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May 31st, 2015, 2:36 pm
#1
* Abilene ** Abilene *
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Have had Yoder about a month and a half. Started it up today like normal (after cleaning out ash box etc) and it came up to temp. I decreased temp down to 275 and when it hit that I put our meat on. Came out after 45 min to check on it and there was no temp display, just the fan running and no heat in smoker anymore. We unplugged it, checked fuse, checked box everything looks good. Plugged it back in. Fan came on, we hit start and everything just shut down. We have tried to restart a couple of different times and nothing.

Yesterday, when I used it, I took meat off. Dished up my son's food and sat down at table. Was letting smoker cool down before moving it back in garage. All of a sudden a monsoon hit and I ran outside and pulled smoker inside. Was in the rain long enough for me to run about 30 feet, undo locks on wheels and pull in...maybe 3 min total.

Any thoughts?

May 31st, 2015, 5:36 pm
#2
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We will answer via the email you sent to Customer Service.

Yoder_Herb
June 15th, 2015, 6:15 pm
#3
* Abilene ** Abilene *
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Same problem....not very happy with this grill so far. It is a grill which would indicate not inside cooking but made for the outside. Would like my problem resolved or money back

June 15th, 2015, 6:39 pm
#4
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tlward wrote:Same problem....not very happy with this grill so far. It is a grill which would indicate not inside cooking but made for the outside. Would like my problem resolved or money back


What is the serial number and build date from the door plate?

What is the version of firmware?

To help, we need more in depth details of what the problem is, how it manifests, the timing of the manifestation and what the display is showing when it happens.

We are also not quite sure of the meaning of the inside and outside statements.

Yoder_Herb
June 15th, 2015, 6:42 pm
#5
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TLWARD - also, do you have the comp cart or backyard cart?

Yoder_Herb
June 16th, 2015, 3:59 pm
#6
* Abilene ** Abilene *
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My serial number is 19746 and the build date is 5-28-15 (competition cart). I believe the firmware version is U28. The grill was in heat up mode and just about up to temp when it started to rain. I noticed that the display was out but the fan was still running. I hit the start again and it started normally but did the same thing within a couple of minutes. I turned it completely off and unplugged unit (same result). I let unit cool, removed cooking grates, heat diffuser and burn grate. Reassembled and tried to restart with same result after 5 minutes or so. After approximately the 6 restart it kept running and I finished cooking normally.

thanks

June 16th, 2015, 6:03 pm
#7
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Was the cooker out in the rain when this was happening? Per the manuals safety warnings, the cooker should not be used in the rain, or anytime water is present.

Are you using an extension cord? If so, have you tried plugging the cooker directly into the outlet?

Has it happened again, i.e., reproducible?

Yoder_Herb
June 16th, 2015, 6:32 pm
#8
* Abilene ** Abilene *
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Well this is a grill and sometimes it rains when using a grill. Never had a problem with my Traeger in the 90's or the Memphis.
If this is the case, you have a Big design flaw. I use my oven" inside" and a grill "outside". Not a whole lot you can do when you are grilling and it starts to rain (don't think you should grill in your garage).

June 16th, 2015, 7:07 pm
#9
* Abilene ** Abilene *
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I didn't have the manual before I bought this grill nor was I told by the sales department that it can't handle a little rain. I would have looked elsewhere for a pellet grill if I knew this issue existed. Its like selling an electric car that can't be driven in the rain.

June 16th, 2015, 10:40 pm
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All electrical appliances and equipment, including pellet grills, MUST state that there are safety issues and warning when used around water, which includes rain. This is not only a regulatory issue, but common sense. Water and electricity never mix, period. If you look in the manuals of the other pellet grills that you have had, the warnings are in there. Yoder Smokers is NOT the only manufacturer that has these warnings.

Now, to get back to resolving your issue, was this problem an isolated case because of the rain, an extension cord, etc.? The questions that I asked were important in helping to ascertain the answer:

Are you using an extension cord? If so, have you tried plugging the cooker directly into the outlet?

Has it happened again, i.e., reproducible?

Yoder_Herb
June 17th, 2015, 9:25 am
* Abilene ** Abilene *
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I was not using an extension cord. It happened approximately 6 or 7 times during my last grilling session. Kept restarting grill, would run for a few minutes and then display would go out but fan would still be running. I have not used it since then. I don't really trust it at this point because it happened repeatly to me. From my experience, problems don't just disappear. I don't want to be fighting this issue for as long as I own this grill.

Thanks

June 17th, 2015, 9:32 am
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Not a problem. When you would like to troubleshoot, please let us know. We are here to help, but require you to be our hands and eyes. Without your help and involvement, it is impossible to resolve your issue.

Yoder_Herb
June 17th, 2015, 7:36 pm
* Abilene ** Abilene *
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I can't help but feel very defensive by your comments and what I interpret as your condescending attitude is not helping to resolve my issue with this very expensive grill that is not working properly. I AM troubleshooting, as indicated in my original response to you when I described the problem in detail. The issue is that in the middle of the grill heating up, the display blanks out, the fan and the blue light remain functional. When I hit the start button, the heating process begins again and after a period of time, the display blanks out, with fan and blue light functioning. This cycle continues repeatedly. I would appreciate a phone call from someone who can offer customer service as opposed to going back and forth on this "community" forum.

June 17th, 2015, 8:51 pm
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You have the option to send email to customerservice@yodersmokers.com, or call 877.409.6337, option 2, where we can continue this discussion. I am the Customer Service Manager for Yoder Smokers, and I also run this "community" forum, which is a Yoder Smokers support asset for all current and prospective customers.

It is my full intent to help you resolve this issue, but I need to ascertain if the problem only existed because the cooker was used in the rain, which is the impression that your communications so far have portrayed, or if this problem is a reproducible issue that happens all the time. You stated you haven't used your cooker since this first happened, so from this, neither you or I know if it was related to the rain, or something else.

So to continue to resolution, we need to test the cooker, in the absence of rain, to know if the cooker works as it should, or if it still exhibits the same issue. The issue that you explained, is indicative of a brief power loss. Was this caused by the rain, a bad outlet, a bad power cord, a loose connection, power brownout, etc.. I haven't been provided enough information to know at this point. We need to eliminate the rain issue first, then if there is still a problem, work through what the problem is, and resolve it.

Yoder_Herb
June 18th, 2015, 10:27 pm
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As a follow up, to close out this issue for others reviewing this thread, the problem was attributed to the rain. The cooker is reported to be working fine now.

Yoder_Herb
June 20th, 2015, 7:17 pm
* Abilene ** Abilene *
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No, the issue was not resolved in spite of the fact that I called and spoke to someone on the phone and went through the steps he suggested. The grill is not exposed to the rain, nor did the issue occur only during that time. The grill still shuts down repeatedly after three minutes; the problems that are occurring are not due to my lack of knowledge of this product or similar smokers. If and when there is a satisfactory resolution, and ONLY then, I will post on this community forum that the issue has been resolved. It is dishonest to other users for Yoder to post that the problem has been fixed.

June 20th, 2015, 8:44 pm
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Mr. Ward, per your phone conversation with us, your issue was closed as resolved, as you reported your cooker working. It is not our intention to leave things unresolved, or unanswered, even on this forum. This is why we posted the response above, based on the test results you reported.

If your issue is not resolved, please, contact us again so that we may work through your issue to resolution.

Yoder_Herb
September 15th, 2015, 10:41 pm
* Abilene ** Abilene *
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Hi All,

I went looking for this existing condition and found this thread which matches my experience very closely.

Model: YS640 Comp
Serial #: 20181
Date: 06-29-15
Software: U28
More information:
Always covered with Yoder cover. Used about 10 times total. No rain (California :-)). Connected to 12' extension cord.

I turned the 640 on this evening with no temp adjustment (350 F). Put meat on after 10 mins.
1. Power shutdown down on its own at this time. Caught me off guard since this was the first time. 640 would not turn back on after this.
2. Checked outlet, breaker and fuse (in 640). Everything checked out okay.
3. After 5-10 mins or so I tried again. 640 turned on and fan was running. Hit start and it shutdown again. Went in to check manual for a possible condition that would shut the 640 down such as a thermal shutdown due to some funky temp reading or something. I found nothing.
4. Tried again 20 mins later same result as previous.
5. After the 4th try 640 stayed running for my 30 minute cook.

This is the first unexpected issue I have had. I will try to reproduce tomorrow, but I wanted to share my experience just in case I am in need of repair in the future. Seems others are having this issue so there may be something to this.

Cheers,
Brian

September 15th, 2015, 11:40 pm
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Brian...To protect your personal information, please send an email to customerservice@yodersmokers.com, and include the information above, along with your shipping address and phone number. We will resolve this for you.

Yoder_Herb
May 29th, 2018, 11:23 am
* Abilene ** Abilene *
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My YS640 Smoker shut down while still cooking. I was 5 hours in when the Yoder shut down like fan Mode, just blue light and no temp display. Smoker would not turn back on. Tried repeatedly to restart, it finally did.

Smoker is always inside
Yoder cord to wall outlet

Any help would be appreciated, I use it a lot and would like to minimize down time.


YS640 with Comp Cart
Date: 7/21/14
Serial #:16634
Not sure of software

May 29th, 2018, 11:33 am
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Please contact our Customer Support Team by sending an email, with the description of the issue, serial number and build date,along with your name, address and phone number to customerservice@yodersmokers.com.

Yoder_Herb
May 29th, 2018, 11:45 am
* Abilene ** Abilene *
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