Auger Not Turning


 
JimK said:
BTW, changing out the thermocouple involves removing the hopper, auger, motor and power supply. We are going to focus on pellets right now.
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I replaced the Thermocouple in mine (sent free from Weber) and it really didn't make any difference that I could tell. My point is not so much about the relight feature, if it weren't for Lew discovering it, I wouldn't even bring it up. My point is that there is communication within the operation of the SF, and the Glow Plug and should the Glow Plug provide a faulty response, you could be getting the results you're getting. I'm not suggesting that you replace the Glow Plug whenever you get this result (I got it often) I'm suggesting you swap out the Glow Plug, use the hose clamp trick for proper grounding. It's fast and easy to swap out the Glow Plug, just remove the four screws from the back (I got to the point where I didn't even leave the back on) two screws hold the Glow Plug assembly in place, unscrew them, pull out the assembly, make sure the wires aren't damaged, they should be wire guide of the assembly, remove the Glow Plug from the assembly, wire brush it, reinstall it to the assembly, put the hose clamp on the assembly over the ground lever, reinstall the assembly and fire up the SF (after making sure the burn pot is clean) When firing up the SF, you can simply fire it up as you would do normally, or if like me, you put some previously lit pellets in the burn chamber, to speed up the starting process. I had to do this process often, but at least I could use my SF. It was my plan to eventually fix my SF, but I moved and the SF didn't make the trip. I gave it to a member here on the forum who has an IT background, hardware & software. I suspect that he may figure out the problem and hopefully he reports what it is and how he fixed it. Until then, just prepare yourself that prior to using your SF, you may have to swap out the Glow Plug. Note: I said Swap Out; I would not replace the Glow Plug with new Glow Plugs, I would simply swap them out, and when doing so, if a Glow Plug failed to heat, I would toss it. I probably only tossed a couple Glow Plugs in all the years I owned my SF
 
Darian Hofer said:
If the Smokefire fires up it’s not a glow plug issue. There is another issue with the grill that’s causing it not to hold temp, get to temp, or flame out completely. Jim is not trying to run at a super low temp so a relight should never be an issue IF the grill is running correctly.
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I believe it to be a communication issue, the proof being that if it's true that there's a relight feature (I believe Lew) in order for that to be able to happen, there has to be communication with the GP during operation, and the communication is faulty
 
ChuckO said:
I believe it to be a communication issue, the proof being that if it's true that there's a relight feature (I believe Lew) in order for that to be able to happen, there has to be communication with the GP during operation, and the communication is faulty
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I will agree with that statement. And I certainly trust all of Lew’s posts. But this doesn’t mean he was given the correct information by Weber or that their relight function was not later removed because it did’t work and just caused more problems with back burn. I had so many similar issues CONTINUALLY with my Smokefire that it sucked the fun out of cooking on it. Made me soooo happy to see it getting further from my house in the back of someone else’s truck at it was driven away. I never thought I would hate a grill but my SF jumped all over my last nerve. I feel very fortunate that I paid less than $400 for my Gen 2 new in the box. At the time, Weber fought me over replacement parts and only replaced a couple pieces that rusted and corrosion killed. They blamed the other problems on pellets for the most part. All the stores in south Houston discontinued selling the SF and the pellets and I certainly wasn’t going to pay premium prices and shipping just to use the Weber brand. And I had the same temp swing and flame out issues using the Weber pellets.
I’m so happy with my current pellet grill. I purchased it used. It was probably 5-7 years old and I’ve owned it now for a couple years. Zero problems and it will eat any brand/size of pellet and go months between cleanings. My SF needed rusted away parts replaced shortly after 1 year.
The SF proprietary glow plug and very poor connection design is only one of the major problems Weber failed on. Really…I had to install a stainless hose clamp on a $1500 grill to overcome a connection issue. How can anyone honestly think this is OK.
My biggest concern in purchasing the pellet grill I currently use was finding a grill that used readily available parts. I can order hot rods, burn pots, fans, motors, and even an entire hopper from Amazon. No more sending emails back and forth to Weber as I could not even just order my parts from their site at the time. It was the most frustrating product I have ever owned.
Chuck, I’m not directing any of this towards you. But it’s definitely time for me to walk away from this forum. I’m still a big fan of my other Weber grills but there is little reason to follow the SF. Most of the posts are problem issues and cooking posts from members that are not even using a Weber grill. I hope the newer Weber pellet grills continue to improve and more and more Weber users will actually take the time to show their cooks on this forum.
Cheers and Happy New Year
 
Curious, I must've missed it: What did you end up with? Still no need to walk away. Hell, I don't own one, but am happy to see successes with Webers or any other pellet cooker posted
 
If lew is correct. (Of course he is).
The plug; the temp; and the pellets; need to coordinate.
If temp drops:
should it immediately throw pellets? Seems right. But.
Should it first put the glow plug on.
For how long?
Then pellets. After waiting to see if temp goes up or sensor says it is okay.
All this trying to avoid overfill, underlit, burnback, flooded, stacked pellets to the hopper, and the fan. (Lots of contingencies with the fan)
The coordination in the electronics.
So what do we all think.
 
Darian Hofer said:
Chuck, I’m not directing any of this towards you. But it’s definitely time for me to walk away from this forum. I’m still a big fan of my other Weber grills but there is little reason to follow the SF. Most of the posts are problem issues and cooking posts from members that are not even using a Weber grill. I hope the newer Weber pellet grills continue to improve and more and more Weber users will actually take the time to show their cooks on this forum.
Cheers and Happy New Year
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There's no bad blood between us, there was, and it was mostly fueled by an idiot whose no longer here. I hope you stick around, we gotta get Jim's SF, and anyone else working
 
ChuckO said:
You mean this thread?

Lew Newby

Thread 'News Flash, To Me, Smokefire Has Auto Relight.'

Since I bought my Smokefire in June 2020 I have thought that the Smokefire did not have auto relight. I was told that the glow plug only energizes during startup. It was pointed out that as of the software upgrade, April 2020, the grill has auto relight. Today I set up a test flameout and, sure enough - when the grill sent an alert that the temp had dropped, I checked the glowplug and it was bright red. Who knew?
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Just seeing Lew’s face makes me smile and sad at the same time.
Sad smile.
Miss ya Lew!
 
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