What have you found to be best/easiest way of getting a fire started without the igniter??  Be it the igniter is causing the GFCI to trip or you are using an auxiliary power source (battery/inverter).

What have you found to be best/easiest way of getting a fire started without the igniter??  Be it the igniter is causing the GFCI to trip or you are using an auxiliary power source (battery/inverter).

Yes I put a handful of pellets in the burn pot and a couple of dabs of hand sanitizer. Light that on fire and let it burn for a few minutes. Then I turn the system on with the igniter unplugged. I wait till I see a nice flame before I put the interals back in.

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I use alcohol based fire starting gel. I used to do this on my Traeger all the time so I could run it off a little inverter at club BBQs. I kept the hotrod plug accessible so I could easily plug it in or out depending on use. It's really easy to start these things without the ignitor - it's just a wood fire...

My grill was made without an igniter. I started out using lighter fluid, but discovered liqued sterno works great. as ScottE mentioned it is easy to start without the igniter. I have no plans to install one, it's just one more thing to go wrong!

My Blazn came used without an igniter installed.  I put a handful of pellets in the pot, a small piece of wood fire starter, and light with a match.  Once I get a roaring fire, I turn on the grill at a high temp to get fan going and pellets flowing.  Put all of the guts back in the grill, place a temp probe on the grate, and shut the lid.  I let it settle in and adjust the controller until I get to the grate temp I want to cook at.  Then I put the food on.  BTW, the LED on the controller for this grill is shot too which is the primary reason I use the temp probe on the grate while cooking on it.

Thanks for the feedback..I thought this info would be handy for someone that has never fired up a pit w/o an igniter..I might add, if the GFIC was tripped, the igniter should be disconnected prior to manually lighting.

Very interesting and new to me is that some older pits didn't have igniters..What vintage might they be??

Paper towel with some vegetable oil on it, lit on fire and 20 pellets dumped on it and turn unit on...

I use a propane torch. I keep the torch so the tip of the flame is hitting the pellets for about 30 seconds or so with the grill off. I switch the grill on, pull the torch away and wait for a flame before installing the heat shield, drip pan etc.

Thanks for the feedback..I thought this info would be handy for someone that has never fired up a pit w/o an igniter..I might add, if the GFIC was tripped, the igniter should be disconnected prior to manually lighting.

Very interesting and new to me is that some older pits didn't have igniters..What vintage might they be??

If the GFCI is tripping, what I do after lighting the pellets is wave the torch over the RTD so the grill thinks it's hot enough to not run the hot rod.

Very interesting and new to me is that some older pits didn't have igniters..What vintage might they be??

I wish I knew! Best guess so far is probably early 90's. The person I got it from had no idea about its history. It was at a church camp and taking up space in his storage garage. He had been there 5 years and never used it. I've posted this picture before, but if anyone has any ideas, I would appreciate any input you might have.


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Thanks for the feedback..I thought this info would be handy for someone that has never fired up a pit w/o an igniter..I might add, if the GFIC was tripped, the igniter should be disconnected prior to manually lighting.

Very interesting and new to me is that some older pits didn't have igniters..What vintage might they be??

If the pit is tripping the GFIC then even if you manually light it still won’t work as the grill will have no power for auger and computer
I have a small supply of gel lighting fluid which works if the igniter is dead

That Traeger picture looks like a very old version of my XL.

Thanks for the feedback..I thought this info would be handy for someone that has never fired up a pit w/o an igniter..I might add, if the GFIC was tripped, the igniter should be disconnected prior to manually lighting.

Very interesting and new to me is that some older pits didn't have igniters..What vintage might they be??

If the pit is tripping the GFIC then even if you manually light it still won’t work as the grill will have no power for auger and computer
I have a small supply of gel lighting fluid which works if the igniter is dead

The hot rod is usually the cause of the GFCI tripping. So the idea here is to disconnect the hot rod, reset the GFCI so the grill will power up, and then light manually.

That Traeger picture looks like a very old version of my XL.

I think it may be one of the old BBQ100's from the 90's? Possibly a commercial unit due to the size? Here is pic of the Residential version I got off the old site. . .

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