And..... that's all she wrote for now......<sigh>

[Goneincognito]

The first question Weber will probably ask when you call is what pellets you are using.

You are correct in saying that they cannot void a warranty or something like that if you use another brand pellet.
They can however recommend that you use their brand of pellet.
There are some pretty obvious reasons for this that I'm not going to go into but here is probably the most important reason..
The hardware (auger system) and software are both designed for it.
The auger is designed to feed a smaller pellet and the software is written for the burn rate of the smaller pellet.
You can use larger pellets for sure (I and many others have) but you are doing so outside of the manufacturers specifications and that can lead to problems.

I know nothing about the pellets you mentioned and they might be just fine... In other grills.
As I mentioned previously, Lumberjack is a smaller pellet and they actually make the pellets for Weber.
There are other brands that will meet this criteria but I haven't looked into it as I can get both pretty easy.
Have a read through the forum and you will get an idea of what people use.

Also, did you assemble the grill yourself or did the store do it for you?
99% of the time the stores don't put them together (the burn pot specifically) and this can lead to problems.
The owner can mess it up even though they generally take more care with the process but its still an easy thing to get wrong.
Could you post a photo of the burn pot so we can see how it has been put together?

 

[abmet]

Sounds like problems many had with the two piece auger assembly.

 

[kaptain_zero]

It turns out the BBQ store I deal with was open today. I popped over to get some Weber pellets and explained what has been happening. I was told NOT to buy the Weber pellets as that was NOT the problem. ALL the pellets they sell work fine with the Weber SmokeFire (the person I spoke to owns a Gen 1 EX4). After mentioning that the one I got had the 2 piece auger housing and that it only came with one probe and no spare igniters, they wrote it all down and said they would coordinate with Weber and will replace the entire unit as soon as new ones arrive from Weber.

As for the burn pot assembly, yes, I'm aware that it can be assembled incorrectly which is why I asked for the SmokeFire to be delivered in the box so I could assemble it myself. My last grill was pre-assembled and as I needed to double check the work done, I figured I might as well just do it myself. Everything points to the controller at this point.... Likely a marginal component that works fine when cold, but fails as soon as it's warms up for a few minutes. A spritz of cooling spray would instantly identify the bad component if I could access the board. When the unit starts to fail, a quick spritz on the marginal component would bring the unit back to normal operation. Today it's cheaper just to replace the whole unit instead of repairing it.

So, I guess I fire up the gasser for tonight and wait for the phone to ring.


Regards

Christian

 

[Goneincognito]

Well then, I don't think that there is any more that I can offer to this conversation so I'm out..
Best of luck to you.

 

[JpsBBQ]

You were clearly sold a gen 1 unit. I suspect your buddy there at that store is unscrupulous. This is very odd. Very! The gen one units haven’t been produced for a looong time now and old stock was supposed to be turned in nearly 6 months ago. They don’t just replace them quite that easily without approval from Weber except this guy got caught trying to unload a grill he was probably supposed to turn back in to Weber but didn’t.

Additionally, if he told you not to buy the Weber pellets for your Weber pellet grill he’s a moron! He is making more money off another brand or something. It can only serve to eliminate a variable. I’m not saying it’s “the” problem, but if I was experiencing issues it is an inexpensive way to eliminate variables. It’s a no brainer. You have to burn pellets anyway.

I would find another dealer if it were me. I suppose it is possible for this to happen naturally, but for the life of me I don’t know how?????

My apologies for my blunt opinion. Take it or leave it. Either way, it sounds like you have the correct unit on the way. Good Luck and Enjoy!

 

[Goneincognito]

You were clearly sold a gen 1 unit.

Agreed.. the auger assembly was one of the first things they replaced.

 

[Cambridge Brian]

Your issues sound exactly like all of the issues I and a lot of us had with our pre order 1st Gen. I was ready to hit mine with a sledge hammer. I am now glad I didn't. I am able to use the pellets you are using now but I was unable to use anything other than Weber at first until I did all of the upgrades both hardware and software. I could never get to temperature or if I did it couldn't recover if I opened the lid. Unfortunately I have to agree that it sounds like a Gen 1. The good news is after a few part swaps it will be a Gen 2. Good Luck.

 

[Mr. X]

Good luck. It a gen 1.5 probably! . They rolled out upgrades sporadically as they struggled to build these as fast as they could and dropped the ball on quality control. Some people got lucky but others got a unit that fell way below expectations. My replacement gen 2 mostly does everything it should with only a few hiccups. It’s great they are replacing it but it should never have come to this point.

 

[Bruno]

The welded auger is a must. It’s a game changer. I have had my SmokeFire since day one and the first couple months were brutal until the software was worked out. The only changes I made are the auger and removed the finger guard. It’s been pretty damn good since then. Still on Glow plug one and have had a ton of success over the last year.
Good luck!!
I think to be a SmokeFire owner you need to be willing to swap some parts and be smart about your cooks. Grease management goes a long way.

 

[catpowered]

Assembled the EX4 yesterday, noted it had the steeper ramp installed from the factory, so it looked like the VER 2 has all the updates in it..... short story, no it doesn't.......<groan>.

It was quite gusty outside yesterday so I held off on the burn in until today. Took it out of the garage, loaded up pellets, selected 600F and hit the button. First smoke, then temps steadily climbed to 510F and then started dropping. I did hear some odd "gronking" noise from the grill, but wasn't sure what was causing it. It turns out that pellets had stopped dropping and thus the flame out. I took the back panel off the auger housing and when I looked up inside, sure enough... the original 2 piece auger chute. So.... it's off to waste time on the phone with Weber warranty to get this sorted out. The noise was likely a jammed auger. As it is Friday and I had my heart set on some smoked food, I'm going to clear the chute and see if I can get it working long enough for a short cook.

Christian aka

Kaptain "Why me?" Zero

May as well ask them for the glow plug too. You’ll need it.

 

[KevinD]

Just for the record, on my maiden voyage in March 2020, my EX4 lit and went out over and over again. I called support and was sent the new auger and controller. Prior to receiving them, I took a look at the auger and the brand X pellets I used had jammed up. Vacuumed out the auger, added Weber pellets and all worked fine. I did continue to have other issues until all the updates were done. All is well now.

 

[KevinD]

I do not live close to any retailers that handle Lumberjack pellets. Any online source charges shipping and radically raises the price. Order 3 bags from Weber @$16.99 and the shipping is free. Can anybody beat that shipped directly to you?

 

[bbqking]

Nope, I just received the 5 bags I orderred from Weber. Another thing is…when I changed out my auger, there was pellet dust pack so hard in the bottom of the auger, it wasn’t funny. I think the only way around that would to sifting the pellets, which I won’t be doing. There is pellet dust in all pellet brands. Could be that was part of the flame out temp drop problem all along. Might just be, need to take auger out and make sure it’s clean every so often.

 

[kaptain_zero]

$24.99 + 13% tax per bag in Canada and no free shipping offer for anything from Weber Canada. Shopping locally is my best bet. If I want Weber pellets, I can buy them from my dealer for the same price without paying for shipping.

A technician will be here Friday to evaluate the smoker and to determine if they will update it or replace it.

It's been a "perfect storm" here the past week. Not only issues with the Weber, but a pair of boots sent to replace a defective pair also turned out to be defective, and a wireless charger for my phone that is acting weird.

 

[bbqking]

$24.99 + 13% tax per bag in Canada and no free shipping offer for anything from Weber Canada. Shopping locally is my best bet. If I want Weber pellets, I can buy them from my dealer for the same price without paying for shipping.

A technician will be here Friday to evaluate the smoker and to determine if they will update it or replace it.

It's been a "perfect storm" here the past week. Not only issues with the Weber, but a pair of boots sent to replace a defective pair also turned out to be defective, and a wireless charger for my phone that is acting weird.

Now the only thing to make it a category 5, is the Caronavirus…jk dont wish that on anyone. It will all work out @kaptain_zero . Then you will be trucking along making beautiful food.