What to Do If Your Pit Boss Smoker Keeps Shutting Off (Causes + Easy Solutions)

Does your Pit Boss smoker keep turning off?

During a cook, it’s common for Pit Boss users to have their grill simply turned off.

This isn’t quite ‘normal,’ but it does happen every now and then, and you shouldn’t get too worked up about it.

Keep reading on to learn why this happens with Pit Boss grills as well as how to fix it. 

Why Does My Pit Boss Smoker Keep Shutting Off?

‘Flame outs’ refer to when the smoker just completely shuts down.

At times, this may be sudden. And it may also seem like there’s no clear reason as to why this has happened. 

It is also important to note that this doesn’t happen suddenly.

An initial sign would include a significant drop in temperature.

It’ll usually drop from your normal cooking temperature range to 100 ℉.

After that,  you’ll notice that the fire will begin to go out as the grill temperature decreases. 

How Can I Fix This?

Unfortunately, when this happens not only does your appliance stop working but it will also affect whatever you are cooking.

For example, it could really spoil any meats that you are cooking. 

The key to overcoming flame outs is to recognize early on when it is about to happen and to figure out what is causing it.

Here Are the Most Common Reasons Why This May Be Happening

Once you know the root of the issue, you’ll be able to administer the solution and solve the problem.

Unfortunately, there are a fair few reasons as to why this may be happening.

For example, you could be using bad pellets — they could be cheap pellets or damp pellets.

There are other factors too.

These could include: a faulty electrical component, meat probes that need replacing, or even a dirty cooking chamber. 

Let’s go through the most common causes and how to remedy them.

Due to Bad Pellet Quality

One reason why your pellet stove may be turning off by itself is because of your pellet supply.

The pellets you are using could be of the wrong size. Or they might have too much moisture.

Wet pellets can also cause a flame out. 

This is because they won’t burn as they should, and they’ll also cause your pellet smoker to create a great deal of smoke.

You may not know this but you actually want to avoid cooking with white smoke.

This kind of smoke will add a bitter and unpleasant taste to your food.

Instead, you should aim for your electric smoker to produce bluish smoke instead. 

The best way to avoid this issue is to use the right type of pellets. You’ll want to stick to brands of pellets that work well with Pit Boss grills. 

Pit Boss customer care suggests that you should always use wooden pellets — 100% hardwood.

So, save your charcoal pellets for when you’re cooking with your kettle grill instead.

Could Your Pellet Grill Be Too Dirty?

As with another other type of pellet grill unit, it is important that you keep your Pit Boss clean.

It’s best to wipe the interior and exterior of your cooker with a clean cloth after every few cooks.

You’ll want to make sure that you clean the temperature probe too.

A dirty pellet smoker won’t be able to function normally.

And a dirty temperature probe could cause even more issues. For example, it won’t allow your control panel to display proper temperature readings.

And it’ll most likely show the common error code — Erl Code. 

Should You Adjust the P Setting Button?

Not adjusting the grill’s P setting properly can also result in your Pit Boss automatically shutting off mid-cook.

Pit Boss grills are famously known for their P setting feature.

This setting helps you to better control and remedy any temperature issues you may have with the smoker. 

The ‘P’ stands for ‘pause’.

It actually controls the time between each pellet cycle. And you can also use it to control the amount of pellets dispensed within each cycle.

This in turn is what controls the temperature of the grill. 

The P settings go from P-0 to P-7. The higher the number, the longer the smoker’s auger is off.

Setting it to a P-7 setting (150 seconds off) on a cold day might decrease the grill’s temperature too much.

And it might result in it shutting off during a cook. 

It’s best that you get to know how to use this feature a little better. That way you can learn how to achieve the perfect temperature, despite the weather.

Maybe Your Appliance Is Too Old

A Pit Boss should operate perfectly fine for up to 10 years.

Perhaps if you’ve had your appliance for many years, some of the parts could be acting up as a general sign of wear and tear. 

This can also trigger your Pit Boss to shut off by itself.

In this case, you might need to call for a professional or even contact the Pit Boss customer care team.

They’ll be able to help you identify which parts need to be replaced.

An Issue With the Electrical Component

Sure, there are so many positive aspects of using a electrical smoker.

But the smoker ultimately cannot function as it should if there’s an issue with its source of power. 

There could be many causes of this too.

For example, your electricity output might not be high enough.

Or there could be a problem with the smoker’s electrical plug, wire, or even the wall socket. 

To solve this, you’ll have to check that there’s nothing wrong with your electrical wall outlet.

You will also have to confirm that there’s nothing wrong with the appliance’s power cord. 

If there are any issues, it’s always best to call in an electrician to make any necessary fixes. 

Make Sure to Check the Meat Probes

This issue may the most surprising of all.

While it does not happen often, sometimes your Pit Boss grill may shut soff as soon as you connect in the meat probes.

You can check whether the meat probes are the issue just by pulling out the meat probes from the smoker. 

If your Pit Boss begins to work just fine when you disconnect them, then the meat probes are definitely the cause for the unexpected shut off. 

The only solution for this problem is to replace the probes with new ones. 

And those are all of our tips for remedying this issue.

We hope that you found this article helpful.

Please share it with your fellow barbecue enthusiasts so that they’ll know exactly how to solve this problem as well!

Smoke On!

Charlie

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