Yoder Smokers Community Forum

Hey all, I have solved so many mystery's by asking questions here, so I am asking another. The last few LONG cooks I have done resulted in a fire or almost fire in the hopper. It has happened 3 times since Saturday. All the incidents were at the tail end of the cook. All the cooks were low-n-slow with a temp of 235º. All 3 cooks have been pork butts with the cooker loaded with 8 large ones.

Luckily I catch it right as it happens because I am getting everything ready at that time in the morning. Now if it happened overnight, say mid-night -3 AM, I'd miss it and have a problem. What happens? Does it go WHOOSH and go fully involved or just smolder in the pellet hopper?

I empty the ashes every time and check for fit when re-installing the fire pot. All the silicone looks good. I do typically have a full fire pot of hard packed ashes when I clean it out. I use a vacuum to clean everything else inside between cooks. The only pellets on the property are BBQ Delight cherry & hickory that I mix myself.

Any thoughts or tips appreciated!! Thanks

What is the build date of your cooker? Have you installed any updates? Are both fans running?

I'm not in front of it now, but I received it earlier this summer. No updates - U26. Both fans, don't know. Whats the best way to check?

If it was new this summer, you have all the updates, with the exception of the new burn grate and firebox.

To check the External fan, plug in the cooker and flip the power switch on. Look into the fan cutout on the end of the hopper. You should see the external fan running. Flip the power switch off.

To check the internal fan, find something small enough to fit through the fan cutout on the end of the hopper, and block the external fan from turning on the lower side of the fan. Flip the power switch on. With a flashlight, look through the cutout on the end of the hopper, and through the stopped external fan and you should be able to see the internal fan running. Remove the external fan obstruction to allow it to run again. Flip the power switch off.

Soon as I get home I'll check these things. Thanks

Bingo. I checked the external, it's okay. The internal was motionless as well as silent. I guess I need to give headquarters a call tomorrow.

Thanks

Pull the hopper end off and check the wires to see if they are connected.

Pulled it this morning and found that one of the wire bundles (protected by a plastic shroud) had been pinched between the exterior fan baffle & the interior fan. I tested and it came on just fine. Quite a bit louder now. I just hope the prolonged jam hasn't shortened the life span of the fan.

I will be doing another large cook this weekend and will re-post if the problem persists, but I think this will solve it.

Other that the fact that Yoder builds the best, the other deciding factor of both of my purchases has been the customer support. I seriously appreciate the timely responses and accurate descriptions of remedies.

Thanks Again!!

The fan will be fine. You can use a wire tie to attach both looms to the braided thermocouple lead above the auger motor to keep this from happening. Be careful not to pull too hard on the thermocouple lead if you do this. The other option is to attach the looms to the top of the internal fan, using smaller wire ties to attach the looms to the 2 top holes of the internal fan. In either case, don't pull too hard on any of the wires going into the controller box, to prevent dislodging any connections.

BTW - Having both fans working correctly now, might change your comp timings. I might suggest you do a practice cook to verify.

Update - I fired her up now that the fans are operating correctly. Rock-n-Roll! She's humming great. Definitely gonna be different. Maybe this will help me with getting the temps even.

Thanks again!