I did a thing today.


 

Bradley Mack

TVWBB Pro
Last year I had a chance to demo an EX4 with the upgrades completed by the territory rep from Weber. It produced great food for the week that I had it and it was good to me, but I had some reservations like many others have. The local bbq shop announced they were having a parking lot style sale over the weekend and were clearing out overstocks, scratch and dents and demos.

I stopped in after archery today, just as they were wheeling out an EX4. Not any EX4… but the exact same one I demoed. New grates and a temp probe were thrown in, and they offered to me for $798 CDN, I had two gift cards that I hadn’t used from the holidays, and was able to get another $200 off the price.

So…. She’s now resting nicely on my new deck…cooking hot dogs and chicken breast as I type. She did have one jam of pellets from whatever was left in the there from the last user. I should have been smart enough to vacuum it out first. Lesson learned. She’s rocking with no problems now.

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Last year I had a chance to demo an EX4 with the upgrades completed by the territory rep from Weber. It produced great food for the week that I had it and it was good to me, but I had some reservations like many others have. The local bbq shop announced they were having a parking lot style sale over the weekend and were clearing out overstocks, scratch and dents and demos.

I stopped in after archery today, just as they were wheeling out an EX4. Not any EX4… but the exact same one I demoed. New grates and a temp probe were thrown in, and they offered to me for $798 CDN, I had two gift cards that I hadn’t used from the holidays, and was able to get another $200 off the price.

So…. She’s now resting nicely on my new deck…cooking hot dogs and chicken breast as I type. She did have one jam of pellets from whatever was left in the there from the last user. I should have been smart enough to vacuum it out first. Lesson learned. She’s rocking with no problems now.

View attachment 61428
Looks great! Enjoy!
 
So a little update with My Smokefire adventures. Overall she’s been solid. I did have a pellet jam yesterday but thankfully that was while I was preheating. Shop vac fixed that right up and I was off to the races. Ordered and received a new cover for her… she deserves the best.

I contacted Weber via email on Saturday night about getting some missing screws, washers and told them about receiving the ash catching drawer, from the BBQ shop, with a scratch in it. (Remember… this was a demo.) Here was the reply I received. Fantastic service.

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Bradley, it's your grill so you can handle the parts however you choose. Some Gen1 owners have put the new welded auger assembly away and waited for the original to give them a problem. One owner has had his grill for 32 months and still running the original parts. I put mine in about 6 months after it arrived and I have no regrets. I recommend removing the finger guard from the bottom of the pellet hopper (1 screw at a time) and wax the interior of the hopper with a slick paste wax or car polish. Those two things really improve pellet flow into the auger. If you do install the welded auger assembly then insert the mounting screws before you get the assembly in position. Then remove the screws and mount it. Installing it takes long if you don't open up those threads a little. Enjoy.
EDIT: I read your original post and you said the upgrades were installed. If they send you another upgrade that can go in your spare parts locker. The chute from the hopper to the auger tube is black on the upgraded version. You can check that without any disassembly by clearing out the pellets in it..
 
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Bradley, it's your grill so you can handle the parts however you choose. Some Gen1 owners have put the new welded auger assembly away and waited for the original to give them a problem. One owner has had his grill for 32 months and still running the original parts. I put mine in about 6 months after it arrived and I have no regrets. I recommend removing the finger guard from the bottom of the pellet hopper (1 screw at a time) and wax the interior of the hopper with a slick paste wax or car polish. Those two things really improve pellet flow into the auger. If you do install the welded auger assembly then insert the mounting screws before you get the assembly in position. Then remove the screws and mount it. Installing it takes long if you don't open up those threads a little. Enjoy.
EDIT: I read your original post and you said the upgrades were installed. If they send you another upgrade that can go in your spare parts locker. The chute from the hopper to the auger tube is black on the upgraded version. You can check that without any disassembly by clearing out the pellets in it..

As far as I know, it’s just the new ramp that’s been installied, but I can‘t say for sure. I’m about 99% certain it’s not a new auger. It’s silver and not black. The tip on waxing the ramp is genius. Finger guard has been removed.
 
Just went and had a look at the ramp. There‘s zero chance this had been upgraded. The caulking / seal is showing from the top to bottom of the face of the ramp.
 
Bradley, FWIW, I don't have the insert in my Gen1 EX4, just waxed all of the surfaces in the hopper and I don't have a pellet flow problem with the larger sized pellets, like B&B. When I got my Gen1 EX6 I put UHMW tape on the long ramp and that solves the bridging problem but I don't feel it's necessary with the EX4. That's just my opinion and others may disagree.
EDIT: I measured the slope on the Gen1 ramps. EX4 24 degrees. EX6 19 degrees.
 
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