Slicking up the hopper

[topkatt4518]

Morning after some thought about this issue on moving the pellets down the chute. I think we are all on the same page regarding Plexiglas, tape, a pusher / sled, steeper incline. I have some Expel clear paint sealant material left when I did my door jam bottoms on my truck. Once waxed this stuff is very very slick. It looks like the rain has stopped so tonight if it is not too cold I may try lining the bottom on the long side of the chute. If it does not work it could always be removed.

 

[tigermikie]

RedGrave, I was thinking the same thing. But then I decided that the weight would probably only cause the pellets to compress more and make the problem worse. Just my thoughts.
I also was thinking about finding something that gently vibrates to keep the pellets moving and putting it in the hopper. I am sure that this idea will open up a can of worms.

 

[abmet]

RedGrave, I was thinking the same thing. But then I decided that the weight would probably only cause the pellets to compress more and make the problem worse. Just my thoughts.
I also was thinking about finding something that gently vibrates to keep the pellets moving and putting it in the hopper. I am sure that this idea will open up a can of worms.

Trying hard to not make bad joke here
I've also been trying to think of something that could push the pellets over to keep the whole from forming but was also weary of causing the bridging problem to be worse. Wold love something that keeps the pellets moving and also helps prevent voids. May go ahead and remove the wire guard before my next cook. I did read that need to leave the three screws that hold it in place there since they aren't just holding that wire on.

 

[Craig]

I have a EX4 and haven't done a lot of cooking but played enough to burn 30# of pellets and the last time when it went for 5 hours it did bridge. The hopper was totally full to begin with but the fire did go out due to bridging. Wax may be a good idea and here is my 2 cents I come from the ag service industry and what we used to prevent this problem in different situations was a product called Slip Plate. Its a graphite product that comes in different forms, Aerosol can, brush able and even in a powder forums. I'm not going to do any thing just yet in hops Weber comes up with a solution..
I Seen the comments about introducing chemicals into the fuel, Is it a bad thing???????? Dont know but I would think with the heat in the fire pot it MAY not be a problem. But then I came from the ag service industry.. Hang in there I think this is a small problem that slipped through there testing and Weber will come up with a good fix!!! I hope just had another thought I've seen in dry spinner boxes for fertilizer could have this problem. They would put a small magnetic vibrator in the hopper to relive the situation Lets hop Weber is watching the fourm!!

 

[Ralph Webermaster]

I took a small fan motor and put a small weight on one side of the shaft, this of course makes the motor vibrate. put a Velcro to the underside of the hopper. plugged it in and problem solved. Little noise but I'm working on that.

 

[rock1640]

I took a small fan motor and put a small weight on one side of the shaft, this of course makes the motor vibrate. put a Velcro to the underside of the hopper. plugged it in and problem solved. Little noise but I'm working on that.

can you take a pic, so I can see it ty

 

[Ralph Webermaster]

can you take a pic, so I can see it ty

It's ugly right now but it does work. After I complete the project I will post a video.

 

[rock1640]

sounds good would be nice to see so I can copy

 

[SmokeMeister]

It's ugly right now but it does work. After I complete the project I will post a video.

Just curious, do you have it running all the time? Seems like maybe you could run it for 30 seconds every 15-30 minutes? This would be easy to do with a little Arduino or something.

 

[Ralph Webermaster]

Just curious, do you have it running all the time? Seems like maybe you could run it for 30 seconds every 15-30 minutes? This would be easy to do with a little Arduino or something.

To answer your question yes I run it all the time that's why I went with a small fan motor they are built to run all day. As to your suggestion I do plan on putting it on a timer.

 

[woodsum]

I took a small fan motor and put a small weight on one side of the shaft, this of course makes the motor vibrate. put a Velcro to the underside of the hopper. plugged it in and problem solved. Little noise but I'm working on that.

How big of a fan motor did u use?

 

[FredSC]

Video of a guy planning to try food grade silicon spray

 

[woodsum]

Video of a guy planning to try food grade silicon spray

I'm interested in the spray for getting all the pellets down to the auger. But for me the voids have been the larger issue since I can't get far enough into a burn to worry about the pellets sliding.

 

[FredSC]

I'm interested in the spray for getting all the pellets down to the auger. But for me the voids have been the larger issue since I can't get far enough into a burn to worry about the pellets sliding.

So fat that's my issue too on slow cooks. More cooks this weekend, I will post the results.

 

[GriLLMaRksRseXy]

I'm interested in the spray for getting all the pellets down to the auger. But for me the voids have been the larger issue since I can't get far enough into a burn to worry about the pellets sliding.

Have you removed the Lawyer Guard yet?