Lil' Tex BBQ07E tripping gfi

[MiddleTnSmokin]

I did the diagnoses where you connect only 1 molex at a time checking the power cord, fan, auger and lastly the ignitor to see which is tripping the gfi. My ignitor was bad so ordered one and replaced it today along with the firepot, the grill tripped the gfi again after a minute or so with the new ignitor. Out of disgust, I walked away for an hour or 2. I tried again and it stayed on long enough to produce some smoke and red sparks before it tripped. I immediately reset the breaker and let it continue to run, the fire started and I ran the grill for 30 - 40 minutes with no issues. This old boy has been a good un, any ideas what might be wrong? Anyone ever unplugged their ignitor and started the pellets with a torch? Thanks, any suggestions are appreciated, wondering if its time to retire this old guy, its 13 yrs old.

 

[Like Smoke]

Just a thought, I noticed you mentioned that you also replaced the firepot. A friend of mine had a similar problem and after messing with it for a while, he found that the auger was binding against the new fire pot. I would try rotating the auger by hand and making sure it turns easy. I have and old Texas 75 and I won't part with it, parts are still available and it works fine. Welcome to the forum, great folks and great recipes.

 

[MiddleTnSmokin]

Just a thought, I noticed you mentioned that you also replaced the firepot. A friend of mine had a similar problem and after messing with it for a while, he found that the auger was binding against the new fire pot. I would try rotating the auger by hand and making sure it turns easy. I have and old Texas 75 and I won't part with it, parts are still available and it works fine. Welcome to the forum, great folks and great recipes.

thanks for the advice, i'll give that a try

 

[RayClem]

By "gfi" I presume you mean GFCI (Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter). A ground fault occurs anytime there is a leakage of current between the "hot" wire and the "ground" wire. If everything is working properly, the current in the "hot" and "neutral" wires will be exactly the same. It only take a difference in current of 4-5 milliamps to trip the GFCI.

I would suggest that you disconnect all the wires from the grill controller to the fan, auger, and temperature probes (with the primary power cord disconnected). Be sure to label all the wires so you can replace them on the right connectors.

Plug the power cord into the grill. Does the GFCI trip?

If not, power the controller on. Does the GFCI trip? If so, the contoller might have a current leak internally.

Now start reconnecting the wires from the hot rod, auger, and temperature probes one at a time. For safety,. be sure that you shut down and unplug the grill before connecting each wire since you know there is a current leak somewhere. When the GFCI trips, you will have identified the offending part. Disconnect that part and reconnect the remaining parts to make sure they are functioning properly.
The last step will be to determine why the current leakage is occurring.

 

[MiddleTnSmokin]

Interesting but I fired up the smoker again and it worked. Not sure what happened but the meatloaf was good.