Pellet grill will not stop feeding pellets. Overheating

[Heyobie]

My pellet smoker will not stop feeding pellets. It will go to over 600 degrees no matter what temperature I set it at. So the auger and pellet ignitor keep on functioning and will not stop once it goes over the temperature I set

I bought this Expert grill from Walmart 3 or 4 years ago. It was Walmarts brand. I been very happy with the grill but they discontinued it and I can not find any tech support.

So I am trying to repair it. All these grills are basically the same in design and I have been able to buy original replacement parts.

1. I replaced the temperature probe and it did not fix problem
2. Today I replaced the computer and that did not fix the problem.

There is nothing left that I know of. It seems that there auger motor must have a switch in it that is not working.

Any suggestions or places I can call would be appreciated.

 

[WaterRat]

Reading your description it screams control board but you replaced it so…Double check your wire connectors, when I replaced a board they were different colors from the originals, perhaps the auger and fan got swapoed. Or maybe the new board is trash… Good luck, wish I could give a better solution.

 

[Heyobie]

Reading your description it screams control board but you replaced it so…Double check your wire connectors, when I replaced a board they were different colors from the originals, perhaps the auger and fan got swapoed. Or maybe the new board is trash… Good luck, wish I could give a better solution.

The new board is doing exactly what the old board did. I am sure the wiring is correct because they did a good job of color coding.
The auger must have some logic in it but why would it. I am stumped.

 

[BigW.]

Will it stay at the the 600* temp forever? Or will the pellets continue to feed and overflow the firebox and eventually snuff itself out? Maybe you never let it get to that point. Seems like you replaced all the parts that could cause the issues.

 

[chopsaw]

Have you verified that the auger is actually running ?

What does it do when you switch it on , but don't set a temp ? Is it feeding pellets ?

I've read that old / bad / cheap pellets can cause that . Takes awhile for them to burn properly . That causes a full burn pot .
Auger might be off , but the pot has enough pellets to reach higher heat .

Make sure the auger is not shutting off if you haven't already .

 

[gmc2003]

It's a long shot, but check the accuracy of the therm that tells you pellet grill what temp it's at. It may need replacing, wiring fix, or just a simple cleaning.

Chris

 

[schlotz]

Without question this has to be within the confines of the therm sensor & control board. That includes the cable between them btw. Something there is indicating it hasn't reached temp and therefore continue adding more fuel. Agree with Chris, I'd start by using a third party digital therm to discover what the grate temp actually is.

 

[Randy1]

As others suggested, it reads like you have the fan and auger wiring swapped. Do not depend just on color coding. They can vary depending on who made the replacement controller.

 

[Heyobie]

Will it stay at the the 600* temp forever? Or will the pellets continue to feed and overflow the firebox and eventually snuff itself out? Maybe you never let it get to that point. Seems like you replaced all the parts that could cause the issues.

So I went to fire up the grill to see how high the temperature would go to try an answer your question. Just like this morning, I see the temp to 200.

It is now holding at 200 and working perfectly.

Can't explain what happened in the morning test (gremlins). It was around 600 and the auger was still feeding so I unplugged it.

Thank you for your help guys.

I learned a lot about smoker pellet grills fixing this problem. The biggest takeaway for me is that it's not that complicated. Just a computer board with a bunch of devices connected to it. And all parts are replaceable. So if the metal on your grill is good, you should be able to keep this these grills running for 10 to 15 years (as long as the company doesn't go out of business and you can't get parts).

 

[Randy1]

So I went to fire up the grill to see how high the temperature would go to try an answer your question. Just like this morning, I see the temp to 200.

It is now holding at 200 and working perfectly.

Can't explain what happened in the morning test (gremlins). It was around 600 and the auger was still feeding so I unplugged it.

Thank you for your help guys.

I learned a lot about smoker pellet grills fixing this problem. The biggest takeaway for me is that it's not that complicated. Just a computer board with a bunch of devices connected to it. And all parts are replaceable. So if the metal on your grill is good, you should be able to keep this these grills running for 10 to 15 years (as long as the company doesn't go out of business and you can't get parts).

If it happens again, recheck connector fitting, and ground wire.