Help! FEC 100

Be sure to ask pellet cooker questions on the FEC forums. It most likely has to do with how the unit started. There will need to be several questions asked of you and the best way to get this resolved would be call Cookshack and ask for Tech service. You can even ask if they will transfer to my cell and I'll talk to you.

My apologies.. Guess I thought that I was asking it in the right forum. Thanks for the info though, I'll definitely call tech support and ask for you.

Let us know what they say. I moved the post to the FE forum (we have different owner forums for the Electrics and the FE because they're totally different)

There are obviously several questions, and the Customer Service folks can walk you through it.

Come back with your info and it might help someone else in the future.

Russ

I don't know if this will help but it was a learning experience for me this week. After I had a grease fire that I still don't understand, I cleaned and scrapped everything in the cooking chamber. I vacuumed the fire box making sure there was no ash left. When I started the cooker I didn't put any pellets in the fire pot knowing the auger was primed and I could hear them dropping. I came out 15 minutes later to find a cold cooker, a full load of pellets in the pot and smoke pouring out. I guess the glow rod timed out before it had enough pellets to cause a fire. As soon as I opened the door a small flame started so I just shut off the switch and closed the door thinking I would let it cool.
When I came back to it in 30 minutes the first thing I noticed the chamber was at 190 degrees. The pellets had burned their self down so I punched the cooker on again and continued with the cook with no further problems.
How his relates to you is had I not intervened, that pile of pellets would have made quite a fire once started, enough to reach the auger for sure.

I have a feeling that you will develop a feel/sense about it and you will do it naturally.

The few pellets in the pot,seems to be an easy approach,and seems to work around the country.

Have fun,and let us know.

ZBO,

I think it depends on how far into the fire pot the ignitor sticks out. I know on both my IQ4 and on Tom's, the ignitor only comes into the fire pot about a half inch. The IQ4s were later changed where the ignitor comes all the way across the bottom of the fire pot. So with mine, the pellets tend to drop in the right side of the pot so there is a chance none are touching the ignitor. As such, Tom and I put a small amount of pellets in the left side of the fire pot to assure ignition.

Don't forget, the most important question:

If you have unburned pellets and no fire, which FE model is it?

ZBO, is this an IQ or not?

The ignitor in the non-IQ's, as we've discussed in some of the very old threads ONLY comes on for three minutes and NEVER again. You'll hear about 3 min turn it on, then off, then back on (this recycles the Ignitor).

The way to solve this issue is when you start a "dial" FE, take a small handful of pellets, throw in the pot and then turn it on. Gives the glow rod something to start with.

The size, shape, etc of the ignitor all work if there are pellets.

Other mention, NEVER NEVER NEVER leave your smoke until the fire is going. It only takes a few minutes and you'll see smoke start. That way, you don't miss a start. The one time you walk away is the one time it doesn't work.

My unit is has an IQ4 controller. As for the glow rod, having owned 5 Traegers, I was aware of the three minute thing. That's why when I looked in on my FEC after I had dropped down to 140 and noticed the glow rod lighting up. I could see a glow through the vent holes, so I assume the controller was kicking it on again.

This is bizarre, but I've had a similar problem on the last two cooks over the last week. I've had my unit (with IQ) for almost a year and a half. No issues. But the last two cooks, I've come out to find smoke pouring from the unit, pellets overflowing, and unusally large fire. Yet the temperature hasn't moved off 100. Both times, I've switched it off to reduce the fire, then restarted, and it was fine. Thoughts?

Call Cookshack Customer Service when you have issues and they can help quickest.

As stated, I NEVER walk away from my unit until it's started. 99 out of 100 you'll see it start right away. But if 1 in a 100 it doesn't you could have an overflow.

Sounds like something with the ignitor, so just call CS.

Thanks.

PS - What's an "overflow"?

quote:

Originally posted by Bluesman 55:
PS - What's an "overflow"?

A pot full of pellets that's not burning so that unburned pellets overflow

Dumb question - what causes it?

quote:

Originally posted by Bluesman 55:
Dumb question - what causes it?

You set a temp on your controller. It tries to feed enough pellets to reach that temp. If there's no fire in the pot, it can't reach the set temp, but it keeps trying by feeding more pellets.

All the more reason not to leave the unit until you are sure the fire has started.
Thanks!

quote:

Originally posted by SmokinOkie:
Let us know what they say. I moved the post to the FE forum (we have different owner forums for the Electrics and the FE because they're totally different)

Russ

So it's been a while since I originally posted concerning my problem. As with just about any issue, Cookshack's customer support is rock solid! I left a message for CS, and got a call back within an hour. I spent exactly three minutes trouble shooting based on Bill's advice. It seems that my controller has gone bad. Not to worry, I'll have a new one at my door by Friday thanks to the two year equipment warranty!
Just so everyone knows, I set my controller to smoke. The result is supposed to be 15 secs of dropping pellets and 45 secs of hold. Mine just kept dropping pellets. Guess the pit was as anxious as I was to get the BBQ going!