Quits heating after a few hours

[Jwoodbbq]

I keep having issues with my Austin XL not heating after a few hours of running. If I’m just cooking steaks or something small it’s fine. But when I do ribs or a brisket. It stops heating in the middle of cooking. I turn it off and then back on the auger keeps pushing pellets thru and ignited extremely hot. Causing it to smoke like crazy.

 

[callen1598]

My grill is doing the same thing. Have you discover the problem yet?

 

[boomlane]

I have had that happen a couple of times. I have found that ash has built up in the heating cup and snuffs out the heat element so when it calls for heat it is heating ash and not the pellets. I just use the shop vac and we are back in business. I use mine alot and should probably clean out the cup every month.

 

[DaveXDm9]

Like Boom said you need to clean out your firepot prior to every use as this will reduce so many headaches and issues.

 

[callen1598]

That's what I thought too but I cleaned the fire pot out and it still did the same thing after about an hour. Started a case with pit boss via email. They suggested to access the wiring, switch the auger wires with the fan wires and then time it. It's supposed to run for 18 seconds then shut off for 120. Mine did that. Now I'm waiting for a response as what to do next.

 

[OnYourPerson]

This has happened to me 2-3 times and it happens at around the 3 hour period. I think it's because of the ash build up and I think it will depend on the brand of pellets. So far, I know it's happened to me on the Pitboss pellets.

The thing is, I vacuum it out every single time I use it and I haven't cooked longer than 3 hours on these Bear Mountain pellets I'm currently using. I'm going to try 7 pound NY strip roast and I hope it works well. I'm going to try it with Trager brand pellets and I expect it to take well over 3 hours. I'll report back if it turns off.

 

[Popy]

Has anybody found a fix. I talked to pit boss customer service. They wanted me to do serval check including timing the auger on the p4 setting. Every time they email me the procedure. There is funny letter like upside down question marks

 

[callen1598]

That's what they had me do too. I did that my auger was feeding correct. Now I'm waiting to hear back from pit boss as what to do next

 

[MikeInFla]

Keep hammering them with phone calls.

 

[Popy]

Here is what pit__boss is having me try to confirm the control board is bad


If you are needing to time the auger on your Pit Boss please follow the instructions below. You will want to empty the pellets from the hopper so you can visually see the auger itself.

1. Plug in the grill and turn to the SMOKE setting.

2. Leave the grill in the SMOKE setting and on the P4 setting.

3. The auger will turn automatically for the first 4 minutes as part of the start up sequence.

4. Once the first 4 minutes have passed, the auger will now start an ON/OFF pause cycle.

5. The auger should pause for 115 seconds, then run for 18 seconds. This particular on/off cycle will continue as long as the grill is left on these settings.

6. Watch the auger and time the PAUSE and RUN for 3-4 on/off cycles in order to determine if the auger motor is receiving the correct signal from the control board.

*If the on/off cycles are within 1-2 seconds of the above listed times,

it should not have a big impact on the temperature control*

If you have any questions please let us know.

If you would like to respond to this case, please reply to this email.

 

[Popy]

I timed my auger (p4 setting) got bad and inconsistent time. Emailed PB new control board should be here sat. Will see it the fixes the problem

 

[OnYourPerson]

Did that fix your problem?