Hi All, this is my first time posting, so my apologies if I am posting this in the wrong thread. But I have something that concerns me, and I hope you can help bring clarity to the matter. Please skip to my last paragraph I highlighted in red if you want to skip my background and why I am even coming up with this question.
A little on my background, is I started outdoor cooking for about 15 years. I have a Kamado, a propane grill, a standing dual fuel smoker from Masterbuilt, and now a Camp Chef Woodwind pellet smoker because my Masterbuilt 230s caught in flames after its 3rd use within a month of purchase.
The question I have is with my 230s masterbuilt smoker I bought from Home Depot. Trying to get in the smoking game, I decided to go with a simple smoker and build myself up. I had 2 successful cooks, around 6-8 hours each. But with my third cook, the smoker caught on fire after 6 hours when I was using the propane fuel source. A fire appeared in the exterior of my smoker and melted my control module which included the propane regulator, and the igniter. It also burnt my fingers, but that was my fault as I tried to turn the fire off by the propane regulator on the smoker, and not stopping the fuel source from the propane tank.
I talked with Masterbuilt Customer Service and they hypothesized the issue may have been with the Venturi being clogged, which can happen if bugs or their webbing gets into it. They also told me I needed to run a soapy water test on my hose before each use of the smoker. I felt this was overkill, especially with a new smoker, but short in short, I just agreed as they were sending replacement parts. I went outside a hour later, to take pictures of all the melted parts so they knew what to send. I also decided to run the soapy water test on the hose and clean out the venturi tube with an air duster as part of their recommendation.
The soapy water test revealed there was a leak on the hose at the very end of the smoker where it was attached the metal bearing. The only way I was able to see this leak was putting my smoker on its back. This is impossible to see when the smoker is standing. This contradicted a video they sent to me on how to perform a soapy water test on this type of smoker:
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I questioned them about it, but they closed my case as my case was resolved by them sending me new parts. I didn't like this, especially per their recommendation that I should always run a soapy water test, but they couldn't answer my question on how to do it on the whole hose, especially on the part where my hose was leaking. I didn't like the idea of constantly putting my smoker on its back.
We then reach today when the customer service supervisor called me. Instead of being able to answer my questions of concern on how to perform the soapy water test in the troubled area I had with my smoker, they pretty much went on a hour spree of telling me what precautionary measures I should take, ie have a clean smoker, make sure no grease is present, make sure no bugs are there clogging anywhere the fuel touches. But once they were pulled back to my question of concern about it being impossible to see the leaking of the hose in the area where my smoker caught fire, they told me I should of put my ear to the smoker and listen as I should hear a leak happening by the bubbles of the soapy water test. They told me they to do this all the time, and pretty much I should of known better. I called bull, but maybe I don't know any better. So my question for this forum it a actual thing or is it possible to listen for bubbles popping as part of a soapy water test to indicate a leak. I done soapy water test on the tires on my car, as well as other hoses. Maybe I just never had the sense to listen. I even did the soapy water test on my bad hose, and I couldn't hear anything.
A little on my background, is I started outdoor cooking for about 15 years. I have a Kamado, a propane grill, a standing dual fuel smoker from Masterbuilt, and now a Camp Chef Woodwind pellet smoker because my Masterbuilt 230s caught in flames after its 3rd use within a month of purchase.
The question I have is with my 230s masterbuilt smoker I bought from Home Depot. Trying to get in the smoking game, I decided to go with a simple smoker and build myself up. I had 2 successful cooks, around 6-8 hours each. But with my third cook, the smoker caught on fire after 6 hours when I was using the propane fuel source. A fire appeared in the exterior of my smoker and melted my control module which included the propane regulator, and the igniter. It also burnt my fingers, but that was my fault as I tried to turn the fire off by the propane regulator on the smoker, and not stopping the fuel source from the propane tank.
I talked with Masterbuilt Customer Service and they hypothesized the issue may have been with the Venturi being clogged, which can happen if bugs or their webbing gets into it. They also told me I needed to run a soapy water test on my hose before each use of the smoker. I felt this was overkill, especially with a new smoker, but short in short, I just agreed as they were sending replacement parts. I went outside a hour later, to take pictures of all the melted parts so they knew what to send. I also decided to run the soapy water test on the hose and clean out the venturi tube with an air duster as part of their recommendation.
The soapy water test revealed there was a leak on the hose at the very end of the smoker where it was attached the metal bearing. The only way I was able to see this leak was putting my smoker on its back. This is impossible to see when the smoker is standing. This contradicted a video they sent to me on how to perform a soapy water test on this type of smoker:
.
I questioned them about it, but they closed my case as my case was resolved by them sending me new parts. I didn't like this, especially per their recommendation that I should always run a soapy water test, but they couldn't answer my question on how to do it on the whole hose, especially on the part where my hose was leaking. I didn't like the idea of constantly putting my smoker on its back.
We then reach today when the customer service supervisor called me. Instead of being able to answer my questions of concern on how to perform the soapy water test in the troubled area I had with my smoker, they pretty much went on a hour spree of telling me what precautionary measures I should take, ie have a clean smoker, make sure no grease is present, make sure no bugs are there clogging anywhere the fuel touches. But once they were pulled back to my question of concern about it being impossible to see the leaking of the hose in the area where my smoker caught fire, they told me I should of put my ear to the smoker and listen as I should hear a leak happening by the bubbles of the soapy water test. They told me they to do this all the time, and pretty much I should of known better. I called bull, but maybe I don't know any better. So my question for this forum it a actual thing or is it possible to listen for bubbles popping as part of a soapy water test to indicate a leak. I done soapy water test on the tires on my car, as well as other hoses. Maybe I just never had the sense to listen. I even did the soapy water test on my bad hose, and I couldn't hear anything.
