Traeger Temperature Trouble Shooting
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- Опубліковано 22 гру 2013
- Smoking Barrel BBQ show notes:
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Today I wanted to test the temperature of my Traeger Texas. On a previous cook/ grill I could not get the temperature up to 400 degrees. I called Traeger and they sent me a list of things to troubleshoot. I will be going over that list during this video and you'll see at the end, all is good.
Below are the troubleshooting steps provided by the Traeger Tech Support:
1. Are you using Traeger branded pellets, and are they fresh with no signs of moisture? (they will be softer and crumble easily if rolled between fingers)
2. Check the RTD probe on the left side inside of your grill to make sure it is clean and not bent or touching the side of the grill
3. You can remove all of the pellets from the hopper and make a mark on the auger with a pen, turn on the grill and time how long it takes for the auger to make a complete rotation. This should be within 35-40 second range
4. Check the induction fan (this will be the larger of the 2 fans and should be running constantly) to make sure it is running constantly. You can also test the fan by sticking a pencil into the fan to see if it stops easily. If it stops easily, it is most likely not pushing enough air to heat the pellets correctly and may need replaced.
5. You can use a meat thermometer to check the temperature of the air coming out of the chimney to see if it matches the digital and dome thermometers.
6. You can remove the grate, drip pan and heat baffle from the inside of the grill and check the inside of the firepot to see if there are any rusted out holes other than the 7 pre-drilled holes that came with the firepot.
Check your chimney cap and make sure there is at least 1" clearance from the bottom of the cap to the top of the chimney flue.
Success! The Traeger actually reached 400 degree and beyond.
Unrelated to BBQing, but part of my total mission to share this experience with those that are interested, I have had trouble on past recordings where my voice was way too quiet, so quiet that I did not post the videos. Trying to record these on a small budget and, as kind of a "One Man Army", I needed a solution that would allow me to have good sound and be simple enough so that I could do this all with my smartphone. I use an iPhone5s. It's like a mini recording studio in my hand but, as I mentioned, I have had trouble with sound or recording of my voice. So the mic I am testing is a RODE smartLav. This mic records at a high volume level.
www.rodemic.com/mics/smartlav
I edit my videos using iMovie. My voice is coming in kind of hot, so I used iMovie to lower the volume. You can still hear the sound clip. This is a work in progress. Please HELP if you have another option for me.
Thanks for watching, I realize this video was all over the place. If I had to do it again, I would have switched the order of the troubleshooting steps. This was educational and we did confirm I can get the temperature up to 400.
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Check for weeds, or in my case, bamboo leaves, blocking the air in take under pellet box. That fixed it for me. But this video is what made me look under there, so thank you so much!!!
Thank you for this video. I was having trouble getting above 300. After going thru your video, I got my grill back up to 425. THANKS!!!!
What was the problem? I am glad I could help ...
I really think you did a great video. I have problems with my Traeger so I was trying to diagnose what was wrong. Thanks for sharing and helping ...
Thanks so much for this video! My mini was only getting up to about 280, I watched this, and found out that my probe was touching the side! Immediately up to normal temperature after I moved it back.
Thank you for creating this video! Super helpful!
Thanks for the video & instructions! I didn’t realize that my thermometer probe was so dirty that it was the cause of my temp issues. Cleaned it up and it started working normal again. This video was very helpful. Thanks!
Thanks for this video. Followed your steps and I can now get full temp out of my cooker. Was stuck below 300 and now I can get back up over 400. Thanks again!!!
Excellent!
Sound was good and it was a very informative vid
Thanks! Video was very good, and helpful, sound was fine.
Thanks. Very helpful & I enjoyed watching.
Great Video. It don't have to be perfect to be excellent. You answered a lot of questions that many of us have. Keep plugging along.
Thanks Bubbas-Backyard.
Thanks a bunch. Traeger sent me a fan thinking that was the issue. Step 5 was my issue. Traeger sending me a new control unit. Thank you for the video. Helped a lot
I am glad you were able to work it out with the Folks at Traeger, looks like they still have good customer service.
this is a good video, ive never been able to get my lil tex above 360 or so, not even the first cook
I have two tex elites. Outdoor temps affect the probe vs. dome considerably. What I do, I clean the inside good, scrape it all down, vacuum it out, clean the probes. I run it at different temp settings allowing it to stabilize and adjust the gap of the cap accordingly to stabilize the two temp readings. I do this during each season as the temps outside change. I never experience more than 10 degrees variance, even grilling when it's snowing and blowing outside (Buffalo :) ). I have never experienced flare ups. I have had to replace the hot rod a few times over the last 5 years or so but, I use mine maybe 5 times a week. We cook just about anything you can imagine on it. Threw out my propane grill after the first week of cooking on it. Wonder if I can buy stock on pellets? LOL
Thank you for sharing!
Step 4,
My fan was jammed up, fixed it in seconds!
This video is awesome... I love you just walked through trouble-shooting steps as you did. In my case, I pulled out my Traeger for the first time this summer and the pellets wouldn't light. Only when I watched your video did I realize my main fan wasn't spinning (same problem as Brian)... I used a pencil against the fan and rotated it a number of times and hey presto, it started up fine and my pellets were burning.I'll probably buy a new fan and probably a new hot rod in anticipation of possible future problems, but you saved my day!
Thanks for the great video.
Thanks dude!
Hey thanks for the tip man!! My temp dropped yesterday and didnt know why. Then I saw this video and once you said check that the probe is clean, I was like "your supposed to clean that?!" Lmao i might be a ginger but now i feel like blonde. It works now. So thanks and cheers!! 🍺😁🤘
Great to hear!
Okay this is a great detailed video, and I am actually having the exact same problem with the "max" setting on my grill. In fact your Big Tex appears to be the same year, make, etc as mine and after the first 3-4 months I am having the very same symptoms! I've checked all of the stuff you've been told to do - but what did Traeger tell you now that you've obviously done them all?
Good video. I have a traeger jr. You mention how hot this grill will get. Is it normal for the jr to get really hot? I set my grill to 225....let it preheat with the lid open for about 10 minutes. It's nothing for the grill to get up to 320 degrees.....at a setting of 225. Is this normal for the smaller grill?
Nice voice. Loud & clear
Thanks, I appreciate the kind words.
When I cook sometimes the tempeture goes down like it's shutting down. Is that normal? Do I need to push the p-settings to a certain number.
Thx for this vid... Just got one and notice my big fan was stuck by a wire...
I have the Traeger Lil Tex with the 2 meat probes. Both the meat probes quit working. I do not know if it the probes or the button or doing something wrong?
Good info. Thank you. My Lil Tex reads about 350 on high, and maybe that is OK. Checking temps in other places reads 400+.
Lots of help thank you
I'm having issues with my Traeger, but it's getting way too hot. With the dial set to smoke, it hovers at about 375.
The small ‘fan’ is just to indicate when the auger is running.
So the fix was, that the digital control was reading low, or was too close to the left side?
Traeger grill- good. Traeger nformation- lacking.
One of the many things they don’t initially tell customers (AFAIK) is that if you don’t get rid of the ash, you won’t achieve the proper temp. I use a shop vac and vacuum out the reside every couple of weeks and have no (more) problems with temperature.
Had the older Traeger Century 6 years that struggled getting up to 400 when set to high (450). It had the older red display. My new Traeger Silverton with the blue display goes straight up to 450 when set to high (450).
nice, happy grilling and thanks for the information.
It is going back to Costco. Bought my Texas Elite from Costco in fall of 2016. It was great for the first year. We love Rib Eye steaks and we would smoke them 30 minutes then turn it up on high and it sort of would sear them leaving grill marks which was fine. They were wonderful with a one inch smoke ring around the steaks yummy. I smoked several pork shoulders last year at low heat and no problems. I have religiously kept this grill clean because I like things clean and neat. Fired it up two days ago (outside temp 63 degrees) and it wouldn't get past 350 (THIS IS WITH THE THERMAL BLANKET ON) and it took over an hour to get there. Started checking the internet found your video and did all seven steps. I removed the pellets that were in the hopper and used a new bag of Treager pellets. Turned it on to smoke for five minutes then turned it on high and it took 42 minutes to get to 420 then it would drop to 380 then to 400 and then to 375. I expect it to do 450 on high consistently when I need it and it won't. So, it is going back to Costco. I am going to buy the Pit Boss they have for $599.00 only because of Costco great return policy. If it doesn't do the job it will go back to Costco then I will go back to a gas barbecue and a electric smoker with the heat element in the bottom that you place chunks of hard wood around that worked perfectly for pork shoulders over 10 years.
After researching and finding this is a common problem for many I decided to return it no problem ordered the Pit Boss from Costco. Even though the reviews said Treager tried to help them and sent out new parts to "fix" the problem I just don't feel it is my responsibility to become the repair mechanic guy on an item under two years old. Well we will see how this Pit Boss does.
I hear you kind of a bummer.
My Treager Ironwood is going back today, this is not smoking meats as I did for years on an offset iron smoker (wood fired)
buildup of residue on the internal temp probe can cause the unit to read the temperature as lower than it actually is.
How do I clean the probe without damaging it?
Pretty sure I need to raise my chimney cap. I can't get over 350° with the old original controller with smoke,med,high
My 780 ignite but dont go to preheat mode...i get a slow ignite warning...i tried for an hour with restarts.. primed the auger...but still the same...i hear the fan rev up and down when it just should speed up and pump more pellet into the firepot...evening ended that i pulled the plug and called it a night...
love the running banner letting us know to excuse his dyslexia lol. Don't worry about it!
I had this problem when I bought my traeger. I know they say to use their pellets but they do not get that hot or produce the smoke. I tried a couple of different brands and Green mountain, lumberjack and BBQ delight. I prefer BBQ delights they produce the heat and smoke I like. Lumber jack makes a good one but I have to drive to far away to get them.
+Kaylon Mayfield Lumber Jack is good but I have the same problem, far away. Found how to get it is let friends know you need it and there is a cookout waiting :) :) :) I normally get 4 bags at a time and start to panic when I get down to two. Still not enough initial smoke for my taste but handle that by putting a smoke tube in for the first hour or so.
LOOKS LIKE MORE CHINESE JUNK!!! AND PISS POOR CUSTOMER SERVICE!!!
my Traeger issue is . smoking bacon and its goin over 300 and now smoken whats going on
I had the "flame up" happen yesterday, and spoke with Traeger this morning. I was told that this is due to a behavior of the grill they call "tunneling", where there is a gap of some length with no pellets in the auger, even when the pellet box is full. Depending on the length of the gap the grill will either shut down (I also had this happen) or will "flame up". Periodic stirring of the pellets in the box remedies this, per Traeger. Meaning that I can't leave the grill unattended. As I bought this grill specifically because I was told that I could leave it unattended, I'll return it to Costco. Any benefit is far outweighed by the fire hazard.
Prior reports show that Traeger has known for several years about this behavior with at least the Traeger Jr if not also with other models. Yet they have not addressed their serious design flaw. Traeger executives thereby leave their customers to experience the safety hazard of "flame ups" or the frustration of shut downs. Zero stars.
MORE OVERPRICED JUNK. WORST PART IS SHITTY CUSTOMER SERVICE. SICK AND TIRED OF OVERPRICED, OVERRATED CRAP WITH NO SUPPORT TO GO WITH IT. YOU WANT MEAT, EAT IT RAW, NO PROBLEM.
I've had two smoker fires. One happened because the smoker flamed out (shut down) due to too much ash. I vacuum it before every smoke now. The other happened on a startup and I can't remember why. The symptom of a smoker fire is huge clouds of milky while smoke. If this happened to me again I'll unplug the smoker, the idea is that without a draft it will burn out without (another) catastrophic smoker fire.
Thanks this worked for me
Glad we could help.
a former dealer told of my 1st Traeger lil tex elite that he took rod out of center of auger to get temps higher after i told him my new pro 22 wouldnt get over 400 degrees has anybody done this?
I was having really bad temp swings, changed a bunch of parts, still doing it, then vacuumed out all the pellets, changed them over to some brand new ones, it’s a lot better but still has about a 40 degree difference from cut in to cool down, treager tech support was of very little help.
Clean the temp probe for the treager, the one mounted inside the grill with steel wool make sure its nice and shiny. Was told to stirring the hopper bc pellet get hung up could be the problem also.
Thank you for the video. It was very informative. I NEVER attempt to run at the super high temps, it is after all, a 'Smoker'. Smoking is supposed to be low and slow. I have had inconsistent temps. I will clean my probe- it is filthy.
Actually its both a smoker AND a wood fired grill. No need to restrict its use to low an slow.
were new at this pit boss grill can anyone tell me if the auger is supposed to run continuously
I do not think so but not 100% sure.
Anyone have a video of one mine says 300 on unit but is actually 250.
My problem is mine is getting hotter than what I have it set at, set at 225 and it went up to 300 and is slowly dropping. Anyone have this happen?
The gap I was told 3/4” by tech sports support
Can you tell me what error code er 1 is
Thank you for the video. I have no idea what was really wrong with the Traeger, but I was having problems getting it back to proper temperature. With your help I was able to get it back over 400. I suspect it was the probe not being clean.
+Brad Orahood Have you solved the issue Brad??? We bought our grill 3 days ago and have the same problem!
Great job! I need more thermometers! Lol
I agree, you know I was just trying to learn but I am glad you noticed and you made me laugh in side. Happy Slow Cooking.
I have cooked on my Traeger JR about 8 times now and starting to experience problems of wide temp swings and it won't hold a temp below 250. I bought it at Costco and I think a REC TEC will be on the patio soon. I have cleaned the Traeger meticulously every second use. Do some home work and buy a REC TEC.
just bought the junior elite from costco as well and first time using it im having huge temp swings also. looked up rec tec because of your comment and wow they look nice man!
cap should be at 1" for best results.
I use a “welders blanket” from Harbor Freight for $23 when it cools off outside. It insulates the Traeger a little bit and keeps the heat in and reduced the amount of pellets you have to burn. Beats $120+ for a fitted blanket from Traeger.
KEVIN MANNING
Do you cover entire bucket with blanket
Rich Keys I usually just lay it over the top where most of the heat escapes around the lid.
I pitched in a few extra bucks on Amazon for the carbon fiber welders blanket. Feels like felt and does not leave you with fiberglass splinters. BIG help on keeping my Traeger Century at temp.
How long does it take to get your grill to 400. Yesterday I timed and it took 30 min. (ProSeries 34)
Cleaning out my lil tex elite and cleaning the RTD it raised 20 degrees. Went from 370 to 390. I think I even saw it flicker to 395. So we'll see.
Nice thanks for the tip
Cleaning the Temperature Prob seems to be helping several people. Thanks again for communicating your success. IO am sure many other will benefit.
So confirmation I did watch it sit at 395. It's getting colder in the Pacific Northwest. I cleaned out the pit pretty good. Scrubbed the RTD. I'm also gonna let this rest of these pellets burn all the way out. Then buy a new bag and let them run through and see how it goes. I keep them in a bucket with a lid.
I'll update in a week. Thanks for this video man.
After watching a few videos including this one to get ideas on heat problems, I went through my 10 year old Traegar lil' Tex that was having heating issues today. The Auger was previously cleaned out from getting clogged with build up of wood dust, the heat pot is starting to get some holes in it from rust, but the biggest issue was the smokestack. When I removed the top of the smokestack cover, I could then see that only about 20% of the smokestack was free for airflow. It was all grease and soot building up in the smokestack.
I cleaned the smokestack by using WD-40, several shop towels, and a large screwdriver to help scrape out the soot. I then did my normal monthly cleaning of the inside of the grill (Vacuum ,etc). I also removed the pellet hopper to clean the feed motors of dust buildup. Now that it is all back together, the grill is heating up like it should. The smokestack was the item I have been neglecting over the years. Had no idea it was building up like it was.
My Traegar is working great again!
great thanks thanks.
10yo little Tex, same issue. Temp would not go above 300 (smoke was around 140). Smokestack was choked up.
So did you ever get it to go over 400? Mine won't go over 400 and high is supposed to be 450
For me I most decided to use the Traeger for smoking but I may try again here shortly.
I have issues where the right side of my Traeger Texas can get 80 degrees hotter than the left. Any ideas?
Sometimes that's just the nature of the pellet grill. Lay down slices of bread and toast them...find the hot and cool spots on your grill. Then, during your cook rotate and/or flip the meat accordingly for an even cook.
Sorry for the late reply but if the hotter side is on the right close down the chimney otherwise I do not.
Anyone have a high heat prob. No matter what I set it to the temp keeps rising to 500 as if it’s set to the highest temp possible. I can no longer use it
Great video thank you 👍🏼
I have 1 Large BGE, and 2 Traegers. Your issue is your using a BGE thermometer on a Traeger! :-)
***** I love it. You can't beat it for direct grilling steaks. I owned the BGE before I owned a Traeger. To be honest, I only use the BGE for Steaks now. Only because the ease of the Traeger is hands down better and I get an awesome product. Every once and while I might do some bread or pizza on the egg.
I’ve had my BGE for 20 years and it works as well as the day I bought it. If you enjoy slow cooking (aka barbecue) there is no better investment. Ribs, turkey, brisket - the BGE cannot be beat for flavor. I use my Traeger as a fallback when I’m lazy - which is increasingly often. ;)
IF YOU WERE A ROCKET SCIENTIST, YOU COULD PROBABLY FIGURE OUT HOW TO COOK A BURGER ON ONE OF THESE CHINESE JUNKERS!!
trying to make some ribs and this thing wont stay on 225 worth shit. goes from 170 to 300 to 230 to 275 to 234 to 180 to 250..its fucking ridiculous. wont stabilize on a temp at all
don't need to use Traeger pellets I'm sure. I'm having trouble with mine being TOO hot.
Sorry you are running too hot, this maybe a "p" setting adjustment you need to make. I have not had to do this but Traeger support should be able to lead you in the right direction.
I guess constant maintenance should be carried after every use
aug er
Your video was not perfect as you mentioned however answered my question thank you.
Good to hear, thanks
Hi do you still have the treager?
Mine is the opposite - I have it on 200,but it's 350!
Imagine spending 800$ on something you have to do all this to for it to work
Sizzel TV, I like the name. Actually I have really just used this as a smoker and anything I want to sear I do on a different grill. I personally think of the Traeger as a smoker and I believe it does a great job. It is very user friendly. As an example I can start a 321 rib smoke and during the first 3 hours I don't even have to be at home.
better idea, put this junk to the curb and get a pit boss. LOL
Traeger used to be considered the Cadillac of smokers. I've owned 2. One very old, one very new. I've had more issues with the new one that I paid way too much for than I ever had with my old one. I'll never buy this trash companies product again.
Quit over thinking your Traegers and cook your food until it is done. Been running one for 17 years and I am amazed at all the newbees and how twisted up you all get over little things. Relax and let the Traeger do its magic.
Mine overheats It's a piece of crap
Very sorry to hear that. Seems like that should be able to be fixed. Back in the day Traeger had good customer service hopefully that is still the case.
Can't keep my temp up. Cooking 50 deg cooler.
Junk…
More worthless BS. Does anybody actually have a video of fixing the heat problem? Many traegers start dropping their temperatures for no reason. I havent seen anyone fix the problem. Showing a working traeger does no good.
Bob Huffman
YODER PELLET SMOKERS ARE WAY BETTER!
good to know, thanks I am considering one at some point. The Traeger certainly seems to do the trick for smoking and slow cooks.
I have one, it’s such BS that you have to do all this BS to smoke some meat after you pay this much for a machine. What a fkn rip off. I’ll be selling my treager and buying something else. I’m sick of messing with this dumb smoker. Been 3 hours today figuring out the temp, keeps moving 180, then back to 290 loo😅 what a joke
Considering how high traeger sets their prices, any issues are unacceptable.
No, there are several variation depending on your climate, the adjustment of the chimney, your pellets being to moist, etc. So this is a helpful video for those adjustments.