Skip to main content

14 replies

PG1000 heat box side-wall issue

G grills365Member
I have an PG1000 that I got for Father's Day in 2012. I do love the grill but a couple months ago the v-shaped mounts inside the fire box that hold the flame bar crumbled to rusty-dust and fell away leaving large holes in the metal walls exposing the insulation within. Has anyone else experienced this? I am somewhat stumped on what to do for repair. Anyone have ideas? See pictures enclosed

Attachments

Hide
Images (1)
  • Img_3788sml
Original Post

Replies sorted oldest to newest

O olysmokesMember
Grills365, curious as to why it happened. Maybe/possibly lots & lots & lots of grilling at high temps of 500-600*? From your location in MN, don't think it was due to corrosive environment such an ocean/salt water environment. It would be nice to know the cause of the problem so other owners won't have same issue. What shape is the "flame-tamer" bar in that sat on those brackets in? Did it also crumble away?
I'm sure CS will help you get a fix - they are great folks!
G grills365Member
I will give a complete update soon but yes, CS has a kit that they make up to replace as each of the firebox walls that get damaged. I spoke with Tony and he was fantastic about the whole thing.

I do not do a lot of high temp grilling -- I would say averaged over a year I grill twice a week with sustained higest temps in the 450 - 500 range (only long enough to sear steaks so were talking 4-8mins at that temp.) I probably smoke items 1.5 times per month averaged over a year, but those are never more than 250 degrees, and often much lower for fish.

Evidently it is not an uncommon issue. From what I was told, even with their high quality stainless, the temps affect the structure of the metal and it breaks down causing this to happen.

The flame tamer bar you asked about that sat on the brackets lasted about 2/3rds as long as the brackets before it collapsed in half, and that is taking on the direct flame.

Once I get my repair kit I will post what the repair kit is like with a pic.
P papasmurphMember
Hi Grilss365
Just did the same replacement. Not difficult but you will need a super sharp drill bit to get through metal, I didn't use the screws they sent but used a smaller drill bit and riveted with small washer. I had to raise the pellet flow into hoper as it seemed to not put out as much heat as prior but everything is good now. Good luck.
G grills365Member
I finally got this bugger taken care of. Thankfully we got some unseasonably warm weather here and I could get outside a few times to deal with it, plus the fact that when I first tried the install, my pellet chute snapped right off as it turned out to be rotted as well and I had to order/wait for that to get here first...

Anyway, I've included a picture of the completed project.

Here's a few tips if you have to do it yourself:

1-VERY SHARP HIGH QUALITY drill bit(s) are REQUIRED!! Drilling thru that stuff is HARD and I broke 2 bits before completing with the 3rd dull when done.

2-I needed to get a 90 degree angled chuck attachment for my drill as I could not fit drill bit + drill gun into the small area at proper angles to drill holes and secure the screws.

3-Make sure you install the chute side wall halves FIRST. If you do the back and front walls first like I did, you wont be able to insert the chute wall parts as the flame bar mounts will get in the way and you will need to subject them to some bending:-)

4-Make sure when installing the back wall that it is high enough to clear the ash pan underneath. Mine is a little tight. The same for the side walls, but its less of an issue as the width of the box is wider than the tray itself.

5-the pellet chute can be removed w/o taking the entire hopper apart. Just remove the two screws in the hopper holding the chute, and while lifting/pulling on the chute turn on the grill so the auger spins. This helps get it unhooked from the auger (do the same in reverse to install the new part.)

Attachments

Hide
Images (1)
  • GrillDone2
Last edited by grills365
G grills365Member

The repair has held up very well (some screws that hold the plates to the old walls burn up and need replacing periodically), but to be fair I have been grilling less since the repair compared to before it.

After completing the firebox repair, I found that I now had a problem with "sawdust" falling thru into the fan/wiring compartment which would then pile up inside and ultimately start falling thru the vent grate on the bottom of the hopper area and making a nice pile on the shelf that connects the four legs of the smoker together.

The sawdust was broken pellet bits that inevitably get pushed up by the auger on their way to the top of the chute.  This was somehow caused by the repair process I did to the firebox wall repair (loosening the chute and auger assembly screws to wiggle side plating around it.)  It seemed that no matter what I tried to align the auger to the top of the chute I could not make the parts connect/seal 100% and bits would fall out as the auger pushed the pellets over the hump.  As you could imagine, after a while a huge pile of sawdust built up in the wiring area caused a fire.  Luckily I was there when it started and avoided catastrophy (like my deck catching fire!)

I replaced the fan which burned up and fixed some wiring insulation problems, but still could not make the connection perfect and sawdust kept piling up. Ultimately I was frustrated with parts burning out and the problems I had and got a new grill of a different brand (this is a couple years after the initial fix) and use the FE1000 at my cabin sparingly keeping the bottom vent cover off.  Coincidently, just a few days ago I decided to try pluging the "leaks" with a bunch of high-temp silicone and yesterdays test shows no more sawdust leaking out so maybe it will be ok now.

By the way, I would like to mention that I miss my FE1000 and prefer it over my replacement pellet grill even though my new one has WIFI connection which is truely nice when you need to leave your house near the end of long smokes.  I won't mention the name of it but the name makes you think of "Yodeling"...  The FE uses WAY less pellets, the heat is more consistant vertically on the indirect smoking side,  it is better insulated for use in the winter w/o having to buy and extra blanket to cover it and is better for grilling as it has less of a unusable "hot spot" right over the can which my new one suffers from which just reduces what is already a small grilling area.

I wish there was a pellet grill that had a large direct grilling surface because I am finding what I really need and want is a smaller sized pure pellet-fed smoker to do a few racks or chickens in, and a pure pellet-fed grill with the fire pot(s) in the middle facilitating more than 5-6 burgers at a time (to my knowledge this last beast doesn't exist.)

Most likely I will be ulitmately buying a FE1000 again when I am fed up with the rust problems on my newer other brand grill

Add Reply

Post

Membership Required

We're sorry. You must be signed in to continue. Sign In or Register
×
Are you sure you want to remove from your Block List?
×
Loading...
×
When you block a person, they can no longer invite you to a private message or post to your profile wall. Replies and comments they make will be collapsed/hidden by default. Finally, you'll never receive email notifications about content they create or likes they designate for your content.
Note: if you proceed, you will no longer be following .
×
Link copied to your clipboard.
×