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[4given]

I set up my brand new Country Smokers Traveler last night and seasoned the grill as per the manual. I ran it for about 40 minutes at 400F.   Once done, I shut it down by turning the controller to the off position as per the manual.   

I checked it about 30 minutes later to see if it had cooled off and I saw tons of white smoke barreling out the vents.  I opened the lid and the pellet hopper was blazing!  I ran to the kitchen and grabbed the Morton's salt container and extinguished the fire. 

What a drag and a terrible first experience with this machine. I own two GMG pellet grills and have never had this kind of thing happen before.  I an calling customer service today to see what the problem might have been but I am not sure if I could trust another one of these.

Anybody have the same experience?



It melted the plastic hopper latch right out of the hole!

[Canadian John]

 Indoctrination not a good one. That' a major let down.

 When I had my Traeger, there were times @ first, before fully understood the pit, that I had a smoking hopper @ shut-down. That is, smoke only. Fortunately I was there when the smoke started and able to react.

 I turned the control to Hi, emptied the hopper + let it burn until there was no more fire in the fire pot. That led me to a gradual reduction in pit temps before turning it off.

[TravlinMan]

I noticed smoke coming from my hopper while in operation. I ended up 'tuning' the lid to fit tighter, and the smoke 'slowed' down quite a bit, but is still there though, especially on higher temperature cooks.

I have been leaving the lid open during shutdown on this unit and the smoke ceases from the hopper box.

Must be a little too much air pressure in the 'cook area', causing this issue in the hopper.

I am going to try to come up with a better seal of some kind for this at some time.

Curious to find out how the problem gets resolved with Dansons.

I have been overall very pleased with the unit so far, especially given the low cost.

Please keep us updated..

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

[Canadian John]

 Good point on opening the lid on cool down. I forgot that one as it has been over 3 years since I had my Traeger. Keeping the lid open allows air a more direct route to the fire in the fire pot once the

combustion fan has been turned off.

[4given]

I filed a support case on their website yesterday morning. Attached pictures and everything. Still have not heard back from them.  Took the unit back to Lowe's where I purchased it for a refund. I wonder if I will ever hear back from Danson. I guess it doesn't really matter since I already have my money back, but it would be nice to let them know there is a problem with their grills.

So far, it does not seem like a safely designed product to me. You shouldn't have to modify or "baby" it during shut down to keep it from catching on fire. The manual simply says to switch the controller to the off position to shut it down. That's it. If there is more to it, the manual should supply instructions.

My two GMG grills (a Daniel Boone and Davy Crockett) both have a fan for positive pressure in the pellet box and auger tube to prevent this type of thing.  I love my little Davy Crockett and use it all the time. It is just a tad heavy.   Being about 20 pounds lighter, I was hoping the Country Smoker Traveler would fit the bill for times I needed something smaller and lighter.  I'm pretty disappointed.

[okie smokie]

Just related your experience to my son. He has had this unit for several months for his motorhome.  Love's it.  No real problems, but he says that if you are grilling burgers, at full heat, with the drip pan opened for direct flame, you can expect flame ups.  If the lid is closed you may see flame coming out of the drip spout.  He has not had any flame backs into the hopper. He does think that direct flame for burgers and steaks could be done with lid open, but only if you plan to just use the area of open flame. He has not tried this tho. 
He agreed that with the lid closed for shut down, that there might be back pressure that could account for auger and hopper fire. \\

I have another thought.  Since the hopper is small and the auger short, is it possible that there were few pellets left in the hopper and thus when you shut down, that there was less obstruction to back flo into the auger/hopper?  The fan is on full during shut down, and with the lid closed, fire might backup easily? Perhaps if hopper had been fuller, it would have reduced backflow. 

[okie smokie]

One last thought.   questions:
1.  Was the hopper lid snapped shut? Would reduce back up air flow.
2. Was there a strong breeze or wind and was the grease drain (right side) oriented into the wind?  Would augment increase interior pressure.
3. Did you use a full hopper for the burn in, or was it almost empty at the ends? . Would offer less resistance to back flow.

[4given]

Thanks for all the replies guys. I sure do appreciate it. 

FYI, during shutdown, the hopper lid was shut and was about 1/3 full of pellets. Grill lid was closed. Shut down procedure was done precisely as indicated in the manual.  I contacted the manufacturer last week and have still not heard back.  Not a good sign.

That said, I have returned the unit to Lowes  for a refund and have put it all behind me.   I will never be able  to trust of these units again.

I'll just use my trusty and safe GMG  Davy Crockett.  It's 20 lbs heavier but i'll just get help lifting it.

[okie smokie]

Other than the extra weight, the Davy Crockett should do ya just fine. Sorry you had the bad experience, but also a good thing that you have reputable retailer that would take it back.  Also others will benefit from being alerted to the adverse occurrence.  Keep us informed if you hear from the manufacturer. 

[GatorDave]

When I shut down my RecTec Bullseye, I turn the pellet feed down to the lowest setting and let the fire burn down before shutting off the pellet feed completely.  I noticed that when the firepot is running on the hotter side, if I shut the pellet feed off, it would ignite pellets in the feed tube.  Luckily I caught this very early on, so I didn't wind up burning up the unit.  I'm not sure how your unit works, but if it has the same manual control as mine, this has worked very well for me.

[4given]

When I shut down my RecTec Bullseye, I turn the pellet feed down to the lowest setting and let the fire burn down before shutting off the pellet feed completely.  I noticed that when the firepot is running on the hotter side, if I shut the pellet feed off, it would ignite pellets in the feed tube.  Luckily I caught this very early on, so I didn't wind up burning up the unit.  I'm not sure how your unit works, but if it has the same manual control as mine, this has worked very well for me.

I don't have the Country Smoker Traveler any more. I'm sticking with my GMG Davy Crockett.  It has a fan which creates positive pressure in the hopper to prevent a fire. Also, when you shut it down it goes through a "fan mode" in which the fan blows air through the fire pot that puts out the fire and blows a good portion of the ash out of the pot and into the bottom of the pit to be vacuumed out later.  A lot safer and I dont have to clean the fire pot quite as often.

[silverbullet]

I've had green mountain grills, (still have & use a 2013 Davy Crockett) Also a Traeger & own a Louisiana Elite 800. Danson recommends the lid be left open for startups & shutdowns. Where with GMG they don't. That's maybe where the problem was. If my memory serves me right Traeger also recommended the lid open for shutdown.

[4given]

. Danson recommends the lid be left open for startups & shutdowns. Where with GMG they don't. That's maybe where the problem was.

If that is the case, they should tell you that in the directions thast come with the Country Smokers Traveller.