Stampede So how does one blow up a brand new grill?

[Biggus]

Hello there,

So pellet grills and smoking are an entirely new ball park for me. This RT-590 was a Christmas gift from the wife after a long time of looking at Rectecs and other brands.

Pellet hopper, not overfilled. Whatever the plate is called under the grills, 4 pieces of foil overlapping in the correct manner so grease would run down them and not get caught in the foil itself. I did everything as the instructions said regarding setup. That 400+ burn-in, not filling the firepot with too many pellets etc. I didn't overfill the fire pot the first time and have allowed the auto-shut down to run its course after using it 4 times.

So how the hell does this happen:

That explosion was about 10 minutes after I turned it on and set it to 410 to cook burgers. About 7 minutes in my wife told me there was WAY too much smoke outside and as I'm heading out there this happens. I'm not a pro at this or cooking anything in general but the only sense I can make of this is the grease leftover from 4 times I've used so far (burgers twice, fajitas twice) smoked bad until ignition/launch. Of those 4 cooks, not a drop has actually made it into the bucket/jar. It's just sat on the foil. I'd planned to change the foil every 6 or so cooks since I either read that or saw it in a review video as "best practice." Ironically my concern with this before was always igniting fuel up the auger and into the firebox and creating a disaster. I'd never thought of it blowing up like this.

 

[C. Keeper]

First guess, the firepot was overfilled.

 

[sdynak]

That is the new "Auto Hood Open" feature on the 590.. it detects as you approach and opens for you.

Seriously.. @Jigsaw suggestion is the most likely but having used it 4 times is the puzzle why it happened now. It would mean the shutdown fed too many pellets or something else.

I would also check the ignitor.. mine did have a similar smoking issue and hard lighting cause the ignitor was recessed too far. It does not take much. Mine was about 1/4 in the hole and I put it just about flush with the fire pot wall.

 

[Buckeye1]

That is the new "Auto Hood Open" feature on the 590.. it detects as you approach and opens for you.

Seriously.. @Jigsaw suggestion is the most likely but having used it 4 times is the puzzle why it happened now. It would mean the shutdown fed too many pellets or something else.

I would also check the ignitor.. mine did have a similar smoking issue and hard lighting cause the ignitor was recessed too far. It does not take much. Mine was about 1/4 in the hole and I put it just about flush with the fire pot wall.

Check the igniter. Also if you see it smoking that bad unplug right away.

 

[Clm65]

Four cooks with nothing in the bucket is telling. I’d guess you have the drip pan in backwards. I’ve never done burgers on my smoker, but I know they drip a lot of grease on my gasser. The grease has to go somewhere. If it’s not going into the bucket, it is accumulating in the bottom of the smoker.

 

[MikeyB]

Call Rec Tec and tell them you want a new grill or a refund. Hate to see someone get hurt by something like that.

 

[Wslayer]

^^^^^^ this ^^^^^
Make sure drip pan is up on the ledge left hand side. I have a sloped patio and experienced once that the grease did not go to the bucket because of the way I had it sitting to block wind.
@Clm65 post

 

[Buckeye1]

Also check to see if the drain is blocked. Or the foil not letting the grease drain.

 

[JGW]

This happens, usually, when the fire pot has too many pellets.

1. Always make sure the grill shuts down properly.
2. Always check the grill before starting it. Yes, the firepot, pellets in the hopper, etc.
3. Keep the grill clean. Grease fires are a thing, and they do happen.

I personally believe the RT shutdown process is both stupid and dangerous. Almost every other pellet grill has a 10-15 minute shutdown. RT chose 5 minutes AND has the auger toss in more pellets, which really only adds fuel to the fire if it is not out. It's a bad idea and can potentially result in burn back (burning into the auger tube and hopper). You'll find most here recommend shutting down once the grill has cooled to 250 degrees or less to lessen the chances of your grill getting set on fire (i.e., set the grill to 225 when done and let it cool down before entering shutdown mode).

While RT recommends starting the grill with the lid closed, it is MUCH safer to start the grill with the lid OPENED. Again, just like 90% of the pellet grill makers suggest.

 

[Buckeye1]

My neighbor always starts his camp chef with lid open

 

[Jim6820]

Hopefully, the video was produced via a security camera and not by someone standing there watching. While these are pellet “smokers,” when you see that amount of smoke billowing out, it is time to shut it down and look for the cause.

Like others have said, I would guess that you had a grease buildup from previous cooks and/or improper grease drainage. When grease gets really hot, it vaporizes into a flammable gas with a relatively low flashpoint. The end result is clearly shown on the video.

Check the positioning of the drip pan, the drain for blockage and the foil liner placement. Something allowed a significant amount of grease to accumulate, vaporize and ignite. Glad no one was hurt.

 

[Numnutzme]

Could have just reached the flash point. Smoldered long enough to get everything good and warm to start drawing in the needed air and POOF!, you get the flash point.

You don't need to add Pellets to the firepot everything you start the smoker.

 

[MikeyB]

I have been getting into the habit of cleaning my pit before every cook (might be overkill, but ocd sets in sometimes) check/clean/prime firepot, new foil on drip pan, give a quick wipe down if any built up grease, etc, etc.
I do find this type of grill to be a boat load less on the maint than my old 2 burner Weber gasser so I don’t mind doing the extra PM before every cook.

 

[Tgrimm001]

That is the new "Auto Hood Open" feature on the 590.. it detects as you approach and opens for you.

This made me LOL.

 

[Roaniecowpony]

That flash over (smoke explosion) can happen with any smoke. It could have been just pellet smoke that did it. I've had it happen on my bubba keg when too much smoke accumulates and I crack the lid and let O2 in.

 

[Biggus]

Touching on a few of the comments here:

The drip pan was in there correctly. Angled end on the left, chute opening on the right and sat up on the left edge. I even checked it against the product spotlight video Recteq had on YouTube. The foil I put on the pan was layered like roof shingles so grease should have been able to flow to the right side but instead didn't move at all. Once I calmed down the neighbors and let the smoke clear I pulled the grills and removed the foil and put it all in an ash bucket that I never thought I'd need living in Houston. The foil was burned and very smokey even an hour it blew up.

From when I turned it on and set it to 410, to when it exploded it never even got hot enough to tell me it was near temp or at temp via the app like it has every previous time.

My patio is slightly uneven in the opposing direction though. Not by much and I'm nowhere near experienced enough to point a finger at that and say it's the cause of all this.

From setup to now I've done nothing out of the ordinary or what wasn't in the instructions. Build, cleaned the grills and drip pan, no more than half a cup of pellets, burn-in and auto-shutdown. Put foil on the pan, then cook, auto-shutdown x4. I've never added anything to the fire pot or even lifted the pan out of there since I've only used it 4 times (4 and a half I guess now.) The only thing I've done is after each cook before putting the cover back on hours later I've opened the pellet box and smoothed it out and made sure it wasn't empty for the next time.

I hope this isn't just what to expect when trying to cook with high heat. I've never smoked anything, besides my patio, but we've loved what came off this compared to the Weber charcoal grill I've had for years and the ease of use was great. If it means potentially blowing up part of the house or losing a kid, dog or car window though then maybe this method of cooking isn't meant for me.

Here's some photos I took today once the sun was up. I submitted all of this to Recteq, though I'm not even sure what I'm asking them for. Obviously something went wrong and I'd love to know if it was the grease, or it being fed too much fuel, the angle of it all...whatever. For now I think I'm just going to clean it all up best I can and see if it still even works. I know it powers on but I've no idea if it'll ignite now or if something else was damaged. I'll wait to hear back from Recteq if they've got any input or options for me.

https://imgur.com/a/2RdtRdv

 

[Mannydog]

That's scary, and glad no one was injured. From what I can see in your post-explosion pix, it looks like there may be some grease on, around and maybe even in the fire pot. There's also quite the burn mark on the underside if your deflector, which seems like it took a direct hit in the explosion.

If your foil was loose and overlapped the edges of the drip pan, perhaps the grease dripped down under the pan and ignited. I'm not entirely sure how, and have never had that happen. As others have said, i think if you change foil after a greasy cook and clean out any greasy ash clumps, I think you'd be ok.

Good luck, and hope you get to enjoy using it for a long time.

 

[Buckeye1]

I wonder how uneven the patio is? I would put a level on the grates and then on the drip pan to see if there is enough pitch to drain.

I would also put something under the wheels on the low side to get the grates level or leaning slightly to the grease bucket.

 

[sdynak]

Did you check the ignitor position? Did it seem like there was grease in the pellets and is that grease under the drip tray?

 

[Ostrichsak]

Let me start off by saying that I'm glad nobody was hurt. Like, truly. That was a LOT of force and could have ended very badly. It should be noted that I'm not an expert forensic scientist so take the following with a grain of salt. It's meant more for conversation given limited data to this point.

The way that thing exploded is far more than just grease IMHO. It produced quite a bit of smoke for a while and then... BOOM! Grease doesn't tend to smolder like that, generally. I don't think that was the cause.

Out of curiosity, what pellets were you using? It feels like there was quite a bit of airborne particulate available for spontaneous combustion. Often times, when grain silos explode, the danger isn't the grain but what's airborne as it's more readily combustible with the right conditions. Curious if the pellets used aren't one of the brands known to have more fillers/ash that might lend to something like this.