Yoder Smokers Community Forum

This morning up bright and early to cook some butts. When I turned on my 640 fans started and before I hit start button they began to howl sorta like a belt squeal. I turned off and unplugged, waited and started over same thing happened. Got a flashlight and watched the next start and I could see the outer fan began to slow down when noise started. On about fifth attempt fan stayed running with no noise. Had my 640 little over a year and it has done this one other time. Love my Yoder but I thought she was gonna let me down this morning. Anyone had this problem?

Yep! Same thing. I have had my 640 for over 4 years. One time within 6 months of buying it, I had a fan squeal. But it stopped and has been fine ever since. I called Yoder when it happened, they sent two fans, sealant, and instructions how to replace them,

Since it only happened once I still have the fans in the box they sent me. They are Delta brand and very good quality, not like a computer fan by any means.

Give them a call and get fans if you feel it's an issue I suppose.

The fan noise you are hearing could be due to cooler weather. The fans are sleeve bearing fans, and in cooler the bearings may slightly shrink from and cause the noise. There may be nothing wrong with the fan, and the noise should stop after warming up. The fans are warrantied for 3 years from the manufacture date or purchase date with proof of purchase. If the noise worsens or the fan stops completely, contact us immediately so we can help get the fan replaced. Please use the following document to assist you with determining if both fans are running and which fan is causing the noise: viewtopic.php?f=36&t=354

When the weather is cooler, you can plug the cooker in, flip the power switch to the ON position to let the fans run for a few minutes to warm up, then flip the power switch OFF, unplug the cooker, wait 30 seconds and plug it back in and start the cooker, or, you can start the cooker and wait for the fans to warm up. This will not hurt either fan, and the cooker will work as it always does.

If the noise does not go away, please let us know which fan is making the noise after using the above method and we can help with the warranty claim. Please provide the following information when requesting a new fan via email to [email protected]

Serial number

Manufacture date

Full name

Shipping address

Phone number

I had the issue last year in colder weather but seemed to go away after the fan warmed up and didn't return for the rest of the year. This Thanksgiving, I was worried about it so I did a test run a couple of days before hand and, sure enough the fan made same squealing noise and slowed way down. Yoder shipped me out the same kit as referenced above and I got it changed out prior to the Turkey. Thanksgiving went off well with no issues and I haven't had anything more as of yet however its been unseasonably warm in central Illinois since then whenever I have cooked.

Great! Glad it's all better!

Glad to read this, had the same thing with my YS640 on my 2nd cook. Outside temp was below 0C.
When I tapped the metal surrounding the outside fan a few times, it suddenl;y stopped and it hasn't come back.

I have the same issue that is consistent and has not gone away. Outer flan slows significantly with noise is happening. Have had to forcefully tap the side of the pellet box to get the fan noise to stop. Sometime noise starts back up again, resulting in multiple taps. Please help me open up a warranty claim. Purchase date, 5/10/2019, Mfg date is 6/11/2019. Thanks.

Please send this information via email to customerservice@yodersmokers,com so we may properly help you.

I’ve had this issue multiple times. Replaced the fan and resealed…few sessions later, same issue. Shouldn’t be an issue on a high price/quality smoker like this. It has ruined sessions for me multiple times as it will start squealing half way through an 8 hour smoke and has to be unplugged and re-started. I haven’t used my smoker in two years because of this. Scared to.

In addition, if it is working fine and the smoker gets bumper, the fans start to spin out. If the weather is cold, the fans will squeal every time. Not sure if this issue has been resolved in the last couple of years but it needs to be addressed. There is no reason that a smoker of this quality should be sitting idle while the $500 pellet grills run with no issues in the cold or whatever. I run a restaurant and have not been able to use this reliably since it was purchased. Yoder ys1500s

Fyi. They have a fix for it but never offered to me until I was out of warranty. Google ball bearing fan for Yoder smoker and u should see a set of ball bearing fans that are also used on the 1500. I had my fan replaced under warranty with the crappy one that continued to squeal in colder weather. Last few cooks I had to use a heat gun and a wire to get the fans to even turn. Called in to find I’m 3 months out of warranty and this time they had a much better fan (ball bearing)for 80 bucks or so (2 fans and shipping (10 more bucks). Guy on the phone was quick to point out what was up even before i finished describing the issue. Just put em in and they are amazing, my cook times in brisket have gotten a lot quicker and a lot of the hot spots in my smoker are gone or much better. It’s sad to see this with Yoder as I spent a ton on pimping out my 640s with a comp cart and am currently shopping for a cimmaron or large offset. I may be over thinking it , but I’ll def entertain other vendors over this 80 bucks and years of dealing with a horrible fan set up. Hope this helps!