First run TLUD

[chuckufarley]

Not sure if it will help, but if you have a scrap metal yard near you they usually have a ton (literally) of interesting TLUD containers. I work for one and we usually always have about 20 or so 5 gallon metal buckets around. You might have to burn some junk out first, but thier practically free. Also look at water pressure tanks.

[uncrichie]

2 suggestions for ya. #1 Don't use sand as a base to snuff the air intake on the bottom of your container. You will inevitably get sand in the holes and in your charcoal.

Instead as others have suggested get a new steel bucket and lid to immediately pour your cooked charcoal into for cooling. Make sure you remove the plastic rubber sealant in the inner rim of the lid before using. The metal to metal seal will be enough to prevent air back into the bucket.

 

#2 don't throw away your first bucket with the large holes. If you in fact did use a punch your in luck. Carefully you'll be able to peen those holes almost completely closed with the use of a hammer or block of steel from the inside. I had the same issue at first and just hammered the holes halfway closed and it worked fine. Good luck, have fun, be safe. Kurt

[OldMarine]

2 suggestions for ya. #1 Don't use sand as a base to snuff the air intake on the bottom of your container. You will inevitably get sand in the holes and in your charcoal.

Instead as others have suggested get a new steel bucket and lid to immediately pour your cooked charcoal into for cooling. Make sure you remove the plastic rubber sealant in the inner rim of the lid before using. The metal to metal seal will be enough to prevent air back into the bucket.

 

#2 don't throw away your first bucket with the large holes. If you in fact did use a punch your in luck. Carefully you'll be able to peen those holes almost completely closed with the use of a hammer or block of steel from the inside. I had the same issue at first and just hammered the holes halfway closed and it worked fine. Good luck, have fun, be safe. Kurt

I think he used a drill on that initial bucket so there won't be anything left to peen but I thank you for that because I have one 5 gal doing the same thing and I think you just gave me a way to save it!

[starxplor]

2 suggestions for ya. #1 Don't use sand as a base to snuff the air intake on the bottom of your container. You will inevitably get sand in the holes and in your charcoal.

Instead as others have suggested get a new steel bucket and lid to immediately pour your cooked charcoal into for cooling. Make sure you remove the plastic rubber sealant in the inner rim of the lid before using. The metal to metal seal will be enough to prevent air back into the bucket.

 

#2 don't throw away your first bucket with the large holes. If you in fact did use a punch your in luck. Carefully you'll be able to peen those holes almost completely closed with the use of a hammer or block of steel from the inside. I had the same issue at first and just hammered the holes halfway closed and it worked fine. Good luck, have fun, be safe. Kurt

 

I put an old pair of boxers on the dirt ground and set the can on it. This seems to close up the bottom just fine.

[mikeee]

Update. Made another bottom same number of holes but 1/4 inch. 1st run was slow and cool but did get a lot of ash. opened holes (a wee bit) and burn seemed about right. used masking tape down side. No glowing bucket and no flames or sparks out the chimney. I have burned a whole bag of ERC but there is always some ash. Even if you have a perfect seal the remaining air will allow some smoldering and ash to develop. I would expect that some amount of ash is unavoidable?

The great thing is no more trips to the dollar store for propane.

Merlin,

 

You can empty the TLUD charcoal a minute or two before it is done cooking and dump it into your sealed container.

The charcoal will continue to convert using the air that is in the solid bucket with lid.

This will decrease the amount of ash you end up with by not "over" cooking the batch.

I have a long steel rod that i use to give the charcoal a stir during the last minute of cooking, I pull the chimney off

give the charcoal a stir and decide how long to wait before i dump it in the solid bucket and put a lid on it.

Each batch cooks a little different depending on the wood and the weather conditions.

[Boophoenix]

I like using a stainless steel stock pot to put the Charcal in right after cooking and cooling before processing further. I never had any trouble of depriving my cooks of oxygen when they were done. One of my more lengthy cookng runs it had rained a day or two prior and there is a slight depression in the ground near my cooking spot. I piece of cardboard had found it's way into the spot so I just pressed cans into it. The softer moist soil and cardboard would mold to the can bottom.

 

A couple of safety warnings not mentioned. If you're gonna transfer freshly cooked material to another container to cool be mindful it could possibly flair up if the small particles distribute into the air. Second and we had this discussion elsewhere and it doesn't seem as though anyone has clearly experianced it but freshly cooked charcoal has potential to be pyrophoric according to research I've read. I recently even saw mention from a biochar fella warning of it. The discussion turned towards maybe some retained heat in the charcoal, but I keep finding references to a chemical reaction taking place. Maybe neither is a risk for us, but better to think on the safe side than cook a batch and flash it into our faces or store a freshly cooked batch with other energetic materials.

[Merlin]

All good points. Right now I have a old door mat which is soft rubber on bottom to set the cooked charcoal on seal the top and place a concrete block on top. I am pretty sure it is airtight. I had reservations about transferring contents with glowing embers. ERC shavings are pretty light weight and could potentially flare when pouring. AF is about explosive as gasoline. I have.a pretty good supply of charcoal for BP. A total of around 15 lbs ERC and willow. plenty of pine for stars as well as commercial AF. My practice is to maintain a base supply of everything replacing it after being used. Charcoal is not easy to come by so I am able to maintain my supply with the TLUD. Anyone attempting pyro needs to come to grips with the fact you will need to make charcoal first and next good BP. I bought willow and some alder and was falling behind using a retort. I would encourage new folks to make a TLUD and save yourself a lot of frustration.

I appreciate all the good advice I have been given on this forum.

[Boophoenix]

Merlin, if you're restocking a supply before it's exhausted mixing original and new thoroughly will help offset variances between batches to a degree.