Troubleshoot Camp Chef Woodwind Pro smoker if pellets fail to feed

[@bearvonsteuben9675]

Ben, I really appreciate your video. On St. P’s Day, the plan was to smoke a couple of corned brisket flats. My 6 mo. old 36” Woodwind Pro began its start-up routine, but stuck at about 50F. I shut it down per standard procedure, and tried it again. Same result. I disassembled to look at the fire pot and saw no pellets. So, thanks to you, I now know what to do. By the way, I do keep pellets in the hopper, but the whole unit is kept in a garage. Apparently, that is not enough. Thanks again! Good work. 👍

[@bylenga14]

Thanks for the feedback. I hope your warranty experience is as good as mine was! And sorry about the briskets.

[@dennisg.7498]

I have a 24" Camp Chef. Have had 7 warranty issues. Camp Chef took care of all of it without question. It's now sold at $399 ( with the gen 2 digital controller). Sure they are noisy. My neighbor with his Traeger says he's living next to an airport with all the noises mine makes. 3 year hassle free warranty and great customer service. People brag about their $$$ Traeger. Until it breaks. Traeger questions every claim. Camp Chef didn't question 1 thing whenever I had a problem. I am going to get a top line Recteq grill in spring ( 6 year warranty ), but the Camp Chef is going to go up to my seasonal campsite. Get a cover and a blanket. Then put your pellets in sealed plastic buckets (The orange Homer ones at Home Depot have rubber lid gaskets) Only leave pellets in the grill if you know you are going to use it within a couple of days. Otherwise drain them out. The grill has the best pellet dump system out there. And never keep pellets in the bag they came in.

[@bylenga14]

Glad to hear they took care of you. This is my 4th warranty issue. The first issue led to a credit which I got the blanket and cover with. They sent me a replacement auger motor but failed to package properly which meant the fan blades snapped off during shipping. They replaced that too after a longer wait. I have the PID controller after the probes quit. Customer service is good but less issues would be better. I havent heard nearly as many issues with rectec.

[@bearvonsteuben9675]

Dennis, my pellets are kept in the famous orange buckets. Because I keep the 6m.o. 36” Woodwind Pro in my garage (between cooks) I thought I was safe. Apparently, letting it sit for a couple of weeks with a fairly full hopper was my mistake. First issue with this otherwise pretty good unit. As you say, with the simple pellet dump mechanism, there’s really no excuse for keeping pellets on board. I’m glad Camp Chef stands behind their products! Thanks for the tips. 👍

[@Giroux68]

Ive found the seal around the auger feed also fails.

[@madhurimabhattacharya996]

This is great! How did you take out the screw that connects the shaft to the auger motor (1:49) Thank you.

[@bylenga14]

If I recall I used a socket on one end and a screwdriver on the other.