Bull Today’s cook and an after firepot burn

[MikeyB]

Picked up a pork tenderloin, 3 pack of choice filet Mignon, (all wrapped in boars head bacon), chix wings and had at it today. Changed up my pellets and tried out the Lumber Jack Apple Blend. Food was awesome but noticed after the shutdown the RT 700 was smoking pretty good for a while after the shutdown. First time I have noticed the fire pot was cooking away. Turned the heat deflector upside down to snuff the fire out. Anyone experience this before?

 

[MikeyB]

More pics.

 

[C. Keeper]

Lowering grill temp prior to shutdown may help.

 

[Gonefishin]

I had this a couple times early on, what Jigsaw mentions is what I always do after anything higher then low and slow. I set it to 225 more or less and once it gets there I shut it down. It can take a while from a high heat cook.

 

[MikeyB]

Thanks guys, i actually had it rolling at 275 for a while, then cranked It up to 400 to finish off the wings, then shut it down while at 400.
Next time I’ll lower the set point before shutting it down.

 

[Johnshac]

I would cool it down to 225-250 as suggested. I had an issue once and started cooling it off before shut off. Seems to be the trick.

 

[Beach Bum]

I've also learned this helps. Shutting down at 400+ can be an issue. Dropping to that lower range works well.

 

[sdynak]

Although these suggestions are all spot on and I do the same knowing, there should be some guidance from Recteq or an update to the controller (yes I know they can't update but maybe replace).

That fire was going pretty good still.. very good possibility it could have created a hoper fire if it was left undetected.

Just think of those that do not come here or think otherwise. Unit right up against the house .

 

[MikeyB]

Although these suggestions are all spot on and I do the same knowing, there should be some guidance from Recteq or an update to the controller (yes I know they can't update but maybe replace).

That fire was going pretty good still.. very good possibility it could have created a hoper fire if it was left undetected.

Just think of those that do not come here or think otherwise. Unit right up against the house .

Totally agree with you.
My main concern was a hopper fire as I just filled it with 20 pounds of pellets before the cook.
I’m glad I came back outside to clean up and grab another beer and noticed that something wasn’t right.

 

[Gonefishin]

I wonder if this is a common issue for pellet grills in general.

 

[C. Keeper]

I wonder if this is a common issue for pellet grills in general.

The RT feeds pellets at the end of cycle. I never had this problem with Traeger. Traeger had start-up issues.

 

[JGW]

Recteq really should redesign the board to accept firmware updates.

Obviously, they cannot do anything with the current boards, but ......

 

[JTeje]

I have a 590 and I just switch the grill off even after a max temp cook. Never had this issue wonder why. Although once I did have a weird start once where I was getting a ton of smoke and it seemed like the pellets in the hopper might ignite. Thought maybe the pellets had gotten carbonized that were sitting in the fire pot (is that a thing).

 

[Roaniecowpony]

I just wonder if the OP had gone back out and opened the door on the grill after shutdown, but while the fire pot contents were still very hot. I think the shutdown relies on the lack of air flow to ensure the fire in the pot is out until all the ashes/remnants are below ignition temperature.

 

[JGW]

Thinking about the comment about turning the heat deflector upside down over the pot to snuff it out......

I wonder how hard it would be to make a mechanical apparatus that would swing a small steel plate slightly larger than the pot opening that could simply be moved to close (kind of like a chimney flue)? I'm thinking it might be as easy as putting the plate on a pivot pin mounted to the auger box, and drilling a small hole for a rod that is also attached to the plate to create that also pivots to create a push/pull type auger flue from outside the grill.

Hmmm. My weber kettle also has something similar to cover the bottom air intakes. Might be easier to put in on the back (outside the grill) where the auger tube brings in air.

If I have some free time this weekend, I might take a closer look back there and see if there is a way to do that. I have some small steel targets that have never been used that would be perfect for something like either of those.

 

[MikeyB]

Thinking about the comment about turning the heat deflector upside down over the pot to snuff it out......

I wonder how hard it would be to make a mechanical apparatus that would swing a small steel plate slightly larger than the pot opening that could simply be moved to close (kind of like a chimney flue)? I'm thinking it might be as easy as putting the plate on a pivot pin mounted to the auger box, and drilling a small hole for a rod that is also attached to the plate to create that also pivots to create a push/pull type auger flue from outside the grill.

Hmmm. My weber kettle also has something similar to cover the bottom air intakes. Might be easier to put in on the back (outside the grill) where the auger tube brings in air.

If I have some free time this weekend, I might take a closer look back there and see if there is a way to do that. I have some small steel targets that have never been used that would be perfect for something like either of those.

Let us know if you come up with an idea.

 

[C. Keeper]

Thinking about the comment about turning the heat deflector upside down over the pot to snuff it out......

I wonder how hard it would be to make a mechanical apparatus that would swing a small steel plate slightly larger than the pot opening that could simply be moved to close (kind of like a chimney flue)? I'm thinking it might be as easy as putting the plate on a pivot pin mounted to the auger box, and drilling a small hole for a rod that is also attached to the plate to create that also pivots to create a push/pull type auger flue from outside the grill.

Hmmm. My weber kettle also has something similar to cover the bottom air intakes. Might be easier to put in on the back (outside the grill) where the auger tube brings in air.

If I have some free time this weekend, I might take a closer look back there and see if there is a way to do that. I have some small steel targets that have never been used that would be perfect for something like either of those.

Air would then be provided via the hopper.

 

[JGW]

A little, perhaps, but if the auger fan is off, wouldn’t the available oxygen pretty much vacate quickly.

No different than closing the vents on a Weber kettle and putting the lid on.

 

[okie]

The RT feeds pellets at the end of cycle. I never had this problem with Traeger. Traeger had start-up issues.

Recteq at shut off first stops auger and the fan stays on for 5 minutes to burn up pellets in the pot. Then fan is off and auger comes on for 50 seconds to accomplish two or maybe 3 things:
1: smother any burning ashes
2: prime the fire pot for the next cook
3. a third reason may be to clear any burning pellets in the Auger mouth from continuing in the tube.
It works well unless you turn off grill at a high temp. Then you have more pellets to burn down in 5 minutes and it often does not get done.
If when you look, and see fire inside the auger, then get into test mode, and run the auger test (there will be no fan) until all the burning or smoking pellets are in the pot. Then get out of testing and pull the plug. You can watch until pellets burn up or smother as you did before with the top of the diffuser. You should then prime the pot by handful of pellets for the next cook. I have no problem if I cool down to 250* before shutoff.

 

[JGW]

I still think the shut down mode should have the fan run AT least 10 minutes, or at least offer a 5, 10 or 15 minute shutdown option in the controller settings or the app. This would at least help users compensate for wind, temp, etc. when shutting down.

I too always set the grill at 200, 225 or so before I shut it down, and I have STILL seen smoke start coming out 15-20 minutes after shutdown.