Slicking up the hopper

[DanaM]

I am curious if the hopper issue is limited to the EX6, or is it being seen on the EX4 as well?
The analytical side of me expects the hopper on the EX4 to be 6” shorter (half the added width) and taller to hold the 22 lbs of pellets, thus requiring a steeper slope.

 

[DanaM]

I may be wrong but I bet the EX4 has the same identical hopper, dimensions and all. It specs out to hold 22lbs of pellet just like the EX6. The left side of the grill is just shorter than the EX6, one less bottom grate and shorter top grate, otherwise everything else is spec’ed out the same. Makes for more seemless manufacturing and parts inventory for two different grills.

 

[Brisket'n'Beans]

I don't believe the angle of the hopper is fully to blame I believe it is the aspect ratio. If it was 20% shorter left to right and made up the volume difference with increased height and width front to back it would work better. I think the narrow walls on the ramp help support the "log jam" in the hopper.

I think it would help a Little to go to a glass shop and get a custom cut piece of glass (any slipery material would work)and put it on the long slope of the hopper and shim the high end to increase the angle.

 

[SoCalMan]

I don't believe the angle of the hopper is fully to blame I believe it is the aspect ratio. If it was 20% shorter left to right and made up the volume difference with increased height and width front to back it would work better. I think the narrow walls on the ramp help support the "log jam" in the hopper.

I think it would help a Little to go to a glass shop and get a custom cut piece of glass (any slipery material would work)and put it on the long slope of the hopper and shim the high end to increase the angle.

Another issue seems to be the material bridging of the Weber pellets, which seem to be longer, over the grate.

 

[GreyMouser]

Another issue seems to be the material bridging of the Weber pellets, which seem to be longer, over the grate.

I have bridging issues with my shorter lumberjack pellets too, and the first thing I did was pull out that fence. There are a lot of things going on with pellet feeding.

 

[SoCalMan]

The hopper seems to be one massive nightmare. Bad aspect ratio, caulk being used where there should be a weld, material bridging on auger grate.

 

[depends]

I have bridging issues with my shorter lumberjack pellets too, and the first thing I did was pull out that fence. There are a lot of things going on with pellet feeding.

I also had bridging issues with a mix of Traegar and Pit Boss pellets. I had also waxed the chute.

 

[woodsum]

I got my EX4 before the weekend and finally fired up to do a burn in on Monday. I'm using pit boss competition pellets and I could not achieve 600F. The first attempt it got to about 500 then the temp started dropping and it ending up going out on a no flame error. When I check out the hopper I was having a bridging issue so no pellets were being fed. For the second attempt I went out every 5-10min to agitate the pellets and it would still have bridging issues. I was thinking it was partly due to the guard since it would sometimes for underneath. Today I decided to empty the hopper and remove the guard and I am still having a bridging issue.

I will be contacting weber tomorrow to discuss.

Has anyone found pellets that are smaller that could possibly cause less of a problem?

 

[FredSC]

Yeah. There are definitely issues with pellets sticking... That metal is seriously rough. They should have enameled or powder coated the inside of the hopper.

Here's a picture of a stack of pellets on the long incline of my new ex6. I just wanted to see how much friction there is, after I started filling the hopper from that side and the pellets wouldn't flow down. (Second picture) These are fresh lumberjack pellets. Note how high above the edge I could stack the pellets without any cascading. Pulling pellets from the bottom of the pile, emulating the auger, didn't cause the pile to cascade down either.

Basically, the hopper, at least on the ex6, is terrible. The slope is way too shallow, combined with rough, unfinished metal. No wonder we're having feed problems.

Thanks for posting these pictures. Mine is not quite as bad with the sticking, but I do have cavities form when on a slow low temp cook. Weber said that as the dust from the pellets builds up the hopper should become more slick, so time will tell.
I agree with your points, they should have coated it with enamel or polished the metal smooth to remove any resistance to the pellets sliding down.
I'm kicking around the idea in my head of maybe getting a thin piece of plexiglass and fitting it in the shallow side of the hopper to see if proves to be slicker. Also I can increase the angle by putting a piece of wood or something under the high end to increase the angle to see if that helps the situation.
I also so someone suggest using car wax on the hopper, has anyone tried this yet?

 

[FredSC]

I got my EX4 before the weekend and finally fired up to do a burn in on Monday. I'm using pit boss competition pellets and I could not achieve 600F. The first attempt it got to about 500 then the temp started dropping and it ending up going out on a no flame error. When I check out the hopper I was having a bridging issue so no pellets were being fed. For the second attempt I went out every 5-10min to agitate the pellets and it would still have bridging issues. I was thinking it was partly due to the guard since it would sometimes for underneath. Today I decided to empty the hopper and remove the guard and I am still having a bridging issue.

I will be contacting weber tomorrow to discuss.

Has anyone found pellets that are smaller that could possibly cause less of a problem?

I had the same issue using the Weber brand competition blend. I have not tried remove the finger guard yet. This occurred at low temp cooks for me starting ribs at 225 then raising to 275 to finish. I had 3 bridges form during the cook.
When burning end I did not push to 600, but had no trouble holding 500 for 2 hours. I will try to hit 600 just to check it out.
I also did a Turkey Breast yesterday at 375 and had no bridging issues. I also make sure the hopper was full before I started. Cook time was about 1 hour and 40 minutes.

 

[DanaM]

Thanks for posting these pictures. Mine is not quite as bad with the sticking, but I do have cavities form when on a slow low temp cook. Weber said that as the dust from the pellets builds up the hopper should become more slick, so time will tell.
I agree with your points, they should have coated it with enamel or polished the metal smooth to remove any resistance to the pellets sliding down.
I'm kicking around the idea in my head of maybe getting a thin piece of plexiglass and fitting it in the shallow side of the hopper to see if proves to be slicker. Also I can increase the angle by putting a piece of wood or something under the high end to increase the angle to see if that helps the situation.
I also so someone suggest using car wax on the hopper, has anyone tried this yet?

 

[DanaM]

If it ever stops raining here, I plan to use PFTE Teflon adhesive tape on the sides and down the long slope side of the hopper. I’ll take before and after pics of the difference in how the pellets slide.

 

[RedGrave]

Another approach may be some kind of weight on top of the pellets to take more advantage of gravity. Those pellets don’t weigh much

 

[GreyMouser]

Not a solution. The pellets are basically a viscous fluid. Unless you can come up with a weight that covers the entire hopper, it's not going to solve the basic problem that the hopper is not capable of actually feeding 22 pounds of pellets. And the fan is back pressuring the hopper to prevent flashover. So the weight solution needs to fit inside the closed hopper.

 

[FredSC]

Another issue seems to be the material bridging of the Weber pellets, which seem to be longer, over the grate.

This is what I had a problem with during my low temp cook.