Grease fires

[Stewart]

Boy did I ever have a bad grease fire today. Apparently the weld that joins my fire box to the baffleplate had cracked exposing live fire to hot pig grease. I had been cooking for about an hr or so when I noticed turbulent dark smoke coming from the stack. I opened up the cook chamber and boom! I had flames 4' out the stack the entire chamber was flashed over. Scary stuff I won't lie the pucker factor was real. The heat was so intense I had no way to really snuff it out. I was lucky enough to get the racks of meat out with little damage to them. Some of the #9 sagged where the heat was so intense around the base of the stack. Words can't describe the inferno I had lol. I was pretty helpless could only watch and pray it would burn itself out with min damage. I got the chamber snuffed out and was able to finish the cook without any further flare ups. I will take a few pics of whatever damages I can find in the morning. The seals around the cc door are toast I do know that much they burned up and fell off. Crazy stuff.

[Big T]

Wow!! I’ve heard about the grease fires and runaway pits, even saw some pictures of the damage but thankfully never experienced it. I’m glad you were able to salvage the cook with what seems to be minimal damage.


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[Chromeski]

Wow at least you saved dinner. I'm definitely interested in pics and any what not to do tips

[ajfoxy]

Wow, hopefully not too much damage to your rig.

[Pete Mazz]

Glad you're okay

[Rodcrafter]

Wow!


Making memories!

[cyberstrategist]

Glad everyone is safe, though! What smoker do you have that the weld broke?

[Dirtytires]

Bummer on the flair-up. It sure ruins a normal smoke routine. Glad nobody got hurt....meat and metal can be replaced.

[Stewart]

Yes I was lucky nobody was hurt just my pride...and eyebrows lol. All kidding aside I will be examining the inside of my smoker before each burn.

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if you look close under the rail you can see the split and expansion

[Stewart]

The weld cracked almost the full length and opened 1/8”allowing the perfect conditions for a flash.

[AndrewPalmer71]

Wow! Did it split before the flair up, or from the intense heat of the flair up?

What welding process did you use and how thick is the plate, if you don't mind me asking.

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[Stewart]

I suspect it cracked traveling from job to job. Maybe being still warm from a cook it was weakened enough to crack the weld. The baffle plate is 1/4" and the box is 1/4". I used a stick welder and had good penatration.

[Stewart]

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All fixed up and back in action. 12 racks 9 lbs poor mans burnt ends 100 poppers and 3 lbs sausage links.

[mp4]

Awesomeness!

[JKalchik]

Stewart, that's a great pic of your pit.

Still, if you think your weld cracked during travel, I'd be thinking very seriously about adding some reinforcing underneath the cc & firebox to tie it all together a little better. Pretty obviously, something is flexing, and not in a good way.

[Stewart]

This was the last burn on this trailer. She's going under the knife in the next few weeks. Her new home sits upon a cradle that supports the belly and the firebox. All supported by a 37' trailer (separate build thread).

[Big T]