Long story short, the flame in my pellet grill firebox spread into the auger that supplies the wood pellets (the pellets caught fire) – then that fire spread into the pellet hopper because of strong wind – and family member panicked and dumped water on the pellets in the hopper to put out the fire. So now the auger is all jammed up with the waterlogged pellets and ashes. The auger motor tries to start turning when switched on, but it can't. I've cleaned everything I can out of the hopper and auger, but I can't reach the rest of the jam.
From looking at tutorials online, I need to disassemble and clean out the auger. I followed the steps to disassemble the body of the grill and I've reached the auger and motor. But there's this Auger pin (shown in the photos) that connects the auger to the auger motor. In most models this pin is literally just a pin with a small clip that can easily removed by hand, but of course that isn't the case with mine lol. Instead, this pin is a screw that only works with an allen key (is this called a Hex Screw?), and is secured on the other end with a small nut.
It's at an angle that I'm finding impossible to get to. I have an Allen/Hex key that fit the screw at first, and I was able to (mostly) hold the nut still using a small wrench underneath. But that didn't matter – when I tried to unscrew it a couple times using the allen key, the screw stripped away immediately (GREAT). Now I am stuck – I have no other tools that work for this job, no other allen key sizes fit, none of my drill bits work or fit for it. I tried using a piece of latex glove (the bright green dot you now see in the screw) with an Allen key to try and get traction to turn with, no dice. I hate the idea of having to replace a several hundred dollar Smoker or spend a bunch of money on a repair just because this one stupid little pin may be the only hurdle to get past to clear this jammed auger, but I have no idea what to do now. Any ideas?
by WowIfOnly
16 Comments
Hey! It looks like you posted an image!
If this is a photo of one of your cooks, maybe share the recipe and techniques
used, as it’s almost guaranteed one of the first questions you will be asked!
*What seasoning did you use?
*How long did you cook it, and at what temperature?
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Use vice grips or Drill it out… Or cut the nut off.
If no clearance for any of that I’d cut the stub shaft on the motor off. Replacement motors are like $20.
Buy an “easy out” set
It has saved me time and frustration it comes in handy.
Get yourself a dremel if you don’t have one, use a small cut off wheel to make a slot directly in the middle of the stripped head. Use a flat head to remove
If you have a throw away allen key JB weld it to the steippes head, let it cure, and screw it out.
Take a slightly bigger hex tip bit or socket. Smack it into place and ease it out
easy… family member gets you a new smoker….
Needle nose vice grips and wd40 rust remover
Drill the head off and drive the rest out. Make sure your drill bit is bigger than the bolts threads.
Turn the shaft 180 degrees so the nut is on top. find a small pair of vice-grips, most likely going to use the narrow jaw type, clamp down on the allen side with these vice-grips, HARD! until it locks, use a ratchet with an extension and approriate sized socket to remove the nut.
I did the needle nose Vise Grip thing on mine. It was super frustrating, but I was eventually able to grip the bolt head and turn the lock-nut off of the bottom with a socket.
Impact driver time. [https://www.homedepot.com/p/Powerbuilt-7-5-in-Impact-Driver-Kit-648002/204505142?source=shoppingads&locale=en-US&fp=ggl](https://www.homedepot.com/p/Powerbuilt-7-5-in-Impact-Driver-Kit-648002/204505142?source=shoppingads&locale=en-US&fp=ggl)
Time to buy a new Traeger
Vice grips and a wrench on the nut. Easy.
You’re going to have to drill it out now.