Just to close the loop, the online vendor I purchased my SmokeFire from finally gave me a full refund for the grill today. Weber still has not returned my several calls and emails other than to say they do not want my unit back. So, I’ve got a SmokeFire in the backyard that won’t work but it was free! I think I’m going to weld a firebox onto it and make it a stick burner...
Scotch: Current favorite- The Arran (anything by them), Glenmorangie 12yr Lasanta, sherry cask finished. The Balvenie Double Wood, also like Oban 18yr, and The Glenlivet Nadurra (Oloroso sherry cask finished) among others. Neat please.
About meReal name: Aaron
Location: Farwell, Michigan- near Clare. (dead center of lower peninsula)
Occupation:
Healthcare- Licensed & Registered Respiratory Therapist (RRT) at MyMichigan Health, a University of Michigan Health System.
Smokers: 2-24" Smoke Vault Gas Smokers, Brink elec & charcoal
Grills: Weber charcoal and Vermont Casting gas
Maverick Wireless ET-733 and a 732
Taylor instant read probe with scan
There's some luck, grill of your dreams though not dreamy right now, and for free.
Your idea of modifying it is the way to go.
Personally I'd put it in the corner under a cover of some kind and wait for other owners to come up with fixes that are simple enough for anyone to do, and you know they're coming once others start having the same problem you have had.
There's some pretty smart and innovative people on here that will figure this out.
Troutman, actually I was going to suggest shipping it down to you.
With your knack for improving things it would be good as gold in a few weeks.
Don't want to over step my boundry's here though.
Just to close the loop, the online vendor I purchased my SmokeFire from finally gave me a full refund for the grill today. Weber still has not returned my several calls and emails other than to say they do not want my unit back. So, I’ve got a SmokeFire in the backyard that won’t work but it was free! I think I’m going to weld a firebox onto it and make it a stick burner...
See y’all in the WSM forum!
Look for fixes for some of this stuff, like drip pans when low and slow. There is a youtuber that sprayed some food grade silicon spray in the hopper and has not had the bridge issue. Note he does not use weber pellets though(I really wonder how much those longer length weber pellets are contributing to that issue).
Don't mean to prolong the agony, but I was trolling through YouTube last night and good old Harry Soo and one of his minions were cooking a full packer brisket and a pork butt both on the new Weber pellet at the same time. I was waiting for their grease fire comments because they were cooking at 300* and the fat must have been dripping all over the place. Funny but they didn't say a word about that.
They did comment on the hopper, they almost had a flair out due to the pellets bridging. He acted like it was no big deal (?). He also commented on the ash which was flying all over the place, it was literally coating the top of the hopper and the main cover. Regardless of what Max has to say, I think I've heard enough legit feedback from several sources I trust to say.....Weber....we got a problem!!
Sorry it didn't work out for you and I am glad to hear that you will be getting a refund. I love my EX4 and have seen lots of other posts from very happy owners on YouTube, such as Trendkill bbq, www.weberpelletgrills.com, and many others around the web. In fact, I think there are many more positive reviews than negative ones at this point. For some reason the postmaster forums here seem to have reacted rather quickly and negatively. Every grill has its personality and you just need to work with it. Grease fires are easily avoided by just putting an aluminum pan under the meat on the flavorizer bars. It looks like a little Silicone spray may help with the pellet hopper issue. I am very glad that I am keeping mine, but that is just my opinion. I would recommend this to others.
A few thoughts here. First, the SmokeFire cooks awesome at all temps. There are probably a lot of people excited about how well it grills and haven’t even tried low and slow yet, nor run enough pellets through to think about cleaning it yet. The pellet issues don’t seem to present as much at grilling temps either. I think this is for a couple reasons, one they’re being sucked in faster and two being it’s natural inclination to check it before you fire it up and too tempting to play with them.
If drip pans and spraying the hopper don’t bother you, enjoy the awesome food it cooks and post tons of pictures to make those that returned it regret not being patient enough to see how it all falls out.
I dont have a Smoke Fire and have not considered purchasing one. However, I love to read new grill reviews and all of the information on this forum about this new product release has been fantastic. I am sorry that everyone has had to deal with this. It all does give me pause about Weber and question if they are the same company that made them famous but I guess time will tell.
The firmware will get updated and fix several issues, cook in pans to avoid the grease problems and a mod is definetly coming that will fix the pellet issue. You end up with what will ne a pretty good cooker for free ....score....congrats
I believe they've "blacklisted" my serial number since the grill was refunded, so my warranty and all other support for this particular grill is null and void at this point. Not complaining - given the refund, I think that's fair.
Maybe the firmware update would squeak through the radar, but no upgraded or improved parts, etc. I guess what I'm saying is I'm not expecting any Weber fixes to come my way.
Honestly, I would use it. You got a refund for the right reason. It wasn’t what was advertised. However, you can smoke with drip pans, clean the mess. You can grill at other times. I was a BBQ hoarder before my wife put her foot down. You are at the age when BBQ hoarding was my hobby. $100 COS for two years - Firebox rusts out - get the new one but NEVER throw out the old one because large groups might dictate the need for it. I even made a flower planter out of one because I couldn’t part with it. You never know, your persistence may pay off and you might be able to swap it out through Weber when fixes are made.
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