Pellet Overfill?

Running an IQ4 this year but in the past used the Traeger controller. Have noted that, with the IQ4, the pellet hopper fills up with ash and pellets during the 12 to 16 hours it is on for competition. Have not had an issue with it smothering the fire out but do monitor the unit with another remote temp gauge with a high and low temp alarm.

Read some of the other threads about air flow with the new unit, that may be an issue for you.

Update: Cleaned out the hopper & ran auger to clear all pellets. Vacumed fire pot, hopper, & auger. Took off the side cover & poured 1 cup of pellets in hopper. Started unit. Unit fired up & seems to be working fine. Fan is running. I noticed every few minutes a loud hum like a vibration. It quits by itself after a minute or 2. I can also slap the side of the hopper & make it stop. I can't tie the vibration sound to any specific thing but still observing.

I find that with the IQ4, on long cooks, the firepot sometimes fill up with too much ash. I can only surmise that that is possibly due to a the variable rate fan not pushing out enough of the ash during the cooking process. As such, I will spoon some of the ashes out of the firepot after about 10-12 hours. That seems to work very well for me.

Please understand that this does not bother me on the IQ4 as I really do like having the variable rate draft fan over the old fixed rate fan. The variable rate fan does a much better job of maintaining the temps than the fixed rate fan.

On the IQ, the fan is "smart" and only runs as needed, not all the time like it does with the Traeger versions. That's one reason some notice a better effect on food is the fan isn't circulating heat all the time.

Do you always start with an empty pot? make sure the ash isn't caked around the ignitor, that's a problem area as the constant heat will actually make it appear solid. But, depends on the ignitor type.

the pile on the left does look partially unburned.

Had to tell from your details, but if the left one was being "smothered" then maybe there was some ash in their first?

Did some cooking last night & encountered the same issue. Took off the side panel & discovered the fan was not working! I had to give it a push with the old "Johnny Cash" finger. Could it be the fan is going out or whatever controls the fan? I will report my findings to Customer Service on Monday. Have 2 weeks until next competition. Hope they have an fast solution.

Was it "ever" working? Remember as I stated, the IQ is an "on/off" type of fan. If it never runs, then you do have a problem. It's needed to push air across the pellets

quote:

Originally posted by DoRagQ:
Did some cooking last night & encountered the same issue. Took off the side panel & discovered the fan was not working! I had to give it a push with the old "Johnny Cash" finger. Could it be the fan is going out or whatever controls the fan? I will report my findings to Customer Service on Monday. Have 2 weeks until next competition. Hope they have an fast solution.

I had the same problems at a couple comps, one time a stray pellet fell through and blocked the fan blade, I always remove the side cover at setup to make sure the fans running, I also carry a spare fan "just in case" You can pick one up at Radio Shck for 20.00

Something that keeps bothering me about your post is the reference to a "fan". There are two "fans" in the FEC100. One cools the auger feed motor and the other blows air into the firepot. If you need to spin start the auger fan you have pellet feed problems. By the description of the problem, I assume you are referring to the draft inducer. This is a 12 volt dc motor that has internal regulation parts that have been known to fail. I changed mine out when it failed at 4 months. A quick replacement in a hurry is the computer cooling fan at Radio Shack for $20.00. You will have to splice the wires in but if yours is like mine, when you get a new one from Cook Shack, you will have to do that anyway because the connectors were made by two different companies and would not fit. I keep the Radio Shack muffin fan as a back up.

Thanks for the responses. This happend during the start up mode way before it has gotten up to tempature. Wouldn't the fan be on until it has reached tempature? To calirfy, I am speaking of the larger fan that blows air into the firepot.

If the fan starts when pushed or feels stuck, you need a new blower. Also check the connectors on the leads. I had to make a hard splice on mine.

quote:

On the IQ, the fan is "smart" and only runs as needed, not all the time like it does with the Traeger versions.

You either have a bad fan or a bad connection. Either way, replace the fan & see what happens. I could be wrong, but I don't agree with SmokinOkie. I know the fan is a multi-speed unit, but I don't think it actually STOPS running. I think it just "slows" down when it reaches its temperature & starts up again when the temp falls below its limits range. All the while, pellets are periodically being dropped in.

Well now, just throw down the gauntlet... It's Fine to disagree we me, after all what do I know, I mean I've only been helping fix these things for five years. No really, it's okay to disagree with me, in a nice way like you did.

That's why I advise call CS, instead of asking forum people, Customer Service is the best one to ask, especially if they'll be sending out any parts to help fix the problem.

Maybe yours doesn't, but mine physically stops, that's why I said it. It doesn't slow, it stops moving. Now sometimes it's for 30 seconds, sometimes shorter, sometimes longer.

The key point is that it's not CONSTANTLY on like the traegers.

I'm pretty specific in what I advise forum members. It is possible there are slight variations in the IQ controller and yours doesn't. But on mine, we even went through a number of tests of the fans before they became public and I had a specific discussion with CS on this.

I can't see what every variation does, but my two IQ's I've worked on, and others' I've worked on, all stop moving.

If you have a specific question about your unit, and it's fans, just call Tony at CS, they'll help you determine if you have an issue or not.

Update Called CS on Monday. Explained issue. They said it could need a new fan & would send me one. It arrived today. Had it installed in 5 minutes & fired the FE right up. While I am not ready to say the problem is fixed it does look promising!

Glad it helped.

Just monitor it (which I'm sure you are) and see how it goes. Let us know if it solved the problem.

Update: FE worked flawless this weekend. Cooked a contest & finished 4th overall, 7th in chicken, 7th in pork, 9th in brisket, & 1st in ribs. Problem solved!

quote:

Originally posted by SmokinOkie:
Well now, just throw down the gauntlet... It's Fine to disagree we me, after all what do I know, I mean I've only been helping fix these things for five years. No really, it's okay to disagree with me, in a nice way like you did.

That's why I advise call CS, instead of asking forum people, Customer Service is the best one to ask, especially if they'll be sending out any parts to help fix the problem.

Maybe yours doesn't, but mine physically stops, that's why I said it. It doesn't slow, it stops moving. Now sometimes it's for 30 seconds, sometimes shorter, sometimes longer.

My fan doesnt stop it seems more like 2 speeds, fast ad faster. If it came to a complete stop I wonder if temp swings would straighten out?

quote:

Originally posted by StlDoc:
My fan doesnt stop it seems more like 2 speeds, fast ad faster. If it came to a complete stop I wonder if temp swings would straighten out?

Call CS if you have an IQ4.

Yes its a IQ4, but it never goes to a complete stop, it does slow down though. maybe half speed