So how does one blow up a brand new grill?

2-1562879100886.jpg
 
If there is any silver lining to this unfortunate incident, it goes to show how sturdy RecTeq's grills are made!

There may even be an advertising slogan in there somewhere:
  • "RecTeq Grills: Blows up and still shows up."
  • "RecTeq Grills: An explosion of flavor with every cook!"
  • "RecTeq Grills: Bacon bombs are just the beginning."
  • "RecTeq Grills: Your neighbors will come running!"
  • "RecTeq Grills: We blow the lid off the competition - and our grills!"
 
If there is any silver lining to this unfortunate incident, it goes to show how sturdy RecTeq's grills are made!

There may even be an advertising slogan in there somewhere:
  • "RecTeq Grills: Blows up and still shows up."
  • "RecTeq Grills: An explosion of flavor with every cook!"
  • "RecTeq Grills: Bacon bombs are just the beginning."
  • "RecTeq Grills: Your neighbors will come running!"
  • "RecTeq Grills: We blow the lid off the competition - and our grills!"
Don't give RT any ideas.
 
If there is any silver lining to this unfortunate incident, it goes to show how sturdy RecTeq's grills are made!

There may even be an advertising slogan in there somewhere:
  • "RecTeq Grills: Blows up and still shows up."
  • "RecTeq Grills: An explosion of flavor with every cook!"
  • "RecTeq Grills: Bacon bombs are just the beginning."
  • "RecTeq Grills: Your neighbors will come running!"
  • "RecTeq Grills: We blow the lid off the competition - and our grills!"

if I ever need a marketing person.. I got you on speed dial!
 
This has happened to me once before. A pellet bridge happens in the hopper above the auger. The grill is set for a temperature it can't reach because no pellets are in the auger dumping in the fire pot. Temps drop lower. The pellet bridge breaks loose and the grill is steady over dumping pellets in the fire pot causing over smoke of unburnt pellet fuel. Then he flash point hits causing a big boom. To keep it from happening, watch the temp. If it's too low, or drops suddenly there's a static pellet bridge in the hopper.
 
This is nothing new, it's not common, but it does happen on various models of pellet grills. Too many pellets end up in the smoldering fireppot, then when ignited, the chamber full of dense flammable smoke explodes. I always keep an eye on my grill at startup, though I start it in the low 200s, then once it's going, if I'm doing a high temp cook, I ramp it higher. Same with shut down from a higher temp cook, ramp it down into the 200s, then let it settle before turning it off. If there's no faint smoke coming out after a few minutes at start up, something is probably wrong :unsure:

Here's just a few from this forum within the last year, search the internet and you find plenty of others. "pellet grill explosion"

https://www.recteqforum.com/threads/wtf-just-happened.3185/#post-33661
https://www.recteqforum.com/threads/rt-590-explosion-now-what.4593/#post-53300
 
A couple days ago, I cleaned out my ash. While I had the drip pan and the heat deflector out, I decided I'd light it for the cook I was about to do. I wanted to watch the ignition process. Since I had vacuumed out the fire pot, there were no pellets in the pot. So, I added two small handfuls of pellets, and pushed the pile to ensure they were contacting the ignitor. I started the grill with the temperature set to 200F, but I'm not sure it matters on start-up, but possibly. I'll have to give that some more thought and maybe investigate it.

So, as soon as I pressed the start button, the auger fed some pellets and the fan came on. Normal, I'd say. It took about 7-10 minutes to ignite. I was a bit surprised, since I know it seemed faster in most of my other experiences. But I almost never just stand around waiting for it to ignite. But that timing matches up with the OP's video which he says the explosion occurs about 10 minutes after starting the grill.

I think I'll run a few start-up tests. Maybe video it too.

Question for Biggus; Did you find any unburnt pellets laying in the bottom of the drum near the fire pot?
There were no unburnt pellets or pieces in the pot or under the pot in the drum. The closest to an unburnt pellet that didn't disintegrate on touch was a few inches of charred black pallets in the auger that got sucked out by the shop vac. I assume there wasn't any fresh pellets because I just yanked the cord out of the wall instead of letting it shutdown on it's own.
 
Is it better to have the grill on a small slant to help the grease flow towards the drain or have it level?
Should be fine level. With drip pan up on ledge "properly " the drip pan has a bit of a slope towards grease bucket.
 
So as a "bomb squad guy" I have posted on this in the past. There are a couple of factors that would likely explain this. As many others have said, an overfeed condition of pellets is likely the primary culprit. This creates two potential scenarios. First, you can create a confined space where smoldering "deflagrating" (burning) pellets become confined in a mound of unburned pellets like a grain elevator or pipe bomb explosion when overpressure builds in the mound of pellets. Also in a fuel rich mixture (lots of relatively low temperature smoke full of combustible material/gas) you will potentially create a perfect mixture of combustible gas and oxygen which will, in a confined space with an ignition source, also create a detonation of gasses.

I'm sort of really liking the idea of getting things started low and ramp up or getting things running with the lid open and then getting down to cooking business. It seems like most of my cooks start slow and maybe crank up for a reverse sear so I haven't really worried about this much.

My point about contacting Recteq is I do believe that their shutdown and startup processes sort of encourage the possibility of adverse events. I was just kidding about the whole class action thing. I like my 1250 and would like the company to stick around for a very long time.

More than anything else, I am glad no one, at least here, has had anything more serious than, "Oops, I just crapped my pants." Post-blast injuries are really no joke, even in relatively minor explosions.
 
My point about contacting Recteq is I do believe that their shutdown and startup processes sort of encourage the possibility of adverse events. I was just kidding about the whole class action thing. I like my 1250 and would like the company to stick around for a very long time.

Yes, but maybe it would help in regard to them acting on it and doing something about it. I am sure they will find a way to blame the user somehow in these cases. I won't bother with them anymore unless something is broke like busted not working. They will just talk down to you otherwise.
 

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