Stampede New RT 590 owner - auger location is a concern to me

[okie]

I've had a Memphis pellet grill for a number of years. Always liked it. For our second home decided to go with a less expensive cooker and RecTeq looked like the most grill for the money and seems well loved by owners. I'm assembling it now and I see the auger exit is actually part of the fire pot. This has me very concerned. Seems like an auger fire, then hopper fire, just waiting to happen. The Memphis auger dumps onto a ramp that leads to the fire pot. No chance of an auger fire there. Am I worried about something that just doesn't happen? Any best practices to keep this from happening if it is a concern? It's going to be close to the house under a covered patio thus the fire concern.

Question 2. I've never been a big fan of grease buckets. At our other house my first pellet grill before the Memphis was a GMG. With gusty winds I was always getting grease spattering on the patio. Has anyone come up with a more elegant or wind proof solution to prevent this with this grill?

Looking forward to burn in and ribs tomorrow!

Another reason that the auger dumps pellets into the fire pot after the fan goes off, during shutdown, is that is smothers the remaining pellet embers in the bottom of the pot. I find that turning a hot grill down to 250-300 for a while before shutting down give a more reliable shut down. I have had no auger fires since doing this. Do not turn temp down to "low" cause if the temp gets down below around 170, the shutdown sequence does not occur (especially on the Bullseye).
If you ever get a smoldering burn in the auger tube, don't wait. Immediately go into the adjusting mode, and do the auger test. Leave it on until all the burning pellets are discharged from the auger. The starter and fan will be off, so they will not enhance the burn. After the burning pellets are in the fire pot, turn off the unit by pulling the plug. After the pellets have burned out in the pot, clean it out, and ad a handful of fresh pellets into the pot for the next cook. Of course in order to do the above efficiently, it is good to remove the grill grates, drip pan, and diffuser so as to observe this all taking place. That will require safety gloves, and and other burn avoiding tools. Be Safe!

 

[JGW]

Another reason that the auger dumps pellets into the fire pot after the fan goes off, during shutdown, is that is smothers the remaining pellet embers in the bottom of the pot.

So putting flammable items on smoldering embers puts out fire?

Smokey the Bears questions the Rec Teq "science".

 

[Motodad1776]

Yeah I always turn down the temp before shutdown on pellet grills with this augur feed system, never had a problem. I also use the Trager grease bucket liners to put in my RT bucket, fits great and works perfect.

 

[okie]

So putting flammable items on smoldering embers puts out fire?

Smokey the Bears questions the Rec Teq "science".

Yup! When you turn it off, the auger stops immediately, and the fan continues for a full 5 minutes, which effectively burns down the pellet fire to mostly ash, and embers. Then the auger comes on again (No Fan!) for about a minute and pumps pellets continuously and completely covers the remaining embers,, and effectively chokes out the embers. If you are bold, you can open up and with fire rated gloves can remove the innards and watch the whole process. I have done so (very OCD). Works. I always turn temp down from a hot cook to below 300* and when it gets there I turn off. Only auger fires I have had was when I turned off at high temp. Apparently 5 minutes is not enough time for the fire top burn down enough to choke fire out.

 

[JGW]

Yup! When you turn it off, the auger stops immediately, and the fan continues for a full 5 minutes, which effectively burns down the pellet fire to mostly ash, and embers. Then the auger comes on again (No Fan!) for about a minute and pumps pellets continuously and completely covers the remaining embers,, and effectively chokes out the embers. If you are bold, you can open up and with fire rated gloves can remove the innards and watch the whole process. I have done so (very OCD). Works. I always turn temp down from a hot cook to below 300* and when it gets there I turn off. Only auger fires I have had was when I turned off at high temp. Apparently 5 minutes is not enough time for the fire top burn down enough to choke fire out.

Frame it however you want to....it's still a crappy process, which is why the other grill makers have much longer shut down procedures - because it's safer.

 

[Motodad1776]

My old Pitboss XL1100 ran the blower for at least 5 minutes, no further pellet feed once turned to off on knob. In this simple process, I have never seen so much as a wisp of smoke, and the firepot was burning nice and clean with low ash. Now in saying that.....I am very smitten with my new 590, it's a major upgrade for sure, no matter how good of BBQ I made for years on the Pittboss.

 

[okie]

Frame it however you want to....it's still a crappy process, which is why the other grill makers have much longer shut down procedures - because it's safer.

I'm not sure RT's plan was to smother the embers with the final pellet drop. They told me that fire was to be out at 5 minutes, and the pellet drop was to prime for the next start up. But I watched and noted that the embers still smoldered when the pellet drop started but stopped after pellets covered them. Serendipity or intended, I don't care as long as it works. I would not object to a longer shutdown time however, and think 8-10 minutes with the fan on would do it. Usually busy eating at that time anyhow.

PS I'm not "framing" it at all.

 

[PRC]

I would not object to a longer shutdown time however, and think 8-10 minutes with the fan on would do it.

I have a Traeger Texas 75 with a Savannah Stoker PID controller. The Stoker runs the fan on shutdown until the internal temp is 120 degrees, you can adjust the setting from 100 to 150 degrees, the defalt is 120. Would be great if Recteq would make some programming changes in their PID to alleviate the problem, even something as simple as running the fan for 10 minutes or not dumping in more pellets at the end of the cycle.

 

[Motodad1776]

Well consider me now not a fan of the auger adding pellets after the fan shuts off, I smelled smoldering wood for an hour after shutdown, and even heard some pops and cracks from the pellets still obviously somewhat ignited. I am going to call Rectec about this, don't give a rats arse what they say otherwise......this is stupidity. To alleviate this otherwise, I will simply unplug the grill when the final fan time is about to expire so the auger won't add pellets to the pot.

 

[sdynak]

Well consider me now not a fan of the auger adding pellets after the fan shuts off, I smelled smoldering wood for an hour after shutdown, and even heard some pops and cracks from the pellets still obviously somewhat ignited. I am going to call Rectec about this, don't give a rats arse what they say otherwise......this is stupidity. To alleviate this otherwise, I will simply unplug the grill when the final fan time is about to expire so the auger won't add pellets to the pot.

Just curious.. what temp did you shutdown at? It would be nice of them to acknowledge this.

 

[Motodad1776]

Just curious.. what temp did you shutdown at? It would be nice of them to acknowledge this.

I usually shut down at 225 and never above 250.

 

[sdynak]

I usually shut down at 225 and never above 250.

I have had it also even with low temps. Just a smolder and light smoke but still not cool.

Interested to see what they say.

 

[Motodad1776]

I have had it also even with low temps. Just a smolder and light smoke but still not cool.

Interested to see what they say.

I keep this grill in my garage, so sure as hell don't want a fire to occur.

 

[sdynak]

I keep this grill in my garage, so sure as hell don't want a fire to occur.

Same here