Auger Screw Broke, Bending the Motor Shaft

[SmokeMaster43]

I've made some delicious food on this thing. About 1 hour from pulling the ribs off yesterday, I get a notification of a temp drop. Luckily, they were wrapped so I just fired up the oven and finished them. I did a shut down and decided to pull the grates to see if it would fire back up for some wings to go on. I noticed the auger was clicking and then just stopped turning. I look in the back and see that pellets were coming out of the bottom where the assembly is. Once I took the back off, lots of pellets, a nut with part of a broken screw in it and a bolt from the auger assembly fell out. I reached out to CS for the new parts and they asked for pics attached. The screw that connects the auger to the motor broke off (the nut with broken screw) and then somehow bent the motor shaft. Wild!

Of course CS says the parts are not in stock and would get back to me.

We'll see how this goes but wow, I'm just confused how this happened.

 

[JpsBBQ]

Tons of stress on the auger. This is compounded by the dust found in the pellet bags. It’s best to either sift the dust out or just discard the last bit of Pellets in the bag once you see dust. The fine dust inevitably makes its way to the bottom of the hopper and can pack the auger very tightly. This sorta thing has likely happened to someone using every brand out there. Some on here remove the auger all the time in a preemptive effort to eliminate this action. That is not my personality but it is likely the most effective way to avoid auger jams etc. The additional of moisture of any kind will turn the dust into a concrete like substance.

Hopefully they get you the parts quickly and you get back to cooking. Just something to be aware of in the future. I’d probably get myself a temporary bolt if the part is delayed. Maybe a grade IV bolt that is softer as to not damage anything.

Keep us posted.

 

[SmokeMaster43]

This is good advice. In 2 years, I've not taken the auger out for cleaning so this very well could be the reason. Thank you!

 

[SmokeMaster43]

After sending 4 different pictures, Weber is sending all the parts requested.

 

[rexster314]

Same thing happened with my EX6 last fall. Have you ever had the auger/motor out for cleaning before?

 

[Goneincognito]

Same thing happened with my EX6 last fall. Have you ever had the auger/motor out for cleaning before?

 

[SmokeMaster43]

Follow up. Went to go install the new auger and motor and discovered this. This thing really got jacked up!

 

[MackeyC34]

Amazed at how much torque that motor has!

 

[Goneincognito]

I have seen that happen a few times.
Each time it was either damp pellets or dust buildup.

It takes less than 5min to remove the auger and inspect so it's well worth adding it to your maintenance routine.

 

[Bruno]

Had a major blockage from wet pellets after a rough winter. I was able to chip them out and vacuum from the hopper.
SmokeFire has worked perfectly ever since.
I will add this to my cleaning routine.
Maybe every 6 months or at least after every winter.