Bronson 20 - Marketplace Find Rehab!

[dlawrence]

Hey all, picking up a Bronson 20 I found on Facebook marketplace for $40 today. The outside appears to be in decent condition, but the person selling it says that it will not heat up and get over ~60 degrees.

I have been looking at Traeger's for some time and could never bring myself to spend the money on a new one since I have a feeling it will be used fairly rarely (wife and kids are not big fans of smoked meats). However, for $40, maybe a bit more to get it up and running properly, I could not pass it up.

Any tips/ideas for a newbie on what I should be looking at first to get this Bronson 20 going? I plan to clean it out as best I can, put new pellets in, and troubleshoot from there. From what I have read in some other threads it sounds like I may need to start with the RTD, then move onto the hot rod or firebox, and then the main controller. I also plan on replacing the grate and drip pan.

Any thoughts on how you would approach getting this smoker up and running? Pics attached, thanks everyone!

 

[traeger860]

Definitely start with a good cleaning first. Then register it - https://www.traeger.com/register-grill. Even if it's out of warranty, I'd still try calling Traeger before spending any money on parts. They might just send them to you.

Some good cleaning tips in this video:

 

[dlawrence]

Definitely start with a good cleaning first. Then register it - https://www.traeger.com/register-grill. Even if it's out of warranty, I'd still try calling Traeger before spending any money on parts. They might just send them to you.

Some good cleaning tips in this video:

Thank you! I’ll take a look at the video you sent.

Quick update - got it home and ended up taking it apart. The previous owner had pellets sitting in the hopper, auger, and was stuffed full in the fire pot. Not sure how that happens to the extent it was but got it all vacuumed out. Everything seemed to be working but it would not light the pellets. I assumed the hot rod was bad so I ran to Ace and grabbed a new one. Replaced the hot rod and then the thing fired right up! Still pinching myself over the deal I got! Haha