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I have had an issue with my fire going out from time to time. I wanted to list a few things I have discovered in trying to solve the issue:
I cook near my house so I needed to get a cap for my vent pipe(because of down draft from my roof). I purchased one of those 110 mile an hour caps but my fire still occasionally went out. I learned that after a long overnight cook, the walls of the cooker are so well insulated that it does not call for many pellets. When I would check the meat, the new call for pellets would suffocate the small amount of smoldering pellets. That proved to be a big cause of fire out. I learned last night that my high wind cap creates a significant draw (another cause for fire out). Finally, I learned that in a windy situation, wind blows into the fan, through the auger and down into the pot. I solved that issue by cooking with the cover on. There is no worse feeling than to think you are cooking all night, go out to check, and the oven temp is 36. I am not discouraged but a little disappointed. I am very meticulous about cleanliness, vacuuming out the pot every cook etc. I know it is a great cooker but I am still wrestling with function. I will keep you posted
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Originally posted by mwynnconcours:
I have by turning up the temp in the morning before opening the door to check. Once the temp comes up, I can safely open the door. If the door never gets opened, I have no issue. It is frustrating but it does seem to follow an all night cook and then opening the door.

I agree that has been a problem for me as well. The exception was 4am Sunday morning....I never opened the door and the fire went out but I did have a cap on my exhaust, w an elbow. I think I am going to try some "day cooks" until I get this figured out?? Thanks for your input.
I'm frustrated as well. I had the older model, which initially had the Traeger control then upgraded to the IQ control, which had no problem with flame outs. I bought 2 fec 100's in December and have had multiple frustrating flame outs. Not fun to wake up to a cold smoker when I'm used to cooked product in the a.m. My observations are that CS changed the fire box to cast iron and a funnel shape. (Possibly to ignite easier?) The concern I have is the funnel shaped fire box doesn't allow as many lit pellets at the base. When the demand goes up it smothers instead of ignites the new pellets. I've tried the stacks, elbows etc..., wind, no wind, door open, door shut. I will talk with CS tomorrow, but one idea would be to program the rate of delivery of pellets at a slower rate when it is trying to recover initially. The new firebox can't handle the current rate of pellet drop for recovery, where the old design firebox could.
I also have experienced the fire going out twice on my fec100 that I have had for less than 30 days.

The first time was the evening I received the smoker. I put a pork butt in at 225 degrees and left it overnight. At some point during the night the fire went out and the next morning I had a pot full of pellets.

The second time was with a brisket. I put the brisket in early a.m. at 225 degrees. I went to work and had my wife check it regularly throughout the day. About six hours into the cook she noticed the oven temp was going down. The fire had gone out again and she had a pot full of pellets to clean out.

Throughout both cooks the cover was in place and the outside temperature was probably less than 40 degrees without any breeze. The 5" vent was uncovered just as I received it from the factory.

I did visit with the guys at Cookshack and they recommended an elbow and stack. I have since installed these items. I have cooked at 275 degrees for about 5 hours without any problems but have not yet cooked at 225 degrees for any amount of time.

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