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What to do about tunneling?

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    What to do about tunneling?

    I have the Traeger Pro 22. I like it. The one issue I have and I think most, if not all, smokers have is this tunneling problem. I'm just wondering if anyone has a truly good solution to the problem. I'm also wondering if REC TEC owners have this issue. The hopper configuration is different than other smokers. Does it help? I would love to have a smoker that is truly "set it and forget it" maybe that's a little too much to ask for. Please give me your thoughts
    Bob.G

    #2
    Is tunnelling the pellets not sliding down to the auger?

    Comment


      #3
      Yes

      Comment


        #4
        CandySueQ Might be able to chime in on this one. She is the Pellet Queen!

        Comment


          #5
          Hi - I have a GMG Jim Bowie and it's never stopped feeding once. It's a cracking device in itself, although I do two things which might influence this....

          - I hoover ash and clean firepot and hopper before every cook.
          - I sift the pellets before adding to hopper, as I find there can be quite a lot of dust in some bags and this can compact and cause issues when feeding the augur.

          Comment


          • HawkerXP
            HawkerXP commented
            Editing a comment
            Not a pelletpooper myself but have heard what MM has stated before. Keep it clean and dry and sift your pellets to remove excess dust.

          • Mitchl
            Mitchl commented
            Editing a comment
            I use a plastic collendar w a handle, to scoop, then shake and bounce the pellets before adding to hopper. My collendar has holes and slots big enough to let dust and small pieces to fall through. I shake over a flower bed so the pellet dust doesn’t hurt anything. M

          #6
          Never had an issued with my Rec Tec 680. I've had it for about two years. I know one of the big differences between Traeger is that the auger in the Rec Tec comes from the backside of the cook chamber. Therefore it is much shorter than the Traeger auger (assuming their's still come from the left side of the cook chamber). When I had my Traeger Texas I had two flame outs over a span of about 1 1/2 years. Never knew exactly why though. I assumed there was some sort of temporary interruption to the feed.

          Comment


            #7
            I have not had that problem will my RecTec. Just did two chuckies yesterday with the RecTec. The chuckies cook while I finish putting up the privacy fence.

            Comment


              #8
              I also have the RT-680. I have done pork shoulders where I get the grill going at 225 at 3 AM. Got it going, then went back to bed for a few hours. Also when I did a brisket a couple weeks ago we all went to the brewery while it was going, I've never had an issue. Always a small bit of anxiety about leaving a cook but it really truly is set and forget.

              Comment


              • JakeT
                JakeT commented
                Editing a comment
                And I've had my rectec for over 3 years now, only problem I ever had was the igniter rod went out but that was a super easy fix

              #9
              Never had an issue with my Pellet Pro. I do make it a habit though of opening my hopper a couple of times during a long cook and just evening out the pellets as they descend in the hopper. I guess that prevents tunneling, yet I've never had it happen to me before.

              Comment


              • Deaf Arty
                Deaf Arty commented
                Editing a comment
                +1 on leveling the pellets in the hopper. Never had a problem on my Traeger, and haven't on my GMG DB.

              #10
              I have a Cabela's brand smoker. The tunneling can happen but with a mostly full hopper it's going to take a long time to cause the auger to run empty. Maybe try a different brand of pellets. I use and like Camp Chef but I've noticed their pellets are typically longer than other brands. Maybe a shorter or longer pellet will feed better in your cooker. I've never understood the set & forget thing. Don't you want to look in on the meat every hour or two, poke it bit, see how it's coming along. That seems like part of the fun.

              Comment


                #11
                I am not understanding why the tunneling is a problem. What is it doing or causing.

                All augers will cause some sort of tunneling at some point in feeding pellets to the burn pot I have two different brand pellet poppers. Both have some tunneling. Both have run out of pellets after emptying the hopper, bu not due to how the pellets feed the auger.

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                  #12
                  Tunneling means no fuel to the fire box and the fire goes out. Then you ain't cooking! There's a real tunnel above the auger with pellets that won't drop all around it.

                  Okay, I have a quick fix! Get some double walled corrugated cardboard (empty shipping carton should do). Measure the inside of the hopper to put an increased slant in it (so the pellets will slide down to the auger opening as space opens up). Cut the cardboard to fit where you've measured it. Adjust by cutting cardboard away until you have a tight fit on the sides of the hopper.

                  I've done this in several hoppers, mainly the Jambo. Yoder seems to have the best hopper configuration so this isn't necessary.

                  Comment


                  • Aimless1
                    Aimless1 commented
                    Editing a comment
                    Still not understanding the problem. I've run out of pellets but never out of fire because pellets don't get fed to it. I love cheap solutions

                  #13
                  It is called the "angle of repose". if the angle feeding the hopper is too shallow, the pellets will hang up. What CandySueQ is doing is changing the angle to make sure she is past the angle of repose and the pellets won't hang up.

                  I have a Camp Chef, and I have noticed that the angle is very flat. I check the pellets several times during a cook and push down in the middle and level the pellets. I have seen hangup of the pellets.

                  Manufacturers want to get as many pellets as possible in the hopper, so they put in too shallow of an angle. I don't have a RecTec, but it probably has more of a steep angle.
                  Last edited by bten; April 24, 2018, 04:04 PM.

                  Comment


                  • Aimless1
                    Aimless1 commented
                    Editing a comment
                    Thanks. I get it. Apparently I've been fortunate to not have the issue.

                  #14
                  Happened once on my rec tec mini. Somebody suggested waxing the inside of the hopper with car wax, so I did. It seemed to help a little, but not sure if that was the fix or just that I now check my hopper more frequently due to being paranoid of running out in the middle of a cook

                  Comment


                    #15
                    OK. Thank you all for your responses. What bten said pretty much explains the situation. As pellets feed into the augur the pellets above don't fall into the vacated space creating a "tunnel" or a hole in the hopper leaving no pellets to feed into the augur with the burn pot eventually going out. CandySueQ could you possibly take a picture of what you've done? I'm not sure I'm following your instructions. I did try something that I thought would work...I built a gigantic funnel. Must be 30" long with a 10" opening at the top and a 4" opening at the bottom. The bottom opening placed directly over the augur opening. Made it so there was nowhere for the pellets to go but straight down into the augur. I was certain this would work. Much to my dismay the pellets didn't feed. Happened right away. My thought was there was maybe too much pressure from the top of the funnel so that the pellets wouldn't fall. I really thought I had something. CandySueQ what's your take on this idea? Thanks again to everyone.

                    Comment


                    • CandySueQ
                      CandySueQ commented
                      Editing a comment
                      Are your pellets long? They may be "bridging" up in the cone.

                      I need to make a cardboard chute for the new pellet fire on the Jambo. I'll take pictures.

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