FEC 100 fires

Being an FEC100 owner for the past two years, as well as a forum member, I too have had some raised eyebrows at the posts reporting FEC fires. By the same token, I've never had a fire issue with mine and the steps necessary to prevent one aren't all that difficult.

1. Keep the unit clean. I clean and re-foil the grease pan after ever use.
2. I check the fire pot for ash after every use.
3. I remove any grease and ash from the bottom of the smoker after every use.
4. I check the grease channel below the grease pan after every use and ensure the channel is free of any blockages that prevent grease from falling down to the hotel pan underneath the smoker.
5. I check the hotel pan every other smoke to make sure it's emptied of any collected grease or meat juices.

While it may sound like a lot of work, we're talking 10 minutes of preventative maintenance.

One other mention...the placement of meat on the racks must be done in such a way that drippings are diverted to the hotel pan, rather than the bottom of the FEC. Again, this is no big deal if you take into consideration that meats are better placed on the racks with a margin of an inch or two from their edges.

While I can't speak to all the fire issues, I've probably just covered 98% of them. No doubt, Stuart and the techs at Cookshack are working on the other 2%.

Very well said MaxQue, I've been around here for about a year and have seen threads about fires and have to say that I'm really looking forward to the day I can say I'm a proud owner of a couple FEC100s.

It appears that a little common sense like you outlined would have me as a happy owner and on the rare occasion something would happen out of my control. I have all the faith in CS helping me out. It seems you buy a company along with your purchase of a smoker... from what I've seen,read, and talked with Stuart.

There are continual running threads in the archives.
Kinda like someone buys a new Lexus and it had a problem,they would be talking about it.

The next 100 folks that it worked great,rarely go on line and say"my new car works normal and I thought everyone would like to know"

You never seem to hear about all of the cookers that cook every weekend with out a problem. I have had my FEC100 for almost 2-years and have only had one issue and that was operator error. If you take care of your FEC cooker like MaxQue stated it will take care of you.

quote:

Originally posted by kansasQ:
Is it just my parnoia of is there a lot of fires in the FEC 100. Is it aht I am just seeing a small portion of the big picture?

In any forum run by any company, where do people go to get answers for ISSUES? The forum.

We see fires, we see auger issues we see ignitor issues.

I think it's easier to notice the fires in posts (negative attacts viewers to TV News for a reason) than it is to see none of the people that own them but never post the good stuff (why is that, not every owner posts good stuff) We don't get a lot of contest people posting either, but there are a LOT of FE's out there winning.

Just the nature of forums. Negative gets notice, but I don't think it's the smoker. But that's me.

You have to look at the cause and in most cases no one can Prove the ultimate cause, there's just too many variables but there are the usualy cast of culprits.

The recent post by a guy who bought on ebay from a Restaurant, I'd bet money that guy that sold it never cleaned it.

My opinion. Max has it spot on. I'm not sure how many of the fires would happen if all those items (not sure #5 is a fire issue) but if you do all four, your likely hood of a fire is VERY small.

The two I would add.

6. Level. If the unit isn't level and grease can spill out (because it's clogged) or collect in one corner then that can cause an issue

7. Temperature. If you're running it VERRRR Hot, say 350 or over, you have to make sure it's clean.

8. Oh, add one. ANY of the above items not being done AND you have a full load of grease cooking. Say a lot of butts and briskets, something that's making a lot of grease dripping.

If you're worried, call CS and ask. If you're really worried, don't buy it. We can only advise but for me, the % of owners that have issues is directly proportional to the care and maintaince of the unit.

No, it's not a set it and forget it. Those that do it like that may have problems.

Well. Since Tom brought up the Lexus, maybe this will add perspective.

I owned a Lexus ES 300, and towards the end of the 5th year my air conditioning went out. $2000 to replace it. Lexus is still a great car, and the huge bulk of owners (including me) will testify to that. Things happen. No Lexus forum. So who knows.

Just had a recall on my GE Monogram dishwasher. Reason. Could cause a fire. I was advised not to use the dishwasher until the repair person shows up tomorrow even though I've used it for 6 years. Stuff happens. No GE forum.

My FEC was built in 2005, and trailer mounted in front of my stick burner. Since owning the FEC, I have had 2 grease fires in it neither the fault of the unit. The first fire was pretty typical; cooked several butts, then ramped up the heat to cook chicken quarters. Fried the he** out of the door gasket. Did save the chicken! Don't really know how the second fire got going, but caught it in time to save the gasket BTW, I have also had 1 fire in my stick burner. Was cooking ribs for a party, and a bit of grease got into the fire box. Really black smoke. Fortunately, I was cooking away from the party and had the fire under controle before anyone noticed I don't want to say that all fires are opporator errors, but that was definately my case.

I appreciate all the comments. I feel better about it now. Sounds simple enough to say some time spent preventing the fire is time well spent. Even a goober like me can understand that.

I cook and I compete. I own a FEC 100 and I've had great use out of it. MaxQue has hit the nail on the head as far as what to do after each and every cook. The only thing I would add is to vacuum the fire pot after each use. Make sure you get your finger in there and make sure all the compacted ash is loosened up so that it can be vacuumed up. If you don't get it vacuumed out and you cook again a week later then the pilot light will not reach the pellets as they are dumping in. They may eventually light and then you may have a real problem!! Good luck and have fun!

Only fire I ever had was my fault. I tried to cook 40 lbs of leg quarters on three shelves. Grease missed the drip tray and ran down the sides.

It burned out the bottom door gasket, but didn't hurt the chicken. I continued to cook on it for about a year before I before I got around to replacing the bottom door gasket.

A perfect seal isn't all that important. After all, you have that big hole in the side that lets the smoke out. What's a little smoke leakage around the door?

I have been smoking on my pre-ramp FEC 100 for over 6 years now and on my IQ4 for over 3 years. And in that time, I have never experienced a fire in my smokers. You just have to learn, as with any smoker, how your smoker works and the right ways reduce the risks of grease fires and such.

I own a FEC 100 and a FEC500 and have has several fires in my 100. It's sad to say but everyfire can be traced to my lack of proper cleaning after every cook. They are great smokers and earn me lots of compliments on my bbq.