Fire goes out in “smoke” setting

[BigO58]

This has happened several times - I follow the PB process to start up the grill . . . start out on smoke setting until smoke appears, close lid and turn up to 350 for about 15 min, then turn back down to smoke setting. After a while, temp drops, fire goes out, and burn pot overflows with pellets. I’ve had to watch this during cooks so it’s not always happening, but it’s a pain to remove meats, take out grates @ heat shield, remove excess pellets, reassemble and start cooking again. Not sure what I’m doing wrong - any suggestions or tips are appreciated! Thanks!

 

[Tim W]

This has happened several times - I follow the PB process to start up the grill . . . start out on smoke setting until smoke appears, close lid and turn up to 350 for about 15 min, then turn back down to smoke setting. After a while, temp drops, fire goes out, and burn pot overflows with pellets. I’ve had to watch this during cooks so it’s not always happening, but it’s a pain to remove meats, take out grates @ heat shield, remove excess pellets, reassemble and start cooking again. Not sure what I’m doing wrong - any suggestions or tips are appreciated! Thanks!

I never saw that turn to 350 part I always have trouble with a big downward temp with a flame out. If it is with the older time based controllers I have to have a p setting of 0 1 or 2 or 3 to keep it from happening on my newer one with the PID controller haven't had a issue yet

 

[BigO58]

I never saw that turn to 350 part I always have trouble with a big downward temp with a flame out. If it is with the older time based controllers I have to have a p setting of 0 1 or 2 or 3 to keep it from happening on my newer one with the PID controller haven't had a issue yet

I believe mine is time based as it has the p setting. I have it at 4 or5, so maybe I’ll try 2 or 3 which I think feeds the burn pot quicker. Thanks for comment!

 

[tkmcj]

I've had a similar problem when in smoke mode. Occasionally, the temp will drop down towards the 150 range. I typically set it to 225 for a few minutes, then put it back on smoke and it will normalize. I've had it happen twice now, out of about 5-6 cooks. I haven't actually checked to see if the fire has gone out, but I'm assuming it has, or the temp wouldn't drop so much.

 

[GrillsGoneWild]

Same thing has been happening to me. It started roughly 3 weeks ago... Power on and fire up the PB600PS1 according to the instructions (I even got the instructions out and made sure I wasn't doing something wrong) and everything runs fine for a while (45-60mins or so)then I notice my temps "stalling" when they shouldn't so I go check the smoker and the burn pot is overloaded with pellets and is basically snuffing itself out... Needless to say I'm bummed because I had big plans for my smoker this weekend!

 

[tkmcj]

Same thing has been happening to me. It started roughly 3 weeks ago... Power on and fire up the PB600PS1 according to the instructions (I even got the instructions out and made sure I wasn't doing something wrong) and everything runs fine for a while (45-60mins or so)then I notice my temps "stalling" when they shouldn't so I go check the smoker and the burn pot is overloaded with pellets and is basically snuffing itself out... Needless to say I'm bummed because I had big plans for my smoker this weekend!

Do you monitor with the app? If so, when you see the temp dropping, crank it up to 225 for a few minutes (until you see the temp increase), then drop it back down to smoke mode. That usually fixes it for me. Full disclosure: I usually run my P setting at P5 or P6 to encourage more smoke. Not sure if that is having an impact or not.

 

[BigO58]

Same thing has been happening to me. It started roughly 3 weeks ago... Power on and fire up the PB600PS1 according to the instructions (I even got the instructions out and made sure I wasn't doing something wrong) and everything runs fine for a while (45-60mins or so)then I notice my temps "stalling" when they shouldn't so I go check the smoker and the burn pot is overloaded with pellets and is basically snuffing itself out... Needless to say I'm bummed because I had big plans for my smoker this weekend!

Sounds like exactly what happens to me! I take the meat off & set aside, take the grates and shield out, clean out the burn pot, reassemble, and restart. It’s a pain in the butt, but gets the meat back on the grill in about 45 min! Then I just set it at 225 and let it go.

 

[GrillsGoneWild]

I do not use the app, I use my thermo probes to notice temp fluctuation. I've had it running on "Smoke" with my "P" setting at 3 all morning trying to figure out a pattern or whatnot. It jumped up to 340sih about 40mins in and then it settled down to 180ish. I adjusted my "P" setting to 4 and it ran fine for a couple hours then jumped up over 300 about 20mins ago. I just set my "P" back to 0, I hope thats not the issue because I like using the P setting to run a little heavier on the smoke.

If that doesnt work I'll start over and try to run it at 200 or 225 and see if the temp stays steady. I guess I can make that work and use a smoke tube for extra smoke flavor to get me through the weekend. If I figure it out I will post an update.

 

[BigO58]

I do not use the app, I use my thermo probes to notice temp fluctuation. I've had it running on "Smoke" with my "P" setting at 3 all morning trying to figure out a pattern or whatnot. It jumped up to 340sih about 40mins in and then it settled down to 180ish. I adjusted my "P" setting to 4 and it ran fine for a couple hours then jumped up over 300 about 20mins ago. I just set my "P" back to 0, I hope thats not the issue because I like using the P setting to run a little heavier on the smoke.

If that doesnt work I'll start over and try to run it at 200 or 225 and see if the temp stays steady. I guess I can make that work and use a smoke tube for extra smoke flavor to get me through the weekend. If I figure it out I will post an update.

I’m smoking a 7 + lb pork shoulder today. I set the P setting to 1 and went through the PB startup procedure. Set dial back to smoke setting and the temps are now (about an hour or so in) steady at about 200 at middle of lid thermometer, and 220 -230 on the digital screen. Fire didn’t go out, so that seems to have done the trick! Thanks for the tip!

 

[Cowboy1955]

This has happened several times - I follow the PB process to start up the grill . . . start out on smoke setting until smoke appears, close lid and turn up to 350 for about 15 min, then turn back down to smoke setting. After a while, temp drops, fire goes out, and burn pot overflows with pellets. I’ve had to watch this during cooks so it’s not always happening, but it’s a pain to remove meats, take out grates @ heat shield, remove excess pellets, reassemble and start cooking again. Not sure what I’m doing wrong - any suggestions or tips are appreciated! Thanks!

Make sure you clean it and the temperature sensor after each cook.
Are you gettin any error codes?

 

[GrillsGoneWild]

No error codes, cleaned everything on Thurs in preparation for this weekend.
Setting the P down to 1 seems to have helped significantly. Everything stayed pretty steady the rest of the afternoon yesterday. This morn I cleaned the ash from yesterday and fired it up, everything seemed to run ok with the exception of a flare-up up to 275-300ish about 40mins after start-up I just ignored it and it's been ok since. I just put a Butt and a Chuck Roast on the smoke, hopefully all goes well!

 

[BigO58]

Make sure you clean it and the temperature sensor after each cook.
Are you gettin any error codes?

No error codes - it just goes out. I think I have it resolved with the change in P number. Thanks!

 

[GrillsGoneWild]

Ran mine for 23hrs yesterday. Everything seems to be ok as long as I keep my P setting at 1. Kind of a bummer having to use smoke tubes for additional smoke but I guess it's better than no smoke. Hope this helps

 

[Tim W]

Ran mine for 23hrs yesterday. Everything seems to be ok as long as I keep my P setting at 1. Kind of a bummer having to use smoke tubes for additional smoke but I guess it's better than no smoke. Hope this helps

Try a different flavor of pellets the fruit wood seems to burn faster than oak or hickory for me too.

 

[GrillsGoneWild]

Try a different flavor of pellets the fruit wood seems to burn faster than oak or hickory for me

I almost always run my own mixture of pellets. I have several brands/types and I mix them as I put them in the hopper depending on what I'm smoking. Rarely do I just use one type or out of one bag.