Traeger issues

[crphillips]

dieselracer13 - would you be able to tell me where you sourced your controller? Think i need to get one ordered!

[crphillips]

Got a few Traeger issues of my own. The powder coating melts on the the grill and is very easily damaged when hot. Surely this isn't right? Have others found this as it seems pretty common online? Have they used the right kind of powder coat?

Also had the auger jam this morning today. Not sure what caused it but cleared the hopper out and it got going again.

[Chris__M]

Not had paint visibly melting or peeling. Once or twice my lid seemed to fuse shut, and I had to give it some real elbow to get it open. I now regularly coat the edge of the door with veg oil before cooking, and haven't had that problem since.

Thankfully, no auger jam (touches wood (pellets))

[dieselracer13]

dieselracer13 - would you be able to tell me where you sourced your controller? Think i need to get one ordered!

Hi crphillips

I used Tim Woods who is the New Zealand Distributor, Tim is a really pleasant and helpfull guy who should see you alright. All items arrived in approx 12 days from order, .

tim@woodsmoked.co.nz
or
timwoods@xtra.co.nz

All the best

Regards

Mark

[Chris__M]

I've attached some photos so you can compare it with the unit you received from Germany

The other really big difference between your controller and the one I received is that your "P" settings (relating to the precise on/off intervals in smoke mode) is controlled by a switch behind that small hole to the right of the display (operated by a cocktail stick or similar). To change my "P" settings, I would have had to remove the controller and refit it each time, as it was a control on the reverse of the circuit board. Given that to actually get the board into my Traeger without a hacksaw would have meant disassembling the whole thing and reassembling in place, this would have been major grief.

[Chris__M]

More significantly, your controller, and the later 180 one, had the "new" logic. The temperature control logic works roughly like this - when the grill temperature is lower than that set, the auger runs full time. When temperature is reached, the controller reverts to "smoke" setting to maintain the temperature, until it falls below set temp, requiring the auger to come on full again.

With the old controller, the smoke setting it defaulted to was 1 minute on, and then 3 minutes off. With the newer controllers, this was switched to 3 minutes off and then 1 minute on. This may not seem important, but it meant that under the "old" logic, the grill temperature would reach that set, and then - in "smoke" mode - would continue to feed pellets for another minute. This caused noticeable temperature swings in the original controller.

I actually got this significantly wrong, so I will restate.

It appears (from what I have read) that some 225 controllers had the old logic, some had the new. However, in either case, Traeger switched from a 1 minute/3 minute smoke cycle to a 15 second/X (see below) second cycle. So even if your Traeger does start the smoke cycle as "ON", it is only for 15 seconds, not a full minute.

The OFF period is controlled by the P setting, which defaults to P2

P-0 15 sec on 45 sec off
P-1 15 sec on 55 sec off
P-2 15 sec on 65 sec off
P-3 15 sec on 75 sec off
P-4 15 sec on 85 sec off
P-5 15 sec on 95 sec off
P-6 15 sec on 105 sec off
P-7 15 sec on 115 sec off
P-8 15 sec on 125 sec off
P-9 15 sec on 135 sec off

Finally, the Auger of Traegers with manual controllers has a rod going down the centre, to restrict the pellet feed. It is generally recommended to remove this (or some people say part of this) when fitting a digital controller However, it may be prudent to run for a while with the rod still in place, and see how you get on. Removal is done with a hacksaw, so it is not something to do lightly.

A recent post on this, with photos, can be seen at http://pelletheads.com/index.php?topic= ... 9#msg84359

A more detailed post, with step by step pictures is at http://pelletheads.com/index.php?topic= ... 863#msg863

[dieselracer13]

More significantly, your controller, and the later 180 one, had the "new" logic. The temperature control logic works roughly like this - when the grill temperature is lower than that set, the auger runs full time. When temperature is reached, the controller reverts to "smoke" setting to maintain the temperature, until it falls below set temp, requiring the auger to come on full again.

With the old controller, the smoke setting it defaulted to was 1 minute on, and then 3 minutes off. With the newer controllers, this was switched to 3 minutes off and then 1 minute on. This may not seem important, but it meant that under the "old" logic, the grill temperature would reach that set, and then - in "smoke" mode - would continue to feed pellets for another minute. This caused noticeable temperature swings in the original controller.

I actually got this significantly wrong, so I will restate.

It appears (from what I have read) that some 225 controllers had the old logic, some had the new. However, in either case, Traeger switched from a 1 minute/3 minute smoke cycle to a 15 second/X (see below) second cycle. So even if your Traeger does start the smoke cycle as "ON", it is only for 15 seconds, not a full minute.

The OFF period is controlled by the P setting, which defaults to P2

P-0 15 sec on 45 sec off
P-1 15 sec on 55 sec off
P-2 15 sec on 65 sec off
P-3 15 sec on 75 sec off
P-4 15 sec on 85 sec off
P-5 15 sec on 95 sec off
P-6 15 sec on 105 sec off
P-7 15 sec on 115 sec off
P-8 15 sec on 125 sec off
P-9 15 sec on 135 sec off

Finally, the Auger of Traegers with manual controllers has a rod going down the centre, to restrict the pellet feed. It is generally recommended to remove this (or some people say part of this) when fitting a digital controller However, it may be prudent to run for a while with the rod still in place, and see how you get on. Removal is done with a hacksaw, so it is not something to do lightly.

A recent post on this, with photos, can be seen at http://pelletheads.com/index.php?topic= ... 9#msg84359

A more detailed post, with step by step pictures is at http://pelletheads.com/index.php?topic= ... 863#msg863

Thanks Chris,

That appears to be pretty much how mine operates and according to the paperwork the smoke setting achieves 150-180°F. When I fired mine up it initially went to about 245°F but then steadily dropped (although it was quite slow) to 175°F; however, I assumed it was slow to drop because there wasn't a lump of meat in there to temper the heat. I haven't played with the P settings yet until I'm doing a steady cook. That is quite interesting about the steel rod, thanks for the links; I'll check it out on the highest setting at the weekend and see what it can achieve before I complete a permanent mod.

Thanks for the good info

Mark

[crphillips]

I've looked at mine and it doesn't have the rod as standard. Is that because mine is the Texas and not Lil Texas?

Thanks for the info. I've emailed Tim and he's replied already. Might get on on it's way. You want me to order you one Chris_M whilst i'm at it? Might save on postage?

[Chris__M]

I've looked at mine and it doesn't have the rod as standard. Is that because mine is the Texas and not Lil Texas?

That is exactly why. The auger is the same in both grills, but the auger fitted to the Lil' Tex has the restricting rod.

The original semi-official advice from Traeger was to remove the rod completely. This would essentially put a Texas "engine" into a Lil' Tex. According to the original poster of this information (who is sadly no longer with us), this increased the max BTU output from approximately 20,000 to 36,000.

This is why some folk decided that removing only part of the rod was more prudent. From what I have gathered, others have continued to use their grill with a digital controller, and the full rod, and are happy enough; although they won't be attaining higher temps, that may not bother them.

Thanks for the info. I've emailed Tim and he's replied already. Might get on on it's way. You want me to order you one Chris_M whilst i'm at it? Might save on postage?

Thanks for the offer, but since returning my controller to Germany, I have embarked on a foolish project to design my own controller, based on an Arduino processor board. This will not only monitor and control temperature, but will also enable me to access remotely over WiFi via a mini-web-server. It's very early days yet, so don't hold your breath!

If it all fails, I now know that Tim is the man.

[dieselracer13]

The OFF period is controlled by the P setting, which defaults to P2

P-0 15 sec on 45 sec off
P-1 15 sec on 55 sec off
P-2 15 sec on 65 sec off
P-3 15 sec on 75 sec off
P-4 15 sec on 85 sec off
P-5 15 sec on 95 sec off
P-6 15 sec on 105 sec off
P-7 15 sec on 115 sec off
P-8 15 sec on 125 sec off
P-9 15 sec on 135 sec off

Finally, the Auger of Traegers with manual controllers has a rod going down the centre, to restrict the pellet feed. It is generally recommended to remove this (or some people say part of this) when fitting a digital controller However, it may be prudent to run for a while with the rod still in place, and see how you get on. Removal is done with a hacksaw, so it is not something to do lightly.

A recent post on this, with photos, can be seen at http://pelletheads.com/index.php?topic= ... 9#msg84359

A more detailed post, with step by step pictures is at http://pelletheads.com/index.php?topic= ... 863#msg863

Just for info, I seared some chicken kebabs and the temps achieved 450°F with the rod still in situ so for now I'll delay completing the modification. I've settled on position P-0 for the time being with temps of between 173°F & 188°F. Then with a setting of 225°F the temps controlled pretty consistantly with a 5-7°F swing either side of the setpoint. So far I'm pleased with the way the digital controller is working.

Mark