[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVPdXAfv_XA&w=580&h=385]
Smoking Barrel BBQ show notes:
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Today I wanted to test the temperature of my Traeger Texas. On a previous cook/ grill I could not get the temperature up to 400 degrees. I called Traeger and they sent me a list of things to troubleshoot. I will be going over that list during this video and you’ll see at the end, all is good.
Below are the troubleshooting steps provided by the Traeger Tech Support:
1. Are you using Traeger branded pellets, and are they fresh with no signs of moisture? (they will be softer and crumble easily if rolled between fingers)
2. Check the RTD probe on the left side inside of your grill to make sure it is clean and not bent or touching the side of the grill
3. You can remove all of the pellets from the hopper and make a mark on the auger with a pen, turn on the grill and time how long it takes for the auger to make a complete rotation. This should be within 35-40 second range
4. Check the induction fan (this will be the larger of the 2 fans and should be running constantly) to make sure it is running constantly. You can also test the fan by sticking a pencil into the fan to see if it stops easily. If it stops easily, it is most likely not pushing enough air to heat the pellets correctly and may need replaced.
5. You can use a meat thermometer to check the temperature of the air coming out of the chimney to see if it matches the digital and dome thermometers.
6. You can remove the grate, drip pan and heat baffle from the inside of the grill and check the inside of the firepot to see if there are any rusted out holes other than the 7 pre-drilled holes that came with the firepot.
Check your chimney cap and make sure there is at least 1″ clearance from the bottom of the cap to the top of the chimney flue.
Success! The Traeger actually reached 400 degree and beyond.
Unrelated to BBQing, but part of my total mission to share this experience with those that are interested, I have had trouble on past recordings where my voice was way too quiet, so quiet that I did not post the videos. Trying to record these on a small budget and, as kind of a “One Man Army”, I needed a solution that would allow me to have good sound and be simple enough so that I could do this all with my smartphone. I use an iPhone5s. It’s like a mini recording studio in my hand but, as I mentioned, I have had trouble with sound or recording of my voice. So the mic I am testing is a RODE smartLav. This mic records at a high volume level.
http://www.rodemic.com/mics/smartlav
I edit my videos using iMovie. My voice is coming in kind of hot, so I used iMovie to lower the volume. You can still hear the sound clip. This is a work in progress. Please HELP if you have another option for me.
Thanks for watching, I realize this video was all over the place. If I had to do it again, I would have switched the order of the troubleshooting steps. This was educational and we did confirm I can get the temperature up to 400.
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