The last two times I attempted to fire up my Trailblazer the pellets did not ignite normally. After about 15 minutes the smoker was still cold. On both occasions I ended up turning off the smoker, removing the grill, tray and deflector, trying to figure out what the problem was. The problem was clearly evident. The heating pot was half full of pellets. I grabbed a couple handfuls of pellets from the pot leaving about a rounded tablespoon, put everything back together and turned it back on. On both occasions the smoker fired up normally after that.
I did not check how many pellets were in the pot before starting each cooking event but my guess is that for some reason the auger keept going after the pot had cooled and filled the pot with too many pellets to allow ignition. If it is not that, it might be that the augur is pushing too many pellets into the pot during the ignition cycle, smothering the smoldering pellets so they do not light.
Has anyone else experienced this problem? Any thoughts on how to fix it?
I did not check how many pellets were in the pot before starting each cooking event but my guess is that for some reason the auger keept going after the pot had cooled and filled the pot with too many pellets to allow ignition. If it is not that, it might be that the augur is pushing too many pellets into the pot during the ignition cycle, smothering the smoldering pellets so they do not light.
Has anyone else experienced this problem? Any thoughts on how to fix it?