So I saw this at Costco today


 
Well kicked to the curb that is basically what that poor guy in the Facebook ad did, lets say he paid $800 plus a few hundred more in accessories had it for 2 years multiple warranty claims its broken again sounds like and he or she has had enough. If someone offered him $50 bucks he probably would have taken it with 1/2 tank of propane thrown in. Now he probably got a lemon which exists in all products but in 2 years he is out $900 or $950 or whatever. Now someone who knows what they are doing maybe throws a few hundred into it and gets a really good deal but as others have said this is not the average person who is even going to attempt to do this.

Real question becomes do they replace it with another pellet grill or swearing to themselves never again.
 
I don't think pellets are that complicated to repair, replace or even modify parts. The spare parts for pellet grills are out there. Maybe not for the no-name equiv of a charbroil knockoff, but you can get control boards, motors, augers, fans for them. Some folks are mixing and matching parts.

I had mine apart to paint a rust area and the parts are one banana simple to get to and replace.

For an enthusiast, there are a lot of options. I think for mainstream buyers, if they like how it works and it breaks, they'll call the support line, be ticked off that its not covered under warranty, be miffed at the price and either replace some parts or offload it.

A concern on many of these is rust, and they all seem to have rust issues. my pit boss rusted from the inside out in about a year, but its common in several brands ( I lurk on a few other forums ) High temp paint on the outside and its good to go again.
 
DanHoo said:
I don't think pellets are that complicated to repair, replace or even modify parts. The spare parts for pellet grills are out there. Maybe not for the no-name equiv of a charbroil knockoff, but you can get control boards, motors, augers, fans for them. Some folks are mixing and matching parts.

I had mine apart to paint a rust area and the parts are one banana simple to get to and replace.

For an enthusiast, there are a lot of options. I think for mainstream buyers, if they like how it works and it breaks, they'll call the support line, be ticked off that its not covered under warranty, be miffed at the price and either replace some parts or offload it.

A concern on many of these is rust, and they all seem to have rust issues. my pit boss rusted from the inside out in about a year, but its common in several brands ( I lurk on a few other forums ) High temp paint on the outside and its good to go again.
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DanHoo,
I am not saying that someone like you with ability and interest can't replace the parts. I would like to think maybe I could, too, if I had time and the notion to try. (Maybe if that one I listed was close to me I would have.) What I was really thinking about, though, is the typical grill buyer. They are already giving up on cheap gas grills and pushing them to the curb in a couple years - not willing to clean or replace parts. I really can't see these types replacing electrical and motorized components on a pellet grill. Consequently, in a few years, I do think you will see a lot of pellet grills abandoned and pushed to the curb. This issue then will be whether someone with some ability and willingness to work can still get the parts to make them functional again. For the bigger brands probably yes at least for some amount of time. But for something like the Landmann pellet kettle I saw advertised at some kind of discount sales joint, I would say "Good luck."
 
Yeah, If I get one it has to sit outside and with the crappy weather we get, and not being able to always get a cover on it in time I am beginning to wonder if I want all the trouble of constantly having to unload pellets, reload, clean out and such. Maybe gonna give this one up as a "want"
 
I prefer to keep it simple. I can cook anything and everything that we and any guests that we have on the S-210 and/or the AKORN kamado. At the beach house it's the Broilmaster P3 or the E-210 in the back by the pool or both if it's a big party but that's been only 1-2 times in 12 years.
The pellet grill concept looks interesting but that's where it ends for me.
 
LMichaels said:
Yeah, If I get one it has to sit outside and with the crappy weather we get, and not being able to always get a cover on it in time I am beginning to wonder if I want all the trouble of constantly having to unload pellets, reload, clean out and such. Maybe gonna give this one up as a "want"
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When you look at it a pellet grill it does require more attention than a gas grill but not much more or maybe even less than a charcoal grill. I'm speculating but I think that most pellet grills now have a quick release option to drain the pellets out of the pellet box.
Cleaning is pretty straight forward different, but not any more time consuming than a charcoal grill.
The electronics are protected very well on my camp chef, and we get blowing monsoon rains here, snow and excessive heat. What we don't have is the high humidity. Mine sits outside and after two years no problems, but I do make sure it's cleaned and covered when not in use.
Only once did I have it running when a storm came through which can happen quickly up here in the mountains. Kind of dicey with a plugin grill but in runs on a GFI circuit and nothing happened.
The big advantage to me is I don't like the cold and with the CC I can go out load it up go back in the warm house and watch it my with my TW Smoke until its done. No running in and out to add coals or adjust vents.
The CC gives me the opportunity to cook in the winter that I didn't have before.
 
My big concern is I see the issue with pellets absorbing moisture. Well I can go from a nice sunny day to full on squall in nothing flat. Don't know how to protect from that and having a lump of soggy pellets. Just not sure I want to deal with it
 
Correct Larry. Just like your post on bare cast iron grates, unless your grill is stored inside, that moisture is going to get in there if you live in areas with humidity and rain often.
 
LMichaels said:
My big concern is I see the issue with pellets absorbing moisture. Well I can go from a nice sunny day to full on squall in nothing flat. Don't know how to protect from that and having a lump of soggy pellets. Just not sure I want to deal with it
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In 8 years of pellet grilling, I’ve never had that issue, but they routinely do not sit out uncovered in the rain when not being used
 
Mine did fine outside under a cover in muggy South Florida. I wouldn’t leave pellets in the hopper unused for weeks on end, though. I store mine in sealed 5-gallon buckets.

Larry, You might consider the Recteq Bullseye pellet kettle. Being small and light you could make it a garage Queen along with your Weber Q.
 
Jon Tofte said:
Mine did fine outside under a cover in muggy South Florida. I wouldn’t leave pellets in the hopper unused for weeks on end, though. I store mine in sealed 5-gallon buckets.

Larry, You might consider the Recteq Bullseye pellet kettle. Being small and light you could make it a garage Queen along with your Weber Q.
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My garage is so damn small I am beginning to question even having the Q in there let alone adding yet another. Back when we had our F150 extended cab (not the 4 door as they did not make it back then) just a regular Super Cab, we had to put one bumper of the truck up against the back wall of the garage, to get the other bumper to just clear the garage door. This was not the house I wanted. Our first house had a 22 x 28 garage. I had room galore. That F150 fit in there with tons of room even with my full size Mercury Grand Marquis. Lots of room. But wife won out on hose choice. I wasn't even here when this house was bought. I was in New York and we needed to buy. We had 3 houses in mind. One of which was brand new and had a 22x30 garage. Told wife to take my dad, leave the babies with my mom, and get the realtor. And to call me when she had bought one of the houses LOL. I never even signed the contract myself. She did it
 
Our detached garage at the end of a narrow dead end gravel back ally that every one keeps their trash bins and sometimes times throughs brush and stuff. Since I am the only one with a garage maintain the ally. I mow it and trim the bushes. Our garage is 20 x 30 so a nice size, but being a dead end the only way to turn around is my garage that we have to back the cars into. I keep some tools in the garage and have most in the basement and get my steps in by going back and forth, and up and down to get tools all the time. It also makes it difficult for people to pick up grills or sofas as they have to back up a long thin ally. Trailers are even tougher and I have respect for those that can do it. We always park the cars in the garage or I would probably loose our catalytic converters in short order. The house we are building has a 30x30 attached that I plan to have all my tools and workshop except we recently found out that all new garage doors are back ordered and even though our house should be done in March - Garage doors my not arrive until June-August. I am not sure what I am going to do with all my garage stuff that cant be secured and out in the open for months.
 
We have an attached two car 20X22 garage and with my work bench and roll aways and trash can on one side and a large storage cabinet a safe and another cabinet taking up the other side. Another cabinet and a refrigerator/ freezer and another large upright freezer and a large pantry in the back wall off the garage. Getting the 4runner and the Santa Fe inside is really tight.
I have about 18" between the font bumper of the 4 runner and the pantry and about 24" in front of the Santa Fe and the door going into the house. When both cars are in the garage it's a real pain to get in and out of them. I have to back
out whatever car we are going to use out of the garage before Barb can get in. But I like to have the cars secured at night even though we don't have any problems on our street.
 
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Yeah, come spring, I will be leaving one car outside as I will be pulling the Kubota apart. Going to take off the hood (repaint), the rear fender/sheetmetal to straighten it out a little and possible paint, mower deck for servicing, main driveshaft to replace hydro cooking fan, replacing the factory fuse panel with new and adding circuits and relays to run auxiliary lights, pump for sprayer and some other stuff, front axle for shimming and alignment, doing full lube on the whole machine as well (something like 20 or 25 grease fittings), and maybe pull wheels in front and new tires and wheel bearings. Then hopefully back together and happily humming along. I think I will also order up some replacement linkages for the deck as well so it will cut a little more evenly.
Anyway off track. Suffice to say I cannot put yet another grill in the garage LOL
 
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