This thing is garbage, exploded. For real. Long Rant.

SirPitsalot

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First off, this isn't my first smoker. Or second or third. Had multiple traegers, offsets, etc. Currently running a Big Green Egg, Camp Chef Griddle Top, Traeger and decided to add the Brunswick Platinum for volume plus I liked the design and how it vents smoke/heat at every rack.

Lets ignore the fact that right out of the box it had a giant dent/crease in one side.... First cook out of the box after priming and burning in was a 12 # brisket. I realized at about the 10 hour mark that something was amiss as it wasn't progressing on schedule. I temped the grill and found that it was actually about 75 degrees cooler inside than what was programmed. I upped the temp and finished out that cook, and it was pretty good.

I did another test run, and sure enough across several hours and with several different probes and oven thermometers, it was rarely within 25 degrees for more than a few minutes and averaged more like 50-100 degrees cooler than programmed.

I limped it along using a second probe for temp control and just ran the programmed temp at whatever was needed to get the desired effects. The cooks I did reaffirmed my results as things came out as expected. Kind of a pain in the ass, but it would suffice while I tried over and over again to get them on the phone or to answer a friggin email or chat.

Fast forward to a few days ago, I went to shut the thing down, and it just kept running. I finally got it to run the shut down cycle after a few attempts, and once it was shut down I had smoke coming from the hopper. (I have a cover I keep over it, so I wait for the cooldown to complete). It kept getting worse to the point it was full blown freight train of white smoke coming out of the hopper. I grabbed a steel bucket (turkey fryer) and dumped all the pellets into the bucket. A bunch of them were charred black and they smelled terrible. I got out what I could with a long stick (couldn't see in the hopper through the smoke)... then closed the lid hoping it would either smolder itself out or starve it of O2.

I went back in the house, and sat down on the couch where I could see it and wait for the smoke to die down. About 5 minutes later it literally exploded. There was a huge boom, the hopper lid flew open hard enough that it slammed shut and open a few more times and a nice big orange flash and little mushroom cloud grew over it. How in the HELL this is even possible I still haven't figured out.

I ran outside, used a long stick to open the hopper (in case the rush of O2 decided to have any more effects) and when I didn't get any secondaries I looked down and had a full blown raging inferno blow torching out of the auger and into the hopper. Not wanting to clean up a discharged fire extinguisher, I unplugged the grill to ensure everything was powered down, then I sprayed a garden hose down the hopper. Pulled the ash tray, and was satisfied when I got water coming out of the auger.

I left everything open for a day (we live in the desert, it's been in the 90's and single digit humidity, stuff dries out REAL fast here) then proceeded to dismantle and clean up the mess. Fire pot, igniter, auger all looked fine, I shop vac'd the entire thing... then powered it back up. Igniter worked, auger worked. Shut it down, reload and reprimed, verfied pellets were feeding which they were then put it all back together and did another test run. Fired up fine, ran it to 350 for about an hour, then shut it down.

Went out to use it again today for another brisket cook. Fires up fine, once it gets to about 220 degrees it starts throwing an igniter fault at me now and gives up. Tried several times before I just said "F this POS". Went to my 5 year old traeger, and it fired up like it always has and that's where my brisket currently resides as I type this.

I was able to get a hold of Pitboss via their chat a few days ago, got an email address and sent pics of the entire sequence of the fire and pretty much everything I wrote above. They've been completely radio silent. I've been trying for weeks to get them on the phone, or get an answer before the fire, haven't received a single peep from them since the chat/email.

This thing SUCKS. I wouldn't recommend any pitboss products as far as I can throw them. Their customer service is non existent. Hopefully one of their reps reads this forum because I've got half a mind to fire up the old social media and post pics and the above details and go to town. Feel free to reach out to me here. I spoke to Karl via chat, pictures and details went to photos@d*****s.com.

Do not buy.
 
Call first thing in the morning 877 303 3134 option 2.

I have a pellet grill, cant speak about the smokers.

Hope you get your issues fixed. BTW...smoke will catch fire and burn violently if there is a thick enough build up. Its called Flashover. Once it popped off in your smoker there was nothing left for the O2 to contact for a Backdraft effect that you were looking for. Better safe than sorry though.(y)
 
Had my Brunswick do the same thing and they offered to send me replacement parts. Been trying to get them on the phone for a few days now. When I sent them pics of my burnt up smoker the email was full so I had to send it to one of their personal email addresses.

I came here hoping for a different phone number or something because their phone lines have been saying “just call back, we’re busy” for 2 full days now.
 
Sorry your having issues but I’d also call first thing in the morning
I got three large containers of three different rubs also
Hopefully this helps you 🇺🇸🇺🇸
 

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