Simon.W

I'm kind of scared to update mine. I've only just got the grill back to working properly again!

Suffering from the same problems folks. Mine won't get over 230, the the temperature dropping quicky when the lid is open seems to be happening since the software update in december. I've got a new motor and auger sat here waiting to be fitted to see what it does. The nut and bolt instead of cotter pin is purely a manufacturing imrovement from what I've been told, so I'm not expecting it to make any difference. I guess we'll see.

Yikes man, that really sucks. Chewing through that many controllers seems like there is some external factor involved. Is it the same issue each time?

Keep me posted!

Yeah it's definitely worth a look. This is what mine looked like and it took a screwdriver to pry it all out. The picture doesn't even show half of it. I hoping that most of it was caused by shutdowns done before firmware 4042 and the latest version will stop it from re-occuring.

I've had temperature issues on my EX6, but it turned out to be the the shutdown process jamming up the pellets in the auger. That's the welded sing-piece auger as well. After removing the motor and cleaning it all out, it's working as normal. Cold weather doesn't seem to bother it.

Oh heck, that really sucks that you are still having trouble. At least you are being looked after by Weber I guess. Hopefully everything will be sorted once the new controller is fitted.

I didn't get a notification of your reply for some reason, is it all still behaving as you would expect? Mine is working superbly, like a different grill entirely. Just placed my order for the front and side tables!

Excellent stuff. The new welder chute and auger seems to have dramatically changed the behaviour of my smokefire, it just seems more eager to do what I tell it to do now. I'm impressed. I've just seen a few posts about 4042 as well, I'm intrigued as to what it does. Firmware is usually a phased rollout so if something goes wrong, it's not the entire user base that's effected. I guess we'll see!

I decided to leave it without a trip tray on my cook, two lamb legs that had been marinated overnight. It behaved flawlessly!

Keep us posted how you get on, hopefully it will all settle down and behave properly for you. I think Weber are having some issues with the glow plugs where they are prematurely burning out. Possibly something to do with the earth connection, but I cant be certain. They are also sending out glow plugs as gifts to people who have had any problems with their smokefire in the US, so I wonder if that has put some stress on the supply chain. Who knows. In other news, Lamb Raan in on the menu tonight, maiden voyage after the new chute and auger was fitted. I'll post the results later 👍

Yikes, I'd be very interested to know how that happened as well. Ok so it took me about 3 hours, but I was taking the time to to brush and clean the the SF at the same time, I was in no particular rush. I read through all of the documentation supplied with the new componants and also watched these two videos by Harry Soo - The first one gives a good idea of what is involved and the second is extremely important as he corrects a mistake he made. The new auger mechanism comes with a new base plate that attaches to the motor with four bolts and has two more holes to attach it to the back of the auger chute, these two holes are raised in one direction and it is important to get them the right way around. The two screws that hold the motor to the chute are now supplied with crush washers and these must be installed so the motor doesn't work loose. Interestingly, this is how to original cotter pin was installed by weber. The instruction for the new one tell you to splay the legs of the cotter pin in opposite directions. Any questions, let me know!

@sotv New auger and welded chute have been fitted, 315 reached in 10 minutes and 50 seconds instead of 33 minutes. Night and day difference. How are you getting on?

Mine arrived today as well! I'll be fitting it a bit later and I'll keep you posted.

WOWBBQ currently aren't sure whether the smokefire accessories will be in stock in October or January, but they are going to keep me posted. As soon as they are live, I'll post here.

I'm quite tempted by the front and side shelves for mine as I like to spread out when I'm preparing things. The storage for the top rack is also pretty exciting as I'm also forever leaving that thing propped up against a wall overnight! Slightly off topic, I'd be interested to see what people are doing for pellet storage. Most of the solutions people are suggesting online are all US links and can't get them over here. Same thing with the casters... Trying to find 1/2-13 UNC threaded anything over here is a practical impossibility!

On a slightly different note. It looks like the accessories for the smokefire are now available on the american Weber site. The front foldable front shelf has a place to hang the top cooking rack when not in use (That's awesesome!) The foldable side shelf has a bottle opener and a place to store the wooden cutting board, nicely thought out! I hope they are available soon!

That's fair enough. I hope all goes well and you are back up and running. I can't complain either, they have been very good to me so far and I know they'll eventually sort out the issues that I'm having.

Oh no! What has happened?

Completely agree. The new welded auger has been ordered so I'm going to do a full set of tests before and after to see what the difference is. If it helps Weber improve the product in some way then it was worth the effort.

Bit of a disaster with my reverse sear rib eye steaks today. The smokefire took around 20 minutes to reach 135oc, once I had got the steaks up to the right temperature, I removed them and set the smomefire to 310oc to get a good sear. Unfortunately, after a further 20 minutes, the smokefire was hovering around 210oc. I turned on my oven to 260 to preheat my cast iron pan to finish the steaks. The oven got to temp and the smokefire still had not. Although it wasn't a bad steak, it wasn't up to standard. Fresh pellets from weber and everything was clean and free of ash/debris as i'd cleaned it out for my smokeboost testing.

Yeah, some people seem to be having it a lot worse than I do, which must being pretty infuriating. Fortuantely, my SF behaves very well under normal operation and only seems to be falling down on the smokeboost part. I would probably be a tad less relaxed about the whole thing if I couldn't even cook on it normally. I think you are right, sending out all of the replacement parts much be having an impact and they really need to get to the bottom of it as they seem to be stabbing in the dark a little bit. The support representative did they are having weekly "smokefire" meetings held between the EU and US aftersales departments and are interested in the results of the testing I am doing. Personally, I am fine to help out and make the product better, but I can definitely see other people not being so interested in having to test a product they've spent a small fortune on. I absolutely love mine. The results I am getting with such a high level of convenience and control is more than making up for any of the issues that I am encountering.

I had read the same thing about branded pellets, so I decided to play it safe until more info was available. The only pellets that I've used so far are the Weber ones, mainly Hickory and Apple. The bag that Weber support sent me was the grill academy master blend, which is the actually the first time I've used that one as it's always sold out when I go to place an order.

I've got a new glow plug coming which I've been asked to test. Personally though I don't think it's going to fix anything as the glow plug has no issues firing under normal cooking modes. By the time this Weber support person has finished, I'll have an entirely new BBQ made out replacement parts 😅. I must admit, since getting the smokefire, my interest in berbecue and smoking has dramatically increased, I think it's the convenience of it all and that I can monitor what's going on whilst I'm working that has made the difference. Let me know how you get on with the KJ, I've got my eye on one as well!

I must admit, mine is kicking up a lot of dust as well. It took 9 minutes to get to 120oc earlier. Have you seen a drop in the amount of dust since fitting your new auger? The new bag of pellets hasn't done anything for the smokeboost issues. Not that I was expecting it to. It just smothers the fire. Interestingly I didn't get errors this time around, I just got a complete flame out and the auger continued to fill the firebox with pellets until it overflowed. I guess we'll see what Weber say about it tomorrow.