TL/DR: I had a huge grease fire in my Timberline XL, called support and they are replacing the entire grill.
I purchased a timberline XL from a local appliance shop last year just before the summer. I made sure to follow all the proper cleaning instructions between vacuuming out the ash, scraping and degreasing the drip tray, emptying the drip bucket etc etc, but unfortunately I ended up with a major fire.
I had 2 pork butts cooking overnight, and everything was fine when I woke up. I went out and wrapped them, put them back on and turned the temp up to 250. About 10mins later my thermometer started going off like the meat had reached temp, but when I checked it, it read 500 degrees. I ran outside, opened the grill and saw a huge fire on the drip tray. So I pulled the pork butts off, unplugged the grill and used some baking soda to smother the fire on the drip tray. I went back inside and figured everything was good at this point. I was going to let everything cool off for a few minutes so I could clean up the baking soda mess, then get back to cooking. I looked out again a few minutes later and saw a lot of smoke still coming from the grill, as I walked towards it I could see a huge fire roaring inside the cabinet below. I used a spatula to pull the doors open and they fell right off….baking soda was not going to put out the inferno that was blazing in there, so I grabbed the extinguisher and went at it.
Perhaps expectedly, the grill would not start afterwards. I went through some troubleshooting steps with support and determined there were a couple of parts that were damaged from the fire that would need replacing. I talked to support and explained the extent of the damage, then did a video with them to show them what state the grill was in.
The doors fell right off and would need to be replaced, hinges and all. The drip bucket latch melted which caused it to fall, pouring flaming hot grease all over the bottom of the cabinet so at minimum I’d need a new drip bucket. The flame sensor that sits above the cabinet was damaged and did not work anymore, and the lid sensor was shorting out the board. The casing on cables on the back began melting from the heat and would need to be replaced as well. After going through everything with support, they are now shipping me a brand new grill to replace it!
I’m in total shock that I’m getting a whole brand new grill, I didn’t think customer service like this existed anymore. Traeger has made me a customer for life for sure.
by xGrim_Sol
7 Comments
Hey! It looks like you posted an image!
If this is a photo of one of your cooks, maybe share the recipe and techniques
used, as it’s almost guaranteed one of the first questions you will be asked!
*What seasoning did you use?
*How long did you cook it, and at what temperature?
*Did you use any special tricks or techniques?
Traeger on!
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Nightmare there.
Damn dude, that’s impressive. I can’t say I would have felt comfortable trying to start that up again, but happy to hear their CS helped out.
Just for future most likely what happened is there was still a fire burning in the auger, first instinct is always to unplug it and shut it down but you should still do a proper shut down as all you do is freeze the auger by unplugging it then you can have a hopper fire.
+1 for Traeger support. I had an auger fire that led to a hopper fire on my Ironwood last year and support also sent a brand new replacement. Did the whole thing, video and all, through their text chat.
Support guy’s comment was something like “I’ve never seen it melted like that before” when seeing photos of the melted main board.
Glad you’re okay, grease fires are no joke. I had a much smaller flare-up in my old Ironwood a while back (luckily caught it quick), and that was scary enough, so I can only imagine what you dealt with. Major props for thinking on your feet with the baking soda and extinguisher!
Well I will definitely agree with you on the great customer support for Timberline XL … my situation wasn’t as bad as yours….
I purchased a used unit from a former Traeger sales guy and was only 1-1.5 years old… before I purchased I made sure that the seller would be willing to help if warranty issues came up since he already registered the unit…. after having it for about a week and just doing normal cleaning for me (I like to take care of my smokers) I noticed a few rivets missing and an area where a radius bend and 90 degree flange is on the back of the unit that looked strange. Upon further inspection, the sheet had cracked in that area on pulled up but problem area was probably only 1 inch.
Regardless, let person I bought from know about and knowing they didnt see it… my profession is mechanical engineer in the contract manufacturing/metal fab… a lot of experience with forming, bending and welding sheet metal… I knew that combination of radius bend & 90 degree flange has a very high degree of potential for cracking…
Contacted Traeger CS… did the video deal and showed the metal pulling up and took a magnet to show it was metal and not paint… after 48 mins… CS said a new lid wouldn’t fix the problem, which confused me be cause lid wasn’t the issue at all… but then said they will replace the entire smoker/grill… CS proceeded to process order and got order confirmation…. then received my new Timberline XL about a week and half later….
I fixed the original unit and still works just like the brand new unit!
I was concerned about contacting CS but they really impressed me and out of the entire 48 min call, I only talked for maybe 3 mins and was nice and was never rude or angry and my issue was resolved!