Auger Stuck

[zwiller]

If it is indeed rust, perhaps Coca Cola? I think Mythbusters said it actually does dissolve rust.

Coke (has a little phosphoric acid in it) works ok on rust but not as good as straight acid.

Learned of the air hammer from a mechanic who had a shop for 50 years here in Ohio where every nut and bolt in the car is rusted. The air hammer won't drive it out, but vibrate the heck out of it, breaking it loose.

 

[Brokenhandle]

Well if you lose your patience with it there's always the red neck way... tie the smoker to a big tree with a chain, then wrap another chain to opposite side of auger and then to pick up hitch...leave lots of slack in chain then give her hell! Might not come apart quite as desired but self satisfaction is worth something!
And being the enablers we are... Green Mountain Grills and Rectec sell some mighty nice pellet smokers!

Ryan

 

[DougE]

I’d happily buy a new hopper & auger, but Traeger doesn’t sell them. I’d happily buy three single hoppers/augers/tubes to replace the three augers in one hopper on this model. Traeger won’t sell them. They have the single hopper assembly parts for warrantee only, but they won’t sell them. Don’t ask me what I think of Traeger’s product support.

That right there is more than enough to make never buy one of their products. It's totally asinine to not sell replacement parts for your products.

 

[DougE]

Well if you lose your patience with it there's always the red neck way... tie the smoker to a big tree with a chain, then wrap another chain to opposite side of auger and then to pick up hitch...leave lots of slack in chain then give her hell! Might not come apart quite as desired but self satisfaction is worth something!

I'm right there with you, but I'd use a tractor.

 

[DougE]

I am with Chris and would prefer to keep chems out of there if possible. Not sure if you have access to an air compressor but my latest favorite tool for stuck things is an air hammer. $15 at Harbor Freight.

I completely missed your response when I suggested an air hammer, but yeah, it'd be worth a shot if it's possible.

 

[swedegeek]

Thanks for the good ideas!

To catch up:

-Here’s a photo. The middle auger is free - the other two are stuck

-Traeger stopped making this model in 2020. If a dealer has one, maybe they’ve had it a while.

-Tried alcohol first - no luck. Might return to it or use it to clean things up after getting the augers out

-The coke is a great idea!

-The smallest long (18” or so) drill bit I have is 1/4”, which is just a bit too big to get through the hole in the fitting which attaches to the motor. No other access without cutting a hole in the hopper, which I might end up doing.

-Traeger Tech Help Line said to bang on the end with a hammer. I did, after putting a piece if wood over it. Didn’t hit overly hard for obvious reasons. About all it did was to compress the first several inches of the auger like a spring. Then I used a rivet gun - I’d hit it enough that my arm was tired. No luck. Eventually it broke the end of the auger (which is welded on).

I won’t be able to work on this until after the weekend, but thank you all for the ideas & posts. I’ll update this when I have news.

 

[sandyut]

That right there is more than enough to make never buy one of their products. It's totally asinine to not sell replacement parts for your products.

Been thinking this all along. Sad but true.

 

[bill1]

...About all it did was to compress the first several inches of the auger like a spring...

You're hitting it too hard if you've deformed the auger. And unfortunately you've compressed it, which enlarges the spring diameter, making it stuck all the more in the tube. This is kinda' why you wanted to use equal amounts of hammering in and slide-hammering out. Permanently stretching the auger would have been better than permanently compressing it. At this point, you want to stop applying axial force and resort to just twisting torque. If you were starting from scratch, I'd recommend using equal portions of tightening and loosening torque with an impact drill. But given its deformation, I'd concentrate more on tightening "blows" than loosening.

And you really want to make sure you've completely hollowed out the wood on the inside of the auger to allow any liquid to work its way out to the OD where you're obviously stuck. Sorry the .25" long drills won't fit, but .125" might. Also since your picture shows you have the inner crucibles removed, I wouldn't hesitate drilling or punching a 1" hole in the far (crucible) end and drilling it out from that end. (Cover them over afterwards with a flat piece of steel to maintain air flow through, not around, the crucibles.) But as long as your drill is pulling out any dry wood (and I think it will) you're proving you really need to have that ID completely clear for liquid to work its magic.

I now vote for the phosphoric acid coke solution too just because a few 2-liter bottles of cola won't break the bank for the size soak tank you need...the picture is a BIG help in understanding a Com200, thanks. (But note these things come from the factory full of machining oils worse than WD-40 and the customer is just told to do a "burn-out" before cooking food.)

 

[Big Grouch]

My only experience on pellet grills is on my Camp Chef. The auger flighting doesn't look very strong, just designed to move loose pellets. My feeling is beating on the augers is a bad idea. My 40 years as a mechanic says I'd try twisting back and forth, with whatever get dumped in there to try to dissolve the rust and pellets. I'll guess a bunch of us would be there to help if we were close enough. I hope if you get this going whoever used it last gets booted from the club.

 

[DougE]

If either of these replacements will work, you don't have to worry about damaging the old ones getting them out.

Replacement Pellet Hopper Auger - Smoke Daddy Inc.,

Augers used for 12″ & 18″ Hopper Assemblies. Compatible with Traeger, Pit Boss, Pellet Pro, Camp Chef, etc. Includes Nylon Bushing & Hardened Bolt w/ Nut

smokedaddyinc.com

 

[Big Grouch]

I belong to a club that bought a Traeger Commercial 200 a few years ago. The pellets didn’t get removed last fall & after spending a winter in the Seattle humidity two of the three augers are stuck. Really stuck. I’ve soaked the hopper/tube assembly in water for 3 days to soften the pellets & its still stuck. Banged on the ends of the auger with a hammer like Traeger recommends, etc.

Traeger doesn’t make this model anymore & doesn’t sell any of the parts, so I can’t replace the hopper/tube assembly. Traeger sent me to the local repair shop, who says they can’t get any parts or other help from Traeger. I’ll call Traeger again & try to escalate it to management, but I’m not hopeful.

So I have some questions:

1. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to get this repaired?

2. Does anyone have any first hand experience that would indicate whether its the pellets that turn to sawdust during the wet months that stick to the auger or whether the auger & tube rust together?

3. Anybody have experience or thoughts about using three single hopper/tube/firepot/igniter assemblies instead of the 1 hopper with 3 augers/tubes/firepots that this smoker originally has?

Thanks!

I belong to a club that bought a Traeger Commercial 200 a few years ago. The pellets didn’t get removed last fall & after spending a winter in the Seattle humidity two of the three augers are stuck. Really stuck. I’ve soaked the hopper/tube assembly in water for 3 days to soften the pellets & its still stuck. Banged on the ends of the auger with a hammer like Traeger recommends, etc.

Traeger doesn’t make this model anymore & doesn’t sell any of the parts, so I can’t replace the hopper/tube assembly. Traeger sent me to the local repair shop, who says they can’t get any parts or other help from Traeger. I’ll call Traeger again & try to escalate it to management, but I’m not hopeful.

So I have some questions:

1. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to get this repaired?

2. Does anyone have any first hand experience that would indicate whether its the pellets that turn to sawdust during the wet months that stick to the auger or whether the auger & tube rust together?

3. Anybody have experience or thoughts about using three single hopper/tube/firepot/igniter assemblies instead of the 1 hopper with 3 augers/tubes/firepots that this smoker originally has?

Thanks!

https://pellet-stove-parts-4less.com/collections/traeger-large-commercial. This appears to be a parts source. Looking at the photos and parts lists, I wonder if welding a nut to the end of the auger and using a slide hammer would pull the stuck augers out?

 

[Smoking Audi]

Did the OP have any luck with this? Just had to deal with a stuck auger myself. Once apart I was able to back the auger out then pound a 1/2 inch drive long extension through the shit to break it all free. Once cleared out I use the auger as a a scraper to clean it all up.

 

[swedegeek]

Success! Finally got the two stuck augers out! Now its just a reassembly job with new parts.

To recap: In June, 2021 the smoker was used for a large gathering, and apparently had a backfire, burning the pellets in the auger tube. They were then left to sit thru a wet Seattle winter, during which time the pellets expanded & turned hard as a rock, bonding to the auger and to the auger tube. As a result 2 of 3 augers were stuck hard as a rock.

Traeger said to "unscrew" the auger from the jam and/or to hammer on the end of the auger the motor attaches to. I did, and after I got a sore arm I from hammering I used a riveter. Tried soaking it in water for 4 days - no luck. Didn't deform the auger or expand it - I didn't hit it that hard. Eventually the end of the auger (which is welded on) busted off - presumably a small flaw in the weld finally expanded into a significant crack. That let me get in there with long drill bit to clear out the gunk inside the auger. Then went after the gunk between the auger blades with a hard wire, a long airgun, a bore scope to see what was left in there, and various other tools. Made very slow progress - I probably spent 10-15 hours working on the first auger & was still a long way from getting the pellets/ashes out.

One night I had a blinding flash of the obvious: an auger is the perfect tool for digging out the pellets/ashes between an auger. Threaded it in as far as I could, wriggled it around, pulled in & out, etc. Put a screwdriver in the end to give me something to hold on to. Took an hour to clean it out, then the auger broke free with mild pressure. Used the same technique on the other stuck auger, along with soaking it in water to loosen up the pellets/ashes. Took a couple of hours to free the second auger - much faster than the first.

Conclusions:

1. There was no way twisting or hitting on the auger was going to break it free. The hardened pellets/ash in the auger tube had to be removed. And an auger was the perfect tool to do it.

The pellet jams I saw in YouTube videos were much easier to clear - not the same thing at all.

2. Although I speculated about rust, I don't think rust was the problem. The auger tube is painted, and there's significant gap between the auger & the tube. When I got the gunk out, it broke free easily. If rust was the problem, it still would have been stuck.

That said, the augers showed significant rust when I got them out, but the outside edges were no more rusted than the faces & inside edges.

Acids will remove rust, and I was ready to seal it up & pour vinegar into the tube until it popped loose. Alternately, electrolysis would work. But I don't think rust was the issue.

3. In my case the fitting at the motor end of the auger eventually broke off under my hammering. This allowed access by another auger to remove the gunk. However, an easier method would have been to cut a hole in the opposite end (near the fire pot) to provide access. This would need to be covered & sealed, of course, during reassembly.

4. Traeger doesn't sell the hopper assemblies. Take care of your smoker/grill. If you need a hopper or some other parts, you're SOL unless you can make them yourself. Next time you buy a smoker or grill find out whether the maker supplies spare parts after the sale.

5. I remain very reluctant to use WD-40 or other penetrating oils on it. First, I don't think rust is the problem. Second, smell and taste are very sensitive, and residue may remain long after the grill is back in service. Although Traeger tells you to fire up a new grill for several hours before using it, I don't believe there are significant manufacturing oils, etc. left. These parts have all been painted with hi temp paint, which means they've been degreased.

6. Burning the pellets out would have been tough, since the auger tube is inside the hopper - you can't reach the outside of the auger tube with a torch. Might have been able to do it with some cooking oil or similar, but that would still have left the ash in there. Also, the ash left from the previous fire wouldn't have burned much. Might have worked, or helped some, but I didn't try it.

7. The worst case solution would have been to cut open the hopper & replace two of the auger tubes, then weld everything up again. I maybe could have done that quicker & easier than all the time I spent on it, but I preferred the least destructive method possible. I sure thought I was going to end up there, though.

8. Sometimes it takes a while to think of good solutions. Patience to let them come is a virtue. It took me 2 months to think of using an auger as a clean-out tool. (Of course, this could also be evidence that I'm not very bright, a conclusion my wife would wholeheartedly agree with...)

9. As for using a tractor or a pickup truck to jerk the auger out, I'd prefer the pickup truck. It accelerates faster to a higher speed, which means a more spectacular destruction of the part you're so frustrated at...

10. The easiest solution is to avoid the problem. Turn the smoker down to low for a while before turning it off to avoid a back fire. Remove all the pellets from the smoker & auger tubes after using it, or at least at the end of the season.

 

[cal1956]

i have been reading this thread and before now i didn't think i wanted a pellet smoker ......now i am 1000% positive i don't !!!

 

[bill1]

Glad to hear of the good ending for this specialized machine. As you note the tolerances between the tube and auger are pretty sloppy so they're not likely to rust together if you purge out the pellets after each cook. Used to always do that but now even in Winter I trust my cover and have been getting care-less. I probably should get back on the straight & narrow. Emptying the hopper and purging the tube after a cook isn't much work compared to other cleanup and is a LOT less work than unfreezing a stuck auger.
PS: I've removed the finger guard in the hopper so emptying the hopper all the way down to the auger feed point is much easier. The speed at which your fingers can be pinched/cut is much slower than human reaction time so I consider those guards pretty silly. Of course your mileage may vary.

 

[JckDanls 07]

I remain very reluctant to use WD-40 or other penetrating oils on it

A food grade silicone spray on the bare parts will help to keep from rusting

 

[bill1]

Pretty hard to apply any rust inhibitor to the middle of an auger-in-tube in normal use except for the rare cases of non-horizontal auger feeds (for which gravity becomes friend instead of foe). It's when you have a problem child out on your workbench that this can become a consideration. And as the OP discovered, they don't get stuck due to rust.

 

[DougE]

i have been reading this thread and before now i didn't think i wanted a pellet smoker ......now i am 1000% positive i don't !!!

It's not as if this is a common occurance. If it were, the board would be littered with stuck auger posts with all the pellet grill owners around here (myself included).

 

[Big Grouch]

i have been reading this thread and before now i didn't think i wanted a pellet smoker ......now i am 1000% positive i don't !!!

I wouldn't poo poo pellet grills just because of this. OP seemed to have had a perfect storm of everything that could go wrong. They certainly have pros and cons. Many of us have them and haven't had any issues.

 

[cal1956]

i have read a lot of thread's about them and while i do think they make good grills , they ( in my mind ) aren't good smokers
and the disadvantages they have out weight any advantages they might have