SmokeFire issues on YouTube.


 
Matt Q said:
Newest video from Baby Back Maniac... not good
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I saw that last night. I genuinely felt bad for him for two reasons. First his grill isn't working properly and secondly you can feel the guilt he has for hyping up the SmokeFire before release. He actually turned down getting a free one so that his videos would be unbiased.

For me, the biggest issue is the pellets not falling. My intention was to use it for slow and low. If I can't depend on the pellets to fall at a steady rate, then it just doesn't work for me. I am going to wait for a revision or some kind of fix.
 
Robert Dilbert said:
i mean it sucks that the smoker is not working for him, but not as much as this guys videos. he just rambles on and on about nothing. that should be a 10-15min video. i put it on as background noise just to listen to it, i couldn't image someone actually watching it.
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I watched it all the way through. I am fine with his style. I actually like it more as it isn't completely chopped up and missing details. Could it be cut down, sure but when I am doing my gardening videos I tend to leave it all in the video so that I don't cut something that may be valuable to someone.

I like the more natural vlog style, but I totally get how some may be turned off by it. In this video in particular, I think he was completely flustered at how many issues he was having.
 
Bruno said:
I cooked 12 sausages and realized this thing needs drip pans. This is going to be interesting, I wish Amazing Ribs would do a big test on this. It could possibly come up as unusable and then what would Weber do?
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I am sure something from Amazing Ribs is coming.

A bigger fear if I was Weber would be Lowe's getting an abnormal amount of returns after a few weeks. Lowe's is not going to screw with their customers and its Weber that is paying that return freight bill but you still have Lowe's people who have to deal with it. They may decide to stop carrying it until Weber can prove to them the issues have been addressed not enough of them out yet.
 
It looks like I have about 3 more weeks left to return the ex6 to Lowe’s. I will play this out a little longer for now. Really want to love this grill...
 
Bruno said:
I cooked 12 sausages and realized this thing needs drip pans. This is going to be interesting, I wish Amazing Ribs would do a big test on this. It could possibly come up as unusable and then what would Weber do?
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Weber did include this in their FAQ right before launch after saying for months that it didn't need a drip pan -

"Note: When grilling or smoking over a longer period of time, we encourage the use of a water pan inside the cookbox."

They also added this answer to a flare-up question on Amazon 3 days ago-
"Hi George, our new SmokeFire grill is designed similar to our gas grills and incorporates Flavorizer bars and a grease management system to divert grease and prevent flareups. When smoking for longer periods of time or for fattier cuts of meat, we recommend utilizing a drip pan under your roast. Thanks!"
 
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Well Rich, the video endorsed your choice for a pellet grill. If you had WIFI it would be a Camp Chef Woodwind. You're a wise man.
 
I just finished the video + another one I came across. I'm not going to post it. It was a little long and nothing new. This is not going well for Weber.

And I'm really starting to wonder (not believe) about all those thousands of hours Weber claims they tested this thing. Either they didn't truly do the testing, or they did and sent it out with the issues knowing about them.
 
Weber responded to my support inquiry this morning. I don't want to share their direct email without approval, but I'll summarize:

  1. A poorly fitting door isn't much of a problem. They indicated that as I used it more, grease and such would plug the large gap on the left side of the door. I've insisted they replace mine, along with the hinges.
  2. A bit of smoke coming from the hopper assembly is normal. I just wanted to verify this as it seems to occur north of 300 degrees when the fan is running on the highest speed setting.
  3. Pellets not falling into the auger chute just require the user to use the included scraper to direct pellets into the auger assembly. LOL. My response to them wasn't too nice.
  4. Temperature variations are not a concern - I need to let the smoker level out. I responded indicating that some of the temperature issues could be the result of #3 above.
  5. The controller freezing isn't really an issue if power cycling make the controller work again. My response was similar to #3. :)
  6. They asked me questions about my phone, iOS version, app version and firmware version. I sent them this info.

What I seemed to gather is that the support team is operating with limited info and is already pushing out answers which I don't feel were all that acceptable. We'll have to give them some time to realize what they've got going on, what problems are pattern based and what problems are isolated. I'll give them some time to work it out and will cross-post this to my thread as well.

I may have to order that Camp Chef Woodwind Wifi 36 to give it a whirl. Yes, I have a problem. :)
 
DWambolt said:
Weber responded to my support inquiry this morning. I don't want to share their direct email without approval, but I'll summarize:
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1. My door doesn't fit correctly
No problem, never clean your grill, its all good.

2.Smoke coming from hopper.
All good, thousands of hours of testing were done.

3.Pellets aren't dropping into the auger from the hopper
This process isn't automated. Just keep shoveling the pellets down.

4.Temperature variations
Don't worry about it. If the fire goes out it will settle in to a very consistent ambient temp.

5.Controller freezing
Normal. Its trying to reach the outside ambient temp.

6.The app
It might work on some devices.
 
Jason in CA said:
Weber PR say they had to try to make grease fires deliberately. Others make grease fires just by using the product normally. Interesting. Among other things.
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It makes me wonder whether Weber did any usability testing with actual customers? It's one thing for Weber engineers and staff professionals like Kevin and Dustin to run these grills through their paces, but I can speak from personal experience having done countless usability tests for high-tech that you never really know how customers use your product until you watch them doing it. They do things you never would have expected!

I also wonder what would have happened if BBM hadn't been around when his grease fire started. If the lid were left closed, would the grill have handled it without ruining the meat? That would have been the real test...to trust the grill and see what happens, then make your judgment.
 
I don't know if this vid has been posted, its another long negative review. But its sort've interesting that its done by a YouTuber who was given a Camp Chef Woodwind. And at the end of the vid he recommends buying Camp Chef. If BBM had not had these same issues, I might think him suspect . This is getting complicated :D

 
Chris, I was kind of thinking along a similar line. Was all the testing done in a controlled environment with little exposure to different parts of the country including cold weather or whatever?

Were there changes made once they went into production that they thought would not make a difference? Changes that had to be made once they started producing them, it happens.
 
Lynn Dollar said:
I don't know if this vid has been posted, its another long negative review. But its sort've interesting that its done by a YouTuber who was given a Camp Chef Woodwind. And at the end of the vid he recommends buying Camp Chef. If BBM had not had these same issues, I might think him suspect . This is getting complicated :D

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That's the one I saw but didn't post. I didn't realize he was giving a camp chef when I saw him recommend it. However, the rest seems to be on par with what others have said, which is why I didn't share that one.
 
Lynn, Bruno posted that already I watched it. If that is the one I watched and seen so many of the ones listed I thought what was interesting was that he knew those people and had seen that grill in March of last year and asked them when it would be available and again if it was the correct video the response from the Camp Chef people was it was not quite ready they wanted to make sure they got the kinks out of it and they missed the grilling season to do so as I believe it was not released until September.
 
Chris Allingham said:
By the way, this is the same advice given for ill-fitting WSM lids, access doors, etc. :D
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I suppose to be fair, it works on my kettles also. But in one of the videos someone was saying the door didn't fit correctly. Could be assembly error or shipping damage. I've only seen one person note that.
 
I have to admit that I definitely didn’t see all this coming. I need to watch the videos when time allows. I am planning on cleaning my Rec Tec late today in anticipation of using it for a company event Thursday. I will try to take pictures and maybe video so those of you interested - and especially who already have a SmokeFire - can see the differences in construction. Maybe we can sort out some reasons why the SmokeFire is having a horrible roll out while my Rec TEC has always worked like a charm.
 
My Camp Chef is the cheaper version of their 24" line of grills and I bought it used. I don't doubt for a second that his evaluation of the Woodwind was genuine. The Camp Chef does what we expect a pellet grill to do and do it without a lot of hassle. I had high hopes for the EX series but it's looking like they were way over hyped. Darn! etc.
 
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