Pellets Overflowed the Fire Box - is this normal?

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slider2021

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The Dark Bark
I own a Pro Series 34

I was running my rig at 225. It preheated nicely and ran for about 35 minutes before I noted the temp not getting above 100. I turned it off and checked the auger box. It was overflowing with pellets. I swept out all of the pellets, cleaned the firebox, and reignited it on high. It started to crank immediately and the temp began to rise rapidly.

I am a newbie with Traeger. Is this a common problem? Is the firebox need to be cleaned weekly or should I simply check it every X weeks to make sure this doesn't happen again? I have the rig for about 2 months and use it a few times per week.

Any help is appreciated.

Thank you
 
Get into a habit of cleaning the Fire Pot out after every cook… As Mike Twangzer stated, excessive ash build-up in the fire pot will cause a flameout of your grill… The auger will continue to feed the fire pot will pellets and overflow into the cooking chamber. If you hadn’t looked inside and cleaned out the overflowing pellets and just did a restart, your Smoker could have exploded. Always clean the fire pot out, either with an ash dump, which some pellet grills have that feature or use a shop vac. Luckily nothing major happened. FYI. Some brands of pellets will produce more ash then others. Those that include the tree bark in its production process will produce more ash. Lesson learned. Good luck on your next cook.
 
Thank you SO much. I had no idea that this was a process that needed to be tended to on an ongoing basis. Depending on how often I use it, I will certainly be sure to clean it out on at least a bi-weekly basis
 
slider2021 said:
Thank you SO much. I had no idea that this was a process that needed to be tended to on an ongoing basis. Depending on how often I use it, I will certainly be sure to clean it out on at least a bi-weekly basis
Click to expand...

It will really depend on how long your cooks are. Short cooks, say an hour, you can go a few cooks in between a clean. Longer cooks should get cleaned every time.
 
It’s also more common if you are cooking at a low temp and it’s really hot out (in the sun etc). Companies have to balance being able keep the fire with enough fuel to keep burning with the small amount needed when the grill is getting the first 140 degrees from the sun. If the minimum feed rate of the pellets is too low it can go out and then eventually fill with pellets.
 
So I then should actually clean it out on a weekly basis, just to be on the safe side.
 
slider2021 said:
So I then should actually clean it out on a weekly basis, just to be on the safe side.
Click to expand...

The best would be to clean every time you cook. You will get to know your machine and cooking habits with time and understand what you can get away with skipping some cleanings. It certainly doesn’t have to be a deep clean, just a quick cleaning mainly emptying the fire pot.
 
slider2021 said:
So I then should actually clean it out on a weekly basis, just to be on the safe side.
Click to expand...

Come'on man !!! Don't be lazy ... clean it out after EVERY cook... only takes a few minutes ... your smoker will thank you for it ... and you'll thank yourself !!!! Don't take unnecessary chances.... :grin:
 
I clean my pellet grill before every cook. I have a GMG Jim Bowie which has a brass temp sensor that I also clean with steel wool every cook. I’ve owned it 2 1/2 years now with no issues, cleaning makes a big difference in how a pellet grill runs.
 
Also, after you clean out the fire pot put a small handful of pellets in the fire pot for start up.
 
I gamble. Used to be a 'clean after every cook' kinda guy, but it's way too much work on this smoker.
 
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