Pellets turned to sawdust / cement after the hurricane

[ikwack]

My Jim Bowie Green Mountain Grill weathered Hurricane Mathew outside in Charleston SC. We had about 3 feet of water all around the house for a few hours. Fortunately, the controls are well sealed and the grill fires up.  However, the auger doesn't turn, so no pellets to the fire box and therefore, no smoker. The problem is that I had left pellets in the pellet box. They turned to sawdust and it was quite a project digging them out of the box.  The auger is also filled with now solidified sawdust that I can't reach.  Any suggestions for what I can do now to get that stuff out? 

 

[JckDanls 07]

I don't own one but many do.. I'm sure somebody will be along with some good advice... i wonder if soaking them with water again would loosen them up ??

 

[smokin kat]

Ooooh bummer, but glad everyone was safe and there wasn't TOO much damage!  

I'm sure anyone who's had an auger jam is feeling for you right now!! :)    I only know the ins and outs of MAK Grills, but I imagine the concept is basically the same-- you have to chip out the material little by little until you can free the auger up or pull it out of the tube to get all the pellet material broken off.  Our grills have an access panel, so you can reach the auger tube itself and chip away from both the firepot end of the grill, as well as the other end.

Not sure how GMGs are set up-- is there a way to access the components? 

Spritzing with a water bottle can help chip out the harder parts, and using a shop vac to keep inhaling all the little bits that come off.

Here's the MAK instruction sheet for dealing with an auger jam-- I know it'll be a bit different, but maybe there will be something helpful in there that you can relate to your GMG?