Smokepro DLX temp and flameout

[Whiskeyman53]

I have a Camp Chef Smokepro DLX that is 3 years old and has 70 degree temperature fluctuations on the smoke settings. My last cook on Monday I had a flame-out but the auger continued to fill the flame pot to where it overflowed. I always keep the pot and inside of the grill clean after every use. Does anyone have an answer on what the problem could be and possibly a solution. I have contacted Camp Chef and now await their reply (1-3 days) estimated.

[glitchy]

70 plus or minus or 35 plus or minus 70 total? If it’s 70 plus or minus, something is wrong with the controller. 35+/- and sounds fairly normal.

That style of controller, if I’m picturing it correctly, uses timing in smoke mode. So, especially on low smoke for extended periods or the right weather conditions can cause all the pellets to burn up before the auger turns again. Without lots of logic in the controller, it doesn’t know the flame went out, so the timer keeps turning the auger every x seconds (something like run 5 seconds, stop 60, run 5 again). I generally used a temp setting, occasionally using smoke low or hi for only the first 30-60 mins but never when it was windy. You can also get a flameout from pellets bridging even for just a few minutes creating a void in the auger. By the time the void hits the fire pot, the bridge has fallen and there’s pellets behind the void in the auger so hard to know it ever happened. You chalk those up to the gremlins.

[Whiskeyman53]

The temp fluctuation on hi-smoke will be from 180* to around 250*. It did not have the temp or flame-out issue the last couple of times I used it on a set temp not a smoke setting.

[glitchy]

That seems to be about the same range I saw on the SmokePro STX I had.

[tenphases]

I have the same cooker, temp fluctuations is the price you pay for smoke mode. The CC is not a set it and forget cooker, I go out to my CC every hour or two, open the hopper and smooth out the void. I do that because I had a couple of flameouts. Could that be the problem! Thats the only issue I have ever run into

[Whiskeyman53]

I constantly check to make sure the hopper has pellets and that they are flowing freely. It seems that the temp fluctuation is a common issue.

[bbqLuv]

Sounds like a pellet problem, as in damp, maybe.
I did a temp test in my pellet grill and found it was off by 20%, 200 is off 40, 350 by 70.
so at 180, lowest setting, grate temp about 220df.

[jerrybell]

I've had similar problems. A few things I do that I think give me fewer problems:
Use the hi smoke instead of low smoke setting. If I'm doing a short cook like ribs and keeping a closer eye on the cooker, I'll try low smoke. If I'm cooking in the wee hours (brisket) it's on hi smoke for the first 2 to 3 hours then up to 350 or 375.

Try different pellet brands. My current favorite for reliable burns is CC competition blend. I bought a couple bags of a different brand at Costco once and had flame out and temperature swing issues. I only use those now for cooking chicken or high temp burns to clean the grill.

Not preventative, but - use a grate thermometer with alarm to get an early warning of flame out. Set the low temperature alarm to about 140. If you hit that temperature, you've most likely had a flameout.

I think the temperature swings are related to your burn reliability and might reduce with the suggestions I mentioned. You're not going to get to +/- 10 degree fluctuation or less with this cooker. I don't worry about fluctuations that are +/- 35 or 40 degrees but that bothers some here. You'll have to decide what you can live with for fluctuations.

[Whiskeyman53]

Thanks for the replies, I use Lumberjack pellets that are kept indoors and constantly keep the unit clean. I did hear back from Camp Chef with some suggestions that I will try this weekend. Their customer service is pretty good and they say that they will work with me until the issue is solved.

[plaak]

Hi Im sorry I’m late to this, but I have the same cooker and experienced similar issues. My issue was the thermometer it shipped with was reading the wrong temp (50+ degrees Too low) after 30-60 minutes, causing the cooker to overheat (controller read much lower than actual temps observed with more reliable gear). It took me a few years to correctly diagnose the issue, and the warranty expired by that time (camp chef should have owned up to this). It’s pretty clear Camp chef shipped a bunch of cookers with defective probes since I had similar issues from day 1 and lots of others experienced similar issues. That said, a simple replacement of the thermometer with a 3rd party RTD thermometer off amazon (maybe 30 bucks), since camp chef had a several week long back order, got everything working smoothly for me. I can send you the link if you’re interested (on my iPad at the moment).

[Whiskeyman53]

plaak, thanks for the reply, I have been staying away from long cooks on the hi smoke setting to avoid the issue. It works fine on temp cooks other than lo or hi smoke. If you would yes I would like the link for the replacement part. Thanks again.

[plaak]

You're not going to get to +/- 10 degree fluctuation or less with this cooker. I don't worry about fluctuations that are +/- 35 or 40 degrees but that bothers some here.

Since I replaced the faulty thermometer my SmokePro DLX shipped with I'd say I've been well within 10 degrees with cooks in the 200-375 degree range at least (according to to the internal controller and my thermoworks). I did upgrade to the wifi controller not that long afterwards, so that might have something to do with it, tho I believe I had comparable results before. Perhaps higher winds or particularly cold weather has produced greater variability for you? I have my grill positioned on my patio such that it's not likely to get a lot of direct wind exposure, so that might have something to do with it.

I believe the high smoke setting works by allowing the fire to fluctuate a lot more (more smoldering), which produces somewhat less stable temps and probably a greater risk of flame out, though I've still had pretty good luck with mine in high smoke settings since I've swapped those parts out. Though my faulty thermometer was producing very large systematic error after the grill reached temp, I wonder if others have experienced less pronounced, less systematic error for similar reasons?

Since I swapped that thermometer out it's like a completely different experience for me now. I'm honestly not sure if much costlier pellet grills can cook indirectly appreciably better for me (no great wind exposure).... tho they may be longer-lasting and ultimately more reliable this seems to work very well for indirect cooking now. The metal is much thinner, which may ultimately rust out, but in my northeastern climate (philly) I've had no problems maintaining very stable temps this winter (post fix).

[plaak]

@Whiskeyman53

I used this thermometer from Podoy. It cost me all of 16 bucks!

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08M9Q8CBP/

It looks like it may be out of stock now. I wouldn't have bought it if camp chef had the original part in stock (several week long backorder), but it worked like a charm for me.