Yoder Smokers Community Forum

I purchased the upgraded fire box and burn grate and installed.

my yoder has been running fine, but twice now all seems normal, pull my food and shut the unit off. (the fan(s) continue to run.

Within several minutes, I have green smoke coming for the pellet hopper. Fire does not move into the pellet hopper, I suess I caught while it was still the auger.

My burn grate no longer fits snug on both sides, do I need to "stretch" it? Anything else I can check?

Your install looks great! The burn grate looks fine.

Your igniter needs to be repositioned even with the end of the igniter tube: viewtopic.php?p=633#p633 (you don't need to remove the igniter, just reposition it)

Are you leaving the door of the cooker closed during cool down?

What does the ash in the burn grate look like after this happens? A picture would be very helpful.

Are both fans running: viewtopic.php?f=36&t=354

What brand and flavor of pellets are you using? Never store pellets in direct contact with any floor or outside wall, i.e., direct on a concrete floor, as they will wick and absorb moisture and become moisture contaminated. Moisture contaminated pellets are hard to ignite, hard to burn, create more ash, cause temperature fluctuations, and can actually snuff out a fire or build up in the burn grate toward the auger (hopper fire).

Pictures tomorrow,

door is left closed, I'll have to do the check listed for both fans, Lumber jack pellets, stored in bags, on a pallet in an air conditioned garage. When I open a bag, there stored in a 5 gallon bucket with a gama lid. (air tight) I'll take a picture of the ash tomorrow morning when there is better light.

Good Morning,
Picture of the ashs:



Fan test was good. The external fan did not start up at first, most likely my screwdriver pushed it. Scraping noise, but once it started, it would restart. Check 4 times on restart.

Next picture concerns me:


I see a GAP in the seal, this needs fixed, asap.

Next is fire grate.

I can not get it to set on the hopper wall and the front of the fire box, why, it will rock fore and aft as it rest on the igniter tube.



Might I be leaving pellets in the hopper to long between cooks?

What is the serial number and build date from the door plate?

What version of firmware does the cooker have?

As I suggested later (totally off the subject), the igniter needs to be repositioned.

The rocking of the burn grate on the igniter tube is a simple fix. remove the burn grate and slowly and gently push down on the end of the igniter tube (not the igniter) and slightly bend the igniter tube mount to get the clearance required for the burn grate to fit properly in the firebox. Test the burn grate fit each time you push on the igniter tube. DO NOT bend it too far, just enough to get the burn grate clearance, as you could cause other issues or damage the cooker.

Because you mentioned the outer fan not starting, I am going to suggest that you remove the hopper end panel and inspect the fans and the wiring looms. Verify that the wires that go to the fans are attached tightly to the fan lugs. Gently clean the fan blades of all built up debris, and clean out the rest of the hopper of all dirt and pellet residue. Before you put the end panel back on, the wiring looms need to be secured so that they will not fall between the inner and outer fan. My suggestion is to lay the wiring looms on top of the inner fan, and use wire ties to attach the looms to the unused outer mounting holes of the inner fan, so that they are secured on top of the fan. Watch the first 20 seconds of this video to see how to remove the hopper end panel and then reverse the process to reinstall it: viewtopic.php?f=62&t=363

Just curious on what temperature you normally are cooking at when you shut down. Also, it looks like you have a lot of corrosion from water inside the cooker. Is the unit left outside? I'm not suggesting either two of these observations are a cause of your issue... Rather just curious...

U26 is software version, Serial 12534, build date 7-20-12


Patrickd26: 350 is what I use most often. a little rust on the front edge of the heat deflector. It does set under a 16 x 22 foot patio cover.

Have you checked the fans and the wire looms?

Not yet, but I will before I fire her up again!

I'm really interested in what you find. I can see a couple of different things playing out here. You're running at probably a little above average temperature. I'm not suggesting that's the cause, but you probably really need to be making sure you start with a clean burn pot each time.

A potential "theory" might be that you had some cold meat sitting next to or on the thermocouple. If so, the unit might have thought it needed more fuel and caused a massive injection of pellets. I doubt it, but it's possible.

I did a lot of research before settling on the Yoder. I read one forum where someone had a backfire like yours and I think it had something to do with the original design of the exhaust and a damper. Yoder has since removed it. I was also looking at Green Mountain and read many more articles about hopper fires and those too seemed to stem around the exhaust damper or a fan that went bad.

Let us know what you find. Your (unfortunate) experience will help us all learn something.

Sorry. I re-read your original post and saw that you had taken the meat off and the issue starts on cool down. So, disregard my theory.

Maybe you need to ramp down before shutting it off and let the firebox have a chance to burn down a bit before?

Ok, I have checked the fans, and they are both running, removed the fire box, cleaned all the surfaces, and resealed. I also bent down the igniter tube, and my fire grate no long rocks, it sets solid!

And I might add, a "No Problem" shut down!

Thanks YODER.