Yoder Smokers Community Forum

I fired my cooker up this morning to run another 13lbs turkey on it for our second thanksgiving dinner this afternoon. Its pretty cold in Wichita this morning, about 33*F. I followed my typical start up procedure which included vacuuming the fire pot and all the ash and getting it setup for a 5 hour cook.

When I switched the cooker to ON the fans kicked on like normal and everything seemed fine and then one of the fans (i think the inner fan) sounded as it if bogged down after about 3 secs of run time. I switched the cooker off and unplugged it to reset and started over... I did this 3 times and the fan bogged down each time. I went ahead and ran with it because I needed to get the bird going. Its been running about 45 mins and all seems okay and the fan seems to sound normal now.

I remember there being a procedure to check the fans and maybe clean them? Is that my next step?

Please advise.

If the noise doesn't go away after a few minutes, then it is time to replace the fan. This happens when it is cold outside, and is caused from the sleeve bearing having too much "play" on the shaft. After the bearing warms up, it will tighten up and the noise will go away.

So if it goes away in a few seconds then don't worry about it?

Are the fans under warranty?

Yes and yes, for 3 years.

I had a fan make a wild howling noise a few months after I got my 640. Only on start up, only twice. They sent me a kit with both fans and high temps sealant. I've had my 640 over 3 years and still have the original fans in it. Only did it those two times, go figure. I will say they are really good quality fans by brand. I think Delta? Big name in industrial fans.

Since the fans come on with the power button, try turning it off, and turn it on again?