Pellet Smoker hopper

  • Some of the links on this forum allow SMF, at no cost to you, to earn a small commission when you click through and make a purchase. Let me know if you have any questions about this.
SMF is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Hunter2

Newbie
Original poster
May 3, 2021
9
3
Has anyone else had there hopper form a hollow dome after running awhile that doesn't allow pellets to be put into auger? It seems several times it runs fine then I see temperature drop and the cause is a cave or dome formed in the pellet hopper that doesn't allow pellets to go into auger. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks
 
I have a Pit Boss PB150 and mainly used Pit Boss pellets, I do have a few Kingsford in this batch
 
  • Like
Reactions: JLeonard
Closer to full, it never did it untill recently. The pellets are fresh.
 
I'd clean all the pellets out. Then prime the auger until empty. Refill and re-prime the hopper and see how that works out for you
 
The Kingsford pellets are very short and dont think they could bridge, also they have great smoke but kinda $$ compared to other brands
 
I ran it about 3-4 hours after that bridge formed no problems.
 
This is also happening to me.

I am new to this and still researching the issue.

I have read that, "it is common and you just need to check the pellets every thirty minutes."

Also

"This is not common and has never happened to me in five years."

I also have the issue of burn back where the fire comes back into my pellet hopper.....

Both may or may not be related.
 
My smokefire does it , but it takes several hours . I just push the pellets around when I check on the food . Never had it go out . It has a low pellet alarm on it that goes off before it's an issue .
 
My camp Chef does it when the hopper gets about half way down. This is one of the reasons I removed the stupid guard in the hopper. It still does it without the guard, but now I can just take my hand and move the pellets around. Before I removed the guard, I had to use a stick (I later found a back scratcher laying around that fit through the guard) to move the pellets around.
 
Has anyone else had there hopper form a hollow dome after running awhile that doesn't allow pellets to be put into auger? It seems several times it runs fine then I see temperature drop and the cause is a cave or dome formed in the pellet hopper that doesn't allow pellets to go into auger. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

Here’s a few tips and things to watch out for to help prevent pellet hopper bridging-tunneling.
  1. Start with a clean pellet hopper. All brands of bbq pellets will have some amount of pellet dust in their bags. Overtime, there will be an accumulation of pellet dust at the bottom of the hopper and the pellets won’t slide down the hopper or through the auger as smoothly into the fire pot.
  2. Use a shop vac and a clean rag to clean the excessive pellet dust out of the pellet hopper. Doing this step will also help prevent pellet hopper burn back, if you shop vac the auger tube of excessive pellet dust accumulation as well. .02
  3. Every pellet grill brand designs their pellet hoppers a little different. Some designs are better than others. Get into a habit checking the hopper every few hours and stirring the pellets to prevent the tunneling from ever starting.
  4. As Mike243 mentioned in post#7, pellet length can also cause pellet hopper tunneling. The more uniform in length the better. Lumberjack Pellets can produce nice pellet smoke, but their un-uniform pellet size, with some being almost as long as two inches can make it difficult for the pellets to flow downward in the hopper into the auger tube and fire pot. If you notice different pellet lengths, breaking them in half will help them to flow better or better yet, change to a different brand like Kingsford or another that have a more uniform, shorter pellet length.
  5. Get into a habit of starting a bbq with a completely full pellet hopper. The extra weight will help push the pellets downward. “Gravity”…Check the hopper every couple of hours and stir the pellets. Most proteins require some amount of monitoring and spritzing, so when you check your proteins being bbq’d, lift the hopper lid and check the pellets as well.
  6. Lastly, Set-it and Forget-it is a nice, catchy term, but anything that requires wood, pellets and fire, should be monitored and checked periodically during a cook…. Just to prevent an unfortunate accident from happening. I hope the tips help and good luck.


__________________
Char-Griller 980 GF… Pellet Pro Austin XL and a few more mods... In SoCal and Always... Semper Fi
 
  • Like
Reactions: TH-n-PA
I have never had this issue myself. I tend to use Lumberjack or Bear Mountain pellets. I also mess with the hopper pellets every few hours.
 
Thanks for all the help. It seems I didnt have that once in awhile issue till I mixed brands. My smoker is a PB150 and its a small portable smoker that I have permanently set up by my gas grill. It only has a 7 pound hopper but that runs a long time. I am doing some ribs now and no issue but I have just refilled with my normal brand Pit Boss pellets. Thanks again
 
Might just be me, but that sounds like a good way to accelerate a hopper fire in the event of a burn back.
Cheaper than suggesting buy a Memphis. Have not had bridging problem since replaced CC and bought the pro. Have burned thousands of LB of pellets. True turn on and forget pit for 6 years.
 
I just did the ribs today with the same pellet brand which I use Pit Boss. No issues so I guess as I said in other post that it must have been by mixing brands which is an easy fix. The Memphis dry rub ribs I just made were great, put half a rack in the freezer for another sitting.
 
  • Like
Reactions: TH-n-PA
SmokingMeatForums.com is reader supported and as an Amazon Associate, we may earn commissions from qualifying purchases.

Latest posts

Hot Threads

Clicky