What does everyone think of their Smoke Fire now

I canceled my order back last winter because of all the problems they were having. Now over a year later I was wondering are all the bugs worked out? For the one’s that have owned theirs a while, are they worth it or should I look elsewhere for a smoker. I still notice some people are having problems.
I have gone through 80bs of pellets so far this summer with only one problem, a flame out.
 
The pellet flow issue is easily remedied by removing the wire guard. All pellet grills have pellets cavitation issues to some minor degree or another. Pellets tend to cling. You can easily do an overnight low and slow cook with the Smokefire. I have to move pellets around in my $2000 Timberline too.

The glow plug issue is most certainly a result of improperly seated glow plugs. If they are seated and adjusted properly they will last a very long time.

In my experience, since the software upgrades and the hardware improvements included in all newer models, problems are due to user error and / or using cheap large gauge pellets. Just my 2 cents. The early issues were totally real but addressed long ago.
 
I got the Gen 2 for Fathers day. I only use it on weekends and it has run perfectly so far. I clean it after every use and use a drip pan under the meat to make clean up easier. I can't find weber pellets locally so been using Lumber Jack pellets with no issues.
 
Well thanks to each and every one of your comments I have made the decision to give it a try again. I know it’s not the most perfect pellet smoker out there but I am finding problems with all of them. I love the other Weber products that I own. Since it’s $200.00 cheaper than when I placed my order when they 1st came out, and after finding that Weber will work with you if you have problems. I also found out that going through my local Hardware store, they will assemble it and deliver it to me for free. Besides I have a whole bunch of Weber pellets that I bought when I ordered the 1st one stored in a dry place that I need to use. Thanks again to all of you on this forum for helping me out. I will keep in touch with my grilling stories.
 
Well thanks to each and every one of your comments I have made the decision to give it a try again. I know it’s not the most perfect pellet smoker out there but I am finding problems with all of them. I love the other Weber products that I own. Since it’s $200.00 cheaper than when I placed my order when they 1st came out, and after finding that Weber will work with you if you have problems. I also found out that going through my local Hardware store, they will assemble it and deliver it to me for free. Besides I have a whole bunch of Weber pellets that I bought when I ordered the 1st one stored in a dry place that I need to use. Thanks again to all of you on this forum for helping me out. I will keep in touch with my grilling stories.
If you're having them assemble it, you'll probably need to double-check everything was done correctly. Many issues arise from incorrect assembly. And, unfortunately, those that are doing that pre-assembly for you are more often interested in speed vs. correctness. Just keep that in mind.
 
I changed my mind on the Assembly part, I’m going to do it myself. When it’s yours and your the one putting it together, you do a better job.
Good decision. The truly hard part is rotating it to it's legs, certainly at least a two person job. And if a problem comes up, you're more likely to know what it is
 
I think when it comes to any outdoor cooking contraption, you need to identify your needs first. You said "smoker", but I'm not going to assume what you meant by that. Is the SF the best low-and-slow pit out there? No. Is it the best hot-and-fast griller out there? No. Does it impart the flavor of a true stick-burner? No. Is it as convenient as a gasser? Almost, but not quite. Do I love and recommend my EX4? A resounding yes. But that's because it suits my needs perfectly. I love cooking outside no matter the outside temp or the grill temp, but I wasn't doing it as much as I wanted. I gave up on gas many, many years ago (not knocking gassers, just not my personal preference) so the effort to get charcoal/wood fires going for my grill and my WSM really relegated them to weekend use. And I never had the confidence to do anything longer than a pork butt on the WSM. So having one unit to replace everything else, plus the convenience of self-starting and self-maintaining fires, plus the historical reliability of the Weber brand, plus the "gadget" aspect of it (Wi-Fi monitoring, probes, etc.) made it easy to overlook the fact that the SF wasn't the best in any category. Except maybe for being the best all-in-one. I've had mine since just before Thanksgiving last year (right when Gen2 came out), probably average a cook or two a week, and have had very few problems. But I'm also not going to say that, because I haven't had problems, there aren't quality control issues with it. Because it's easy to see that there are. If you are willing to be a student of the pit and not expect it to perform miracles, then I say jump in and join the community. But if you are expecting miracles from something that, at its core, is doing its best to burn and maintain an unpredictable and chaotic wood fire, then I would say look elsewhere because you are setting the SF up for failure.
Couldn’t agree more. I have the SF EX 6 (gen 2) and love it. Very reliable and makes cooking whatever easy.
 
Have had my ex4 since June 2020 and have well over 100 cooks (mostly smokes) on mine. I did install the new auger assembly, pellet ramp and removed the finger guard. Seldom clean other than checking the fire box at startup and making sure the grease slots are open.

Other than one software glitch ( partial download on my Android rectified by reloading from iPad) it has performed flawlessly.
 
My.... How your tune has changed.
Glad this one is working out for you.
Having all sorts of temp fluctuations after installing new thermocouple as well as auger assembly. The last email from Weber is that pellet grills only have a +/- 50 degree accuracy.. what a joke !
 
Having all sorts of temp fluctuations after installing new thermocouple as well as auger assembly. The last email from Weber is that pellet grills only have a +/- 50 degree accuracy.. what a joke !
Fluctuations as in you are monitoring with a separate probe and it is all over the place while the other stays pretty much steady?
 
Fluctuations as in you are monitoring with a separate probe and it is all over the place while the other stays pretty much steady?
I will start the smoke setting the grill at 200 and it will go straight to 350, taking 25 minutes to creep back down to 200.
 
I will start the smoke setting the grill at 200 and it will go straight to 350, taking 25 minutes to creep back down to 200.
That’s a bit odd. New one on me. Are you using Weber pellets? Are the pellets new? Has the wire guard been removed from above the pellet auger? Is you software/ firmware current version?
 
Not m
Fluctuations as in you are monitoring with a separate probe and it is all over the place while the other stays pretty much steady
I will start the smoke setting the grill at 200 and it will go straight to 350, taking 25 minutes to creep back down to 200.
That is not my experience at all. It is normal after selecting the initial set point for the PID controller to overshoot, but after 10-15 minutes my unit tends to steady out and will begin to hone in on the set point with variations of + or - 20 or 25 degrees ( measured by two separate probes ( one a Weber ambient air probe plugged into port #4, and the other a separate Maverick probe.).

However, I use Weber pellets exclusively as I believe different pellets can impact the degree of over-under shoot.
 
However, I use Weber pellets exclusively as I believe different pellets can impact the degree of over-under shoot.
You are right about that. The software is designed for the burn rate of Weber pellets.
Anything else and you run the risk of messing with it. Your mileage may vary as to how much.
I will start the smoke setting the grill at 200 and it will go straight to 350, taking 25 minutes to creep back down to 200.

That's just a PID doing its thing. The temp you are seeing on the display is an average.
 

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