Traeger Timberline Problems, updates and fixes

[The Wookiee]

will the smoke daddy mount up to the 1300?..as far as the hardware goes?

I'll know once mine shows ups in a few days... will post once I put it in. They do sell a 12" & 18" which are swappable with others traeger, and the grate dimensions of the traeger 34 pro model etc look to be same as the timberline 1300 so I ordered an 18" to see. $25 bucks fast worth it to me to try rather than wait for their backorder from traeger...

If all this madness doesn't work and they don't get this thing sorted soon will be looking to return as well...

 

[unixadm]

Super Smoke should be renamed Super Soot. They are still turning off the fan in that mode. It didn't seem to soot up as bad when not using Super Smoke mode, but I'm still not pleased. I'm going to start talking with the dealer where I bought it from about returning. It's not rocket science here, you don't turn off a fan in a pellet cooker. My guess is, they have off-shored the controller development.

 

[The Wookiee]

PID with predetermined auger timing for smoke setting; not that complicated. Would be more than happy with that. We'll see...

I just pinged my dealer as to what return process is if traeger can't get this sorted...

 

[westernhunter23]

Super Smoke should be renamed Super Soot. They are still turning off the fan in that mode. It didn't seem to soot up as bad when not using Super Smoke mode, but I'm still not pleased. I'm going to start talking with the dealer where I bought it from about returning. It's not rocket science here, you don't turn off a fan in a pellet cooker. My guess is, they have off-shored the controller development.

I also noticed this on mine. Funny thing is, is I'm so frustrated that l left a bad rating on Traeger's website yesterday. Mine didn't get published but two other 5 start ratings did. Managing the brand of course.

 

[Utah]

I was told that the auger would not be in the U.S. until late next month.

Thank you for getting back to me, Yes you should have a new auger in about a week or so, and the soot shouldnt have anything to do with the firmware, soot is a natural bi product of smoke so a little bit of soot is to be expected, it sounds like you have been experiencing what seems to be a excess amount of soot, if that happens again can you take some pictures of what your food looks like after you cook if it happens again, that way we can compare it to what should be expected and determine more from there.

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

Try reaching out to Ben M. I'll let you know if it shows up in a week.

 

[texasbred]

So I ended up trading mine for an 850 through my local Ace Hardware. Received the full refund of the difference and supposedly the 850 doesn't have near the problems that plague the 1300.

While I was at work they set it up at the store and test ran it. They told me everything was great and they did the burn in. They delivered it and since I was hung up at work my wife decided to crank it up and cook some steaks. She has plenty of experience cooking on smokers, charcoal grills, gassers and our 1300.

Well she experienced a flame out so she just pulled them off and finished them on our Genesis. I was checking everything out when I got home, lots of soot and ash. I made sure the auger was turning. The auger probably pushed out 2 inches of burnt/smoldering pellets into the fire pot.

Needless to say I'm not impressed or happy with this whole ordeal.

I did notice that during the attempted cook the grill was running the original firmware, I updated to .3 and I will test it again tomorrow.

 

[Wtcinwy]

Thank you for getting back to me, Yes you should have a new auger in about a week or so, and the soot shouldnt have anything to do with the firmware, soot is a natural bi product of smoke so a little bit of soot is to be expected, it sounds like you have been experiencing what seems to be a excess amount of soot, if that happens again can you take some pictures of what your food looks like after you cook if it happens again, that way we can compare it to what should be expected and determine more from there.

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

Try reaching out to Ben M. I'll let you know if it shows up in a week.

Best of luck to you... I chatted with two different CSR folks on Monday, and they checked availability in both the warehouse in SLC.. and in Georgia, and said that they were out and would not see any stock until the end of August.

 

[Wtcinwy]

Here are the facts of the matter. Traeger went to market with a product that worked great in the beta units, but once outsourced to Asia, the mass production is an absolute failure. As others have posted before, it's not the end of the world, but it's the end of summer BBQ. This will hurt their brand, and people will be licking their chops to see what GMG and Yoder and Mack will be coming out with to put this product into the ground where at this point it belongs. Unfortunately, those of us who drank the kool-aid.. are left to pick up the pieces and try to salvage whatever is left after this epic failure finally crash land and comes to a complete stop.

 

[unixadm]

The only thing wrong with mine is the stupid firmware. Otherwise, I really like it and I've owned many brands of cookers. Just keep the damn fan on and the soot will go away.

 

[jsix]

Full Refund?

Does anyone know if a refund is possible?

 

[bproffer]

Super Smoke should be renamed Super Soot. They are still turning off the fan in that mode. It didn't seem to soot up as bad when not using Super Smoke mode, but I'm still not pleased. I'm going to start talking with the dealer where I bought it from about returning. It's not rocket science here, you don't turn off a fan in a pellet cooker. My guess is, they have off-shored the controller development.

What temp were you running in Super Smoke mode? I currently have mine set at 225°. The auger kicks on for 19-20 seconds, then off for 2:15, rinse and repeat. It seems like it is a pre-set algorithm like the old controllers. It also sounds like my fan is continually on a low speed. I don't hear it shutting off. I am not sure what I think about this. My temp is fluctuating between 207-215°. It only hit 225° right after start up. Ambient outside temp is 102° And only have the lower rack in. If I was loaded with meat I wonder what it would do. Not sure I want to risk the $$ on meat to find out.

The firmware did take care of most of the soot issue when I had it at 250-350°-500°. I did have burnback through the auger. I even dropped the temp to 250 before running the shut down cycle. When I started it up this evenening, the initial auger run in start up dumped zero pellets. After the hot rod heated up and the auger ran again, again no pellets and then burnt pellets. Looks like it burned 3 or so inches up into the auger.

 

[texasbred]

After trading the 1300 for the 850 and updating the 850 I'm enjoying this Timberline a lot more.

Ace Hardware has been great working with me. The 850 definitely cooks a lot better than the 1300 did. I think the burn back in this one stopped with the update, attempting a long cook today so I'll report after that.

The Traeger rep had no answers for my problems with the 1300. The only solution they could offer besides getting an 850 or refund was to install new controller, auger, fans and hopper.

 

[bproffer]

I just hit up my Traeger rep to see what options I have. I am done with this thing.

 

[rwalters]

I just hit up my Traeger rep to see what options I have. I am done with this thing.

Whatcha gonna replace it with?

 

[popo1984]

So i pit a brisket on at 11am this morning and set the 850 to 225 and super smoke. It chugged along for about 2 and 1/2 hours fine. Now all of a sudden it started dropping temperature. It sounds like the auger is turning from the bottom but i noticed that i cannot hear the fan cycling like it did before. I let it struggle for about 30 minutes but the temp slowly dropped. I bumped it up to 250 and its still dropping temp.

I emptied my hopper before the cook and filled it with Louisiana mesquite pellets i just got off of amazon. So i don't know if the hickory that was in the auger tube finally ran out and the mesquite pellets are the issue or if its the smoker itself. Im gonna take the brisket off and check the hopper and switch the mesquite out for the hickory to see if that helps.

So I cleaned out all of the mesquite pellets from the hopper and the auger tube. I then purged the auger to fill with hickory. Started it back up at 225 and it over shot to 245 and went back down. Now it dropped down to 209 and is staying right there. Im gonna bump it up to 250 and see what happens.

Anyone have any other advise? I really didn't have any issues on my first cooks. with the 02 and 03 updates I'm starting to have issues.

 

[popo1984]

What temp were you running in Super Smoke mode? I currently have mine set at 225°. The auger kicks on for 19-20 seconds, then off for 2:15, rinse and repeat. It seems like it is a pre-set algorithm like the old controllers. It also sounds like my fan is continually on a low speed. I don't hear it shutting off. I am not sure what I think about this. My temp is fluctuating between 207-215°. It only hit 225° right after start up. Ambient outside temp is 102° And only have the lower rack in. If I was loaded with meat I wonder what it would do. Not sure I want to risk the $$ on meat to find out.

The firmware did take care of most of the soot issue when I had it at 250-350°-500°. I did have burnback through the auger. I even dropped the temp to 250 before running the shut down cycle. When I started it up this evenening, the initial auger run in start up dumped zero pellets. After the hot rod heated up and the auger ran again, again no pellets and then burnt pellets. Looks like it burned 3 or so inches up into the auger.

Sounds like we're having the same issue. I have an 850 though.

So I contacted Traeger and they stated that it was either a fan issue or an auger issue. The tech stated he was sending me out a new fan and to check the auger timing. I pulled the cover to access the fan and found that I did not even have a collar around my fan. Also looking at the auger motor is it supposed to be loose? I can move the motor assembly back and forth as well as in and out. If I can figure out how to post the video i will post it here? It that normal?

 

[bassinwv]

So I have an 850 and the only issue I had been experiencing was very slow recovery. Just did a cook at 350 and the recovery was excellent and always stayed within 5 or so degrees of 350 after it recovered. Before the .03 update it would normally sit at 310 and never climb back up.

I did a pork butt last weekend for some pulled pork at 225 on super smoke for 3 hours then finished it up at 250 for about 9 hours and experienced just a small amount of soot mainly confined to the heat shield. Temps held consistent at 225 and 250 respectively. This was in a driving rain as well that started about 4 hours into the cook. This was with the .02 firmware. Hopefully the changes in .03 don't change that.

I've been satisfied with the cooker and hope Traeger continues to work out the issues people are experiencing.

 

[popo1984]

Here is the video. You can also see no collar around the fan.
[ame]https://youtu.be/yoWgcEo1A7E[/ame]

 

[unixadm]

Cooking some ribs on the 1300. One rack is done thus far.

Trying to cook at 250 to see how much soot I get. Very light smoke flavor at this temperature, but that would be true on most pellet smokers. If super smoke worked without heavy soot and this issue didn't exist, I'd be very happy. They look quite good. I used two different rubs, which is why the two racks look different,

Traeger said that I may not be able to get a refund from where I bought it and they said that they only offer refunds from them direct within 45 days if you have an unused smoker. WTF?

I did have one issue while cooking. I misted the ribs with water and added a bit more rub. The temperature dropped to below 200 while I had the lid open. I close it up and go inside. About 20 minutes later, I check the temperature and it's sitting at 199 degrees! I had to mess with the app and adjust the temperature down to 245, let it sit for a few minutes and then back to 250. It then started to recover slowly.

There's a new thread from today where a guy bought a Rec Tec because of this thread. He was set on a Timberline. Too bad we all didn't know better.

 

[unixadm]

I took my 1300 apart to check for soot after the longest cook I've put it through. The soot was much less with the new firmware, but I was running at 250 degrees. I tested at 225 with super smoke and had a lot of soot, so they have made some improvement, but it's still not there. yet.