Bullseye Fire in the Hole

[Frus Trated]

MY FAULT ENTIRELY!!! Caught fire, like a blow torch!! I wasn't quick enough to unplug. Mrs. wanted to call the fire department, But I grabbed a hose and doused the fire. So, eventually what I had was a clogged pellet hopper and a mortared Auger. That AUger just would not move! There isn't much space to get mechanical advantage, but I kept trying. Eventually I took the kettle and the hopper off, and was able to chuck the auger axle to a hammer drill, finally it came out, but the mortar in the cylinder remained. I put the hammer drill on forward and used the auger to chip away at the mess I had made. So, reassembly went reasonably well, It passed the "AUG" test, but when tested with pellets, the auger just wouldn't feed. Took it apart again, tried to hone the inside of the cylinder and reassemble. This time it passed the tests and actually worked, well, ALMOST! when I turned it off, after the "COOL" cycle the LED's gave an "AUG" message. SO? Now what? Words of wisdom?

 

[CarpeInferi]

The AUG message is normal in the shutdown procedure, during that time pellets are being added to the firepot to prime for the next start up.

Next time just close the lid and the fire will smother itself. Then turn the controller off so it will quit feeding pellets in.

 

[Pops]

I cooked some bacon on a griddle this morning and had a small grease fire as well, it was small so I was lucky, the wife brought me water, but it went out fairly quickly and I did not use any water.

I called RT and they said it should be fine and would not hurt the grill.

I did fire it back up and finished some non greasy items. I wont do that again! I will get a griddle for my 380 before I cook bacon again.

I see alot of people cooking bacon etc, any ideas to prevent this or what do I need to check? I am going to take apart when it cools down, clean and check it out.

I do love cooking on my Bullseye!

 

[zueth]

I cook bacon my my RT-700 all the time is its REALLY good.
If I was to cook bacon on my Bullseye I would put a drip pan under bacon to catch drippings.

 

[Curtspivey]

So, how is it your fault? It doesn’t sound like you did anything wrong.

 

[ol' stonebreaker]

I grill bacon at 375* on my 340 all the time on a piece of 1/4" window screen and have never had a grease fire.

 

[mooncusser2k]

I cook bacon on the RT-700 either right on the cooking grates, or on a rack in a half sheet pan. Both work fine, just a matter of where the grease winds up.

I did have a grease fire once, due mainly to having a dirty/greasy drip pan which hadn't been cleaned from a previous cook - and putting in 2 sheet pans, which I think trapped heat over the drip pan.

On a side note, pouring water on a grease fire can be risky. There's a chance of spreading the fire rather than putting it out. Especially with something like a skillet on a stove.

 

[Frus Trated]

The AUG message is normal in the shutdown procedure, during that time pellets are being added to the firepot to prime for the next start up.

Next time just close the lid and the fire will smother itself. Then turn the controller off so it will quit feeding pellets in.

Yes, lesson learned. I take full credit for being a lard head.

 

[Frus Trated]

So, how is it your fault? It doesn’t sound like you did anything wrong.

Firstly I hadn't cleaned it, I didn't realize how necessary it is, or how to do it. My fault. And then there is the use of water to put it out. That just caused the pellets in the cylinder to melt and burn, net result: MORTAR in the cylinder. Lesson learned, I'll find a solution to grease build up, and I'll just unplug it if it happens again and let the lid "smother it".

 

[Frus Trated]

I cook bacon on the RT-700 either right on the cooking grates, or on a rack in a half sheet pan. Both work fine, just a matter of where the grease winds up.

I did have a grease fire once, due mainly to having a dirty/greasy drip pan which hadn't been cleaned from a previous cook - and putting in 2 sheet pans, which I think trapped heat over the drip pan.

On a side note, pouring water on a grease fire can be risky. There's a chance of spreading the fire rather than putting it out. Especially with something like a skillet on a stove.

Initially I was using the water to cool the top so I could look inside. Don't know why I thought that was necessary. I now have two ABC fire extinguishers if things get out of hand, no more water on the Bullseye.

 

[Beach Bum]

Been there done that, those grease fires can be nasty. We had a monster one in our Weber last week. My wife felt awful about that one. She thought she turned the burners to low, but she had set all six on high. We keep a box of baking soda in our grilling cart, just for this reason. That puts out the fire pretty well. Clean up is a bit of work, but not too bad.

 

[CarpeInferi]

Yes, lesson learned. I take full credit for being a lard head.

One of my favorite sayings I stole from a friend is "Make better mistakes tomorrow". Learn from your mistakes and grow.