I have been having issues since November last year with the auger on my Austin XL jamming and ruining the motor. Pit Boss is saying that it is due to humidity but I ran it all last year during the humid season and only had issues when it wasn't humid. Now I am on my third motor and the auger jammed again last night then blew out my breaker. When I disassemble and pull the auger the pellets do not look like they have expanded due to moisture. Any other ideas on what might be causing it?

My current option is to empty the hopper after each use and let the remaining pellets run through and burn off before shutting it down.

Has anyone cut the cover off the inside of the hopper to scoop the pellets to the clean out port quicker? I've been using the handle of a wood spoon and it is a pain in the butt. Or has anyone found a "stick" that works better to get the pellets out quickly?

Milwaukees Best Light said:

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Try a different brand of pellets.

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This. Some are just better for your particular setup.
As for cleaning out pellets, a shop-vac does an excellent job of removing pellets.

Milwaukees Best Light said:

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Try a different brand of pellets.

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Yeah, I have a Pit Boss Vertical Smoker, and had lots of frustration maintaining smoking temp...

And I was using Pit Boss pellets and was shocked to discover that almost half were an inch or longer in length.

In the manual it indicates that longer pellets made it difficult to maintain temp...and these were Pit Boss pellets!!

Oklahoma Joe's seems to have shorter lengths of pellets, so they may help.

For the auger jamming up, the pellets may be old even though the bag is sealed. You may have to go to a different supplier. Also, the type of wood used may affect the hardness/softness of the pellets. You may have better luck by switching to a different wood. If you are using Hickory, switch to Oak, or Competition Blend...and pellet length may be different, too.

SeMgCo87 said:

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Do you drive a Porsche, too?

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No - I don't - but in my experience, pellet smokers are inferior in every aspect of bbq except ease of use/set and forget.

My WSM is almost as automatic, with very little maintenance during a cook most of the time.

Where are you buying your replacement motor, mine has the same issue.

It's not about "tradition" - again, I have a Weber Smokey mountain - but flavor, bark, etc are all far superior on everything but pellet grills.

Yeah, i heard pit boss pellets are too long? we were told by someone at Scheels that he advises against pitboss pellets due to that fact.

HTownAg98 said:

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MichaelJ said:

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It's not about "tradition" - again, I have a Weber Smokey mountain - but flavor, bark, etc are all far superior on everything but pellet grills.

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Pellet grills can make fine bbq. They can be made smokier by employing a smoke tube.

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When trying to recommend something - how often do you use the term"fine"

Fine implies it's "mid" or "meh" - acceptable - hardly a glowing recommendation

I'll maintain - when you are recommending something to someone, generally speaking, "fine" is not normally the word you choose.

Mr. Nussbaum said:

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Where are you buying your replacement motor, mine has the same issue.

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I got Pitt Boss to send me one for free since it was under warranty. However, my family and my girlfriend's family were coming over that week for a pre thanksgiving so I ordered an extra from amazon in case that one didn't show up on time.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DG2N4FZQ?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title

MichaelJ said:

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I'll maintain - when you are recommending something to someone, generally speaking, "fine" is not normally the word you choose.

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Women use "fine" as a stand-alone answer...at least my wife does...and "great", too.

And don't ask her expound...I always get this cold, blue-eyed stare...and no words.

MichaelJ said:

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The other option is to smoke your meat like a real man and ditch the pellet smoker

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You forgot the part about ditching the skirt!

FIDO*98* said:

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The real Goldilocks zone is to have an Offset and a Pellet. Smoke on the offset for a few hours and transfer to the EZ Bake pellet at bedtime. The smoke, smoke ring, and bark are exactly right and the consistent temp plus a whisper of smoke finish things out perfectly.......while you get a good night sleep.

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Ding Ding Ding.

Offset smoker and green egg would be my combo.