Why why why would you stand that close to something you were "expecting" to explode?
Clean it All Up, including Auger n Chute and Fire it Up.........
It's those damned graphite tips on the control rods....
I rolled the pit boss into my shop last night and started to clean and inspect.
The pot had about a half inch of ash in it.
The ash around the bottom of the pit seemed normal.
There was a slight peppering of about a couple dozen pellets or so scattered around the rim of the pot (possibly from the flash)
The pellets in the auger tube were completely charred inside about 4” up the auger tube and the top of the auger tube housing had burnt paint and discoloration that far back as well.
The auger was not jammed and I cleared the pellets by running it in smoke mode and sucking the pellets out with a shop vac as they dropped into the pot.
All of the systems seem to be working fine. Not sure why this happened a couple hours into the cook. Im going to switch back to the pit boss pellets, which are bigger in diameter and seem to be less dense than the lumberjack pellets, and will give it a try again. But I will never trust the smoker to run while sleeping.
Chris
I mostly use Lumberjack Pellets because they are made of 100% of the flavored wood and they produce the best smoke profile of any pellets I have tried... That being said, when my grill suffered its flame out last year, I was using Lumberjack pellets as well. A few things to consider is 1. like You posted is switching back to PB Pellets. They are not that bad and You can find them at any Walmart Store. 2. If You do decide to stick with the Lumberjack pellets and they are very good, is to go through the bag and break in half any extremely long pellets and also check for excessive sawdust... 3. You might want to consider changing your grills Auger Motor to a Heavy Duty 30Watt – 2RPM Auger Motor. They’re only about $40-45.00 dollars and they have the torque to turn and push the pellets through the Auger Tube without having the pellets getting hung up by a weaker Auger motor that’s used in the PB Pellet Grills. 4. There are many grill thermometers on the market that have alarms that You can program and apps that you can add to your Smartphone. If You have to leave your grill for any extended amount of time or you have to grab that nap, it will warn you of any flame outs or wild temp swings. Good Luck.
Do you have a link to that 30w motor? I may give it a try. Last night was the first time I looked up under the hopper and was surprised at how small the auger motor was. I was also thinking of getting a pid controller to help reduce the temp swings. Thanks
Which fuel type do you feel is safer? I will be in a townhouse complex. They ban charcoal but plenty of people use propane. I assume pellet would be fine as well, since IMO it's safer than propane. I wouldn't want to use anything that's unsafe near a building anyway. I see a lot of people using their propane grill under the balcony, which I think is crazy! Apparently, that's okay!:-o:crazy:
Pellet won't suffer from leakage and potentially explode like propane. The fire is also better controlled. The grill will maintain a certain pre-set temperature, whereas with propane, if you set it to preheat and forget about it, the fire will burn until the propane runs out or the grill melts. Pellets also runs at lower temperature and most cooks indirect, hence less chance of grease catching fire or flare-ups. What do you think?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=roc1tHUn0pM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEkWUmqXSvI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5pVbHo2oFM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMs2-9Ti8WY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aaJvsyv-Kys
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJITiu2fadY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blJ6SMwDnOg
Porcine Aviator - it’s Relatively Common - some brands more than others......
That's good to know that this is a relatively common problem. It sure puts my mind at ease in regards to the arbitrary explosions these pellet cookers are having. If guess if most of them do it I'm good to go and nothing to worry about?:biggrin1: