Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[LowSlowJoe]

 In a facebook group I belong too, there was a guy , talking about DC auger motors, and how they are the cat's meow.  He was asking if any pellet grills use them , and saying that Traeger's 2019 lineup will be using DC auger motors. He implied that DC motors will bring new features and functionality that will make them much better then the AC motors that are typically used today.

  I was a bit confused, but sort of chalked him up to maybe marketing guy from Traeger disguising himself as potential new pellet grill owner.  I still don't know much about the guy, or the supposedly new grills that Traeger is about ready to release.   

   I have done bit of research, and have found a few things that seem to confirm that Traeger is planning on going to a DC motor setup in some of their new grills.   As of yet, I haven't found much information touting the supposed advantages of a DC auger motor.   Call me skeptical at the moment... but  one thing the guy had mentioned, was potentially being able to reverse the auger motor , to back out of a pellet jam type of situation.  He also made comments, that somehow the DC motor would allow faster temperature recovery. ( not exactly sure how that is supposed to work ).     


   But then, it struck me as odd, how there doesn't seem to be any real discussion about this here on Pellet Fan, nor anywhere else that I've been able to find yet.

    So, has anyone here heard about this? or know anything more about it?

  Traeger does have new manuals listed for grill models Ironwood 885 and 650, as well as a Pro Series 780 and 575, which all do appear to have what seems to be this new Arc D2 controller ( with WiFire) on them.

[LowSlowJoe]

It looks like the Traeger portable known as Ranger will also have the new controller on it...    Now, DC is obviously appealing on a portable grill, for the simple fact that if you want to plug into a DC Battery, you wouldn't need to convert to AC just to run a auger motor.

[rdsbucks]

Kind of hard to comprehend a $2500 Traeger.

[dk117]

Kind of hard to comprehend a $2500 Traeger.

That is why I bought a Gator.  I'm not knocking Traeger either.  I still have my 2009 Texas and a lot of fond memories.  But when Traeger gets above $1500 I felt it was time to look elsewhere. 

[LowSlowJoe]

Kind of hard to comprehend a $2500 Traeger.

LOL - Why?   that's cheaper than the Timberline grills ( $4000 for the biggest Timberline )

By the way, while I don't currently know the pricing on the Pro Series 780 or 575, presumably it's more in line with the other Traeger grill pricing, and may very well be less than $1000. 

Supposedly dealers already know the pricing, but I haven't seen any official pricing on anything other than the large Ironwood model.

[LowSlowJoe]

So, there's a guy out of the UK that's done a video of the Ironwood 885, and he indicates that the new Arc D2 controller does have some sort of auger jam 'fix' feature.  He says something about it reversing the motor several times to try and clear a auger jam.  So far, that's the only real reference to a 'feature' that can not really be done with a AC auger motor.

Now, if I were to speculate about a potential benefit of a DC motor.  Speed control of a DC motor is a bit easier to carry out than it is on a AC motor.  So, if someone were to design a pellet grill controller with a DC motor, they could potentially vary the speed of the motor, rather then just turn it on and off to control how many pellets get to the firepot.  Now, I have no indication at all that the Arc D2 controller does this, so I'm only speculating about what could potentially be a benefit of using a DC motor for turning the auger.  Just to be clear, I also don't really know anything about how practical or useful it might be to vary the speed of a auger motor. I can imagine ways that it could be beneficial however.

[glitchy]

Kind of hard to comprehend a $2500 Traeger.

LOL - Why?   that's cheaper than the Timberline grills ( $4000 for the biggest Timberline )

By the way, while I don't currently know the pricing on the Pro Series 780 or 575, presumably it's more in line with the other Traeger grill pricing, and may very well be less than $1000. 

Supposedly dealers already know the pricing, but I haven't seen any official pricing on anything other than the large Ironwood model.

Isn’t the Timberline 1300 selling for $1999 USD? This ad appears to be Australian, so the Ironwood might be 1599-1799 here.

[Bentley]

I don't know enough about how AC and DC motors work to discuss it with you...Now I can discuss AC/DC if you would like, I have seen them, albeit it was 1978...

[rdsbucks]

Kind of hard to comprehend a $2500 Traeger.

LOL - Why?   that's cheaper than the Timberline grills ( $4000 for the biggest Timberline )

By the way, while I don't currently know the pricing on the Pro Series 780 or 575, presumably it's more in line with the other Traeger grill pricing, and may very well be less than $1000. 

Supposedly dealers already know the pricing, but I haven't seen any official pricing on anything other than the large Ironwood model.

I guess I just see Traegers as cheaper.

[mo-kid]

 
Bentley, your post was not missed!!!  lol

[ylr]

The control panel does not look intuitive.........

[LowSlowJoe]

I too know AC/DC , from ... well most of my knowledge is also from 1978, or thereabouts.  After the original singer Bon Scott died, they just weren't quite the same band. I did continue to listen to them, but I'm pretty sure if I saw them after he died, it was only once and I'm not very certain I did see them after that. ( memory isn't good of all the crazy stuff I used to do back that time period).


Meanwhile,   AC motors, to my knowledge are not really easy to reverse and speed control is also not quite as easy as it is with DC motors.     However, I personally thought that modern AC motors have been brushless for many years, way before brushless DC motors became available at a reasonable price.    I'm still unclear if the new Traeger DC motors are actually brushless or not, if they are brushelss, then that would be a good thing.

   Reversing a DC motor, is as easy as reversing the polarity of the voltage that's applied to the motor. With modern electronics, it's very easy to reverse DC voltage. AC, really can't be 'reversed' phase can be shifted, but because the nature of AC is that it constantly changes from positive to negative ( Alternating Current ), you really can't just swap the two wires around like you could on a DC motor.   

  So, Traeger now has a auger clear function.  As I understand it, they reverse the direction of the auger motor for 60 seconds, and then put it back in the forward direction.    This would not be easy to do with AC motor as far as I know.   But still, I don't know about you all, but  I can count the number of times I had a auger jam on no fingers.  Yes, that's right I personally have never actually had a auger jam.  So, this feature is not really anything too exciting for me.

    I see nothing in any Traeger literature or documentation that would indicate that they are varying the speed of their auger.  So, at this point I have to assume they are just turning the DC motor on and off, just like all other pellet grills have been doing, since Traeger first started making pellet grills.   If they aren't varying the speed of the new DC auger motors, then other than the reversing the motor to clear a pellet auger jam, the DC motor isn't really doing anything that couldn't be done with the current AC based Auger motors.

   So, I conclude at this time, to say... I see virtually no evidence that the DC motor in the new Traeger is of much practical value to a typical pellet griller.

[pmillen]

   Reversing a DC motor, is as easy as reversing the polarity of the voltage that's applied to the motor.

Does that work if the motor has a 3-phase winding?

[LowSlowJoe]

I'm not sure how things work on a AC motor in terms of reversing them.

Word is , that GMG has also started using DC motors on their new grill lineup. 


I still for the life of me can't figure out what would drive pellet grill makers to DC motors.    My current speculation is that maybe it might be as much about the safety of users who are troubleshooting their grill problems.    AC can be shocking, compared to a 12 volt DC motor...

[yorkdude]

The little I know of the difference is that they are easily reversible, easier to control, cheaper, more torque at start up and start and stop faster.
I would also think that the "shocking factor" comes into play but my gut tells me if they are cheaper that is where this started.
Just my