Pro 34 overheat/fire

[DennisC]

I've had a pro 34 a couple months and done about a dozen Cooks in it. No problem. Today I put on two racks of ribs and a small pan of water on the grill. Set it to 275 and went out and checked on it a couple times over the first hour and the heat was only about 215-218 on the controller indicator. Then I saw lots of smoke out there and The control panel temperature indicator was 552°. I opened it up and there was a grease fire on top of the drip pam which had been cleaned and had foil put down. before using.
So I put it in shutdown mode and went looking and it appeared that the pellet feeder kept feeding until it got the smoker so hot, that it melted the paint off the sides of the barrel and started a grease fire on top of the drip tray.
Has anyone else had this happen to them? What did Traeger do about it?

Update- two days later. Realized I had it less than 90 days, which is the return window at Home Depot. They swapped it out for a new one.

Please see photos.

 

[CWKSr]

I got suckered into a Pro 34 also. Horrible to say the least. 8 home made burgers on the Pro 34 took almost an hour and a half at 325 to finish off where as the timberline was only about 45 minutes. And all my foods I try to cook in it are the same. Almost twice the time to cook.

 

[RayClem]

I got suckered into a Pro 34 also. Horrible to say the least. 8 home made burgers on the Pro 34 took almost an hour and a half at 325 to finish off where as the timberline was only about 45 minutes. And all my foods I try to cook in it are the same. Almost twice the time to cook.

Cooking is based on time and temperature and the size of the item being cooked. If the burgers will the same size and fat composition, if the Timberline cooked in less time than the Pro 34, it is because the Timberline was hotter. The temperature might have been the same on the controller, but the actual cook temperature was less. Traeger grills are notorious for having inaccurate temperature readouts. Some grills are hotter than the readout; some are cooler. You need a good 3rd party thermometer to measure the actual temperature in the center of the cook chamber. Then adjust the controller to achieve the cook temperature you desire. If you do that, both grills will cook in approximately the same time. There may be some differences as the Pro 34 uses a smoke stack while the Timberline vents out the back. Thus, the air flow patterns are different.

 

[RayClem]

I've had a pro 34 a couple months and done about a dozen Cooks in it. No problem. Today I put on two racks of ribs and a small pan of water on the grill. Set it to 275 and went out and checked on it a couple times over the first hour and the heat was only about 215-218 on the controller indicator. Then I saw lots of smoke out there and The control panel temperature indicator was 552°. I opened it up and there was a grease fire on top of the drip pam which had been cleaned and had foil put down. before using.
So I put it in shutdown mode and went looking and it appeared that the pellet feeder kept feeding until it got the smoker so hot, that it melted the paint off the sides of the barrel and started a grease fire on top of the drip tray.
Has anyone else had this happen to them? What did Traeger do about it?

Update- two days later. Realized I had it less than 90 days, which is the return window at Home Depot. They swapped it out for a new one.

Please see photos.

Grease fire can ONLY occur if grease is allowed to build up inside the grill. From the photos, it looks like you had a significant amount of grease in the bottom of your cook chamber.

Did you have the drip tray installed properly? I am not trying to insult you; it can be confusing to a new owner figuring out the exact way the drip tray its into the grill chamber. Many have gotten it wrong.

I have an Ironwood with two cooking grates. I keep a baking pan lined with foil on the bottom grate and do most of my cooking on the top grate. Whenever there is a buildup of grease in the pan, I remove the foil, toss it in the garbage and add a new layer of foil. I never let grease reach the grease chute and grease bucket. After more than two years, there is zero grease in the bottom of my grill.

 

[NoGood Traeger]

... From the photos, it looks like you had a significant amount of grease in the bottom of your cook chamber.
...

The OPs photos show an overflow of pellets from the firepot that caught fire, creosoted the inside of the grill as well as leaving burnt paint flakes. There is very little grease or burnt grease residue in the photos.

 

[RayClem]

The OPs photos show an overflow of pellets from the firepot that caught fire, creosoted the inside of the grill as well as leaving burnt paint flakes. There is very little grease or burnt grease residue in the photos.

A grease fire is not going to leave more than traces of residue.

 

[Jayhawkwx]

I've had my Pro 34 for a year and a half with no issues. Where did you get that heat baffle? Mine doesn't look anything like that.

 

[NoGood Traeger]

A grease fire is not going to leave more than traces of residue.

We'll have to agree to disagree. I've had a grease fire and know what the after effects look like. It's clear from the OPs photos the fire and creosote was caused by overflow of pellets.

 

[DennisC]

Sorry for the late response. Was gone on vacation and hadn't seen the responses to my original posting until today. The "grease fire" was on top of the drip tray. Everything was clean and the ashes were vacuumed out, before the cook. After the pellets overflowed and burned in the bottom, the meat got so hot that a lot of grease dripped out fast and ignited on the hot drip tray. I am still not sure what happened. In any event Home Depot took the grill back and replaced it with a new one.