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10 replies

PG500 Hopper fire/smolder

R rsissonMember
I have had my Pg500 for about 2 months.
I L O V E it.
Still, I have an issue with it in that I have had several hopper fires (smolder actually as there isn't enough air in the hopper for a fire, but it will slowly eat the hopper full of pellets using the air coming in around the door and the auger.)

Mostly the have been after running HOT finishing things. The pellets in the auger catch, I have flames coming out of the hopper tube, the pellets coming out look like little balls of fire. Most of them go out once I turn the temp down and let it run with the doors open for a while... but if I turn it off, well...it's eaten a hopper of pelllets and my hopper is the best seasoned part of the grill....

I thought it was my pellets, they are dusty and I thought the dust was catching, but sifting the pellets made no difference.

Call to support said to turn the grill into the wind (????) but that didn't do anything.

Has anyone else had issues, how did you fix it.
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P padrefan98Member
rsisson,

You said it happens when you're running it HOT. What is your LHT/HHT when you're running it hot? And what is your temp setting> Do you have the heat shield in place when this happens? I am wondering if the heat shield is causing the flame to divert over to the hopper. I never set mine for more then 400 and I only do that when I want to sear. And then that only take 60 seconds per side and then I shut it off. So I have never had a hopper fire.
R rsissonMember
I have my LHT/HHT set to 10/85.
Yes my shield is in place.
I see it mostly when I am trying to sear, i.e. Getting it HOT HOT HOT, i.e. Max temp for 4-5 min to get hot, sear 45 seconds, turn, sear 45 seconds, Take steaks off...
At least this point there are good flames coming from the hopper chute and the pellets are coming out pre-lit like little balls of fire.
I now open the doors and turn the temp down to 170 and let it sit (running) until everything is happy and THEN I turn it off...

Don't see the issue at low temps/smoking, but anything over 375/425 when the fire pot has a good head of fire going...

I am using competition BLEND pellets, which are dusty, very dusty, so I tried sieving the last batch, didnt seem to Make any difference.

Tried posting (attaching) video of flames coming out of chute, board won't let me post anything but jpg or text.
cal 2cal 2Member
quote:
Originally posted by rsisson:
I have had my Pg500 for about 2 months.
I L O V E it.
Still, I have an issue with it in that I have had several hopper fires (smolder actually as there isn't enough air in the hopper for a fire, but it will slowly eat the hopper full of pellets using the air coming in around the door and the auger.)

Mostly the have been after running HOT finishing things. The pellets in the auger catch, I have flames coming out of the hopper tube, the pellets coming out look like little balls of fire. Most of them go out once I turn the temp down and let it run with the doors open for a while... but if I turn it off, well...it's eaten a hopper of pelllets and my hopper is the best seasoned part of the grill....

I thought it was my pellets, they are dusty and I thought the dust was catching, but sifting the pellets made no difference.

Call to support said to turn the grill into the wind (????) but that didn't do anything.

Has anyone else had issues, how did you fix it.


They are sayin to turn your grill so the smoke stack is away from the wind and the pellet hopper is in the direction the wind is coming from.
R rsissonMember
I do a combination of things....

Old crumbly pellets seem to do weird things, so I try to use good solid pellets
If my auger is on fire, I am seeing fire from the port into the firebox, or the pellets are comming out "pre-lit" I continue with my "high temperature" run and then I turn the temp down (typically all the way down to 170) and let it run untill I get unburt pellets before turning off. Haven't had a hopper fire since starting to do my own shutdown procedure.
R rsissonMember
425 is normally the low end of my "HOT" cooking. I normally will do things in the 225-250 range to get them to rear-medium using a remote probe thermometer, take them off and crank the Unit up to 600, let it pre-heat for 5-10 min so it gets H O T, sear things for 1-3 min per side, and then turn everything back down to 170 and let it cool until the pellets come out un-lit.

I definitely see flames coming out of the auger port after 3-4 minutes on HOT, and the pellets come out pre-lit. If you just turn it off without a "cool off" cycle, you stand a good chance of the auger smoldering all the way back to the hopper, and then the hopper will burn/smolder. No flames, but lots of smoke/tar/and wasted pellets.

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