SmokeFire Update, Auger Impaction, Fluctuating Temps on Low and Slow


 
K

KevinD

New member
I just sent this to Weber:
Hello!
This email is in the spirit of keeping you informed. Although this is an FYI unless there is any new software/firmware update, I would like at least a comment back. I think I have all the latest software/firmware, welded chute, and control panel. On low and slow cooks my temps have taken as long as an hour to stabilize. On a 350 cook 8 days ago it was rock steady. I use Weber pellets, shop vac the grill after each use, and use drip pans. I changed the chute in late April and started with new pellets. I emptied it today and found this, note photo. It would seem to me that the reverse auger during shutdown might contribute to this impaction. It would not budge with a strong shop vac. I had to attempt to start it to loosen it up. Sorry for the fuzzy photo but I think it shows enough.
Thoughts?
Thank you
Kevin Danby
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Every time I come around towards thinking the SmokeFire is going to be OK, something like this gets posted :cry: .

I am sorry that I don't have any advice for you; seems like you are clearly doing everything you should and have tried what I would. I hope Weber makes this right. As I have posted before, it really does seem the SmokeFire can deliver awesome looking food - WHEN IT WORKS - but there are what is probably an unacceptable amount of issues that come with it.

When I finally got to touch and feel one in person - an EX-4 - I was overall favorably impressed. Pop in some good stainless grates for $50 to $100, and it is a lot better than the slightly higher priced Traeger Ironwood to me, and even approaches the much more expensive Traeger Timberline. These problems have to be reigned in, though, or the positives are just not enough.
 
For the life of me, I just can't fathom why you'd reverse an auger like that, you're just begging for trouble at the feed end of the tube as material gets caught under the inclined plane against the end plate. Yeah, I know..... it's almost certainly to keep pellets from dropping into the firepot from the discharge end. Coming from the ag world, I don't know of a reversible auger anywhere. I'm pretty sure that if I asked my brother (who really has the ag engineering degrees,) about it, I'd almost bet that I'd get a why on earth would you do that sort of response.
 
Yeah. This was a pretty dumb idea. What other pellet smokers do is stop feeding fuel at shut down, wait a while and then advance the auger to push some of the pellets out. Reversing it is something I noticed straight away that it would pack pellets into the end of the auger assembly and create a lot of sawdust.
 
Dave - Unixadm said:
Yeah. This was a pretty dumb idea. What other pellet smokers do is stop feeding fuel at shut down, wait a while and then advance the auger to push some of the pellets out. Reversing it is something I noticed straight away that it would pack pellets into the end of the auger assembly and create a lot of sawdust.
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They could update this in a firmware update?
 
Personally now that my SF is out of its return window I feel I have no choice but to make the best of it. Kevin I have sent emails exactly like that to Weber to let them know that they still have a lot of work to do and owe us early adopters a working product.

That being said it is a pain in the ***, but I am I constantly getting good to amazing results.
 
As I have said before, the SmokeFire seems like it is a temperamental race horse. If you want a reliable, steady workhorse, it is probably not for you. But when everything is good, watch her run! I don’t own one so I don’t know whether or not the frustrations would be offset by the exhilarations!
 
Jon Tofte said:
When I finally got to touch and feel one in person - an EX-4 - I was overall favorably impressed. Pop in some good stainless grates for $50 to $100, and it is a lot better than the slightly higher priced Traeger Ironwood
Click to expand...
I FINALLY got to see both the EX4/6 this past weekend and it only made me want one more....I really hope that Weber learns and comes back with an improved V2.
 
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