I was a member of the old site and couldn't find it but came across the new site. I discovered I had already signed up for it back in 2019. My how the time flys by and my memory sucks anymore. This is a test post I guess. My old Daniel Boone was going on 9 years old and I was having some sooting issues ( turned a turkey completely black). I resealed the bottom around the fan and on the inside around the firebox, put a new fan on, raised the chimney cap as high as it would go and even run with out it, and bought some new lumberjack pellets just in case mine had drawn some moisture but it still seems to be having issues. The bottom of the drip tray always has a layer of soot on it, and where my lid leaks when closed there are black streaks of fresh soot after using. I did cook some chicken thighs at 400 which came out beautiful but im still not trusting my fixes so I went down the  road and picked up a new Ledge. I cant believe all the improvements GMG has made and for not that much more money than what I paid for the Daniel Boone. I smoked a pork butt to break it in that turned out great. When cleaning the unit I did notice that the bottom of the drip pan was covered with black powdery soot. How much soot is normal? I went out to my sons and we pulled his camp chef apart which was about as dirty as they can get but there was no  soot on the bottom of the drip pan.
z [ Invalid Attachment ]

Congrats on the new grill and welcome back.

Welcome back.  That's a nice looking grill.  GMG finally has a proper front shelf.

   Another welcome back Zombini !
 
  Black signifies incomplete combustion of something with a high carbon content or a soot producing material and tends to deposit onto a cooler surface.  It must have formed @ the end while cooling down
 
 otherwise the whole pit would be black inside.   

 Is the soot sitting on top the fine ash deposit on the underside of the drip pan or is it a thick deposit?  Does the black soot deposit repeat or was it a one time event?

 Nice looking pit BTW.

 

   Another welcome back Zombini !
 
  Black signifies incomplete combustion of something with a high carbon content or a soot producing material and tends to deposit onto a cooler surface.  It must have formed @ the end while cooling down
 
 otherwise the whole pit would be black inside.   

 Is the soot sitting on top the fine ash deposit on the underside of the drip pan or is it a thick deposit?  Does the black soot deposit repeat or was it a one time event?

Thank you for the welcome back. Here is what I was dealing with in my old DB. I was cleaning after every cook and would do test cooks with baked potatoes or jalapeño poppers, food that soot would show up on. I did reseal around the fan fire pot housing inside and out. GMG recommended replacing the fan which I did. Last chicken cook the thighs looked great but when I cleaned the grill there was still evidence of soot on the bottom of the drip tray. Nothing like in this photo. The darn weather has not been cooperating enough to use the smoker. Hopefully I have it fixed. I want to give the old DB to my kids to use at their camp sites.......as far as my new Ledge I was just surprised to see powdery soot on the underside of the drip tray after my pork butt smoke. No evidence of soot anyplace else. I just need some better weather so I can start playing with the new Ledge. Im sure everything is fine. Im just getting more anal with age. [ Invalid Attachment ]

 Nice looking pit BTW.

   Another welcome back Zombini !
 
  Black signifies incomplete combustion of something with a high carbon content or a soot producing material and tends to deposit onto a cooler surface.  It must have formed @ the end while cooling down
 
 otherwise the whole pit would be black inside.   

 Is the soot sitting on top the fine ash deposit on the underside of the drip pan or is it a thick deposit?  Does the black soot deposit repeat or was it a one time event?

Thank you for the welcome back. Here is what I was dealing with in my old DB. I was cleaning after every cook and would do test cooks with baked potatoes or jalapeño poppers, food that soot would show up on. I did reseal around the fan fire pot housing inside and out. GMG recommended replacing the fan which I did. Last chicken cook the thighs looked great but when I cleaned the grill there was still evidence of soot on the bottom of the drip tray. Nothing like in this photo. The darn weather has not been cooperating enough to use the smoker. Hopefully I have it fixed. I want to give the old DB to my kids to use at their camp sites.......as far as my new Ledge I was just surprised to see powdery soot on the underside of the drip tray after my pork butt smoke. No evidence of soot anyplace else. I just need some better weather so I can start playing with the new Ledge. Im sure everything is fine. Im just getting more anal with age. [ Invalid Attachment ]

 Nice looking pit BTW.
 

Most interesting. The soot came from under one side of the the heat shield & deposited on the drip tray. Could it be that grease, oil or fat leaked down around the fire pot on one side area especially, towards

 the end of the  cook & didn't get a chance to burn off prior to shut down?  That's my guess.
 

The start up and shut down will be the times when soot is most likely to be created.  If you go through the shut down process of letting it cool slowly for 15 minutes prior to going into shut down mode where the fan blows to burn up the remaining pellets, it should eliminate some of that.  Watch your next cooks, specially something like chicken or turkey skin, they definitely show the most, to see if the soot is occurring during the cooking.  If it is not, I would guess most of that is from start up or shut down.  I did, like you, have an issue of soot during cooking at one point.  After sealing around the fan housing and replacing the controller it went away.

My issue with the old GMG was during the smoke. I watched the soot grow on my food. I think I have it resolved now after replacing the fan and resealing inside and outside of the firebox. I did a chicken cook with no sooting issues. Thanks for the tip on cooling the grill down before going into shutdown mode.
Z