Seized up auger in FE100

Wow, Bob, I'd for sure call customer service before I started drilling holes and what all.

We vacuum our auger out after each use. I can understand that a health problem could stand in the way of cleaning out the smoker.

Are you all cleaned out, now?

Don't panic. Just call customer service before you do anything else.

Peggy

My FE is one of the original models that Eddy made. I don't think Cookshack would touch it.

It's pretty much the same insides I think just made a tad differently. The hopper is clean. I did that a while ago but never got around at the time to running the things to see if I had a problem with the auger.

My FE is mounted on a trailer the also houses a 8 foot Austin National that I use for catering. I love the FE and didn't want to give it up and it has been very helpful when catering.

With the way it is mounted on the trailer I have about 6-8 inches from the soild deck material to the bottom of the frame of the smoker so I needed a way to get easy acess to the insides of the smoker and removing part of the side panel was a good option plus it will be reinstalled with hinges so I or someone will always have easy access to things.

I was down and out for 3 months. I usually cooked on this thing almost everyday or at least a couple times a week during the winter. I have had it since 2001 and have never had a problem like this. I have read of others having it happen though.

I just thought I'd ask here instead of the "BBQ Forum".

thanks again!

Bob

Hi Bob,

Feel fee to give us a call, Tony would be more than happy to help you at. What you might want to try is tapping the end of the auger with a hammer. That will usually loosen them up.

Bob what you need to do it get the auger out from the cooker. Then take off the the burn pot. You might see the end of the auger. I would find a paddle bit or a long bit about 1/4 inch wide and a foot and a half long to drill up the auger. I had to do this a couple of years ago with my bbq200 and it is not fun. This is pellet create and is hard as a rock. just watch out when you hit the auger on ground to get the access out that you don't break your heater probe wires. Ask me how I know that one. Good luck let us know how it goes.

Craig
FireHouseBBQ

Bob,
Please let us know how things work out. I hope you feel ok, now. I'm sure this is unexpected "therapy" for you.

Pulling for you, here.
Peggy

Sorry, forgot to get back about the auger deal.

Took the trailer over to a weleder guy that does some work when needd for me. He had a guy simply hook some visegrips on the end of the auger and it turned out with a little effort. Tapping and pulling didn't do anything. The guy then took a long pry bar and cleaned out the tube the auger goes into.

It actually went pretty easy. He put things back together and I gave them some money to get lunch for the next day.

Brought it home and put 2 14 pound briskets on that night around 10 pm. Came back out around 5 am to find an empty hopper. I didn't think much about it and filled it back up and went about my business for a little longer.

I soon realized that things weren't right and took the briskets out. Did a little taste test and they were bitter as bitter can be. To the point the meat burnt you lips when it touched them.

I called Eddy and told him everything that had been done and going on. Seems the welder guy switched a couple wires and the cooker wasn't working right. It just dumped the pellets and caused a smoldering action that caused the bitter meats.

Heck I went from getting a 1st place brisket using this pit to having something for the trash. Fed some to some guys and they said it was excellent and they almost fought over it! I tossed the other one. I did finish these off in the oven after wrapping them by the way.

Just cooked 3 more briskets yesterday and things are back to normal and I sent these off to a lunch today and got 6 people asking about me doing parties for them!

Glad eddy was there to offer his help. He knows these cookers!

Between Tony from Cookshack and Eddy I had great customer service!

Bob

That's terrific Bob!