Pellet Grill Sunday...Pit Boss troubleshooting

noharleyyet

noharleyyet

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My wife has pretty much commandeered the Pit Boss, except for de-ashing. She was prepping it for some baby backs this morning and asked me why smoke was coming out of the pellet hopper and not the stack. I get it shut down and removed the grates & covers. The burn pit is almost disintegrated. Came within a mouse click of ordering a RecTeq & thought...let me check youtube.

Pit Boss disassembled to accommodate a $16 dollar part that should be here Tuesday.
 
Last edited:
noharleyyet said:
My wife has pretty much commandeered the Pit Boss, except for de-ashing. She was prepping it for some baby backs this morning and asked me why smoke was coming out of the pellet hopper and not the stack. I get it shut down and removed the grates & covers. The burn pit is almost disintegrated. Came within a mouse click of ordering a RecTeq & thought...let me check youtube.

Pit Boss disassembled to accommodate a $16 dollar part that should be here Tuesday.
Click to expand...
Had it happen on a pit boss and a traeger. Not sure what you got to replace it but some aftermarket ones are made of heavier gauge steel then the manufacturer ones. I've also replaced the auger and fan motor in my pitboss. Replacement parts are fairly cheap and there fairly straight forward to work on.
 
Sure like my pitboss. Might up and buy a couple of replacement parts to have them on hand - don't like the idea of getting the ribs all rubbed up and ready to go and get short circuited by the smoker.

David
NM
 
I have had to replace a fuse once, then went out tonight and no power again. Hopefully just another fuse. Other than that I have really liked the Pit Boss, seems to cook pretty consistantly.
 
I’ve decided to repair it. I have some new stnlss grates coming, order new shrouds & cover and gift to our daughter. I have heard so many good things about the RecTeq.

But, yes on the straightforward wrenching and reasonable parts availability. Many of the same parts used by Traeger.
 
How old is it? Mine has only been used half dozen times or so.
My option to an offset.
 
noharleyyet said:
5-6 years old hank, and used frequently. Really can't complain as the burn pit is the workhorse. Keep those ashes gone. (dedicated shop vac)
Click to expand...
I didn't clean the ashes out on my Traeger for probably 5 or 6 12 hour smokes and then noticed it wouldn't get up to temp when I was doing some chix wings.
The burn box was so loaded up with ashes there was no space left for the pellets to burn. After cleaning it will fire right up to 450° very quickly.
 
noharleyyet said:
My wife has pretty much commandeered the Pit Boss, except for de-ashing. She was prepping it for some baby backs this morning and asked me why smoke was coming out of the pellet hopper and not the stack. I get it shut down and removed the grates & covers. The burn pit is almost disintegrated. Came within a mouse click of ordering a RecTeq & thought...let me check youtube.

Pit Boss disassembled to accommodate a $16 dollar part that should be here Tuesday.
Click to expand...
Same, except the part was the temp probe.....I grilled and smoked all through covid with our PB, never cleaned it once. Started back-drafting smoke, would hold a temp, pellets were getting damp from the condensate. Took it apart, chipped the carbon off the inside, put in a new probe and we were back in business.
 
Nothing to do with the OP's post but, we learned the hard way to be careful using a shop vac cleaning out pellet grill burn pot. We used the smoker earlier in the day, thought there weren't any live pellets left in the pot. Started sucking the ashes out, everything was going along nicely when I noticed smoke coming out the vac exhaust port. Chit! Pulled it apart to put out the internal fire real quick. The plastic bottom got a couple battle holes in it that day.
 
novum arcum venator said:
Nothing to do with the OP's post but, we learned the hard way to be careful using a shop vac cleaning out pellet grill burn pot. We used the smoker earlier in the day, thought there weren't any live pellets left in the pot. Started sucking the ashes out, everything was going along nicely when I noticed smoke coming out the vac exhaust port. Chit! Pulled it apart to put out the internal fire real quick. The plastic bottom got a couple battle holes in it that day.
Click to expand...
HAHAHA been there.. but with the pellet stove in my house. My wife had to clean it one day while I was hunting and she didnt check to make sure nothing was hot or smoldering before she did it. Luckily she caught it before she left for the day 😬
 
The only time I have had smoke working back up the pelet box was either ash buildup or from starting it with the lid closed/ash buildup.
Mine gets run hard and put away wet. This is a good reminder to do some maintenance.
 
I have a question. We pretty much use charcoal + wood chunks here (or pellets) because we don't really have hard wood, i.e., no oak, hickory, etc.

Tons of oak in TX unless the Austin guys burned it all.

Why not go with a woodburner?

Looks beautiful though.
 
longbow98 said:
I have a question. We pretty much use charcoal + wood chunks here (or pellets) because we don't really have hard wood, i.e., no oak, hickory, etc.

Tons of oak in TX unless the Austin guys burned it all.

Why not go with a woodburner?

Looks beautiful though.
Click to expand...
We have a good sized offset firebox burner at my office/warehouse for larger output events. The pellet is for home use low and slow stuff. The offset has better taste but requires much more attention. The pellet is more dial and doze. The recteq is bluetooth & iph capable w/ supposedly much more temp accuracy & a 40lb hopper...

I'm anxious to verify RT's smoke claims coz our big ol hillbilly burner offset is delicious every time.

I'll say this about the RT...build quality is 100%
 
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