Any tips on refurbishing Traeger?

[sooey]

I've never owned a Traeger; I do my BBQ on a Brinkmann electric water smoker (bullet). However, I just rescued a 2011 Traeger Lil' Tex Elite from the trash so I'm eager to try it out.

I fired it up, and everything seems to work fine - fans, auger, controller, etc. The inside has the finish worn off below the grate level, and lots of rust, but plenty of steel left. Above the grate line, the finish is about 90% there. The outside is mostly good - about 95% of the finish, there's some flaking of the finish and rusting where the 'skirt' meets the cylindrical part of the grill and just below the door.

I had some specific questions:
1) I'll take a wirewheel to the inside to get off flaking rust. After that, should I just coat with cooking oil and bake it on?* Or can I use a high-temp paint?

2) On the inside, above the grate, it looks like the original finish (powdercoat?) is mostly still intact. Should I just leave it alone? Or go ahead and strip it and finish the same as the bottom?

3) Outside: Do I need to strip the whole thing down? I'm guessing the original powder coat is still in better condition than any paint I'm going to put on, it's just a bit oxidized looking. Can I just paint over the powder coat to give it a cleaner look?

Besides paint, I don't think this will need any work, though I'll probably replace all the original nuts/bolts with stainless. Anything else I should be doing?

Thanks for any tips!

 

[sooey]

Anyone?

 

[Mrfish]

I've never owned a Traeger; I do my BBQ on a Brinkmann electric water smoker (bullet). However, I just rescued a 2011 Traeger Lil' Tex Elite from the trash so I'm eager to try it out.

I fired it up, and everything seems to work fine - fans, auger, controller, etc. The inside has the finish worn off below the grate level, and lots of rust, but plenty of steel left. Above the grate line, the finish is about 90% there. The outside is mostly good - about 95% of the finish, there's some flaking of the finish and rusting where the 'skirt' meets the cylindrical part of the grill and just below the door.

I had some specific questions:
1) I'll take a wirewheel to the inside to get off flaking rust. After that, should I just coat with cooking oil and bake it on?* Or can I use a high-temp paint?

2) On the inside, above the grate, it looks like the original finish (powdercoat?) is mostly still intact. Should I just leave it alone? Or go ahead and strip it and finish the same as the bottom?

3) Outside: Do I need to strip the whole thing down? I'm guessing the original powder coat is still in better condition than any paint I'm going to put on, it's just a bit oxidized looking. Can I just paint over the powder coat to give it a cleaner look?

Besides paint, I don't think this will need any work, though I'll probably replace all the original nuts/bolts with stainless. Anything else I should be doing?

Thanks for any tips!

I rebuilt my Treager some years ago after a grease fire that happened in the middle of the night. It was so hot it melted the Treager emblem!

I wire wheeled and sanded all surfaces. On the inside I just seasoned and burned in.

On the outside I used high temp paint.

Replaced with an aftermarket controller, and she is still running to this day at my neighbors house. Wish I never sold it to him!

Good luck. I sure your hard work will pay off!

 

[JBirdP]

Yes, you could quit now before you have any money in it and by a pellet grill that actually adds smoke flavor to your food. Sorry…I’m still a little disgruntled about my timberline 1300 purchase.

 

[Chester]

Always good to restore something that can use it. Got any pictures of the Lil Tex?

 

[sooey]

Always good to restore something that can use it. Got any pictures of the Lil Tex?

Ha! Not now, it's 100% disassembled, and put away as I won't have time to work on it for the next coupla weeks.

Does anyone have thoughts on painting over the still-good powdercoat? I'd really rather not do all the work to get down to bare metal - and maybe remove a superior coating - if I can just spray over it.

 

[Dweverett]

For the inside, just remove whatever is loose, spray it with some oil and heat it up. No reason to paint the interior at all.

On the exterior, you could try scuffing up the powder coat a little and just painting over it.

 

[sooey]

F
On the exterior, you could try scuffing up the powder coat a little and just painting over it.

Makes sense - if it doesn't work, all I'm out is the short time it took to scuff & paint. I can always start again and strip it completely, if that doesn't work.