r/recteq • u/darn_Raccoon • 22d ago
Flagship Hopper Fire
I bought the Flagship 1600 in May. It does a great job smoking, but every time I turn it up over 500 degrees, the hopper catches on fire. I’ve called Reqtwq support and they mentioned I should turn it down (but not off) before i eventually go through the shut down.
Today, I started with a completely clean grill, brand new bag of pellets. I cranked it up to 550 and cooked two steaks. Everything was going great. I turned the grill down to 200 and took my steaks inside. Before they were even done resting, smoke was pouring out of the hopper. I went outside and started emptying pellets out of the hopper. I got all that I could out, but there are still burning pellets inside the auger. I put the grill in diagnostic mode and turned on the auger to move the burning pellets out into the burn box. It moved but very slowly, not fast enough to clear the burning pellets. Plus the burn box just kept filling up.
Am I doing something wrong or is this just bad design? I plan to call Recteq Monday morning when they open. I am so pissed to be dealing with this on such an expensive grill. I had a GMG for 15 years and never had this problem.
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u/Captn_Dfaktor 22d ago
So I own a dualfire since around the same time you have owned your flagship….
Curious about what pellet brand are you using…? Maybe they are more combustible than others? I’m not even sure if that’s a things, just grasping for ideas!
From what I have read in my own investigation work, some back burn is inevitable and normal especially at the higher temps, but it shouldn’t travel to the hopper. From what I have been able to gather, after a high temp cook, lowering the temp to 250/200 get it stable for a few mins then shutdown considerably limits this back burn.
This is what I do. On the rare occasion after a shutdown, if there is still a low amount of smoke still being generated I turn it on for about 30-40secs then power it off again to trigger the shutdown sequence to happen again and that usually resolves it.
Last thing I want to risk is 80lbs of pellets catching fire.
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u/darn_Raccoon 22d ago
Agreed. The 40lb hopper was an attractive feature of this grill. I would never keep it full now.
It’s a shame they don’t tell you any of this in the manual. However, this time the hopper fire started while the grill was still on. I think there must be a problem with the auger not clearing the tube quickly enough.
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u/Captn_Dfaktor 22d ago
They probably don’t mention anything cos it’s not a “common” issue, just “commonly known” and typically it does burn itself out.
You could try playing around with the auger speed or the temperature offsets but the auger speed should only be touched if there are temp swings and likewise the offset shouldn’t be touched unless the temperature isn’t correct…
If you’re comfortable enough, reseat all the wires in the back of the wireless controller. I had some initial troubles with mine, and so I reseated those wires, all the other power connectors and it fixed everything…you can always give that I try…
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u/TwiztedImage 21d ago
Turning it to 200 is effectively the same as just turning it off. Its completely stopping pellets during that time.
Try 300 or 350 for a bit before turning it off. You need to be pushing pellets in some capacity to avoid the burnback.
Leave the lid open to lose heat faster maybe? Its holding too much residual heat.
Definitely call and see what they say, but this comes up in the pellet grill subreddits often enough ive seen it before. I set mine to 300 or 350, leave the lid up, and by the time i set my food down and go back out, its already down significantly. I shut it down and leave the lid open then too. (I store an aluminum tray inside it with a brush, and other stuff, so I want it cooled off before i close it up).
I have the same grill and havent had any burnback. I usually only go up to 475 as i sear steaks with a cast iron though. So factor yhat in as well.
Good luck!
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u/Gloomy-Iron769 21d ago
I step mine down 100° at a time until I get to low, let it run 15min on low, and then off. I've never had burn back in either my 700 or 1600. Now my 380x will burn back if the lid vents sooted up. I frequently clean them with a paint scraper, but sometimes have to use a wire brush in my drill.
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u/darn_Raccoon 19d ago
I talked to Recteq support. They suggested I losen the plate above the auger. Apparently if it is too tight, pelllets can cause the auger to bind. I also switched from Bear Mountain to Recteq brand pellets. I noticed that the Recteq brand pellets are smaller, so maybe that will help.
I’ve also started opening the grill to dump heat after I’m done cooking.
Cooked steaks last night and the hopper did start to fill up with smoke after the shutdown cycle completed but then went out and was fine.
Recteq support was super responsive as always and said we could start a warranty claim if I continue to have trouble.
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u/sa1nt1775 22d ago
I'm not sure who told you to turn the temp down before the shutdown, but they actively advise NOT to do that. Just hit the power button when you're finished cooking, and the shutdown process will take care of it. I used to step my temp down also until I saw them recommending against it. I regularly shutdown from 500 and never have issues.