How long does it take to burn an auger full of pellets?

[Murphy's Law]

Say you empty the hopper after a cook and dump in a different flavor, but didn't clear your auger. You still have the original pellets in the auger so about how long do you think it takes to burn through those and start burning the new pellets you just dumped in the hopper?

No doubt it will be different at 180 degrees vs. 400 degrees, but just curious at the approx. burn rate.

 

[Slimpicker]

18 minutes at 250°...

 

[Timmy]

Look in your hopper lid,it should give you an idea if the label is still there.

 

[Timmy]

Look in your hopper lid,it should give you an idea if the label is still there.

Hahaha, sorry I did read the post incorrectly. I’m guessing probably around 1 hour to 1 1/2 hrs. It would be hard to get it exactly. The only way to get a good estimate is to burn just the auger full of pellets and time when fire out is.

 

[Murphy's Law]

Hahaha, sorry I did read the post incorrectly. I’m guessing probably around 1 hour to 1 1/2 hrs. It would be hard to get it exactly. The only way to get a good estimate is to burn just the auger full of pellets and time when fire out is.

Wow, you think there’s an hours worth of pellets in the auger tube?

I’m going to try it now!

 

[Dcgunman]

When cleaning your hopper bin can you clear all the pellets out of the auger?

 

[Murphy's Law]

When cleaning your hopper bin can you clear all the pellets out of the auger?

Yup. There is a setting in the menu called “clear auger” or something like that. It takes forever to purge. Not sure why they don’t just spin that sucker and get it done. Instead it slowly spins and drops a few pellets at a time.

So now I’m curious if the time it takes to do this is close to the same time as the burn rate.

I know what I’m doing on Sunday!

 

[Dcgunman]

Yup. There is a setting in the menu called “clear auger” or something like that. It takes forever to purge. Not sure why they don’t just spin that sucker and get it done. Instead it slowly spins and drops a few pellets at a time.

So now I’m curious if the time it takes to do this is close to the same time as the burn rate.

I know what I’m doing on Sunday!

So last week I ended up cleaning (vacuumed) out my hopper bin and auger. I did the auger clean out which seemed to take forever. Took my wet vac and blew the rest (dust) out.
Yesterday I did a smoke session with St Louis Pork Rib. I pre heat the grill at 225. After 15 minutes trying to ignite it went into ignition fault. I turned off the switch and unplugged to reset the control box. I hit the purge auger button which took appr 3 minutes and fired up the grill with no issues.
So do I need to “purge auger” everytime I completely clean out the auger? Is this the reason why it didn’t ignite first try?

 

[Slimpicker]

So do I need to “purge auger” everytime I completely clean out the auger? Is this the reason why it didn’t ignite first try?

You mean "Prime Auger"???
YES, if you empty your auger then it's like a NEW grill, auger needs to fill with pellets before it ignites


I haven't cleaned out my auger since I owned this... 1 year

 

[Dcgunman]

You mean "Prime Auger"???
YES, if you empty your auger then it's like a NEW grill, auger needs to fill with pellets before it ignites


I haven't cleaned out my auger since I owned this... 1 year

Only reason I cleaned out the auger was to clear all the pellet dust out of it. I was going to let it sit till I smoke my brisket this coming weekend. But instead I got the T itch yesterday for some ribs. Lesson learned. And yes...Prime auger. Not purge.

 

[Don C]

So, do you have to prime the auger if you only vacuum out the ash & the few pellets in the fire pot?

Do you have to have pellets in the fire pot, or is it sufficient that the auger was not vacuumed out & there are pellets in the auger?

 

[Don C]

Only reason I cleaned out the auger was to clear all the pellet dust out of it. I was going to let it sit till I smoke my brisket this coming weekend. But instead I got the T itch yesterday for some ribs. Lesson learned. And yes...Prime auger. Not purge.

Did you get much pellet dust out of the auger? Enough to make vacuuming out the auger worth while?

Would not the dust fall into the fire pot with the pellets as the auger turns?

 

[Slimpicker]

So, do you have to prime the auger if you only vacuum out the ash & the few pellets in the fire pot? NO

Do you have to have pellets in the fire pot, or is it sufficient that the auger was not vacuumed out & there are pellets in the auger? YES

Did you get much pellet dust out of the auger? Enough to make vacuuming out the auger worth while?

Would not the dust fall into the fire pot with the pellets as the auger turns? YES, but sometimes that causes flair ups if using a bad pellet like Traeger brand

 

[Dcgunman]

Did you get much pellet dust out of the auger? Enough to make vacuuming out the auger worth while?

Would not the dust fall into the fire pot with the pellets as the auger turns?

Yes. I thought I vacuumed a lot out. I was using Pit Boss Hickory pellets and there was a lot of broken pellets in the bag. When I poured into hopper box there’s a lot of dust coming up. When I sifted the Traeger bag the pellets were in good shape.

 

[Don C]

Guess I am vacuuming the auger soon ! ! !