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My FE is now in the warehouse & i will have my first look at it within hrs. Now my plan is to have the unit inside my enclosed trailer (in the backyard )& vent the smoke out the side door. I was thinking last night that after i have cooked for 4 or 5 hrs & i turn of the unit off will get a condensation buildup inside? Now if this happens & taking into account it is inside my trailer will the computer or the auger be harmed in anyway from the dampness. Or if i leave the smoker in the trailer & the outside temp going from -30F to +7F over the winter, will this harm the unit.

Thank you
Earl
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The instructions state that after a cook we should be leaving the door open for at least 15 minutes during the cool down. I think that handles the condensation problem pretty well. And yes, condensation probably would swell the pellets and cause auger problems.

During my 15 minutes--which often turns into a half an hour or more, I take the time to clean my racks and change the foils out for the next cook.
I think you might be making more work for yourself. The only times I'd take the pellets out is if I wanted to change the kind of wood I was using or I had a pellet jam. Other than that, I'd leave it in place. For one thing, you don't have to go through that "turn it on, let it run for 10 minutes, then turn it off then back on to re-set the burner".

But,hey. That's just one guy's opinion. I've been wrong before. I think.
Roll Eyes
KDM...
I have had a pallet of pellets (50 bags)outside since I bought them. They are covered with heavy black plastic and a tarp. Whenever I need more bags I have been finding condensation covering at least the top bags and deeper...but that has not been a problem. What I have found, and you can experiment, is that they do not absorb moisture, at least not the ones I have been getting from Fast Eddy. They need to actually get wet before there is an adverse reaction. Then they swell and pulverize to nearly a powder. There is one bag on my pallet near the bottom that was holed during transit...it has gotton wet, it is reacting. My bags have tiny pin holes everwhere, probably for ventilation!

One of our forum residents bought ten bags from me last week. Haven't heard any complaints from him...matter of fact sounds like he is having the time of his life with his CS/FE and the pellets.

Peter
To the original question: I don't think you'll have any condensation problems.

Duck, running the pellets out of the auger is a good preventative measure if you have time. I never do it in my home FE, and it sits outside year round (under the rubber cover, of course). I've only had one jamb, and I don't think that had anything to do with leaving pellets in the auger. The two units on my trailer are another story. I scoop the pellets out of the hoppers and run the augers clean after each cook. It's not worth taking that chance at the next competition.
As far as running the pellets out after every cook goes. Here in florida all the pellet cooks here do run them out. Now I understand that this is Florida and the humidity often runs 100% and that is not that true in most parts of the country. If you don't you end up with what we call pelletcrete and you don't want to hear how nasty that can be to clean. Just my opinion.
Bill

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