Running a Traeger on a battery with inverter?

[BigD]

I am doing a small people's choice competition next weekend for a fundraiser and just found out that the power I was going to have access to is no longer available. I don't really have a need for a generator so I saw on the world wide web that you can run a Traeger(or any other pellet grill) off of an inverter with a deep cycle battery. I already have an inverter but I am looking for guidance on what size of battery I am going to need as I have no knowledge on batteries and how to figure out what I need.

So, here I am coming to the Pit looking for guidance. Anyone have knowledge or at least point me in the right direction? I have an older traeger, I think the model is a BBQ075.

[Draznnl]

Have you tried contacting Traeger customer service to see what they recommend for a battery?

[DavidNorcross]

I cannot speak for a Traeger. However, I ran a Rec-Tec 680 with a marine battery and invertor with no issues at all. I have a Grilla that is to be delivered soon (I hope) and will also do the same.

[RonB]

Will you clean your Grillo with Brillo?

[DavidNorcross]

Yup....little too much wine. Gonna fix that right now

[bbqLuv]

Love to see your resolve for this.
I have seen solar panels to battery to pellet grill. Try youtube, maybe.

[Donw]

My suggestion is to run the Traeger on AC and use an amp meter to find the amps used during start-up and after start-up when just the auger and fans are running. Then some of our engineers can give you an estimate of AmpHours needed for the battery. There will some loss through the inverter so that will need to be considered too. jfmorris

[CaptainMike]

I think the fuse is a 5 amp, at least on my pellet pooper, but I'd have to verify that.

[IFindZeroBadCooks]

I’ve ran my MB560 off a power bank battery like you’d use for a phone or tablet with no issues. Actually, the challenge was the cable kept falling out but I probably could have found a better cable if I looked harder. But it would work fine for a few hours until the cable fell off.

[glitchy]

Probably not the best comparison since you light the 560 and a pellet grill lights itself. That’s where the most power is needed to start the grill.

[IFindZeroBadCooks]

Fair point glitchy

[GolfGeezer]

But he can always manually light the pellet grill, then plug it in.

[glitchy]

You’ll want to test first to see if your inverter has enough wattage to handle the lighting phase. Otherwise, you’ll need to disconnect the igniter from the board and manually light the grill. I don’t have any clue on the size of battery you need, but I wouldn’t think it needed to be anything special. However, what are you cooking? Ribs, Chicken, Brisket? Will you only fire it up once before recharging the battery? Or will it be different cooks different days off without a recharge?

[dshaffes]

I’ve used a battery to power my Traeger before with no issues. When I researched it, the unit draws very little power to run (1-2 amps) with a little more (4 amps) for startup. I used my Schumacher battery jump starter which was more than enough.

[jfmorris]

The fact that they told you to use a "deep cycle" battery means a battery that can be discharged significantly time after time, and then recharged. Normal car batteries are not meant to be discharged a significant percentage without damage to the battery.

Many marine batteries are considered deep cycle batteries. Think about a battery you would use with a boat trolling motor. The issue is you would need a charger as well. You could probably get all this at Walmart.

[tmaan235]

One thing to consider here is why not eliminate the need for an inverter?
Inverters are wasteful and demanding of 12v batteries.
Contact the mfr and get the operating voltage of the electronics, or make a 2 ft separated conductor cord so you can put an amp clamp on it and get the answer yourself, and furnish that from a battery, if the grill doesn;t use line voltage for ignition and running the auger, I'll bet a 12v trolling battery will run for the whole summer without a charge.....
I could be way off base here and I love to tinker but if your grill doesn't run off multiple voltages, that is what I would do.
I would be happy to do some research if I could find a willing participant. (Starts wringing hands and drooling )
All I have is a Weber kettle at home.,
Enjoy the day!!

[GolfGeezer]

Since pellet grills use most power at ignition, use a torch or other method to manually light the firebox with a handful of pellets, then plug in the battery powered controller. I do not think you need to unplug the ignitor first, since most controllers will not run the ignitor if the temp is past the ignition temp.

[glitchy]

Some or many are time based including yours…or at least that’s what I was told by them when troubleshooting early issues. Those are probably going to power the igniter when the button is pressed. I have seen a couple that have a hot start mode and some that the startup is tied to a specific dial setting. Traeger I think was the dial, so setting to a temp vs smoke might skip the igniter.

[GolfGeezer]

glitchy Actually, MAK’s current firmware (above 3.0) allows you to turn off the igniter using the control panel Pellet Boss. I know very little about Traeger’s controllers, so my idea may not be as viable for those.

[glitchy]

I forget about maintenance mode on the MAK since I only use WiFI and touching anything but power seems to turn WiFi off. GMG had the hot start years ago. There’s so many different ways to put the logic in there is why I suggested unplugging it. However, if you know how your controller works there can definitely be other ways to bypass.

[CaptainMike]

If you have a Harbor Freight nearby you might reconsider a generator. For the cost of a good marine battery you might be able to pick a small, cheap and cheerful generator. Just pull the cord and plug in. Those little guys are pretty quiet, too.

[jfmorris]

The cheap generators unfortunately are not very quiet. Only inverter generators seem to run quiet, and the cheapest one at Harbor Freight is $439.99. A cheap $65 trolling motor battery from Walmart and a cheap $20 charger is a lot cheaper.

[CaptainMike]

Wow, they have gone up quite a bit. It wasn't that long ago I saw those 2kw Predator gens were going for $150. I have the 7kw, which cost me about $400, and it's quiet enough to have a normal conversation around. The times are 'a changin'.

[Murdy]

Or, you could put all that money you're fixin' to spend to make the Traeger run off a battery and put it toward a PBC, Weber Kettle, or WSM, and get a new cooker out of it.

[treesmacker]

Just a thought... my son had a chicken going on a gasser with rotisserie yesterday when power went out. He just grabbed his computer UPS backup and plugged the rotisserie motor into it. Ran for a couple of hours that way. Depending on the size of UPS and the current draw of the Traeger that might be an option. Also the trolling motor battery, charger, and inverter should work.

[treesmacker]

This from Reddit:
Posted by u/TemporaryIllusions
1 year ago

Can I use a UPS with my 780?

Hey Everyone! I have a 780 and we lose power a lot where I am and I have had the grill turn off a few times, can I plug it in to a UPS (uninterruptible power supply) to prevent this from happening? How much power will it pull to keep the auger and fire pot going?

Thanks!

ETA: I heard back from Traeger, they said I pull 400 when starting and the auger should never exceed 60 while up and going. So a UPS will work perfectly for this thanks everyone!!