I've got an old DC 2013 model. Its been around the block a few times, had a fire.....Has for the most part been my go to pit over the years. Has been trouble free, it owes me nothing. Hasn't even burnt out its original heat rod!

Lately when I go out to start it, (and go back in the house for a while) I come back out & the grill is cold, it seems that it started up. I unplug it, Plug it back in, Start it up. And never fails me on the second try. Anybody have a clue?? Power board??

try throwing a handful of pellets in the firepot before you start it up

try throwing a handful of pellets in the firepot before you start it up

I had wondered if its not feeding enough pellets in the first start up. Never fails in the second. Nor does it fail during a cook. Holds temps well. So I don't believe it could be an auger motor issue.

Just wondering if anyone else experienced this.

My DC is also a 2013 vintage and it also on occasion does not light on the first try. I'm not sure, but I think it has to do with what's left in the fire pot after the last cook. This phenomena seems to come and go, it'll light on the first try for months at a time and then for some reason, it'll not light. In any case, when I fire it up I look for smoke, if there is none after the initial start-up sequence, I just unplug it and start over, like you, it always starts on the second try. I just live with it.

Similar situation here. After a cleaning, I got in the habit of dropping a small handful of pellets in the burn pot after a cleaning. This seems to prevent the 'no-start' condition.

.........................

 
It could be this pit has a short igniter time and anything that hinders combustion results in a no start..A full auger and clean firepot may remedy the condition.

try throwing a handful of pellets in the firepot before you start it up

I complained to RecTec about how slow my 590 was to heat up in cold weather (it has no insulation). Was told to start up and then 45 seconds later turn it off.  Then turn back on, which begins at the beginning of the start up algorithm. This double primes the fire pot with pellets.  Sure enough, the heat up process was almost twice as fast.  You will see lots more smoke at the beginning which confirms the larger pellet pile in fire pot. Bottom line: adding more pellets at start up should solve your problem.(maybe).

try throwing a handful of pellets in the firepot before you start it up

I complained to RecTec about how slow my 590 was to heat up in cold weather (it has no insulation). Was told to start up and then 45 seconds later turn it off.  Then turn back on, which begins at the beginning of the start up algorithm. This double primes the fire pot with pellets.  Sure enough, the heat up process was almost twice as fast.  You will see lots more smoke at the beginning which confirms the larger pellet pile in fire pot. Bottom line: adding more pellets at start up should solve your problem.(maybe).

That makes sense.