Hello all, I've posted in here a couple times about my hopper smoking. I believe it's due to airflow issues, I'm just not sure as to why now. I found some hairline openings on the bottom of the firepot that I covered with high heat JB weld. First firepot photo with a fire in it is it operating at 500 degrees, I turned it down to 300 degrees, second fire photo in order to get a better photo. I found at 300 degrees, the fire inside the firepot is blasting the auger hole which is eventually catching fire. I found that if I use the blow function on my shopvac and blow air inside the hopper, the fire inside the fire pot is going around the auger.

Is this just a design flaw of these grills or is there something else maybe going on?

I've replaced the board, temp sensor, auger motor, fan motor, and ignitor. I've taken this thing apart about a dozen times now and I'm about out of ideas except for maybe finding a way to presurize the hopper at this point.

by InvestigatorSoft3990

7 Comments

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  2. SurpriseButtStuff

    Have you tried replacing the firebox? They’re like $15 on Amazon.

  3. kutchduino

    I’ve seen your posts before and wish you luck.

    My grill is a discontinued one from Smoke Daddy, it’s a Pellet Pro Sidekick, portable table top unit.

    In the hopper, there are vents that allow air movement in there from where all the electronics, blower fan, etc. Plenty of air flow, this prevents what you’re experiencing though don’t know how to replicate it.

    Do wish you luck! Maybe a small 12V computer fan will work.

  4. NomisGn0s

    I have seen your posts several times and my heart goes out to you. Must be frustrating. But I think you are on to something. I would definitely get a new firepot since they are cheap. It could be there isn’t enough air pressure to “push” things outwards. What if you disconnect it all but the fan? Put your hand over the firepot and feel the air coming out.

    I also read in your past post about the fan and auger motor being replaced. I saw a video you posted with the firepot full of pellets. I never paid attention to my firepot but not sure if I ever seen it that full.

    When I installed a new controller in mine I did run into the issue of putting the wrong connection to the wrong item. Like fan was hooked up to auger and vice versa. It happens because some controllers use the same connectors and makes things swapped possible.

  5. Free-Finding9047

    I think you are onto something. For whatever reason, your airflow to the firepot is incorrect and allows the flame to ignite pellets in the auger. Good luck on figuring it out.

  6. scott81425

    I tried to tell from your previous video, but could not. Does your unit have a hopper fan, and a combustion fan?

  7. Lackonia

    Have you change the auger pause setting? If you are feeding the pellets too fast they will catch fire. You probably need to slow the auger down and have longer pauses between turns.

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