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Why does my Traeger smoker keep tripping the breaker?
One of the biggest differences between Traeger grills and charcoal or gas grills is the need for electricity. Your Traeger grill needs to be plugged in to a power source for you to smoke meat. While we love how consistent pellet grills can be, the addition of electricity to the smoking and grilling experience means more potential issues.
If you have your Traeger grill plugged into a ground-fault circuit interrupter outlet and it keeps tripping, you probably have an electrical issue with your Traeger. If your power cord looks to be in good condition, one possible problem is the fuse on an AC model grill. You can pull the controller apart and check the fuse on the back of the circuit board. If the fuse looks burned like a blown light bulb, you have a blown fuse.
Does a Traeger grill have a fuse?
Generation 1 Traeger grills have fuses, while Generation 2 grills that have the D2 Direct Drive drive train running on DC power do not have fuses. The new D2 controller has a power brick like a laptop instead.
Why does my smoker keep blowing a fuse?
If you have replaced fuses on your Traeger grill and the replacement ones keeping blowing, you need to find out the root cause. The likely causes of repeated blown fuses are the power cord, the fan, the auger motor, and the hot rod. These are the only electrical components of your grill other than the controller itself. Any electrical faults among these components could cause the fuse to blow. The fuse is there so when something goes wrong with the electrical system and there is a spike in the current flowing through your grill, the fuse takes the damage rather than the controller. Traeger has a good breakdown of how to test for each problem on their Support page.
Traeger fuse replacement
If you need to replace a fuse, you are able to do it yourself. If you are going to replace the fuses yourself, you need two important pieces of information: the location of the fuse box and the correct type of fuse.
Traeger grill fuse location
The fuse is on the back of the controller., either in a box or a screw-top tube. If this is the first time you have replaced a fuse on your Traeger grill, you will find that Traeger included a replacement fuse. Perfect for when you are caught off-guard by a blown fuse and have never needed to think about fuses on your Traeger grill before. Whether your fuse is in a box or a tube, the location on the circuit board is the same, the bottom left corner.
What type of fuse does a Traeger grill use
You need a 5 amp 250v fuse for your Traeger grill. If you need more fuses than what Traeger included, you can order more online or run over to your friendly neighborhood hardware store (or big box store if you prefer) and purchase them.
What do you do when your Traeger won’t turn on?
If your Traeger grill does not turn on, there are a number of possibilities that could cause your problem. Make sure your grill is plugged into a working outlet. If it is a GFCI outlet, make sure that the outlet isn’t tripped, and if it is, reset it. You should also make sure that your power cord isn’t showing any signs of damage. Then check to make sure the fuse on the back of the controller hasn’t blown. While there, try turning the grill back on to see if the red light on the controller lights up.
How do I know if my Traeger Hot Rod is bad?
If you think your hot rod is causing your fuse to blow, you need to test the hot rod with your Traeger grill on. You need to remove your grill grates, the drip pan, and the heat baffle so you can see the firepot. You need to have your grill on and set to SMOKE, and you should be able to feel if any heat is coming off the firepot (but please do NOT touch it, you do not need to add burns to your list of troubles.) If you are not feeling heat, Traeger does have a test rundown on their Support page that will walk you through a full diagnostic of your hot rod.
Robert is a certified Pitmaster, with over a decade of experience in smoking the best meats you’ll ever feast upon. He also has a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Texas at San Antonio. When he’s not researching technical topics, he’s most likely barbecuing in his backyard.