These are the exact same issues I am having. I posted a video on youtube and emailed Treager. The video and their responses so far are below.
Traeger Timberline 1300 Issues - YouTube
Good morning Raina,
I am on version 01.01.02. I want to say that I was on a waiting list for
months to get this grill. I sold my Green Mountain model that never gave me
any issues. I love the build quality and the technology built into this
Timberline. However, I have been so disappointed in the amount of soot it
produces, It doesn't seem to matter if I clean it or not, food comes out
dirty. Yesterday I was trying to cook chicken breasts. It would never reach
the 500 degree mark. It got to 475 after almost 2 hours of running. I
opened the grill and placed the meat on. The temp dropped down into the
200's and would never come up. I finally gave up and cooked the chicken on
the propane grill. I then googled Timberline 1300 issues and came across
the forum below where many are having the same issue. Even after the
01.01.03 upgrade and removing some fan shroud, the issue still exists. I
look forward to any solution you may have. I doubt I am able to return this
or I would.
Thanks for your help Raina,
JUL 25, 2017 | 10:03AM MDT
Raina R replied:
What I can see, it looks like your grill has been running pretty well besides for this last cook. However, what I’d like for you to do is fill up your hopper with pellets and set your grill to high. Let it run on high for 2 hours then open it for 1-2 minutes and then close it and let it cook for another hour or so. That way we can see what it’s doing on our end to run a proper diagnostic.
All the best,
Raina R
Customer Service Representative
TRAEGER WOOD FIRED GRILLS
800.872.3437 (Toll-free)
TraegerGrills.com
My Reply:
Hi Raina,
I have rarely tried to reach the 500 degree mark so I can't say if this issue was present before. I will say that the amount of soot on the food makes it inedible. If that is what is considered running "pretty well" then we have very different ideas of what a $2000.00 pellet grill should do. I will follow your instructions and burn another 3 hours of pellets. I'll then get back to you.
Hi Raina,
I did as you asked and ran it at Max temp for a few hours, it would never get to the desired setting. I opened the lid for a few minutes then let it try and heat up again and it would't get abouve 285. Let me know what your data shows on your end. Thank you.
Then a reply from Braxton at Traeger this morning:
Braxton W replied:
Hi Quinn, this is Braxton from Traeger. I went over the conversation between you and Raina and it would seem that it could have been a slight Auger Jam. In case you haven’t troubleshot this already, you can clear the jam with the Auger easily enough. All we have to do is gain access to the Auger Motor by pulling the Hopper off after unscrewing it. After that, we can pull the entire Auger assembly out roughly 3 inches. NOTE the Auger may have to be shaken slightly to get it all the way out. The reason for this is because there are some pellets that could have caused the Auger to stop moving causing the jam. To fix that, we are going to have to break those pellets causing it to stop moving. Pulling it out the 3 inches also clears any remaining pellets that could cause a problem. Let’s give that a try if you have not already.
All the best,
Braxton W
My reply:
Hi Braxton,
I called in earlier today when I didn't hear back from Raina, I was told that this was a known issue with the 1300 and they expect a firmware update to solve it. To your point, if it was a jammed auger wouldn't that prevent combustion entirely? I don't know if you can see in your records how long I ran my grill last night but it did light and heat up, it just never got to higher than 375 or so. You can see from this photo how many pellets I wasted preforming the test Raina asked me to do. So those of us with the problem either all have jammed augers or the software that controls the unit is not doing what it is supposed to do. The soot issue is another problem I can't seem to resolve. I also have smoke coming from the hopper and when I place my hand in the hopper to level out the pellets the pellets are hot to the touch. I would hate to see them catch fire. I think there is a bigger issue at play here, or perhaps I have a defective unit? I purchased this gill on June 20th from RC Willey. If I could return it, I would. What other options are available to me?
On a side note, the new CEO of Traeger is Jeremy Andrus, he was one of the owners of Skull Candy Headphones. Skull Candy was amazing at marketing and advertising. However their headphones were nothing more than cheap Chinese low budget headphones with flashy colors and designs. I am afraid that has now trickled down to the Traeger Timberline. Great marketing, lots of catchy videos, but in the end it's a subpar product. I sold my GMG Jim Bowie for this, and it was a third the cost and never gave me an issue. Most of the positive reviews and beta test units from what I have seen were for the Timberline 850. The 1300 clearly needed more R&D.
Just my take.
