Pk 100 blew up
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Using a pan of chips or sawdust seems like it should be a pretty simple way to generate smoke, but there can be some inconsistency in the burn rate. Back when I was doing it that way, I noticed a lot of variation in the burn rate of different types of wood under different smoking conditions, although I never had an explosion.
If you get too much sawdust burning I can see where you could get a lot of volatile vapors building up in the box. I agree with twilliams, it would be best to wet down the chips or sawdust to control the burn rate. -
Phantom Just so this doesn’t get lost, if you did purchase from us please contact customer service at 800-835-2832 as soon as you are able to. You could also email them at cs@waltonsinc.com
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Phantom Just so this doesn’t get lost, if you did purchase from us please contact customer service at 800-835-2832 as soon as you are able to. You could also email them at cs@waltonsinc.com
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steve4102 damp, says it right in the instructions and recipe books
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Phantom Okay, they still should take care of you, they might want you to go directly to PK though. If you get any update from PK on what caused this please update this thread, we have a decent amount of users with the PK100 and I feel like this is something they should all know about. Tagging that group in this post at least will alert them to it but honestly, I am assuming everyone has looked at this. It would be hard to scroll past the title of this post if you own one!
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Contact Pro Smoker direct at: info@pro-smoker.com
While pressure can build up in the unit when using pellets or chips, it’s very uncommon for this to occur using sawdust (dry or wet). Additional information is needed as there are zero instances of this happening with sawdust. -
Contact Pro Smoker direct at: info@pro-smoker.com
While pressure can build up in the unit when using pellets or chips, it’s very uncommon for this to occur using sawdust (dry or wet). Additional information is needed as there are zero instances of this happening with sawdust. -
I wonder if what you experienced is similar to a dust explosion https://www.osha.gov/OshDoc/data_General_Facts/OSHAcombustibledust.html
Perhaps with dry dust and bottom vent closed it created the environment for this. I’m no engineer or safety expert but the hazard you experienced sounds similar.
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steve4102 You sent them an email to the info@pro-smoker.com address above and they didn’t respond to that? You could tag the group again if you want them to see it here, they seem to have created an account for this topic.
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steve4102 You sent them an email to the info@pro-smoker.com address above and they didn’t respond to that? You could tag the group again if you want them to see it here, they seem to have created an account for this topic.
Jonathon said in Pk 100 blew up:
steve4102 You sent them an email to the info@pro-smoker.com address above and they didn’t respond to that? You could tag the group again if you want them to see it here, they seem to have created an account for this topic.
Yes, and no they did not respond.
Got a link to this “account” they created?
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Steve, we have been replying via email to what we believe has been you since the 23rd and have had no reply. Can you call us direct at 800-328-8313 and ask for Earl or Jeff
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Steve, we have been replying via email to what we believe has been you since the 23rd and have had no reply. Can you call us direct at 800-328-8313 and ask for Earl or Jeff
Pro Smoker Service said in Pk 100 blew up:
Steve, we have been replying via email to what we believe has been you since the 23rd and have had no reply. Can you call us direct at 800-328-8313 and ask for Earl or Jeff
steve4102 see the quoted post.
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Been busy. Too many doctors appointments. Sorry. Heart catheterization Thursday as well.
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Pro Smoker Service said in Pk 100 blew up:
Steve, we have been replying via email to what we believe has been you since the 23rd and have had no reply. Can you call us direct at 800-328-8313 and ask for Earl or Jeff
steve4102 see the quoted post.
Tex_77 not me?? I didn’t send email.
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I think it must have been Steve 4102
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I got this last night.
It is the first Email correspondence I received on the subject.
Steve,
I apologize for the delayed reply as I’ve been working with the customer you referenced below from Walton’s website and his name is also Steve….in my mind, I had blended you both together. While we’ve got the other Steve taken care of I again apologize as I realize your inquiry has been idle.We have not ever heard of this happening and we’ve had the PK in existence for almost 40 years with literally thousands of them in the field. There have been 3 instances where the smoker sides buckled when pellets were used…twice by consumers and once by our testing, but never before with sawdust. Pellets or wood chunks can absorb a great amount of heat and if ember is not created, you can get pressure to build up and once the temp gets high enough, along with the wrong mix of air flow, you get that massive ignition/combustion and pressure release. That’s why we over-mention the use of only sawdust for smoke within the first 4 pages of the manual.
We are having that unit brought back to our facility but there will be limited testing we can do on it. The customer is adamant that he only had sawdust in the smoke pan, so we can only assume that he got very high heat on the element without an ember starting and once temps got to that high enough point, airflow caused that ignition and release of pressure. But he also mentioned that this occurred in under 2 minutes and it would be very difficult to get that type of pressure to build up that quickly. We may never fully know the root cause of this. For my personal use, I do “slightly” moisten the sawdust when I’m smoking. It gives me just a slight amount of humidity in the chamber which is great for smoke distribution to the product when smoking. That being said, there are plenty out there who do not moisten the sawdust.
I also use my index finger and create a dimple in the center of the sawdust….the center of the pan is the hottest in smoke setting (625 low watt setting) and that allows oxygen to the wood…wood to the heat…to give me quickest/most thorough smoke. I hope that made sense, but if you have any questions, do not hesitate to reach out to me directly. I’d be happy to help where I can.
Thanks for reaching out to us and I hope your move forward with your Pro Smoker plan……you will absolutely love it.
Jeff Warren
Account Executive
Pro Smoker ‘N Roaster / Vortron
Phone: (920)-387-5255 Ext. 147
Cell: (262)388-3839
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