My pellets got wet last night so I’ve been trying to clean out my hopper but the problem is I’ve stripped the screw to the grate on it trying to get it off. I’ve used a vaccum to get out most of the pellets and it was all the ones on the top that looked mushy and ruined. Now all that’s left is the pellets on the bottom that I can’t reach anymore since the grate is blocking me. 95% of them look like normal pellets and not broken/mushy like the ones on the top did. Am I safe to just start a burn to get those ones out or am I still risking them getting stuck and ruining the smoker? I did start the smoker and they were burning for 5-10mins before I stopped it and figured I’d better ask here first before I go ahead and I imagine the ones right at the bottom are in the best shape but as I get to the ones at the end it may be more of a problem. Thanks in advanced for any help
by TheNumberPurplee
8 Comments
Is there a cleanout chute on the back of the hopper?
Got a smaller pipe you could attach to the vacuum to fit through the grate?
I can tell you from experience, I tried starting my smoker after this exact scenario and snapped my auger. Come to find out the pellets in the auger swelled up and turned to basically concrete. I don’t recommend starting it knowing they were wet, but to each their own
Drill out the screw as you don’t need all of them to keep it in place. Some don’t even use the grates.
Cut the grate
Drill the screw hang the grate on the wall.
Why do manufacturers put the grate on anyway? So we aren’t tempted to stick our fingers in the auger? Makes no sense to have that there at all…
Drill the head off the stripped screw. It really is the easiest way to handle that.