Out of Control Yoder 640s

Plata-O-Plomo

Plata-O-Plomo

Knows what a fatty is.
Joined
Jun 1, 2019
Messages
108
Reaction score
241
Points
0
Location
Minden, NV
I purchased a Yoder YS 640s several months ago. It was manufactured 6-27-19 and I received it 7-5-19. On 7-10-19 I did the initial burn in as directed in the manual. The 640s over shot the 350 default temp to about 413 @ about 20 minutes in. It slowly came down and hovered in that 355-360 range until I shut it down about an hour later.

So today I started the YS 640s up for an afternoon smoke. Once it started showing smoke I went inside for about five minutes. When I returned to it my entire room was filled with smoke and the YS640s was emitting smoke from every orifice :mmph:. I have run stick burners, UDS's, other pellet grills, and ceramics but have never seen so much smoke. I was really concerned about a hopper fire so I stayed with it and monitored the hopper. The smoke cleared after I started room fans and the smoker appeared to be operating normally with just a faint hint of smoke coming out of the exhaust. Its now about 10 minutes since I started it and its running and climbing from about 200. I went inside for five or six minutes and came back out to discover the YS 640s was at 400 and climbing. Thinking it was just the overshoot I just watched the temp gauge. Within another 4 minutes or so I shut it down at 605 and it was still climbing.

I just have a feeling something is amiss in my Yoder. :twitch:

Anyone with anything similar?

Thanks for reading and thanks in advance for any comments.
 
On my pit boss I have to leave the lid open till it establishes a fire, it will build smoke big time till they light off then it clears up, also I start on smoke,they recommend taking it to 350 to start then adjust to the temp you want to cook at. not sure on yours though. they can go bang when lighting if the lid is left closed, throwed a rack of baby backs on about 1hr 45min ago at 250, also started a smoke tube also ,had 5 brats that needed cooked so they joined the party, hope ya don't have nothing wrong, them Yoders have a good reputation
 
A few things. Did you dump your firepot before the cook? Is your grill clean? What Startup mode did you use?

I have had an issue with my Yoder, where I didn't dump the firepot, and there was some ash blocking the holes in the pot, the pot to an extra long time to ignite, so there were way more pellets then there needed to me, so the temp overshot drastically. My fault. I now dump my pot before every cook, then vacuum it out after every hopper of pellets.

I also had an issue one time where I let my diffuser plate get too much buildup on it, and the grease on it caught on fire. Not fun.

Only other thing I can think of, is that you selected one of the more aggressive startup modes, and it will overshoot temps with them.
 
Thanks guys!


I did fail to clean the fire pot before I started it. I did not think that would be an issue in that I only ran it for 1 hour during the burn in. There was about 1/8 cup of ash. I was only going to run it to cook a pizza so I was not stressing about it. Maybe I should in the future.



I did keep the lid open during the lite up process until I saw and smelled smoke and that's when I closed it.


I did not change the start up program from the default setting; unless I did it without knowing.



Maybe I will clean out the pot and try again to see if it was due to that; but I still cant see it climbing up to 600 plus because of ash build up. I would think that the temp would be low.



Uuggh
 
Plata-O-Plomo said:
Thanks guys!


I did fail to clean the fire pot before I started it. I did not think that would be an issue in that I only ran it for 1 hour during the burn in. There was about 1/8 cup of ash. I was only going to run it to cook a pizza so I was not stressing about it. Maybe I should in the future.



I did keep the lid open during the lite up process until I saw and smelled smoke and that's when I closed it.


I did not change the start up program from the default setting; unless I did it without knowing.



Maybe I will clean out the pot and try again to see if it was due to that; but I still cant see it climbing up to 600 plus because of ash build up. I would think that the temp would be low.



Uuggh
Click to expand...

What happens is there is not enough air getting to the area of ignition, and the auger keeps feeding pellets based on normal ignition time, and then you have way more pellets than you need, then they finally light, and you have too big of a fire. I can't say that is what happened, but it can. I have not dumped it 100 times with no problems, but that one day, they had caked up just right to cause a problem. I highly recommend taking the few seconds it takes to dump it.
 
I will clean it out and give it another go this evening. I want to smoke that damn pizza!
 
I do not have a Yoder but have done plenty of reading. The overwhelming consensus is that the fire pot really needs to be cleaned after each and every cook. I have a MAK, and it just does better when starting clean. Seems Yoder is the same way.
 
It’s boogered up. I cleaned it out (thoroughly) and went through the start up process as described in the manual. It failed to stop, or even slow down at the default 350 start up temp. At 450 I turned the temp down manually to 225. It kept feeding pellets. Within minutes it was crossing 550 and by the time I could shut it down it was at 575.

Will call Yoder tomorrow. My guess is that there is a disconnect between the temp reading and the ability to control it.

Thanks all for your input.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
default start up temp is 350 ? wow ! my gmg is 150 , let it settle in then ramp up to whatever . also the last time i cleaned my firepot was ? last year maybe 2 years ago and i use mine at least once weekly year round .
 
Are you unplugging between startups? Not sure if the 640S is the same, but on the original 640 you need to unplug it between startups.
 
rmr24 said:
Are you unplugging between startups? Not sure if the 640S is the same, but on the original 640 you need to unplug it between startups.
Click to expand...

Absolutely! Forgot all about that, just second nature. Unless things have changed, this will also cause weird behavior.
 
Agree with unplugging it...but a call to yoder seems to be in order. Joshw hit all the necessary things to check above (I was guilty of each of those happening to me as well). I’m sure yoder will get you straight


Memphis Elite





Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 
rwalters said:
I do not have a Yoder but have done plenty of reading. The overwhelming consensus is that the fire pot really needs to be cleaned after each and every cook. I have a MAK, and it just does better when starting clean. Seems Yoder is the same way.
Click to expand...


I have to agree.

It's to the place now to where I clean my Rec Tec each time I use it. I just like to start out with a clean grill and feel that at the very least, if I ever do have any problems, well it won't be due to lack of maintenance and cleanup.
 
SlowmotionQue said:
I have to agree.



It's to the place now to where I clean my Rec Tec each time I use it. I just like to start out with a clean grill and feel that at the very least, if I ever do have any problems, well it won't be due to lack of maintenance and cleanup.
Click to expand...



A healthy fire is a happy fire :)

#startashfree
 
Whoa, I have never heard of having to unplug the YS640 between cooks. I have never done that with mine, by design anyways. What's up with that??
 
Whisky said:
Whoa, I have never heard of having to unplug the YS640 between cooks. I have never done that with mine, by design anyways. What's up with that??
Click to expand...

Not sure about the new S models, but the manual clearly states to unplug the smoker to reset the controller after each use. I normally unplug mine for 10 seconds, right before turning it on.

I'm surprised you haven't had trouble, because I had forgot to do it early on, and it does cause temp problems.
 
Joshw said:
Not sure about the new S models, but the manual clearly states to unplug the smoker to reset the controller after each use. I normally unplug mine for 10 seconds, right before turning it on.

I'm surprised you haven't had trouble, because I had forgot to do it early on, and it does cause temp problems.
Click to expand...

Clearly I need to start reading manuals....:grin:

Coincidentally, or not, the only time I have had temp problems in a couple years of owning the Yoder was yesterday. I was replacing a light fixture in the house that for some reason was on the same circuit as the outdoor plugin for the Yoder. I flipped the breaker on and off twice during that process. And thankfully caught the fact the Yoder had turned off in time. When I restarted (without unplugging it), the Yoder told me I was running way hotter then it actually was. Confirmed by a secondary thermometer. Now I know to unplug it I guess.
 
I agree with all the remedies mentioned so far. I have a YS640 I purchased in April 2019 so not far from your vintage. Things I always do:
1. Always clean out the fire pot area.
2. Always unplug the beast when not in use
3. Keep the lid open until I'm sure the ignition has taken place


Do you have the heat diffuser with the trap door (the two piece diffuser)? You should be able to see what's going on by just opening the trap door and watching. If you have a solid diffuser, well, you can't . But that's pretty much a must have upgrade. I don't understand why Yoder even sells the solid diffusers.


One other item that's neither here nor there, literally one week after I bought my YS640, Yoder announced a new model of 640 and a brand new controller. I was pissed but my dealer said in the fall when the new controllers are more available I could upgrade mine. If you need to call Yoder, ask about the new controller. Make sure you get on a list for an upgrade if possible. Just an FYI. YMMV
 
From reading the OP’s post it looks like he has an S model which the build date would support so the controller is completely different
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

S
Equipment switcharoo (warning, stupidly long and likely boring!)
Replies
10
Views
376
DBBQ
D
Smoke Dawg
Yoder Wood Fired Oven
Replies
7
Views
1K
ssv3
ssv3
Headgear
I May Have Ruined Some Wood!
Replies
19
Views
1K
Headgear
Headgear
W
South Shore Bar Pizza
Replies
18
Views
1K
cowgirl
cowgirl
Smoking Piney
Turbo Ribs on the BGE
Replies
9
Views
614
Headgear
Headgear
Back
Top