Smokeboost issue

Riddle4x4 · Sep 4, 2020

I ran a test of the smokeboost on some bratwurst. I set the temp to 220 and then waited until the SF got up to 145 before I activated smokeboost. It looked like it was going well, but the smoke stopped about 15 minutes later. I gave it 15 more minutes before I shut it down because I heard pellets still dropping, but no smoke. The temp said 145 after smokeboost was deactivated, and it continued to decline. I pulled it apart and the fire pot was overflowing with pellets.

I thought it might be a glow plug issue, but i was able to visually check the glow plug working when I restarted. I skipped the smokeboost this time and set the temp to 455. It had no problem getting there.

Did I start smokeboost too early? Any tips for running smokeboost in the future?

AHoneyman · Sep 4, 2020

I would suggest that you let the SF come to temp prior to starting the boost. Set the temp to 200 and let it stabilize and then start the boost.

Dassman5 · Sep 4, 2020

Riddle4x4 said:
I ran a test of the smokeboost on some bratwurst. I set the temp to 220 and then waited until the SF got up to 145 before I activated smokeboost. It looked like it was going well, but the smoke stopped about 15 minutes later. I gave it 15 more minutes before I shut it down because I heard pellets still dropping, but no smoke. The temp said 145 after smokeboost was deactivated, and it continued to decline. I pulled it apart and the fire pot was overflowing with pellets.

I thought it might be a glow plug issue, but i was able to visually check the glow plug working when I restarted. I skipped the smokeboost this time and set the temp to 455. It had no problem getting there.

Did I start smokeboost too early? Any tips for running smokeboost in the future?

I agree with AHoneyman. I too have always let the SF come up to a stable temp of at least 200F before initiating SB. Why? I believe that when you cut the initial heat up cycle short, the PID controller gets “ confused” because it was heating to your set point if 225F, but interrupted mid way and told to seek the SB temp range which is , according to my separate ambient temperature grill probe, some where in the 175-185F range.

I would suggest you asl Weber support for sure, but even the best PID controller can get confused.

Riddle4x4 · Sep 4, 2020

Dassman5 said:
I agree with AHoneyman. I too have always let the SF come up to a stable temp of at least 200F before initiating SB. Why? I believe that when you cut the initial heat up cycle short, the PID controller gets “ confused” because it was heating to your set point if 225F, but interrupted mid way and told to seek the SB temp range which is , according to my separate ambient temperature grill probe, some where in the 175-185F range.

I would suggest you asl Weber support for sure, but even the best PID controller can get confused.

Copy. I knew it was probably due to me activating it too early. Thanks for the info.

Weber is sending me 2 glow plugs, a new auger, and a new chute.....so I guess it’s still a win?

sntwilliams · Sep 5, 2020

This is exactly the issue I've been having. To be scientific about it, I tried setting smokeboost immediately at startup, resulting in burn pot full of pellets and no heat and the second test where I let the SF reach 120oc before activating smokeboost, but ended up with similar result. The first time it happened to me, I got a flame out error and shutdown with a heck load of smoke because it was now trying to burn off the full burn pot, but the last several tests have not resulted in errors, even though the burn pot could be touched with my bare hand.

Tests were repeated after a full clean out, dropping existing pellets and adding a fresh bag from Weber support. I could also see the glow plug doing it's job and there certainly wasn't an air flow issue through the burn pot.

A secondary issue that I then observed was later on that week when I tried to reverse sear steaks, low temp smoke up to 52oc internal temp before cranking the SF to 280oc for a nice and quick sear. This was the first time since initial burn in that I had bothered with high heat as I've been focussing on the briskets and butts. The SF took 22 minutes to go from 120oc and stalled at 240oc before I gave up and seared the steaks on hob.

Final test was a timed 20oc (ambient) to maximum 310oc. 35 minutes but it got there eventually, it certainly seemed like it was struggling.

My new single piece welded auger/chute is arriving next week so solve the "fuel flow" issue as described by the Weber engineer.

Fingers crossed it solves both issues. The SF is a great bit of kit and it will be even better when these slight teething issues have been sorted out

Captainmike · Sep 5, 2020

sntwilliams said:
This is exactly the issue I've been having. To be scientific about it, I tried setting smokeboost immediately at startup, resulting in burn pot full of pellets and no heat and the second test where I let the SF reach 120oc before activating smokeboost, but ended up with similar result. The first time it happened to me, I got a flame out error and shutdown with a heck load of smoke because it was now trying to burn off the full burn pot, but the last several tests have not resulted in errors, even though the burn pot could be touched with my bare hand.

Tests were repeated after a full clean out, dropping existing pellets and adding a fresh bag from Weber support. I could also see the glow plug doing it's job and there certainly wasn't an air flow issue through the burn pot.

A secondary issue that I then observed was later on that week when I tried to reverse sear steaks, low temp smoke up to 52oc internal temp before cranking the SF to 280oc for a nice and quick sear. This was the first time since initial burn in that I had bothered with high heat as I've been focussing on the briskets and butts. The SF took 22 minutes to go from 120oc and stalled at 240oc before I gave up and seared the steaks on hob.

Final test was a timed 20oc (ambient) to maximum 310oc. 35 minutes but it got there eventually, it certainly seemed like it was struggling.

My new single piece welded auger/chute is arriving next week so solve the "fuel flow" issue as described by the Weber engineer.

Fingers crossed it solves both issues. The SF is a great bit of kit and it will be even better when these slight teething issues have been sorted out

I had same issues with getting up to 600 here in US (before smokeboost feature release). Weber sent me the new welded chute and it fixed it immediately. I could see how badly the pellet dust impacted the gasket and how that was potentially limiting pellet flow. The new welded chute has a much clearer path to the auger. Some people are still running OK with the 2 piece chute so I assume it may have to do with how well the two piece is manufactured/assembled as well.

abmet · Sep 5, 2020

Yes it seems like the welded chute has solved this for most people. Weber customer support told me they had some 2 piece chutes that were hand pressed and some machine pressed. Maybe some are holding up better than others.
I usually set my grill to 200 and once it gets there (or pretty close) turn on SmokeBoost so far no issues.

Captainmike · Sep 5, 2020

abmet said:
Yes it seems like the welded chute has solved this for most people. Weber customer support told me they had some 2 piece chutes that were hand pressed and some machine pressed. Maybe some are holding up better than others.
I usually set my grill to 200 and once it gets there (or pretty close) turn on SmokeBoost so far no issues.

As long as my fire pot is clean I go right into smokeboost upon startup and it works great