Ash under Fire Pot Cover/Air Flow Diverter.

[Steve In Pa]

I decided to take a look under the fire pot cover there on the bottom of the cabinet in my vertical. This apparently is designed to direct the airflow up through the walls of the smoker. You can see in the pic where the hot air and or smoke goes into the walls.
Notice the ash that has settled there over the past 4 months. I vacuumed the ash out. Looking in the manual I don't see anything about routinely cleaning this part of the smoker, but I will be probably every 2-3 months with regular use. I don't know if ash accumulation is normal. But I'm glad the ash is settling there rather than being pushed out on the food.
Another thing is the screws holding this cover in place are rusting already. I got them out, but upon replacement gave them a shot of WD40 inside the where the screw threads in. That'll add a special flavor enhancement on the next cook.

 

[Steelheader1974]

Yeah it’s prolly a good idea to keep that area clean under there. Nice info seeing I’ll be buying a vertical maybe the end of the week.

 

[Mike From R.I.]

Steve, your right I never noticed anything in the manual about taking it apart to clean this area. Only ash, so it won't burn and it's not getting on the food. Maybe would act as some insulation for that bottom area for when we smoke in the cold year-round? It can only fill up so much then it has to go into the firepot. Soot in an oil boiler if not cleaned regularly acts like an insulator and efficiencies go down. Ash would do the opposite and in our favor.

 

[Steve In Pa]

Steve, your right I never noticed anything in the manual about taking it apart to clean this area. Only ash, so it won't burn and it's not getting on the food. Maybe would act as some insulation for that bottom area for when we smoke in the cold year-round? It can only fill up so much then it has to go into the firepot. Soot in an oil boiler if not cleaned regularly acts like an insulator and efficiencies go down. Ash would do the opposite and in our favor.

Thanks Mike, the reason I decided to take a look under there was in part because I noticed ash was creeping out from the front of that cover after every cook. That started in the past couple weeks or so and it had my attention. So I think on a rotating basis maybe every couple few months I might take a look and see what's going on and clear that out.

 

[Mike From R.I.]

https://www.amazon.com/Stera-Sheen-Heavy-Duty-Performance-Lubricant-Translucent/dp/B07NJ758R9/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?crid=3HLGFWW55ZHQV&keywords=high+temperature+food+grade+lubricant&qid=1643674477&sprefix=high+temperature+food+grade+lubricant%2Caps%2C117&sr=8-1-spons&psc=1&smid=A2XST4M7AG99XZ&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUFOQjBMRjRBVDEwN0UmZW5jcnlwdGVkSWQ9QTA5MjQ5MTMySkNOVjBIRjFDSTlNJmVuY3J5cHRlZEFkSWQ9QTAzOTkzNzJJOFFSQlRBUjdDRVkmd2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGYmYWN0aW9uPWNsaWNrUmVkaXJlY3QmZG9Ob3RMb2dDbGljaz10cnVl

 

[Mike From R.I.]

Food grade lubricant for those screws.

 

[Mike From R.I.]

Taylor High Performance Lubricant, Taylor Red Lube, Soft Serve Lubricant, 4 oz Tube, Part Number 048232 / FMP 266-1004: Power Tool Lubricants: Amazon.com: Tools & Home Improvement

Taylor High Performance Lubricant, Taylor Red Lube, Soft Serve Lubricant, 4 oz Tube, Part Number 048232 / FMP 266-1004: Power Tool Lubricants: Amazon.com: Tools & Home Improvement

www.amazon.com

This one is higher temperature.

 

[Cowboy1955]

I decided to take a look under the fire pot cover there on the bottom of the cabinet in my vertical. This apparently is designed to direct the airflow up through the walls of the smoker. You can see in the pic where the hot air and or smoke goes into the walls.
Notice the ash that has settled there over the past 4 months. I vacuumed the ash out. Looking in the manual I don't see anything about routinely cleaning this part of the smoker, but I will be probably every 2-3 months with regular use. I don't know if ash accumulation is normal. But I'm glad the ash is settling there rather than being pushed out on the food.
Another thing is the screws holding this cover in place are rusting already. I got them out, but upon replacement gave them a shot of WD40 inside the where the screw threads in. That'll add a special flavor enhancement on the next cook.
View attachment 2253

Just keep it clean.
I sift my pellets

 

[Mike From R.I.]

Once it warms up some outside, I think I'll do the same.

 

[Steve In Pa]

https://www.amazon.com/Stera-Sheen-Heavy-Duty-Performance-Lubricant-Translucent/dp/B07NJ758R9/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?crid=3HLGFWW55ZHQV&keywords=high+temperature+food+grade+lubricant&qid=1643674477&sprefix=high+temperature+food+grade+lubricant%2Caps%2C117&sr=8-1-spons&psc=1&smid=A2XST4M7AG99XZ&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUFOQjBMRjRBVDEwN0UmZW5jcnlwdGVkSWQ9QTA5MjQ5MTMySkNOVjBIRjFDSTlNJmVuY3J5cHRlZEFkSWQ9QTAzOTkzNzJJOFFSQlRBUjdDRVkmd2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGYmYWN0aW9uPWNsaWNrUmVkaXJlY3QmZG9Ob3RMb2dDbGljaz10cnVl

What do they not sell?

 

[Steve In Pa]

Just keep it clean.
I sift my pellets

I'll give it a try. Amazon probably sell pellet sifters too.

 

[Cowboy1955]

I'll give it a try. Amazon probably sell pellet sifters too.

A regular colander works just fine

 

[MikeInFla]

I'll give it a try. Amazon probably sell pellet sifters too.

I vacuum my ashes out every other cook with a shop vac (but do it before a cook, not after so everything is cooled down). This is what I have but I would wait for the price to go down, it's too expensive now. I think mine was around $13. Amazon has wacky prices, one day something will be $13 and $30 the next day so just keep checking

https://www.amazon.com/SE-GP2-14-Pa...ter&qid=1587753785&sr=8-2&tag=modifiedco06-20

I also buy a lot of vinyl records and the ones I really want I check back daily because prices (like this sifter) will fluctuate from $13 to $30.

 

[Steve In Pa]

I vacuum my ashes out every other cook with a shop vac (but do it before a cook, not after so everything is cooled down). This is what I have but I would wait for the price to go down, it's too expensive now. I think mine was around $13. Amazon has wacky prices, one day something will be $13 and $30 the next day so just keep checking

https://www.amazon.com/SE-GP2-14-Pa...ter&qid=1587753785&sr=8-2&tag=modifiedco06-20

I also buy a lot of vinyl records and the ones I really want I check back daily because prices (like this sifter) will fluctuate from $13 to $30.

Thanks I saved that on my list. I'm going to sift a batch of my Sam's Club pellets just to see what shakes out. Hmmmm..qualifies as a pun right?
Anyway, from other posts here on the floor I am aware of dust in pellets. So I have checked out my Sam's Club pellets visually and they really look pretty clean to begin with. I've not noticed any dust down in the hopper for example.

 

[Steve In Pa]

Hey folks, I called Pit Boss support on this issue and the tech gal there advises that such accumulation of ash where I described is "normal" and they recommend cleaning that out every few cooks depending on length of your cooks.
I my case I had about 4 months of ash buildup. I'll probably check that every couple months given what I found and my probable use pattern.
Otherwise I still am going try sifting the pellets before they go in the hopper. I'm curious what I get out of that.