Silverton RTD Replacement Help

[mnbbq]

I've got a defective RTD probe in my Silverton. Traeger has sent me a new probe but so far the have been unable to give me any sort of diagrams or instructions as to how to replace it in my Silverton. They keep sending me information that is for other models of grills and not the Silverton. Anyone here have any experience with making this repair?

 

[briansmith]

I've got a defective RTD probe in my Silverton. Traeger has sent me a new probe but so far the have been unable to give me any sort of diagrams or instructions as to how to replace it in my Silverton. They keep sending me information that is for other models of grills and not the Silverton. Anyone here have any experience with making this repair?

Hi @mnbbq, I was wondering if you had any luck? Traeger sent me a new RTD due a defective one and the instructions clearly aren't for the model. It seems much harder to replace on the Silverton as the wires aren't easily accessible. So far I've started to remove the bottom metal sheet from beneath in the storage cabinet below the grill but it seems like it's going to be VERY difficult to feed the new RTD wires through to the controller.

Did you have any luck? I'm planning to call Traeger tomorrow.

 

[mnbbq]

Hi @mnbbq, I was wondering if you had any luck? Traeger sent me a new RTD due a defective one and the instructions clearly aren't for the model. It seems much harder to replace on the Silverton as the wires aren't easily accessible. So far I've started to remove the bottom metal sheet from beneath in the storage cabinet below the grill but it seems like it's going to be VERY difficult to feed the new RTD wires through to the controller.

Did you have any luck? I'm planning to call Traeger tomorrow.

You’re on the right track. I disassembled the bottom of the hopper to get at the wiring. You have to unbundle most of it to figure out which wires are for the RTD probe. To get the wires for the new probe connected I loosened the old probe, cut the wires, then spliced the wires for the new probe to the old wires and used them to pull the new wires through to the controller box. I took lots of pictures of everything before I started so I knew how to bundle everything back up once I got the new probe wires run. Definitely not a user friendly design and Traeger customer service was zero help after 5 calls. They have no idea about almost everything related to the Silverton. It’s like that model just doesn’t exist to them. Good luck!

 

[Walleye Hunter]

I don't know how the Silverton is set up but my Pro 575 has that probe on the right side of the grill and feeds up between the pellet/control box into place. I taped a piece of thread to my old probe and pulled it down through the bottom then taped the thread to the new probe and pulled it up. I had to remove the top two screws of that hopper box and push it back as far as I could with the bottom screws still in. After I got the probe close but not quite in I reached in with a looong screwdriver and was able to push it into place. Rather than pull the wiring harness apart I left the old probe in place and intact. As it turns out the probe was not my problem anyway and I need a new controller, which I am waiting on.

 

[briansmith]

You’re on the right track. I disassembled the bottom of the hopper to get at the wiring. You have to unbundle most of it to figure out which wires are for the RTD probe. To get the wires for the new probe connected I loosened the old probe, cut the wires, then spliced the wires for the new probe to the old wires and used them to pull the new wires through to the controller box. I took lots of pictures of everything before I started so I knew how to bundle everything back up once I got the new probe wires run. Definitely not a user friendly design and Traeger customer service was zero help after 5 calls. They have no idea about almost everything related to the Silverton. It’s like that model just doesn’t exist to them. Good luck!

Hi @mnbbq ,

Thanks for the tips, yeah they sure do bundle everything tight with zip ties. Thank you for the advice on splicing the wires - great idea! - I was hesitant about cutting the wires for the old probe but it's pretty clear that it's the only way to feed the new probe wires through.

Gonna tackle it this weekend and hopefully everything will go smoothly

 

[PMC]

I had to replace the RTD probe as well on my month old Silverton 620. No info to be found anywhere on how to go about it. After removing the bottom of the hopper bin and removing the screws to the control panel I had access to the RDT wire. I unplugged it from the control panel and looped a piece of wire through to hole in the yellow plug. I pulled it up to the slot in the side of the grill and gently pulled it through the slot and up and out.
I ran the wire through the hole in the new RTD plug and pulled it back the other way and gently tugged and tugged until it came through the slot in the side of the grill. Plug it in the the controller and put everything back together. Hopefully it reads the correct temperature because I haven't been able to reach 500 degrees with this grill. ?

 

[DesertBighorn]

I just replaced the RTD after Traeger sent me a new one and going through their phone walk through trouble shooting. The problem I had was suffering with high temp readings and then intermittent HeR shutdowns since very early on in ownership after spring 2019 purchase.

1. Pull out the control panel (mine wouldn't pull out enough to get to the wires until i cut cable ties after step 2.)
2. Remove the panel on the bottom of the pellet bin, 4 screws.
3. Cut cable ties to free up the RTD wires and give some service loop for control panel removal.
4. Disconnect old RTD wires. Mine had a connector in the middle of the wires, so I unplugged this to pull the wires back to the oven areas.
5. Attach a string to the RTD wires before pulling the RTD out, the string will be used to pull the new RTD wires through to the pellet bin electronics area.
6. Remove RTD, Gently pull the wires with string from the pellet bin compartment back through the side of the grill and then the hole in the back of the grill.
7. Attach wires from new RTD to the string and pull the wires gently back through the two holes (back of grill and side into pellet bin).
8. Insert screws ito mount the new RTD.
9. Route RTD wires to the contol panel. I routed them through the two holes in the bracket the fan and transformer are mounted to.
10. Insert RTD wires into connector block on control board and tighten screws.
11. Mount control panel back into pellet bin panel with two screws.
12. Use some cable ties to rebundle the wires in the bottom of the pellet bin.
13. Replace the pellet bin bottom panel with four screws.

IMPORTANT - upon inspection of the old RTD wires I found one had melted through insulation, hence my temperature problems.

14. I pulled the RTD wires to the back of the grill through the ventilation slots on the back and used a cable tie to pull them away from the grill oven body to prevent wire high temperature damage.

All is well again. My grill had this problem from near new.