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I hear the frustration.

The comments are pretty generic as to "fire" so I can't really solve the issue. You do mentioned they start the same spot, sounds to me like grease or something is "pooling" in that spot. Maybe a flow problem? If I remember before you had a problem with ribs.

I've not heard of someone having multiple fires. In fact the ONLY fires I've heard is when the unit is cooking ultra hot. Think fire. Source and fuel. What's catching on fire. Grease. How is it getting to the fire. Most cases it's splashing somehow. In some when it's really hot the grease can ignite directly, but those are really, really hot.

I have 4 different units, for five years, had one fire when I cooked on uneven ground AND I didn't clean the pit AND it was full of 16 PB's putting out a ton of grease AND the downspout backed up.

Suggest you call CS direct so you can talk to them. They don't routinely monitor the forum and for customers, they really prefer you call them direct.

Yep,we heard of one guy in Fl,that everything he touched broke ,or catches on fire.

We travel the whole south for six-seven years and never hear of one.

Sorry you had the bad luck.

Hopefully,you let CS service know-as they don't monitor this forum.

Only fire I've ever had was when I was cooking on only three shelves and overloaded them with leg quarters. Grease ran down the inides of the smoker instead of hitting the drip tray. I didn't even know I'd had a fire until after. I burned out the bottom door seal, but didn't hurt the chicken.

I'd check leveling or how you're positioning the meat. Even then you might burn up a load of meat, but I don't see you burning anything down.

What was in it and what were the temps???????

Mine caught on fire last week, but it was my own fault. I was loading in two briskets at 4 AM and couldn't remember if I had changed the foil on the drip ramp so I pulled it out into the light. When I put it back in where it was dark I missed the lip on the left side so the thing went in flat. After the grease had traveled both directions for a while, it caught fire. The over temp breaker did it's thing and everything shut down. My wife noticed tons of white smoke in the back yard and when I opened the door the gasket and everything else went up in flames. Funny thing. I was able to save the meat, foil it, and finish it in the oven. My family said it was my personal best.
Maybe I should have a fire at my next contest.

My drip ramp came from the factory with a reverse tilt. The square hole in the floor of the smoker was located too far back and the drip system would note set on the screws properly.

A few hours with a grinder and file solved the problem.

I did call Cookshack and try to talk to QC but no one seemed to care...........

quote:

Originally posted by MountainMan:
...I did call Cookshack and try to talk to QC but no one seemed to care...........

If you EVER feel this way (ANYONE) just email Stuart direct. Realize, not everyone has the best day, but given CS's policy, they want to make it right, so if QC (I don't know who that would be) just contact Stuart.

The fires always start on the floor of the unit, on the right side near the door.

First time I had a full load of chicken and tried to cook hot...whatever the maxz temp was, maybe 400 or near to it. I wrote that one off to 'too much grease and heat'.

After that I was really careful to keep things clean; more than just wiping the thing out.

Bill in the cookshack service dep't is very helpful and has sent me gaskets to replace the ones that burnt up...but I'm shy about overnight cooks.

I use the unit three times a week, case of ribs one day, ten pork butts another day, six briskets another day. got a load of pork in now. We'll see.

If it's the same spot every time, then your grease is pooling in that area.

You need to look at the drip tray (use a level) and try to see where it's collecting.

You're having a unique problem, so you have to figure out what is making your situation unique.

Yup that's where I was headed with my comment!

quote:

My drip ramp came from the factory with a reverse tilt. The square hole in the floor of the smoker was located too far back and the drip system would not set on the screws properly.

You might check the square tube that runs through the botton of the floor, I notice mine starts building up solid grease in it after a few cooks. I take it out and run hot water through it once in a while to clean it out.
Make sure the grease drain tilts foreward toward the door and not level or tilted back.