# Filter The Dust?



## goldwingtiny (Dec 22, 2019)

Hello All. New to the forum and new to the pellet world. After several years of wanting one and many. many hours of research, the new Rec Tec was delivered this past Thursday. THANKS Santa!! 
Who all filters the dust off of your pellets before using them and how do you go about doing so? I hope I'm not over thinking this but I could see excessive dust being a hazard.
TIA,
Tiny


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## 6GRILLZNTN (Dec 22, 2019)

Traeger sells a cap that fits on a 5 gallon bucket that comes with a sifter that fits in the bottom.


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## bregent (Dec 22, 2019)

I don't bother - I just dump it all in. But, the Memphis has a different auger/pellet chute system than most other grills - dust doesn't cause it any problems. Not sure about the RecTec.


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## sandyut (Dec 23, 2019)

I dump and go in my RT700.  one bag seemed a touch over dusty and I pitched the end little bit.  but generally, dump, ignite, smoke, eat drink and repeat.


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## sweetride95 (Dec 24, 2019)

I dump and run as well. I buy my Lumber Jack locally, so I can pick the bags that look the least beat up. If the bottom of the bag get crumby, I through out the last hand full. My Traeger has fed them all though.


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## dubob (Dec 24, 2019)

goldwingtiny said:


> I hope I'm not over thinking this but I could see excessive dust being a hazard.


I believe you ARE over thinking it.  There will ALWAYS be dust.  My Camp Chef Owners Manual has a ton of warnings; not one of them is about pellet dust.  I would guess that your owners manual doesn't mention it either.  Just dump, cook, and enjoy.


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## RCAlan (Dec 24, 2019)

Over thinking it...  Not necessarily, it all depends on the brand of Pellet Grill and the design of its Auger tube, on if it’s a good idea to remove pellet dust.  I could be wrong, but I don’t think any Pellet Grill manufactures mentions burn back fires in their owners manual....  Flameouts, Yes...  Burn back fires, No.    For the Original Poster... The main reason for removing Pellet Dust before pouring the pellets into the Pellet Hopper is to prevent Burn Back Fires.











What causes a burn back fire?

Cause: 1. Pellet dust can accumulate in the Auger tubes of some pellet grills...  Some Pellet Grills Brands recommend to preheat their grills at a high temperature, for a certain amount of time.  The accumulation of excessive pellet dust in the Auger Tube can promote a burn back fire.  Pellet dust is just as flammable as actual wood pellets.
Cause: 2.  Pellets are not all made the same. The lower quality pellets will break down and become “dusty”, causing them to easily ignite moving up into the auger.
Cause:  3.  Pellets have been left in the grill for an extended period of time. The pellets have begun to break apart. The particles will easily ignite, moving up into the auger and could potentially ignite into the hopper.

SOLUTION:
1. Clean the pellets out of your grills hopper from time to time and use a Shop Vac to remove any remaining pellet dust.
2. Prime the Auger Tube to clear out any remaining pellets after every 4th or 5th cook and use a shop vac to remove any accumulation of pellet dust remaining inside the Auger Tube.
3.Use a Shop Vac to remove any remaining “Pellet Ash” from the burn pot after every cook to help prevent “Flame Outs”...  Which is a whole different safety issue.  Do these steps and You won’t have any burn back issues with any brand of pellet grill.  A little extra work yes, but the safety for ones Family, home and the trouble free service of your pellet grill is more important.  Set it and Forget it Pellet Queing, doesn’t mean we shouldn’t do the little things to prevent accidents and to always be safe.  I hope the info helps and Happy Holidays...

Pellet Pro Austin XL and a few more mods...  in SoCal and Always...  Semper Fi


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## BandCollector (Dec 24, 2019)

R
 RCAlan
  gives some great advice regarding removing lingering pellets and dust in the auger tube.

I made it as easy as I could. . .I completely empty the pellet hopper after every use on my Camp Chef Woodwind and then take my Sthil leaf blower and blow out the bin as well as the auger tube. . .Potential problems avoided!

Amazing how much dust comes flying  out.

Merry Christmas everyone!

John


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## catavalon21 (Feb 3, 2020)

BandCollector said:


> R
> RCAlan
> gives some great advice regarding removing lingering pellets and dust in the auger tube.
> 
> ...



There are a hundred things I love about my RT700, but I sure wish it had an easy way to dump pellets.


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## sandyut (Feb 4, 2020)

I asked them about this a while back - they said they tried several prototypes and all of them caused more issues than it solved and were a PITA.  

I jsut use the same pellets for everything.  I cant tell much difference, the rectec oak hickory have a nice flavor - cookinpellets are good but the flavor was too light for me.

I have a couple bags of the rec trecs lefts that I bought at end of summer.  after that I want to try the lumberjacks.

RE: removing pellets - you could by a buckets head vac for $25 and suck them out?  thats about as cheap as I can think of.


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## pkjunction (Jun 12, 2020)

RCAlan said:


> Over thinking it...  Not necessarily, it all depends on the brand of Pellet Grill and the design of its Auger tube, on if it’s a good idea to remove pellet dust.  I could be wrong, but I don’t think any Pellet Grill manufactures mentions burn back fires in their owners manual....  Flameouts, Yes...  Burn back fires, No.    For the Original Poster... The main reason for removing Pellet Dust before pouring the pellets into the Pellet Hopper is to prevent Burn Back Fires.
> View attachment 425026
> 
> View attachment 425027
> ...


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## pkjunction (Jun 12, 2020)

To clean out my Oklahoma Joe's Rider DLX I use my leaf blower. I move it out in an open area, remove the grates, make sure the burn chamber and the ash cup is clean, and blow out the inside of the grill, the pellet box, and the auger tube. This has worked really well for me. As for pellet dust, it seems it's a problem in pellet smokers, grills, and furnaces. There always seems to some dust in each bag no matter what, to alleviate this I came up with a chute system using some 1"X4" board, two downspout bends, a funnel, and two pieces of rain gutter screen joined together. I'm attaching a picture to show the contraption. By the way, it works really well especially with a fan blowing through the screening as pour the pellets.


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## Humo18 (Jun 15, 2020)

BandCollector said:


> R
> RCAlan
> gives some great advice regarding removing lingering pellets and dust in the auger tube.
> 
> ...


Good idea BandCollector, I always empty the pellet hopper after each cook, and place the pellets in a sealed dry container.  I have several containers labeled for each different flavor of pellets.  Never thought of using a leaf blower to clear hopper and auger tube, definitely agreat idea to try.


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