Print

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

[dclord]

I just replaced my ignitor because it was tripping the GFCI. I managed to get a Traeger ignitor in there temporarily, but it definitely isn't the right one. Too short and too low wattage. The Louisiana grill one is the right length but the leads are too short and it looks like they would end in an awkward location to connect. I found one for an Englander pellet stove that is 4.5 inches, 300 watts, longer leads, and the right connectors. Hopefully next week I'll get a chance to put it in.

Sent from my ONEPLUS A5000 using Tapatalk

[dclord]

Here is the Englander ignitor compared to the original. I thought the collar would come completely off, but apparently not. I don't think it will be a problem but I'll let you know after I try to put it in. By the way, I had to drill out the screw that holds the ignitor assembly in place. Heat does bad things to screws.

Sent from my ONEPLUS A5000 using Tapatalk

[Bar-B-Lew]

Here is the Englander ignitor compared to the original. I thought the collar would come completely off, but apparently not. I don't think it will be a problem but I'll let you know after I try to put it in. By the way, I had to drill out the screw that holds the ignitor assembly in place. Heat does bad things to screws.

Sent from my ONEPLUS A5000 using Tapatalk

I had to drill out one of the two screws that held my igniter rod on my Memphis Elite in the firepot assembly today when replacing the rod.

[jgrayson]

I just replaced my ignitor because it was tripping the GFCI. I managed to get a Traeger ignitor in there temporarily, but it definitely isn't the right one. Too short and too low wattage. The Louisiana grill one is the right length but the leads are too short and it looks like they would end in an awkward location to connect. I found one for an Englander pellet stove that is 4.5 inches, 300 watts, longer leads, and the right connectors. Hopefully next week I'll get a chance to put it in.

This is timely information for me.  My Firecraft starting throwing the GFCI last night.  Repeatedly.  I opened the side door to access the back of the controller and unplugged the connector to the igniter.  No more trouble with the GFCI.  I'll look into buying one from Englander.  Thanks for already going down this path for me!

[Canadian John]

I just replaced my ignitor because it was tripping the GFCI. I managed to get a Traeger ignitor in there temporarily, but it definitely isn't the right one. Too short and too low wattage. The Louisiana grill one is the right length but the leads are too short and it looks like they would end in an awkward location to connect. I found one for an Englander pellet stove that is 4.5 inches, 300 watts, longer leads, and the right connectors. Hopefully next week I'll get a chance to put it in.

This is timely information for me.  My Firecraft starting throwing the GFCI last night.  Repeatedly.  I opened the side door to access the back of the controller and unplugged the connector to the igniter.  No more trouble with the GFCI.  I'll look into buying one from Englander.  Thanks for already going down this path for me!

You may want to measure the length + diameter of your igniter and compare it to others, noting wattage. The wiring/connectors may require minor mods...Search, pellet grill igniters/shopping..

[dclord]

One thing to note when replacing the ignitor, when you take apart the assembly, do it over a table. There are three ceramic rods that hold the ignitor in place. They fall out when you loosen the screws. If they fall on floor they can break.

Sent from my ONEPLUS A5000 using Tapatalk

[goosta]

I think my ignitor may be going bad. Is this the Englander PU-CHA?

Tried cooking a pork butt today and experienced a weird problem. Basically, the pellets are taking too long to ignite. So what happens is the feeder keeps putting out pellets, then the grill smokes like crazy, then it all ignites and the temp spikes. I checked inside the firebox and only the very end of the rod was glowing red. Normally the whole thing should be red hot, right? At least, that's been my experience in the past.

Does that seem like I just need to replace the ignitor? Thanks!

[goosta]

Did a little troubleshooting. The fan and augur seem to be working fine. The ignitor rod doesn't seem to be heating up all the way. Is that possible? I attached a picture - it's like the end part of it isn't getting hot enough. Hoping that's the case so I can just replace the ignitor and be back in business...

[Canadian John]

 If I recall correctly, the end of the igniter doesn't get as hot as the center portion .  The heating element itself, the electrical conductor, does not go all the way to the end, plus there is more

 shielding (surface area)@ the  end to dissipate the heat.   It's the air movement that carries the superheated air from the igniter to the pellets.. As an example, the Memphis igniter doesn't protrude into the fire

 box at all. It was done that way  to extend igniter life.  Firecraft was very close  in copying the Memphis system, right down to the 3 ceramic iso rods.except they did allowed the igniter to extend into the fire

 box. My guess is they went that way as they were probably concerned with infringement rights.

[Bar-B-Lew]

It could also be that the pellets got more humid due to the external weather factors which I have seen my grill take a little longer to start than I would have expected the last few weeks.

[goosta]

This may be a dumb question, but does the ignitor only heat up when the grill starts?

There is definitely some issue going on. I've experienced it twice now. Maybe the controller is putting out too many pellets? It seems like new pellets take too long to light. It starts smoking like crazy...a TON of smoke...then a big woosh and they catch. Then the temp spikes 80-100 degrees.

The first time I was just grilling some hot dogs, so it only happened once. But I thought it was weird. Then a couple of days later, I vacuumed out everything well in preparation for smoking a pork butt. It started up fine and got up to temp (275), then started this weird issue after about 15-20 min. I tried switching to a new bag of pellets, but that didn't help. You can see the swings in the graph I included. Eventually, I just pulled the pork butt and finished it in the house oven.

I checked the fan and it seems to be running fine. I could hear it and feel it blowing air by the pellet box.

[jgrayson]

Hello,

Does the temperature continue to stay very high, or does it ever settle back down to the set point?

Is this happening with the original FireCraft controller?  I ask because I had to replace the controller in mine a while back, and I know other have replaced theirs as well.  I replaced mine with a WiFi controller from RecTec.  For a while the new controller was great, but recently I have had a lot of trouble with temperature control and the temperature goes very high (at least 100 above the set point), and then stays there for what could be several hours.

[goosta]

Hello,

Does the temperature continue to stay very high, or does it ever settle back down to the set point?

Is this happening with the original FireCraft controller?  I ask because I had to replace the controller in mine a while back, and I know other have replaced theirs as well.  I replaced mine with a WiFi controller from RecTec.  For a while the new controller was great, but recently I have had a lot of trouble with temperature control and the temperature goes very high (at least 100 above the set point), and then stays there for what could be several hours.

It's the original FireCraft controller. It does settle back down, but then repeats the same pattern. I actually have a RecTec controller that I bought as a backup but never installed.

[goosta]

Just a follow up for anything interested. I purchased a new ignitor which was delivered today. Installed it and that fixed my problem. Ran the grill for about an hour and it held temps like normal. Glad that was an easy fix! 

[Bentley]

Always nice to hear about a fix that works well!