It was bound to happen, nothing lasts forever and this grill does have moving parts. I guess a cascade of events occurred to cause the motor to seize up. After making a brisket last weekend which was smoked for 11 hours, I should have thought of the ash created and cleaned out the ash cup under the burn box. It is recommended to be done after every 3-4 grill uses, but I think after running for eleven hours that qualifies for a multi usage time equivalent. Anyways, after, it smoked but I got no heat out of it on Monday, I found a ton of ash in the burning cup part of the grill. I cleaned it all out and figured it would be alright, not thinking a bunch of the pellets must have been burning all the way into the auger tube.
I came back Tuesday to try grilling our lunch and after waiting a good ten minutes and coming back outside, there was no smoke and also no heat. The temperature just read 108 which must be the heat from the ignitor thing. I looked on Youtube and saw a tutorial on how to take it apart and clean it. I hesitated and tried the other technique which is sticking a wire, like a straightened out wire hanger to try and dislodge the stuck pellets to get the auger to come loose. This was very frustrating and after 20 minutes or so, the wire would only go in about 8 inches. The tube is at least 20 inches long, so still plenty of room for stuck pellets. I then said "Fuck it" and took it apart. The auger was jammed tight, I used a screwdriver to lean against the body of the grill and eventually even a hammer to smack it loose, which helped. Even after it moved I still had a hard time pulling it out all the way. I did and after doing this about three different times, I finally got it all cleaned out and I used a light sand paper to de-burr the auger, it was a little rough at parts.
Once I figured there was nothing else I could do to get it going, I called Oklahoma Joe and the guy agreed it was probably the auger motor, which I assumed seized up, it just wouldn't turn. They put me on a list for a back order and I'll be getting a replacement motor sometime in a month. Meanwhile, I am not the kind of guy to wait, I went online and noticed the Traeger brand replacement motor looked identical, even the sticker says it is the same manufacturer, voltage, frequency, so I ordered a couple of them. I figured if this part breaks down this easily, I might as well have some on hand. It was only $24.99. I installed the new motor this morning, I was too busy yesterday with the football game and my in-laws arriving. It turned, so hopefully, we are past this little problem. The Oklahoma Joe tutorial also suggested running the grill on high after dumping the extra pellets to burn them all out of the auger tube after each use, that way they can't sit there and swell up or seize somehow while it waits for the next usage. If this solves my problem, then it isn't a big sacrifice, and I will definitely start making sure the ash cup is clean after every use.
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