Traeger took a swim

[Jhall33]

We had insane straight line winds the other day and my ironwood 885 blew in to our pool. The cover was on and caught it, but still enough for the electronics to get wet. I opened it up and let it dry out a few days. I sucked all the swollen pellets out and primed the auger a bunch to remove them. Several times during that process, the unit shut down. I put new pellets in and primed it. I started it up and after a few minutes it shut down. Now when I try to ignite it, as soon as I hear the fan try to come on, it shuts down. Any ideas on where to start figuring out all my problems?

 

[Manannan]

My Pro575 blew over in strong winds that caught the cover, suffered cosmetic damage with no real harm done. For yours to end up in the pool is just plain unlucky.

Unfortunately I suspect the situation may be terminal! Yes you could start changing bits but it would likely become very expensive very quickly particularly if something like the motherboard is fried and you could be left with a load of redundant new parts or even worse the damaged unit could destroy any new parts fitted?

Perhaps the best place to start is spend a few dollars getting a suitable appliance electrician to carry out a thorough assessment to determine if indeed it is fixable in a cost effective way? Either that or see if insurance will cover it but I suspect I know the answer to that one? Hope you can get it sorted.

 

[RayClem]

Electronics do not like getting wet. If your pool is disinfected with chlorine, the chlorine will start to corrode all your contacts.
Buy some CRC QD Electronic Cleaner from your local HD or other hardware store and clean all the contacts for the auger, fan, and thermocouple. Hopefully, the controller is not damaged. Good luck!

 

[Michael Peterson]

I’d second the suggestion to use CRC QD Electronic Cleaner on all the connections and contacts, chlorine exposure can be brutal. Also, check for any corrosion or loose wiring. If it still shuts down when the fan kicks in, the controller might be fried. At that point, an appliance electrician might be your best bet to assess if it's worth repairing. Hope you can bring it back to life!

 

[Manannan]

blew in to our pool

I wasn't sure whether pool referred to a swimming pool or pool as in natural freshwater pool, I have the latter. Chlorinated water is obviously similar to seawater in that if left to dry it will corrode and the first rule of thumb with say an outboard engine or vehicle saltwater immersion is perversely to rinse off in fresh water, unfortunately the damage may already be done in this instance?

 

[Jhall33]

Yah it blew in to our swimming pool. I had it winterized and haven’t been doing any chemicals so it isn’t very chlorinated at the moment, I bet most of it has evaporated. But I bought the CRC and sprayed out the connections. I think the power brick is toast because when it shuts off the green LED on it is going off. So that’s the first part of bought so far. Fire pot might need to be replaced because it keeps telling me it’s dirty even though it isn’t. I found a good troubleshooting website on Traeger that walks through checking all the components that I’ll walk through once I get the new power brick in:

https://support.traeger.com/hc/en-us/articles/28951676874139-Controller-Turns-off-when-Pressing-IGNITE

 

[Manannan]

Good luck in your endeavours, let us know how you get on.

 

[traeger860]

Yah it blew in to our swimming pool. I had it winterized and haven’t been doing any chemicals so it isn’t very chlorinated at the moment, I bet most of it has evaporated. But I bought the CRC and sprayed out the connections. I think the power brick is toast because when it shuts off the green LED on it is going off. So that’s the first part of bought so far. Fire pot might need to be replaced because it keeps telling me it’s dirty even though it isn’t. I found a good troubleshooting website on Traeger that walks through checking all the components that I’ll walk through once I get the new power brick in:

https://support.traeger.com/hc/en-us/articles/28951676874139-Controller-Turns-off-when-Pressing-IGNITE

The notification telling you that the firepot is dirty is really just set on a timer. It'll stay on until you clear the notification.

MENU - SETTINGS - CLEAR NOTIFICATIONS

 

[Jhall33]

Yah it blew in to our swimming pool. I had it winterized and haven’t been doing any chemicals so it isn’t very chlorinated at the moment, I bet most of it has evaporated. But I bought the CRC and sprayed out the connections. I think the power brick is toast because when it shuts off the green LED on it is going off. So that’s the first part of bought so far. Fire pot might need to be replaced because it keeps telling me it’s dirty even though it isn’t. I found a good troubleshooting

The notification telling you that the firepot is dirty is really just set on a timer. It'll stay on until you clear the notification.

MENU - SETTINGS - CLEAR NOTIFICATIONS

okay got ya, thanks for the heads up!!

 

[RayClem]

I clean my grill when it is sufficiently dirty, but I rarely reset the alert timer. Thus, my grill says it needs cleaning every time I use it, even if I just cleaned it.

 

[Jhall33]

I put the new power brick in and that seems to have done the trick. It worked enough to turn the controller on but as soon as the fan would kick on to start igniting it would shut down. Put the new power supply in and it heated on up and I let it run for about an hour to make sure it would stay working. I got an offbrand one on Amazon for $55. Saved about $30 since I didn’t know if it was going to fix it.

 

[RayClem]

Splendid! I am glad the forum members where of assistance.

 

[griechers]

Have you tried running the Self Test? If it runs that, it may tell you whats not working.

 

[Manannan]

Great news, pleased to have been proven wrong!

 

[Jhall33]

Have you tried running the Self Test? If it runs that, it may tell you whats not working.

I didn’t even know there was a self test!