Smoke coming out of hopper okay?

[SupportKing]

I just seasoned my grill and I filled it with maybe 3-4lbs of pellets because I didn't want a mess trying to remove pellets after seasoning. About 20 minutes in, there is a small gap in the pellet hopper (obv because I didn't put many pellets in) that is letting smoke out.

Is this okay? I’ve never heard of any back burn in the smokefire but I just want to make sure bc now I feel uneasy leaving it unattended.

 

[Alanh]

You might want to lkift the lid to the hopper and see if the pellets have not dropped down and are leaving a gap! If so, don't put ypur hand down but encourage the pellets to drop.

 

[SupportKing]

They was definitely a gap, but is a gap okay? I am worried that if I do an overnight cook that something might happen

 

[Alanh]

There have been issues with pellets not feeding into the chute for burning. This site is a fund of information on that... but if you fill the hopper it is always possible to dump the contents into a bag. If you have a gap above the feed point - where the "finger guard" is located - just encourage the pellets to fall and fill above. I have always begun a long cook with a full hopper and have never seen smoke coming out of the hopper.

 

[SupportKing]

There have been issues with pellets not feeding into the chute for burning. This site is a fund of information on that... but if you fill the hopper it is always possible to dump the contents into a bag. If you have a gap above the feed point - where the "finger guard" is located - just encourage the pellets to fall and fill above. I have always begun a long cook with a full hopper and have never seen smoke coming out of the hopper.

I noticed that if I filled it up it stopped smoking as well. I spoke to a Weber Rep and she said it's fine if there's smoke, and to expect some smoke especially if the pellets are low. I totally forgot about contacting support for questions

 

[Mr. X]

wow yes that is not good. were the temps dropping too?