For Treager Owners..

[KansasSmoker]

I read a post on a treager message board and was wondering if some of you had the same problem, if so, how do you fix it? Thanks


[[b]b][b]aytek@tvideoproductions.com
Posted: 29 February 2008 - 09:59 PM

I bought my Traeger Texas 075 a few months ago and I think it is a great smoker. However I have one issue that bothers me and that is the digital controller. It is a constant struggle to keep a steady temperature as the set
Temp marks on the controller and the actual temperature is never even. For example if I set the knob on 225 the temperature goes as high as 260-270, it stops and it is usually steady at a certain temp, but not the temp that I want. So I have to open the lid for a few seconds and set it back to 180 etc.

So here's what I'm thinking:( and I wonder why Treager folks didn't think about this:)

a quick and painless solution for this problem would be to modify the controllers knob. Instead of the having the knob only stop at the pre designated stops ( like smoke, 180, 225 etc.) change the knob where you can have a continuous turn (just like in an oven knob). That way when the temp you set seems to be high or low you can precisely tweak it where you want it.

I wonder if this can be done, I will try to find an electrician and see if he can modify the controller.

So what do you guys think? Good , bad ,waste of time ??[/b][/b][/b]
_________________
Friends, BBQ, and Cold Drinks........The good life

[Pelletsmokin']

I don't have this issue at all, my temp does not swing at all (maybe 5 degrees up or down, which I can live with). Don't know why this guy is seeming to have so many issues. A constant turn knob would be nice.

[KansasSmoker]

Yea, I haven't really heard of any issues like this, but since I am going to drop over $1000 for a grill, I am trying to be very selective in my process. I checked out a dealer in Wichita that sells Louisiana Grills yesterday, they are nice, but don't offer the thermostat like the Treager. The hopper is also very small on the LA Grill, I think the guy said it lasts 2 hours......Hope to hear from other treager owners about the temperature issue. Thanks
_________________
Friends, BBQ, and Cold Drinks........The good life

[graybeard]

I have one of the Country Smokers from Louisianna Grills and love it. I haven't found a problem with not having a thermostat. The type of control Louisianna uses is a constant variable control so you can dial in whatever temp you like. It does take a bit of getting used to, but not bad. Have also had mine up over 500* and as low as 190*. Usually run around 225-250*.

The hopper is smaller, I think, but there is a hopper extension available. Cooking at the lower temps I get about 4-5 hours on a full load. Higher temps do use more pellets.

[snyderbunch]

@KansasSmoker

Who in Wichita sells the Louisiana Grills? Have you found anybody in town that sells the Traeger's? I live in Wichita and I'm looking at either a Louisiana Country Smoker or a Traeger Lil Tex. I'm having trouble choosing between the two.

[DrBigLu]

I used my texas 75 for the first time. I have a digital controller and at first set the temp smoke....it started smokeing great and then I change the temp 300 to preheat it for some ribs and the temp went to 360 I messed with the controller and put back to smoke and temp continued to climb and climb...I shut the grill off let the temp go back down to 225 and then start on smoke...again it climbed to 350 before I shut it down...the 3rd time i waited for the temp to drop below 180 before turning it on to smoke and this time it climbed 190 and held between there and 210...it took about 1.5 hours for this to settle there I then put it 225 and the temp climbed to 260 and stayed between 260 and 240 for the next 3 hours....so not sure if this similar to what happend to you or not.

[Utah Jake]

It's not that simple. the knob controls several things. Here's a post that showed up on Pellet Heads (you really should sign on to that forum as well.) When he says 1 or 2 he is referring to the miniature switch on the left side of the circuit board.

Traeger Digital "Rotary Switch" demystified
« on: April 27, 2008, 12:13:04 PM »
Being a technical sort of guy, I played around with my digital controller to learn how that rotary switch works. People would say to set it to 0, or 1, or 2, but no one said exactly why, or what you were changing.

Here's the scoop:

Switch# T-off T-on
0 45 15
1 55 15
2 65 15
3 75 15
4 85 15
5 95 15
6 105 15
7 115 15
8 125 15
9 135 15

All T (times) are in seconds. From this, you can say each click makes it stay off 10 more seconds than the previous number. It always runs the auger for 15 seconds every xx (T-off + T-on) seconds, no matter what.

The above is running in the background sort of independent of the temperature control and startup control. I believe the main intent is to keep a few pellets trickling into the firebox to prevent flameouts. If you use too big a number, your fire may go out, and once that happens, you will make a big pile of unburned pellets go where you don't want them.

Startup control is simply "RUN the Auger and Heater for 4 minutes" every the switch is moved from OFF to any active position. After 4 minutes it goes into temperature control mode (unless you're on Smoke setting). In the smoke setting, it just uses the numbers based on the switch # setting.

Temperature control mode is simply "If the temperature is below the setpoint, run the auger. If the temperature is above the setpoint, run the auger based on what the switch (0-9) is at." We call this a bang-bang controller, which is about as simple as you can get.

I did all this testing in my garage last winter, not hooked up to a grill. I used lamps as loads to learn what was on and for how long.


Now for the fun part. This whole thing is controlled by a micro-controller. The micro-controller is clocked at 4 MHz. You can "overclock" it to 8 MHz (or any freq. you want to a point) with parts available from DigiKey.com. When I overclocked mine at 8MHz, everything works at twice as fast, i.e., at 0 rotary switch setting, I get 22.5 seconds off, and 7.5 seconds on. It didn't affect the temperature readings. The startup time is now 2 minutes instead of 4 minutes, but I've never had a no-start condition in 20 or 30 starts, winter and spring. It does seem to hold the temp swings better this way. I've also done other mods, so this may not be making a whole lot of difference. The main intent of this thread was to show what the rotary switch did.

I just wanted to share with all you PelletHeads. Good Luck!

Jim
_________________
Lang 60
FEC100
WSM
Traeger

[enjkuck]

What I have found more recently, is that my temps and control setting is very close to each other. If I set my digital control on my 124 to 225 degrees, my dome therm is usually a little low vs. the digital read can be low to as his as 260. I bought a oven therm from william-sonoma that hangs in the middle of the traeger and it reads within 5 degrees of what my setting is.

switch set at 225
dome reads 200
digital reads 200-260
oven reads 225

Dont lose any sleep over the digital read. It will just go up and down. My opinion is the dome is more accurate.
_________________
Traeger 124, 125

[skybob]

Snyderbunch, TrailerTown on 53rd N, just a couple hundred yards west of Broadway sells and services Traegers. Very knowledgible folks there. Got my Lil Tex there. Most of the Ace Hardware stores now also sell the Traegers, but I doubt if they'd service them.
_________________
Treager Texas pit
OK Joe's stickburner

Pellethead Pitmaster

[rcubed3r]

There is also a new digital controller from Traeger Outlet coming out:

http://traegeroutlet.com/inc/sdetail/9180

Hopefully, mine will ship next week!

Ron
_________________
Traeger 075

[KansasSmoker]

Snyder,

There is a new pellet stove place on St. Francis near the new downtown arena, I believe it is called home, hearth, and stove.. not 100% sure though. I looked at LA grills there yesterday. There are several places that sell Treagers..Go to each grills web-site and find a dealer. I am very concerned about the thermostat for the Treager..If I am going to pay $1000 bucks for a grill and $200 for a digital thermostat, I want the damn temperature to be where I set it. Does anyone else have troubles with this aspect? Thanks guys for the great input
_________________
Friends, BBQ, and Cold Drinks........The good life

[big_jake]

[snyderbunch]

Thanks for the information SkyBob and KansasSmoker. I think I'll go browsing this weekend.