Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[RoadRunner18]

For those of you with a Pitts and Spitts Maverick Pellet Cooker, I have a question for you:  What is the correct procedure for restarting the grill once it starts to shut down due to receiving an ER-2 Code?

This happened to me yesterday when my Maverick 2000 failed to reach over 160 degrees within 30 minutes after startup.  When I discovered that the grill was shutting down via the APP, I pressed the start button again. When i did this the controller increases the amount of pellets to the burn pot creating the possibility of a burn back and smoke or fire in the Pellet hopper.

After discovering the smoke pouring out of my hopper, I quickly removed all pellets via the pellet clean out chute, and ran the auger with the prime button to clear out all pellets from the auger to the burn pot.
t
There is nothing in the owners manual that addresses re-starting the grill after receiving an ER-2 Code (or any Code that results in a shutdown of the grill).  Can anyone shed some information on this situation?

Thank You in Advance!

[pmillen]

Can your dealer shed any light on this?

[Bar-B-Lew]

I have had that code on my Memphis Elite.  Make sure the grill is cooled down.  Ideally, ensure that the pellets in the fire pot are not covering up the air holes in the pot.  Then restart.  If you have no pellets in the pot, add a handful before turning the grill back on.

The code probably arrived because it was too cold outside for it to get up to temp or you had something clogging the auger from getting the pellets fed properly to the firepot.

I got the code for that reason and for having a grease fire.  Had to unplug and plug back in and start back up to clear the code if I recall correctly.

[RoadRunner18]

Thank You Bar-B-Lew

[Brushpopper]

I've never had that issue with mine, so I'm of no help.  I agree with Lew on it needing to be cooled down and then take the stuff out and see what the burn pot looks like.  It ruins a well planned cook for a little while but better than a hopper fire.

[Canadian John]

 I would consider the  ER-2 code a warning to investigate the cause rather than an invitation to restart. That goes for any pit.  I side with Lew.

[RoadRunner18]

I know what the cause of the ER-2 (Failure to Start) Code is.  It occurs when the cooker doesn't reach 160 degrees cook chamber temperature within 30 minutes.  During cold weather cooks this can happen because the Maverick 1250 and 2000 cook chamber is so large.  To avoid it the controller C-11 program needs to be changed from 30 minutes (default) to 60 minutes; and the Controller C-10 program (Auger percentage speed adjustment) needs to be changed from 30 to 50.  The owners manual prescribes this for cold weather cooks, and also advises to return to the default settings after the weather warms up.  I had the cooker set to 60 and 50 all winter, but after a warm spell I changed the C-11 and C-10 settings back to the default settings (30), and because of a sudden drop in temperature (below 30 degrees) i received the ER-2 Code on this particular cook. 

As I said, I know what caused this.  My question is/was how and when do I restart the cooker after this happens to avoid a burn back.  Bar-B-Lew suggested to let the cooker completely cool down (go through its shut down cycle) before restarting, and this makes sense to me.  I didn't do that and hit the restart button before the cooker competed the shutdown cycle.  When I did this i noticed the cooker's fan stopped, causing the burn back.  Normally, during the 15 minute shut down cycle, the auger stops the feed but the fan continues to run burning off all the pellets in the fire pot,

Yesterday I completely cleaned all the ash from the cooker (which I do after every cook) and completely purged the auger tube of pellets.  Then I reloaded the hopper with pellets, put a handful of pellets into the burn pot, and hit the start button.  Everything worked as it was supposed to work, including the shut down cycle.  So my assumption is that if it happens again, I'll have to remove the meat from the cooker and let it complete the shut down cycle.  Once it shuts down completely, I can restart the grill, bring the cook chamber up to set temperature and go from there.

I have heard some on this forum advised to "know your cooker," and this has been a learning experience for me.  But printed instructions for restarting the cooker after receiving one of the 4 codes that shuts down the cooker would have been helpful and should have been part of the owners operating instructions.

[Canadian John]

 Hopefully some of this may help. If the pit didn't achieve a specific temperature in a certain time, it shuts down displaying a code.

 Could be the heat sensor isn't functioning properly, verified by comparing to an internal thermometer. The hood left open or opened during start-up would lower the internal temperature of the pit signalling the controller it isn't heating leading to shut-down.

 Igniter. Duration and intensity. Duration can be checked using a power meter to monitor power consumption. @ start-up EVERYTHING is drawing power. The igniter is ~2oo To 300 Watts. Can't say how long it

should be "ON" on your pit.  Generally 4 to 8 minutes.  At that point, the power meter will drop off from ~ 300 to 400 Watts to under 100. If the controller cuts off the igniter supply too soon: no fire.

Intensity checked visually. Does it get cherry red? Has the igniter moved? They get loose and can move back away from the fire pot.

Pellets. If the burn pot and or auger has been emptied the result would be waisted igniter on time waiting on pellet delivery. The solution is to prime the auger and/or add a handful of pellets to the pot OR,

The instant the igniter is shuts off, shut the pit off and restart. This will double the igniter on time while the pellets are being delivered. You only want to do this once as pellet build-up will occur leading to

a hot fire .

 That should get you started.  The manufacturer may be able to help if they have encountered and resolved this problem.