First Issue on 3rd cook

[DanaM]

Last night I planned to cook chicken breast using the WC App from start to finish. It started with pre-heating the temp to 500. The temp got to 380 then began dropping?? It dropped all the way down to 165?? It was as if it ran out of pellets. After digging down into pellets I found that the pellets had stop falling down into the auger entry point, as they suddenly dropped as I dug down. I’m using the B&B brand, so I know calling Weber the first thing they’d say is the B&B pellets caused the problem. They are slightly larger than Weber pellets, not sure if that’s going to be an ongoing issue or if it’s just a fluke. Anyone else have issues with B&B pellets?

 

[SoCalMan]

I’d still reach out to Weber, let them know.

 

[Jesse749]

I had the same issue happen twice with the Weber pellets. I removed the little safety guard wire thing that is above the auger. I’ve only cooked once since but did not have any problems.

 

[DanaM]

I had the same issue happen twice with the Weber pellets. I removed the little safety guard wire thing that is above the auger. I’ve only cooked once since but did not have any problems.

Thanks, I'll give that a shot.

 

[FredSC]

I had the same problem yesterday doing baby back ribs. I was using weber pellets so that's not it. I'm going to try what Jesse did and see how that works today when I smoke a turkey breast.

 

[Jesse749]

You’re welcome. I hope it works for you.

 

[abmet]

I had the same issue happen twice with the Weber pellets. I removed the little safety guard wire thing that is above the auger. I’ve only cooked once since but did not have any problems.

Thanks for the idea, I might go ahead and remove that too after my current cook is done. I’ve gone out to inspect the hopper each hour to check levels and push the pellets down the side fill the hole that forms. I’m sure probably don’t need to but this is my first pellet grill and the few stories of them losing temp due to pellets not dropping has me bit paranoid. I’m using Weber grillmaster pellets.

 

[DanaM]

I’ll take the wire grid out and if that doesn’t solve it I’ll add some PTFE adhesive Teflon tape down the long chute. Being a retired IT/Technician I’m always trying to improve things. Sometimes it bites me in the ass, though.

 

[Billybo]

I’ll take the wire grid out and if that doesn’t solve it I’ll add some PTFE adhesive Teflon tape down the long chute. Being a retired IT/Technician I’m always trying to improve things. Sometimes it bites me in the ass, though.

Please keep us posted.

 

[BadAss BBQ]

I’ll take the wire grid out and if that doesn’t solve it I’ll add some PTFE adhesive Teflon tape down the long chute. Being a retired IT/Technician I’m always trying to improve things. Sometimes it bites me in the ass, though.

I heard that there may be an issue with pellets not sliding down the chute as well and was thinking of maybe taping something on the slope might fix it as well as removing the auger finger guard. I guess we have all jumped into the beta testing group as preorder keeners. Good we have this forum for ourselves and Weber.

 

[abmet]

I’m on hour 7 of a pork shoulder at 250. It’s held pretty steady all day though I’ve been pushing the pellets into the hole that forms over the auger hole to be safe. Pellets seem to be filling in OK but I thought they’d slide down the chute on their own better. Maybe with time will get sawdust residue and slide easier. I added more pellets to make sure hopper was fairly full when I ran a quick errand. One time the grill temp dropped to 215 and I thought maybe was clogged but when I went out I could hear pellets dropping and it started climbing without any interaction. I went ahead and stirred the pellets to be safe. Don’t know if had a partial clog that reduced the number of pellets in the fire pot before clearing itself. It’s 50 and just a slight breeze here so I don’t think was weather related. Might not have even noticed if I wasn’t watching so close. I’ll probably remove that safety wire regardless.

 

[DanaM]

Please keep us posted.

 

[DanaM]

Will do.

 

[RedGrave]

Thanks!