Fire Out Again

In my opinion, the Maverick ET-732.

How old is your smoker?

quote:

Originally posted by RibDog:
In my opinion, the Maverick ET-732.

I agree, ET-732 (be sure to buy some spare temp probes son you don't get stuck)

My Dec is a year old. Thanks to e
Every one that responded

quote:

Originally posted by mwynnconcours:
My Dec is a year old. Thanks to e
Every one that responded

Bill at Cookshack had mentioned there was a group of FEC-100 smokers that got shipped out with the wrong size holes drilled in the fire pot. Not sure when it happened, but you may want to make sure your holes are 3/8" and not smaller

I had the same issue with my first unit (flameouts on 75% of my cooks) and even tried 3 different boards (programs) in it. It seemed that there had to be some sort of manufacturing issue but never heard about the holes in the fire pot. Very frustrating though. Left us hanging more than once on our BBQ business. All I can say is don't be afraid to request a replacement. They sent me another unit and it has been flawless. Just goes to prove that there can be lemons out there on everything from time to time.

Word of advice from my bad experience. Don't put the program in that relights the hot rod after the smoker temp gets to 140 or below. You get a big inferno when that pot full of pellets relights. It got so hot it burnt off the door gasket and warped the door on my old one, then always would trip the high limit switch so the thing would go to "lights out" mode.

well you all can add me on the list of fire outs with this fec 100 .

it happened two or three times before but i thought it was cause of me learning and tinkering with it .

but yesterday my fire went out three times in perfect weather with my smoker level and nothing on the flue pipe .

i was trying to smoke ribs at 275 sos it werent low temps that was petering the flame out seems like a real problem that i hope they know how to fix fast like .

my screen says fec 60

this aint right who is this bill guy ? and if he is the one to call does anybody know of his phone number ?

When you opened the door was the pot flowing over with pellets?

RandyE

Try the number at the top of this page. I doubt you'll find anyone at Cookshack before Tuesday.

Good luck.

yes randy 3 time i had to scoop out a big mound of pellets from the pot

the last time she would not relight so i foiled my ribs and finished them off in the oven .

thank you max i did not see the top of the page and you are right nobody will be there until tuesday i know i would not be .

Here's something to check, remove all pellets from the firepot and turn on your FEC. Keep your finger on the igniter on the bottom left side. If it gets "too hot to touch" hot in a minute or two, and is able to fire up the pellets from the auger, you can rule out an igniter issue. My igniter did fail a few weeks ago and CS sent me a new one under the 2 yr warranty.

If your igniter doesn't get hot enough to ignite the pellets, try this: Lift your hopper lid. Mix 1 cup of pellets with some sterno or hand sanitizer gel. Dump them in the firepot and ignite them by hand. When they start to burn well, turn your FEC on (lid closed). The fan will create higher combustion rate and at that point, lower the lid to restart the flow of pellets.

If your able to start pellets burning with your igniter, than it's not an igniter problem.

thank you max ill be trying that directly thats a good idea and ill have better info for this bill guy when i call up on tuesday .

maybe the igniter only works in a on and off way i wonder now if theres a loose wire i can look at .

Max, correct me if I am wrong but doesn't the IQ4 drop pellets for about four-five minutes and then the ignitor comes on? If it comes on right in the beginning, there won't be enough pellets in the pot against the ignitor to catch fire.

I guess I am old school myself and always take a very small handful of pellets and drop them in the fire pot on the ignitor side. This way, I know there are always pellets to light when the ignitor comes on.

Remove the left outer panel below the hopper. The igniter has 2 white wires running back to a harness. Check the harness for a loose wire.

I wasn't very clear. At which point my igniter was dead, I made sure the firepot was free of ash and pellets. I scooped 2 handfull of pellets, mixed with some Sterno, added them to the firepot and fired them up with a wand lighter. Once they were burning I turned the FEC on with lid up to prevent pellets from dousing the fire. Once the fan had a good fire going, I closed the lid.

Not positive but I think the igniter comes on as soon as you hit the start button. I can check that later today.

max i checked the two thin white wires and the plug is snapped shut . i then pushed start like you said and my finger got hot right away so this fire out thing must be something that happens only now and then .

i think ill wait and see what bill says tuesday for any more taking apart of things unless i get a good tip on where to go .

Max,

I have had my units for a while, and both igniters have stopped working. And I have not taken thetime to order new ones and replace them. But with that said.

I will take a hand full of pellets and then turn the unit on, and set the temps for cook and hold and time, then add sternoe and light.

On mine, the lighter does not come on until a few minutes after hitting the button.


RandyE

randy i hear what you are saying but my fec100 went out 3 time cooking at 275 . i dont get how that happens . when shes on a roll the fire should not go out if the pellets are coming down right . and i had a full hopper and was good and level so i dont know .

This is a recurring problem on my 2 month old unit. I did buy a Maverick ET-732 as it is cheaper than throwing out meat. The first time I used the 732 the alarm went off at 4 AM! Tony at Cookshack helped me check the entire system, sent a new "modified" fire pot with ignitor and I bought an elbow and cap. The fire still went out! Last night I bought a Vacu-stack high wind cap ($113!) which he recommended. If this doesn't do it, I guess I'll request a new unit. Let me know if you figure it out.

Switching from the cast iron pot to the stainless steel pot fixed my problem. My FEC has worked flawlessly on 3 long cooks. Tony @ Cookshack did a great job helping me.

I think the problem is that the bottom of the cast iron pot is not flat so ash builds up blocking the air flow.

If you switch to the SS pot, the igniter rod is the same but it doesn't stick out as far. Therefore, it takes longer/more pellets to start. To speed up ignition, I now throw a handful of pellets in before turning the unit on.

quote:

Originally posted by Joe M:
To speed up ignition, I now throw a handful of pellets in before turning the unit on.

Step one. vacuum out any ash
Step two. Throw in a handful of pellets.

I always do those steps before each cook.

Me too, Smokin. Does not matter which of my FECs I use, I follow this same process every time.

I had the fire out situation and swapped the cast iron pot to stainless and haven't seen the issue since. I have 4-5 low temp smokes since the swap.

The folks at Cookshack were great to work with on the issue. Most other companies would have denied a problem and tried to explain why it was a user error. They acknowledged others have seen this and that switching the fire pot has resolved it for others. I suspect they are still working to come up with the root cause.

quote:

Originally posted by txsmoker:
... Most other companies would have denied a problem and tried to explain why it was a user error. They acknowledged others have seen this and that switching the fire pot has resolved it for others. I suspect they are still working to come up with the root cause.

Thanks for posting that. CS does want to know issues one on one (most times they are easier to explain verbally than type) so it's great to hear that you had it resolved.