Hey all, figured it out!!!
I live in a very warm climate zone (100+ degrees during summers). I knew that the fan was cycling on and off every 3-4 seconds. Each time the fan cycled off, it created a yellow flame which in turn caused a little bit of soot to lick up into the pit. Now recreate that scenario hundreds and hundreds of times within a 6-12 hour period. That is a lot of nasty soot that is created as you can see from my pics above.
I figured the internal temp didn't need much to keep the 250 degree temp given the outside temp was 100-105 degrees, therefore the fan was not constantly on...it was cycling on/off often trying to maintain temps.
I then remembered that there is an adjustable auger pellet feed rate that speeds up or slows down the rate of pellets, which in turn makes the fan work more or less to maintain internal temps.
My grill was factory set at 65 auger rate. I decided to try my luck and reduce it down to 35. Still 100 degrees outside. Turned on the rig, and started my test cook for the next 7 hours. The results?...success!!!
No more soot. Given the auger feed rate was low, it forced the fan to keep blowing to maintain temps of 250.
Fan no longer cycled off which was the culprit creating the soot!
I can cook again!!!
Attached are my new pics after the successful cook. No more black soot. Its golden brown as it should be.
I live in a very warm climate zone (100+ degrees during summers). I knew that the fan was cycling on and off every 3-4 seconds. Each time the fan cycled off, it created a yellow flame which in turn caused a little bit of soot to lick up into the pit. Now recreate that scenario hundreds and hundreds of times within a 6-12 hour period. That is a lot of nasty soot that is created as you can see from my pics above.
I figured the internal temp didn't need much to keep the 250 degree temp given the outside temp was 100-105 degrees, therefore the fan was not constantly on...it was cycling on/off often trying to maintain temps.
I then remembered that there is an adjustable auger pellet feed rate that speeds up or slows down the rate of pellets, which in turn makes the fan work more or less to maintain internal temps.
My grill was factory set at 65 auger rate. I decided to try my luck and reduce it down to 35. Still 100 degrees outside. Turned on the rig, and started my test cook for the next 7 hours. The results?...success!!!
No more soot. Given the auger feed rate was low, it forced the fan to keep blowing to maintain temps of 250.
Fan no longer cycled off which was the culprit creating the soot!
I can cook again!!!
Attached are my new pics after the successful cook. No more black soot. Its golden brown as it should be.