British BBQ Society Forums

I've started using my Lil' Tex but i'm unsure if it's behaving as it should.

I've set the traeger on smoke from the start today and then put my ribs in, but as soon as i closed the door it raced to 400f and is sitting around there.

I thought the smoke setting should keep the temp's should be around 180f

When i used it last night it behaved the same and when i opened the pellet box the temp's would rise alot and i'd have to wait for the temp's to come back down.

Is this normal? Should there be something else that i do.

I'm thinking about setting up another of my termomiters to see if it's a fault that end.

Ed, Have a chat with Jackie, Toby had one for a Help the Heroes event we did and it behaved very similiar. I think (I'm not entirely sure) but there was something (A board of somekind) that needed replacing.

Jackie is cool, she will do what she can to help.

Cheers

Adie

Cheers for the advise Adie, I've dropped her an email.

Hi Ed,

Your problem is with the control board, all of jackies stock has been sitting around for a considerable time if not years, therefore she will need to send you a replacement, I would advise anyone buying a Traeger to get a spare control board because she only has a few left and you could end up with a permanently faulty piece of equipment. The control boards, augers etc were shipped to the American BBQ company years ago and there has not been a relationship between the two companies for at least 2 years.
Toby

While this is excellent advice, note also that some of us have recently been discussing other sources of control boards suitable for 240V - these being the digital boards, rather the 3 way switch board the Traeger comes with.

I got a price from Germany at 199 euros + 10 euros carriage - that includes VAT.

rding got a much keener price from Australia of 93 quid, but you'd have to add carriage, duty and tax onto that. I'm guessing that Oz will probably work out cheaper, but with a minor hassle factor that you are importing it into the EU. Note that the German price is actually in line with the standard US price for these controllers, although I've seen them for much less.

However, it does mean that even without a local source of 240V control boards, there are alternatives. Presumably these sources can also supply replacement hot rods, once Jackie's stock runs out.

I also contacted Ortech in the States, to see if they were considering producing a 240V version of their new board, but they have no plans for this at present.

Chris__M wrote:While this is excellent advice, note also that some of us have recently been discussing other sources of control boards suitable for 240V - these being the digital boards, rather the 3 way switch board the Traeger comes with.

I got a price from Germany at 199 euros + 10 euros carriage - that includes VAT.

rding got a much keener price from Australia of 93 quid, but you'd have to add carriage, duty and tax onto that. I'm guessing that Oz will probably work out cheaper, but with a minor hassle factor that you are importing it into the EU. Note that the German price is actually in line with the standard US price for these controllers, although I've seen them for much less.

However, it does mean that even without a local source of 240V control boards, there are alternatives. Presumably these sources can also supply replacement hot rods, once Jackie's stock runs out.

I also contacted Ortech in the States, to see if they were considering producing a 240V version of their new board, but they have no plans for this at present.

I completely agree that there are other options but it is wise to make sure the basic model is working so that you dont have to fork out extra money especially on a new machine

To be fair to Jackie she's being very helpful. Just need to do a couple of tests to try and get to the bottom of the issue before we can resolve it.

Im having problems with mine as well. It won't light. I followed the instructions but it seems like the hot rod does not get up to temp to ignite the pellets. Checked the fuse and it seems ok the auger and the fan both work. Dropped a line to Jackie and now just waiting for a call back.

Should the hot rod get so hot you can actually see it glowing?

Richard

Jackie will sort it, she has a good track record. I wish i new more about the pellet pooper world, it's not looking like I will for a long time now. Mainly because I have exceeded my lifetime allowable funds for BBQ and the missus would not be happy if I turned up with one now, lol

Someone will know if it should glow red or not. I'm sure the element in the FEC glows red, not sure about the traeger though

My Lil Tex has problems lighting in cold weather. In the spring/summer/autumn it's fine but throughout Winter I've had to help it along with a blast from a propane torch.

My hot rod glows red although you don't see it glowing much in daylight. To be honest it's not something I've bothered too much with.