Heating element stops heating after 4-5 hours

[PBernal990]

Hello everyone , i have an austin xl and this problem has happened to me twice already. When I want to smoke ribs, after the 4 or 5 hour mark, my pitboss stops producing heat but the pellets keep going. When I checked it in the morning the pellets overflowed inside but it was not burning. I restarted it and it was working fine. does anyone else have this problem and know how to fix it? Appeciate any help.

 

[RCAlan]

Hello everyone , i have an austin xl and this problem has happened to me twice already. When I want to smoke ribs, after the 4 or 5 hour mark, my pitboss stops producing heat but the pellets keep going. When I checked it in the morning the pellets overflowed inside but it was not burning. I restarted it and it was working fine. does anyone else have this problem and know how to fix it? Appeciate any help.

This is a long post, but it has great info that will really help anyone with a PB Austin XL or a Classic PB Pellet Grill with a Non PID Controller and also the PID Controller Pit Boss Grills. I had a few flameouts when I had my PB Austin XL and after following these steps, I never had a flameout again going on 3 years. The two main reasons for Pellet Grill flameouts are to much ash in the burn pot due to non cleaning and Tunneling of the pellets in the Pellet Hopper.... Always be careful in cleaning out the overflowed pellets in the burn pot and at the bottom of your grill. Also, never just restart your grill, a fire or explosion can occur if the grill is restarted incorrectly. There are many videos online of that happening. Follow these steps and recommendations on your future cooks to help prevent flameouts from happening again.
1. Your PB Austin XL has a Non PID Controller, so properly starting and preheating your grill is required on every cook. Always start with a burn pot that is free of ash from prior cooks. Use a shop vac if necessary to remove all ash accumulation that may be in the burn pot. Excessive Ash accumulation in the burn pot is one of the main reasons for Pellet Grill Flameouts...

1. What P-Setting do you have your Austin XL set at? P-4 is the Factory default setting and in most cases, it’s the best setting. If the P-Setting is to high like P-6 or P-7 and especially in cold weather, your grill will have a greater chance of flaming out.
2. Always use high quality bbq pellets and Start your Grill as per the Owners Manual... Taking Shortcuts in starting your grill is never good. Not saying you did, but many Pellet Grill Owners do take shortcuts and end up having problems. Never just plug your grill in and set the temp. The term Set it and Forget it, doesn’t always pertain to Pellet Grills since they are burning Wood Pellets... So some start up procedures have to be followed each and every time you start your grill.
3. Info from Page 15 of the Austin XL’s Owners Manual...
4. AUTOMATIC START-UP PROCEDURE
5. Plug the power cord into a grounded power source. Open the main barrel lid. Check the fire pot to ensure there is no obstruction for proper ignition. Open the hopper lid. Ensure there are no foreign objects in the hopper or auger feed system. Fill the hopper with dry, all natural barbecue hardwood pellets.
6. Ensure the Temperature Control Dial is in the SMOKE position. Press the Power Button to turn the unit on. This will activate the start-up cycle. The auger feed system will begin to turn, the igniter will begin to glow and the fan will supply air to the fire pot. The grill will begin to produce smoke while the start-up cycle is taking place. The barrel lid must remain open during the start-up cycle. To confirm the start-up cycle has begun properly, listen for a torchy roar, and notice some heat being produced.
7. After a fire has started, begin to preheat your grill with the lid closed. Turn the Temperature Control Dial to 300*-350* degrees, to allow the unit to preheat for approximately 15 to 20 minutes. This step also helps in preventing wild temp swings and it allow your grills controller to stabilize and be able to perform more reliable.
8. After the preheating is completed, you can set your grill to your desired temp without fear of your grill flaming out on you. Always monitor your grills temp with a high quality Bluetooth or WiFi Thermometer.
9. FYI... If you plan on doing some Low and Slow bbqing and want to use the Smoke mode or temps like 200*-225* degrees, don’t just drop the temp from 350* degrees during the Preheating down to Smoke... That’s almost an instant 200* degree drop on the temp setting and your grills controller will have a harder time stabilizing. Try dropping the temp from 350* to 300* and once it’s stable, drop down to 250* and so on until you’re at your desired temp.
10. Lastly, if possible, always start a cook with a Pellet Hopper full of pellets and get into a habit of checking and stirring them every few hours. This will prevent Tunneling of the pellets and also helps to prevent flameouts. Tunneling of the pellets is when they stop feeding into the Auger because they are being held up in the Pellet Hopper and are not flowing down properly. The Burn Pot can go out because of this and if the pellets start to fall again in the hopper and flow through the Auger tube, there’s no heat/fire in the burn pot to ignite the pellets... Starting with a full pellet hopper helps prevent this as well as stirring them. FYI.. Once the initial start up burn is completed, the grills igniter doesn’t come on anymore, unless a restart is done. This is completely normal... That’s why you can have an over flow of pellets without them burning. Keep an eye on the pellet flow in the hopper and stir them if necessary to have a consistent burning of the pellets in the burn pot.
11. This all may seem like a lot of work, but it’s really not and once done a few times, it becomes super easy and one less worry about flameouts. And don’t forget to always shop vac the burn pot before your next cook. I hope the info helps and Good luck.

Pellet Pro Austin XL and a few more mods... In SoCal and Always... Semper Fi

 

[PBernal990]

This is a long post, but it has great info that will really help anyone with a PB Austin XL or a Classic PB Pellet Grill with a Non PID Controller. I had a few flameouts when I had my PB Austin XL and after following these steps, I never had a flameout again going on 3 years. The two main reasons for Pellet Grill flameouts are to much ash in the burn pot due to non cleaning and Tunneling of the pellets in the Pellet Hopper.... Always be careful in cleaning out the overflowed pellets in the burn pot and at the bottom of your grill. Also, never just restart your grill, a fire or explosion can occur if the grill is restarted incorrectly. There are many videos online of that happening. Follow these steps and recommendations on your future cooks to help prevent flameouts from happening again.
1. Your PB Austin XL has a Non PID Controller, so properly starting and preheating your grill is required on every cook. Always start with a burn pot that is free of ash from prior cooks. Use a shop vac if necessary to remove all ash accumulation that may be in the burn pot. Excessive Ash accumulation in the burn pot is one of the main reasons for Pellet Grill Flameouts...

1. What P-Setting do you have your Austin XL set at? P-4 is the Factory default setting and in most cases, it’s the best setting. If the P-Setting is to high like P-6 or P-7 and especially in cold weather, your grill will have a greater chance of flaming out.
2. Always use high quality bbq pellets and Start your Grill as per the Owners Manual... Taking Shortcuts in starting your grill is never good. Not saying you did, but many Pellet Grill Owners do take shortcuts and end up having problems. Never just plug your grill in and set the temp. The term Set it and Forget it, doesn’t always pertain to Pellet Grills since they are burning Wood Pellets... So some start up procedures have to be followed each and every time you start your grill.
3. Info from Page 15 of the Austin XL’s Owners Manual...
4. AUTOMATIC START-UP PROCEDURE
5. Plug the power cord into a grounded power source. Open the main barrel lid. Check the fire pot to ensure there is no obstruction for proper ignition. Open the hopper lid. Ensure there are no foreign objects in the hopper or auger feed system. Fill the hopper with dry, all natural barbecue hardwood pellets.
6. Ensure the Temperature Control Dial is in the SMOKE position. Press the Power Button to turn the unit on. This will activate the start-up cycle. The auger feed system will begin to turn, the igniter will begin to glow and the fan will supply air to the fire pot. The grill will begin to produce smoke while the start-up cycle is taking place. The barrel lid must remain open during the start-up cycle. To confirm the start-up cycle has begun properly, listen for a torchy roar, and notice some heat being produced.
7. After a fire has started, begin to preheat your grill with the lid closed. Turn the Temperature Control Dial to 300*-350* degrees, to allow the unit to preheat for approximately 15 to 20 minutes. This step also helps in preventing wild temp swings and it allow your grills controller to stabilize and be able to perform more reliable.
8. After the preheating is completed, you can set your grill to your desired temp without fear of your grill flaming out on you. Always monitor your grills temp with a high quality Bluetooth or WiFi Thermometer.
9. FYI... If you plan on doing some Low and Slow bbqing and want to use the Smoke mode or temps like 200*-225* degrees, don’t just drop the temp from 350* degrees during the Preheating down to Smoke... That’s almost an instant 200* degree drop on the temp setting and your grills controller will have a harder time stabilizing. Try dropping the temp from 350* to 300* and once it’s stable, drop down to 250* and so on until you’re at your desired temp.
10. Lastly, if possible, always start a cook with a Pellet Hopper full of pellets and get into a habit of checking and stirring them every few hours. This will prevent Tunneling of the pellets and also helps to prevent flameouts. Tunneling of the pellets is when they stop feeding into the Auger because they are being held up in the Pellet Hopper and are not flowing down properly. The Burn Pot can go out because of this and if the pellets start to fall again in the hopper and flow through the Auger tube, there’s no heat/fire in the burn pot to ignite the pellets... Starting with a full pellet hopper helps prevent this as well as stirring them. FYI.. Once the initial start up burn is completed, the grills igniter doesn’t come on anymore, unless a restart is done. This is completely normal... That’s why you can have an over flow of pellets without them burning. Keep an eye on the pellet flow in the hopper and stir them if necessary to have a consistent burning of the pellets in the burn pot.
11. This all may seem like a lot of work, but it’s really not and once done a few times, it becomes super easy and one less worry about flameouts. And don’t forget to always shop vac the burn pot before your next cook. I hope the info helps and Good luck.

Pellet Pro Austin XL and a few more mods... In SoCal and Always... Semper Fi

Thank you! I will try to follow each step next time and see what happens.

 

[Mwcurnan]

This is a long post, but it has great info that will really help anyone with a PB Austin XL or a Classic PB Pellet Grill with a Non PID Controller. I had a few flameouts when I had my PB Austin XL and after following these steps, I never had a flameout again going on 3 years. The two main reasons for Pellet Grill flameouts are to much ash in the burn pot due to non cleaning and Tunneling of the pellets in the Pellet Hopper.... Always be careful in cleaning out the overflowed pellets in the burn pot and at the bottom of your grill. Also, never just restart your grill, a fire or explosion can occur if the grill is restarted incorrectly. There are many videos online of that happening. Follow these steps and recommendations on your future cooks to help prevent flameouts from happening again.
1. Your PB Austin XL has a Non PID Controller, so properly starting and preheating your grill is required on every cook. Always start with a burn pot that is free of ash from prior cooks. Use a shop vac if necessary to remove all ash accumulation that may be in the burn pot. Excessive Ash accumulation in the burn pot is one of the main reasons for Pellet Grill Flameouts...

1. What P-Setting do you have your Austin XL set at? P-4 is the Factory default setting and in most cases, it’s the best setting. If the P-Setting is to high like P-6 or P-7 and especially in cold weather, your grill will have a greater chance of flaming out.
2. Always use high quality bbq pellets and Start your Grill as per the Owners Manual... Taking Shortcuts in starting your grill is never good. Not saying you did, but many Pellet Grill Owners do take shortcuts and end up having problems. Never just plug your grill in and set the temp. The term Set it and Forget it, doesn’t always pertain to Pellet Grills since they are burning Wood Pellets... So some start up procedures have to be followed each and every time you start your grill.
3. Info from Page 15 of the Austin XL’s Owners Manual...
4. AUTOMATIC START-UP PROCEDURE
5. Plug the power cord into a grounded power source. Open the main barrel lid. Check the fire pot to ensure there is no obstruction for proper ignition. Open the hopper lid. Ensure there are no foreign objects in the hopper or auger feed system. Fill the hopper with dry, all natural barbecue hardwood pellets.
6. Ensure the Temperature Control Dial is in the SMOKE position. Press the Power Button to turn the unit on. This will activate the start-up cycle. The auger feed system will begin to turn, the igniter will begin to glow and the fan will supply air to the fire pot. The grill will begin to produce smoke while the start-up cycle is taking place. The barrel lid must remain open during the start-up cycle. To confirm the start-up cycle has begun properly, listen for a torchy roar, and notice some heat being produced.
7. After a fire has started, begin to preheat your grill with the lid closed. Turn the Temperature Control Dial to 300*-350* degrees, to allow the unit to preheat for approximately 15 to 20 minutes. This step also helps in preventing wild temp swings and it allow your grills controller to stabilize and be able to perform more reliable.
8. After the preheating is completed, you can set your grill to your desired temp without fear of your grill flaming out on you. Always monitor your grills temp with a high quality Bluetooth or WiFi Thermometer.
9. FYI... If you plan on doing some Low and Slow bbqing and want to use the Smoke mode or temps like 200*-225* degrees, don’t just drop the temp from 350* degrees during the Preheating down to Smoke... That’s almost an instant 200* degree drop on the temp setting and your grills controller will have a harder time stabilizing. Try dropping the temp from 350* to 300* and once it’s stable, drop down to 250* and so on until you’re at your desired temp.
10. Lastly, if possible, always start a cook with a Pellet Hopper full of pellets and get into a habit of checking and stirring them every few hours. This will prevent Tunneling of the pellets and also helps to prevent flameouts. Tunneling of the pellets is when they stop feeding into the Auger because they are being held up in the Pellet Hopper and are not flowing down properly. The Burn Pot can go out because of this and if the pellets start to fall again in the hopper and flow through the Auger tube, there’s no heat/fire in the burn pot to ignite the pellets... Starting with a full pellet hopper helps prevent this as well as stirring them. FYI.. Once the initial start up burn is completed, the grills igniter doesn’t come on anymore, unless a restart is done. This is completely normal... That’s why you can have an over flow of pellets without them burning. Keep an eye on the pellet flow in the hopper and stir them if necessary to have a consistent burning of the pellets in the burn pot.
11. This all may seem like a lot of work, but it’s really not and once done a few times, it becomes super easy and one less worry about flameouts. And don’t forget to always shop vac the burn pot before your next cook. I hope the info helps and Good luck.

Pellet Pro Austin XL and a few more mods... In SoCal and Always... Semper Fi

Great information