Fe100 Igniter problems

Just some thoughts.

It's probably not the igniter not "relighting" as it's not designed to.

It might be it's not working hardly at all OR more likely you're emptying out pellets between cooks.

It is designed to run for the first 3 min then doesn't run again until you turn the controller completely off.

Do you clean the system out completely of pellets between smokes? That will be the problem, here's why. If it is completely cleaned, then when you start the auger, it will take a while for the pellets to feed all the way down. By the time they get past the 3 min, they probably won't ignite.

And absolute sure fire method to prevent this, IF you clean pellets out. Fill the bin with pellets, start the auger. Take a small handful of pellets, small, and toss some into the burn pot. These will light from the igniter and then stay lit until the auger spits out enough. Some people will also turn it on for three min. wait. turn it off then turn it back on.

IF the igniter is bad, you can still use it until you replace the igniter, but I don't think that's what's going on.

Manual Ignition method
I've run the smoker before without the igniter, I just get one of the wax starters, put a chunk in the pot, let it get good and flamey and then put a handful of pellets in. Once they're on fire, then I turn on the machine and it starts dropping pellets.

If that works, then it's probably time to call CS on Monday and get a new igniter.

Only had one go bad on me, but it was after a REALLY HOT fire in the pot, like warp the door hot.

Well here are two things I can think of. One the igniter is going to go on and then shut off after three mins. That is it unless you trun it off and then back on. I don't think it was an igniter problem here. I think you might not have had pallets in the auger then by the time the pellets reached the auger the pot was just hot enough to make the pellets smolder.

I don't know why you were not getting smoke out of the side stack and only out of the doors. That should not be the case since the door is sealed with a gasket. I would turn it off then back on after you have taken some of the pellets out and see what it does.

Good Luck,
Craig

for manual start you can use "stove Bright" gel. squirt some on and light.

If the unit is new, check the run/delay setting on the back of the controller. If the fire burns down too low during the delay, the fresh pellets fail to ignite quickly and the firepot fills with pellets. This cuts off most of the combustion air. the fire can continue to smolder, but never gets back to a hot fire because of the lack of air. It could be the run/delay fuction is going bad in the controller.

Thanks Guy"s:

I did clean out the hopper on both of my Fe's but only the hopper & not the whole auger part, other than taking an air hose to blow them out it think there should still have pellets in the front part of the auger but not sure if the air would blow it clean clear. I will ask about the run delay with CS to see how it works & if i can test it by myself. Thanks for all the input, it gives me some better ides to work with. Also the units are about the same age, Feb 2004 but i only use them once or twice, maybe 3 times a month & always keep them indoors or in my trailer so the pellets stay dry.

Earl

You can actually check the settings yourself. Take the control panel (after unplugging the smoker) unscrew the screws, pull it out of the unit and look for a place square with a dial inside it...what setting is it on?