops advice after my post, for my next drum I will stick to sanding the lid to get the paint off and not chance warping the lid by putting it on a lit fire.
 

bbqclyde

New member
Once get the $ to go buy a new drum again, i will use a weedburner to burn the outside paint off and the rust inhibitor coating on the inside. I have felt sick to my stomach ever since this happened. I literally burned up a $100 bill with that crap yesterday.
 

bbqclyde

New member
To make matters worse, ,my EDS kit will be delivered today. I was really looking forward to trying some Spare Ribs this weekend :(
 

DjPorkchop

New member
Man that is a real bummer. Sorry to hear this happened. I can only hope that people getting a new drum in t future read this. It is pretty important to drill holes in the drum first. Not only due to this happening, but I believe the holes in the bottom help create an updraft and get the fire nice and red hot for burning out the drum.

And I can feel your pain on getting a drum kit and no drum for the kit. When I built my first UDS from scratch, I had bought all my parts and had no drum. Oh the agony. :(

Take care and I hope it all works out soon!

Ray
 

bbqclyde

New member
I am picking up a new drum today along with a weed burner / propane torch.
I'm gonna use the propane torch to burn off the outside paint and inside rust inhibitor...after i drill all the holes of course.
Then i'll clean it up, re-paint it, and then rub the inside with veg oil and then do a test run of a basket of charcoal to get a feel for temp control. Then i'll throw some ribs on and let er rip.
 
Top Bottom