Pro 780 bomb out

[ronnasboy]

So if I understand it, the supersmoke feature is just a software setting to slow the fan down or keep it off to keep more smoke inside the grill. I know my Gen 1 automatically cancels it when the temp is set higher than 225, but honestly I haven't looked at it on this one. I just know that it seems like the fire goes out temporarily when I make the temperature switch, because the temp actually drops to begin with, and then there are too many pellets in the firepot by the time it gets going again. If I have to do all these temperature changes in "baby steps" it becomes a real pain in the butt and i might as well go back to micromanaging a charcoal grill

 

[RemE]

Right, super smoke is just a software cycle that cycles the fan to make a less efficient burn that makes more smoke, while maintaining set temp. It still cancels at over 225F.

The controller is "supposed" to never let the fire go out. It is supposed to also manage big temp setting changes. My Timberline used to badly overshoot when I set high Temps. With the latest firmware T2.00.03, I tested by setting temp to 450F and pressed Ignite. The grill fired up and gently rose to the set temp.

Let's get your software version and update if needed as this looks like a firmware issue.

 

[ronnasboy]

I think that's the firmware its running but I'll check when I get back there this weekend. Going to try a few test cycles starting with supersmoke. Want to be able to create a cook program to just run supersmoke at 165 for an hour, with a kick up to 375 and a probe alarm for 125. Then I can just put the steaks on and forget them, but I don't want to have to worry about the whole thing, and the pergola, going up in flames.

 

[ronnasboy]

Forgot I took pictures. This is what it looked like about ten minutes later, when it had cooled down enough to take a look.

 

[RemE]

Interesting, I've had Traegers for almost 10 years and have never seen pellets blown out of the pot. In the end it may turn out to be a bad controller.

From what I see, I bet that the grill would have stabilized eventually. The Timberlines are such heavy gauge steel, and double walled, so I have no fears that they could ever burn up and cause a fire. If the internal temp goes much over 500 the grill will auto shut down, and that small pot of pellets isn't going to do anything but burn out.

The T0.00.03 firmware was rolled out only a couple of weeks ago. I had to leave my grill plugged in and on standby for about a week to get the firmware, and a couple of days more to get the latest config file.

I may be wrong on this but I believe that the latest app and firmware ditched the programmed cooking sequences. I never used them so no loss for me, I do use the app all the time to adjust the grill.

I added a Fireboard2 6 channel WiFi temperature monitor, it has excellent needle probes, and a grate temp probe, coupled with a killer app with temp graphs. I now adjust the grill temp based on the Fireboard's readings.

 

[ronnasboy]

Weird, right? If I can reproduce it, I'll take a picture of the smoke. If it keeps doing it, I'll have some very unhappy neighbors. (Plus I don't want my food to have THAT much smoke flavor!)

 

[ronnasboy]

OK, just got back to the grill. The software is correct. T2.00.03. The config. ver. is 07.005, for whatever that's worth. I'm going to fire it up and see if I can make it do it again.

 

[ronnasboy]

Wow, just opened it up to take the grills out, and noticed it actually MELTED the aluminum foil on top of the drip pan! Also warped the metal ridge that holds the drip pan. I think it got pretty hot.

 

[ronnasboy]

Unbelievable! Aluminum foil is actually WELDED to the drip pan!

 

[RemE]

The grill is at current software version, good.

I have had my foil liner melt when cooking at 500F, yours over temp'd and that's what happens.

When I had temp spikes, I pressed shutdown and opened the door to dump the heat, to protect the grill. I'm not worried about a big fire since it's a small cup of pellets.

Keep us posted!

 

[REDOC]

I would suggest a clean out after every cook. Have a look at what's in the pot after one cook, imagine what it would be like after a couple.

One thing I miss from my Camp Chef. Had the ability to dump the pot after every cook. Mine went the other way High Temp Alarm burned all the way up the augur and my hopper was smoking. Sent me a new fan , still waiting for my temp sensor and hood gasket. Fried that also.

 

[jombolo]

This exact thing happened to me in late fall. I clean/vacuum my 780 every 2 cooks. I only use Traeger pellets that I store in 5 gal plastic buckets, so there should be no/little moisture in the pellets. It did exactly as OP described. It took a long time to start, got the low temp message, then all of a sudden the damn thing was on fire.. I was able to pull the grill, drip tray and heat shield off using oven mitts (that I destroyed in the process) and the hot pot and everywhere around the hot pot was filled with whole pellets and on fire of course. I was kind of in a hurry because I was cooking for a large group and had to switch to oven roasting instead of smoking so I didn't get any photos. I basically left it all winter and cleaned it out yesterday. there were charred whole pellets stuck to the inside oval heat shield at the bottom on the outside of the hot pot. After vacuuming i started it up. It still took a long time to pre-heat and gave another warning, but shortly thereafter was able to get to 225 and maintain. I'm not sure if i need to replace the hot pot? It eventually worked, and the fan sounded fine. I will probably need to replace the drip tray because it warped due to high heat, and as other stated, melted aluminum foil to it, which isn't a big deal, but damn it got hot. So either it overfilled on startup, or it did something during the previous shutdown?