Traeger Timberline Problems, updates and fixes

bproffer

bproffer

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Since there a more and more of us on here who have purchased or are in the process of purchasing Traeger Timberline Smokers, I figured I could start this thread where you can come and post the issues and fixes you are having in a single thread and not scatter them amongst the other threads.
 
Here is a response I got from Traeger regarding pellet burn back, smoke coming from the from the pellet hopper and "other issues" being soot and failures to start and auger jams.

"
Thank you for contacting Traeger! My name is Ben M, and I appreciate the opportunity to assist you with your email “More 1300 issues”.

Thank you for reaching out to us so sorry about the delayed response, We have another update coming out today version 01.01.03 that should take care of the back burn issue as well as the other issues you have been experiencing.
However with the update you will need to remove a part from your grill, you will need to remove the collar around the induction fan.

I have attached some pictures so you can see where the item is. From the pictures you can see it is just 4 bolts that hold the fan on, also hold this collar on. So you will need to remove your fan and remove the collar and then reinstall the fan. Please let me know if you have any questions, thank you!

If there is anything else that we can do to assist you please don’t hesitate to let us know. Thank you for choosing Traeger!

All the best,

Ben M"
 
I sent them a thorough email explaining about airflow characteristics and lack of stoking the fire pot correctly with too much fuel in it, thus causing a dirty, sooty, flame.

Their reply this afternoon:

Hi David,
Thank you for contacting Traeger! My name is REP NAME REMOVED.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS! I personal thank you so much for providing me with this. I’m getting this forwarded right now.
Thank you, thank you.
If there is anything else that we can do to assist you please don’t hesitate to let us know. Thank you for choosing Traeger!
All the best,

REP NAME REMOVED
Customer Service Representative
TRAEGER WOOD FIRED GRILLS
800.872.3437 (Toll-free)
TraegerGrills.com
*
PRIVACY: This e-mail message is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain privileged and/or confidential information. Unauthorized use, distribution, review or disclosure is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please notify the sender immediately and destroy all copies of the original message.
*
JUL 11, 2017 *|* 06:50PM MDT
David replied:
I’ve confirmed this is an airflow issue in the fire pot. When the unit approaches its set temperature or runs in Super Smoke mode, it begins cycling the fan on and off. When the fan goes to off, the soot is coming out of the fire pot when it has not burned enough fuel out to cause it to smolder only. I made a video of it. Your firmware programmer cannot turn the fan to off or so low that it is not stoking the fire pot with that much fuel in it. GMG made this exact same mistake. It’s nasty to see how much black smoke is coming from the fire when it’s starved of oxygen and not stoked properly. You an see the flame is rising without any input air or disturbance.

Feel free to have your controller programmer(s) reach out to me directly if they want video or my input. I worked directly with GMG on the very same issue when they are were attempting to achieve tighter temperature swings with less overshoot. In the end, we solved it and all was well for me and their customer base. Unfortunately, dirty combustion is not good for cooking. It’s giving a good cooker a bad name already.

Please fix. I’m happy to test a beta firmware or an improved fan which provides more airflow at lower commanded PWM speeds.

Again, mine was delivered with the latest 01.01.02 firmware.

Regards,
David


-----------------------

With that said, I'll check when I get home to see if I get a new update and I'll remove the collar. Did it make any difference for you or is the update not out yet? I was just coming here to update my thread, so thanks for starting one focused on fixing issues on the Timberline.
 
I only have 2 cooks so far but I don't see any issues with mine so far.

Last night I ran a test removed all the grates, drip pan and deflector to look for smoldering issues I ran several different temps started low and bumped it up than backed it down and back up again no smoldering and the temp followed the what I had set it at except the one time I bumped up the temp from 225 to 350 the temp did not rise but rather dropped below 200 then I switched it to 400 and it ran right up to temp.

I gonna run some chicken in there tonight too look for soot but I don't think I'm having this problem

.
 
Just to be clear, smoldering is not the issue. A smoldering pellet won't produce soot. A flaming pellet without being properly stoked will produce soot. If you have ANY black buildup on anything within the smoker, there is a soot issue. You should see brownish and greyish buildup only. A small hint of black is okay, but if you wipe your finger across things and have black soot, it's a problem.

1. Grates
2. Drip pan
3. Heat diffuser (U shaped piece that goes over the fire pot)

For me, the heat diffuser showed the most soot. Second to that, I saw problems on the grates. If the inside of the smoker has any bit of a dark black tinge, it's soot. A brownish color is OK.
 
How do you access the fan assembly? Do you have to take all of the screws out of the bottom? It looks like there is an access door to get in there, but it doesn't have any screws.
 
Be good to copy Traeger this thread as well as the other larger one.
 
unixadm said:
How do you access the fan assembly? Do you have to take all of the screws out of the bottom? It looks like there is an access door to get in there, but it doesn't have any screws.
Click to expand...

There are 4 small screws on/near the bottom of the pellet hopper. Remove those and the whole bottom access panel comes off.
 
Thanks. I removed the fan shroud about 30 minutes ago. It didn't make any real difference with soot. I can confirm they are depowering the fan instead of going to a lower speed which still keeps the fire stoked at a minimal level. Hopefully once they release the 01.01.03 firmware, it will address this.
 
Is this going to be specific to yours or all units? Will they make this info available to all??
 
bosco0633 said:
Is this going to be specific to yours or all units? Will they make this info available to all??
Click to expand...

Since they are all built basically the same, I'm assuming it will relate to all units out in the wild which have not left the factory.

They said they are releasing the firmware today, but I can't get mine to update, so it must not be out yet.
 
It would be nice if they sent out some info on this. I don't want to take stuff apart if I don't have to
 
I'm not having combustion or soot issues but mine takes forever to get to temp and does not recover after opening the lid, it just never comes all the way back
 
I just removed my shroud. What a pain. Btw, they are 1/4" hex head screw. I used my bit Driver to remove them. You'll need to re-install the fan using those screws so don't lose them. No firmware update for me yet either.
 
Soot:
20170712201048-dd8f8478-me.jpg


I'm not sure how you guys are not getting soot since the fan is controlled by firmware and we're running the same version. Set it to 200 degrees on super smoke. Check your heat diffuser first and then run it for 30 or so minutes. If you don't have black soot, then I guess they are not all made equal. I have no idea if the 850 has this problem.
 
Hello everyone, first time posting here but following this forum for awhile. I purchased a timberline 850 about month ago and am too having the soot issues youre all experiencing. Since this is my first pellet grill I thought it was the norm and cleaned the soot off every three cooks or so.
 
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If it stays the norm, I'm gonna fight to get my money back. A pellet cooker should really have the cleanest combustion of most of the smokers out there. It's that clean combustion which limits the smoker flavor. However, this new controller is a major change for Traeger, and it will most likely take them a bit of time to refine it. At least they implemented online updating which is HUGE. Most companies do not, so you're stuck with having to swap hardware to get an update. Thanks Yoder. Their other tactic could have been tuning it for release with tight temperature control to get more positive reviews, since soooooo many people focus on that characteristic of smokers. However, that could have been done at the expense of clean combustion.
 
just got the 1300 delivered today (assembled, bless their souls) - old camp chef died despite trying to replace parts with smoke daddy stuff...- local dealer had one and got it delivered within a week...

anyway, did the seasoning run and noted smoke from hopper after hitting 500 for a few minutes; shut her down, ran the auger for a bit until smoldering auger pellets cleared (took a bit more augering than i am comfortable with as it was not just the tip at burn pot), vacuumed burn pot out, then it updated to 01.01.02 after shutdown (wifire all connected)... soot on grates (black). so i decided now that i was on 01.01.02 and having read all this to trial a quick run to 165 degrees and then shut down and see how the auger was... still a smoldering a bit that needed brief auger cycle run... all sounds like same issues as above. no update to 01.01.03 yet. in addition, the pellets had not completely dusted and still had some shape to them making me agree with the bad combustion theory. using traeger pellets so they can't blame that when i talk to them.

will call tomorrow and ask if i should take the collar off and see if 01.01.03 comes out... want this baby to purr...
 
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