Pitboss Pro 820 flashing temperature

[joesbbqpit]

So I recently changed temp probe and igniter. Still having same problem. After I changed igniter I started the grill on smoke. It got up to temp when then I increased temp to 450. After cooking for about a half hour the temperature started flashing 90, then 100 then jump back to original temp then stayed at 90. During this flashing the auger still continued to feed the fire. Which I assume is happening because the temp flashing 90 its tell grill to raise the temp at which point its just getting hotter and hotter. Like I said I already changed internal temp probe a month ago and changed igniter today. Grill was working fine until cooking for a half hour or so. Lost at this point....any thoughts?

 

[MikeInFla]

Flashing means you are losing temps. The auger is continuing to feed pellets trying to get back up to temp and since the flame is snuffed out it just keeps feeding making a huge mess in the fire pot. Make sure the fire pot is completely clean if it gets ash in it, it will snuff out the flame.

Also when going to 450 do it slowly. Start off on Smoke with the lid open. Then when the white smoke clears and you hear the fire close the lid and go to 200. When you hit 200 go to 250. Then work your way up until you hit 450 slowly. If there are still issues I would contact customer service.

 

[joesbbqpit]

Thanks brother I will give that a shot. I was just surprised it was cooking for at least a half hour or so on 400 before it started flashing. Appreciate the help

 

[Popy]

Is ur fire box over ran with pellets.

 

[joesbbqpit]

Is ur fire box over ran with pellets.

It sounds like auger keeps filling during the flashing

 

[MikeInFla]

Yes while it is flashing the low temp it will keep feeding pellets trying to get back up to 450. Since the fire is out it is trying to get to that temp and will overflow the firebox. It's happened to me a couple of times before too.

 

[joesbbqpit]

Yes while it is flashing the low temp it will keep feeding pellets trying to get back up to 450. Since the fire is out it is trying to get to that temp and will overflow the firebox. It's happened to me a couple of times before too.

Gotcha...im gonna clean it up when i get home and run a smoke cycle for a while. Wanna be able to smoke a bird tomorrow...thx

 

[MikeInFla]

Thought of something else. It's possible depending on humidity that pellets will not burn correctly if left in the hopper. I am bad about doing this myself a lot of the time and only remove them if I want to change the type of pellets.

I have heard of people putting pellets in the microwave for 60-90 seconds in a glass container to dry them out. The moisture will collect on the glass and then you know you had moisture in the pellets. I tried that once myself with a plastic measuring cup. Poured in one cup of pellets and blasted them in the microwave for 2 minutes. The plastic was very hot and there was moisture on the sides. Haven't done it again because obviously I didn't know how safe it would be and it would take forever to do a lot of pellets.

These days when I open a bag I keep them in 5 gallon buckets. A 20 pound bag will fit perfectly in a 5 gallon bucket. Then just snap on the lid.

Not sure if this is what is causing flame outs but I suspect it may play a part. Doing a couple of small turkeys tomorrow and I haven't used the smoker in two weeks so we will see how it does and if it flames out I suspect it's the pellets and not the smoker.

There is a little info here
https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t...crowave-you-amnps-pellets-to-dry-them.233613/

Just use caution. Like I said I only did it once.