Question for Pit Boss owners.

[WilliamKY]

Is it common for the fire to just go out? Yesterday while doing our turkey I got an error code that the fire was dying. Fortunately the turkey was almost done so I transferred it to the oven. Disaster avoided.
Today I inspected and the firepot was overflowing with unlit pellets. I vacuumed out the firepot and followed the troubleshooting guide. Everything is working fine. Auger, igniter, fan. All good. I know PB pellets aren't the best quality but it's what they recommend so that's what I'm using. Also its garage kept so no moisture. I'm just wondering if this isn't just a freak rare incident. I've had zero problem with the cooker and have used it all summer. Thank for any advice.

 

[WilliamKY]

I think this was operator error. I cleaned the cooker and did a 6hr jerky smoke on Tuesday. Then about 3hrs into yesterday's turkey is when the flame went out. Ashes. I noticed there was a lot when I was trouble shooting. I guess rule of thumb now is every 3-4hrs of cooking time is a good time to vacuum out the firepot. I assumed it would go longer than that but apparently not, at least not with PB pellets. I'm also going to buy better pellets once I use up all the PB. It's running like a charm today. Boy do I feel dumb. Live and learn.

 

[RCAlan]

Is it common for the fire to just go out? Yesterday while doing our turkey I got an error code that the fire was dying. Fortunately the turkey was almost done so I transferred it to the oven. Disaster avoided.
Today I inspected and the firepot was overflowing with unlit pellets. I vacuumed out the firepot and followed the troubleshooting guide. Everything is working fine. Auger, igniter, fan. All good. I know PB pellets aren't the best quality but it's what they recommend so that's what I'm using. Also its garage kept so no moisture. I'm just wondering if this isn't just a freak rare incident. I've had zero problem with the cooker and have used it all summer. Thank for any advice.

It’s a good routine to vacuum out the fire pot after every bbq. Shut down your Pit Boss smoker and let it cool down completely and when the fire pot is cool to the touch, now you can safely vacuum out the pellet ash from the fire pot. Also, it’s not uncommon for bags of pellets to have some accumulation of pellet dust already in the bags. I use a metal screener to remove the pellet dust from the actual pellets. FYI.. Pellet dust and pellet ash are not the same thing, but they can cause the same issues…. A flameout. Pellet ash is the byproduct of burnt pellets in the fire pot and if to much is left in the burn pot, the ash can smother out the fire in the burn pot. Pellet Dust is the fine dust that happens during the packaging process and is often found in bags of bbq pellets. Pellet dust can accumulate in the Auger Tube and can also cause flameouts and pellet hopper burn back as well. If your Pit Boss Smoker has a pellet hopper pellet dump sleeve, dump the pellets out and check and see if there’s any accumulation of pellet dust there. If there is, shop vac it out and also vacuum out the auger tube. I’ve found pellet dust in Pit Boss pellets, LumberJack pellets and Kingsford pellets, so it’s a good idea to check any brand of pellets you choose to buy. I had a flameout about 5 years ago and the results could have disastrous. I figured out what causes flameouts in pellet smokers and once I eliminated the causes, I haven’t had a flameout since… I hope the tips and info helps and good luck.

 

[Callahan-que]

I vacuum my Pit Boss pellet grills out after every 5 or 6 cooks

 

[Callahan-que]

Oh and by the way I use Pit Boss pellets.

 

[mike243]

I clean it out every 3-4 cooks, I would bet pellets bridged and it flamed out. it happens with the longer pellets, Kingsford has really great flavor and they are cut short and don't think they could ever bridge

 

[Itsdone]

I clean mine out every cook regardless if it was a 1 hour cook or a 24 hour cook.

 

[kevinstaggs]

I’ve found Cookin Pellets and BBQR’s are the lowest ash producing pellets. Try sifting them so not to introduce dust, clean regularly and I bet the flameouts go away.


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[mike243]

Dust can create burn back but don’t think they can cause a flame out lol

 

[IamMadMan]

I've been using my daughter's vertical Pit Boss for almost two weeks without any issues. I do empty the ashes after every use. I just did ribs yesterday with a six hour smoke and only a small amount of ashes, but I clean out the pot anyway.

If I store the smoker for more than a day, I empty the pellets to keep them from absorbing the relative humidity.

 

[16Adams]

19 months with a Pit Boss Austin XL. I clean before or after each cook. Literally takes about three minutes. I keep the hopper relatively full to maintain consistent gravitational downward pressure towards auger. I keep the internal temp probe clean. About it. So far no issues as you describe and I've used most every available pellet in my area except Traeger.