Why My Traeger Not Igniting + How To Fix [Solved]

Traeger not igniting! It’s a common grill issue that occurs due to a defective hot rod, faulty induction fan, and damaged auger motor.

Plus, poor pellet quality, a jammed auger, and a dirty firepot are also responsible for not allowing your grill to ignite. 

Fortunately, we compiled this Traeger grill troubleshooting guide to detect and solve those problems that prevent your grill from igniting. So, stay with us till the end to ignite your Traeger properly. 

Why IS My Traeger Not Igniting & How To Solve

Don’t have any ideas about what prevents your Traeger grill from igniting? Then, stick with this chapter till the end to explore the culprits that cause your grill to not ignite. 

1. Power Source Issue

Before inspecting your grill, take a look at the power source. You can’t turn on your grill, let alone the ignition if your grill doesn’t get the power it needs to operate. The following issues can cause the culprit behind the electrical problems:

• You may not plug the power cord
• The outlet gets defective
• A tripped circuit breaker

Solution:

Firstly, ensure you plug the power cord into the outlet. Also, make sure the electrical outlet is in good condition.

Lastly, don’t forget to check out the circuit breaker for a trip. If it gets tripped, reset it by flipping it to the On position. 

2. Grill Not Reaching Desired Temp

Your Traeger won’t ignite if it doesn’t reach the desired temperature. Of course, the grill is heating up but it runs cool.

In return, you fail to get the temperature you need for cooking. The first culprit that causes your Traeger to run cool is the cold weather.

Though this grill is designed to operate in cold weather, it causes temperature swings and prevents the grill from reaching the cooking temperature. 

Therefore, you will experience drastic temperature swings if you cook with a large pan. It prevents proper airflow from drawing into the cooking chamber and causes your grill to run cooler. Thus, your Traeger grill fails to ignite. 

Solution:

If you run your Traeger often in cold weather and cook with it, we recommend you have a heat insulation blanket. It doesn’t allow the cooking temperature to escape out of the grill.

Above this, it will save extra pellets from feeding as your Traeger eats more pellets while operating in cold weather. 

Secondly, use the appropriate cooking pan. Ensure there is proper clearance (at least 1 inch) on all sides of the pan. 

3. Old or Poor Quality Pellets

The first thing you should inspect when your Traeger isn’t igniting is the quality of the wood pellets. Feeding poor-quality pellets can cause temperature issues or the flame to go out.

Low-quality pellets are dull, light in color, dusty, and easy to break. You can even break them down into sawdust. 

Solution:

To ignite your grill again, empty the hopper and replace the pellets. Ensure you fill the hopper with high-quality pellets that have a nice sheen.

And you can hear the snap when breaking them. Also, make sure you store the wood pellets in a dry and airtight container to prevent moisture & humidity from the old or poor-quality pellets. 

4. Defective Hot Rod

Traeger won’t ignite or produce heat if the hot rod gets bad. Now, you may ask- how do I know if my Traeger hot rod is bad? Simple. Just turn on your grill and set it to Smoke.

Then, keep your hand over the firepot without touching it and verify if you feel the heat coming out of the hot rod. If not, we bet the hot rod gets faulty. The following steps also let you determine if the hot rod is at fault. 

• Detach the fiberglass-wrapped wire’s Molex connector from the purple and white wire connector. Then, reconnect them again.
• Turn on your Traeger and let it run for five minutes to see whether it starts working or not. If the hot rod doesn’t heat up, you should call the Traeger Support Team. 
• Now, follow the hot rod’s wire until you find its Molex connector. Then, detach the orange wire’s Molex connector and attach it again. 
• Again, turn on your grill and let it run for 3 minutes to heat up the hot rod. If the induction fan turns on, the hot rod gets damaged. 

Solution:

Replacing the Traeger hot rod is an easy solution to let your grill ignite again. We recommend you watch this tutorial from Traeger to change the hot rod.

Otherwise, you can also call the Traeger support team for help if you are not mechanically inclined. 

5. Fan Isn’t Turning or Spinning 

When you turn on your grill, you can hear a soft whirl of the fan. You can also feel a small airflow if you keep your hand hovering over the firepot.

However, if you can’t hear the fan running or feel the airflow, let’s visually inspect the fan to see whether it’s running or not. 

• Start with turning off your grill.
• You can easily access the fan through the bottom of the hopper. A few grills have a protection grate and you need to unscrew it to access the fan. Once you remove those screws, you can find two fans. The larger one connected with red/black/white wires is the induction fan. Now, turn on your grill to see if the fan is spinning. 
• If the fan not turning, turn your grill off. Then, clean the dirt & debris around it. Try to spin the fan manually with your hand to remove any dirt buildup. 
• After cleaning the fan, turn on your grill again. If the fan is not still turning, the fan gets defective and you need to replace it. 

Solution:

Just replace the induction fan with a new one. You can find it on the Traeger official website. Get the fan from there and change it.

If you don’t know how to replace the fan, check out this tutorial. Alternatively, you can call Traeger customer service to do this task for you. Of course, they will charge a few bucks as a service fee. 

6. Defective Auger

An auger is a metal corkscrew that moves the wood pellets from the hopper to the firepot. If it gets defective or doesn’t turn, the pellets will not be transported in the firepot. In return, you can’t ignite your Traeger as it’s impossible if there is no fuel in the firepot. 

The auger will not turn if it gets jammed or the shear pin has fallen out. We recommend you follow the below steps to visually inspect the auger:

• Remove the internal components like the grill grate, drip pan, and heat baffle. 
• Next, plug in your grill, turn it on, and set it to Smoke. Then, take a look at the firepot to see whether the auger is spinning or not. If it doesn’t rotate, we bet the auger gets jammed. It will jam if you feed wet pellets in the hopper, which get stuck in the auger shaft and jammed the auger. 

Besides, a damaged or broken auger motor is also responsible for your Traeger not igniting.

Solution:

You need to disassemble the unit to clean the auger. After disassembling the unit, use a mallet or hammer to hit the auger until the jam breaks free.

We recommend you clear the auger jam if you have Traeger AC grills. On the other hand, read this article to clean the auger jam if you have the D2 grill. 

Otherwise, you should replace the auger motor if the auger is not turning after clearing the auger jam. If you don’t know how to replace the auger motor, watch this tutorial. 

7. Dirty Firepot

A dirty firepot is also a culprit that prevents your Traeger from igniting. So, inspect the firepot for ash buildup. Remove the internal grill components like the grill grate, drip tray, and heat baffle.

You can find the firepot underneath the baffle. If you see too many pellets, ashes build-ups, and sawdust, you need to clean the firepot. 

Solution:

Once you remove the internal components, use a knife to scrape off the dirt & debris from the sides of the firepot. After scraping off the debris, use a shop vac to vacuum your firepot and clean it by sucking away debris & dust. 

3 More Ignition Issues With Your Traeger Grill

Apart from those Traeger igniting issues, you may also encounter the following ignition problems. 

1. Traeger Won’t Ignite In Cold

It’s not true who claims that Traeger isn’t functioning in cold weather. Traeger is specially designed to maintain the ambient cooking temperature even in extreme cold weather conditions.

Though cold weather can’t affect the grilling ability of your Traeger, it will trigger the pellet consumption rate. 

So, check the pellet level often if you grill in cold weather as the pellet may run out quickly. When there is not sufficient fuel in the firepot, you can’t ignite the grill. 

Also, don’t forget to check other components like the hot rod, auger motor, and fan. If these components don’t function properly, it’s impossible to ignite your Traeger grill. 

2. Traeger Not Igniting After Cleaning

A clean firepot is required to operate your Traeger grill properly. If the firepot gets dirty from dirt, debris, and ashes, you will be unable to ignite the grill. So, you can clean the firepot. But the heck is- your Traeger is still not igniting. 

If you fail to ignite the grill after cleaning, we bet the firepot is not the culprit. The culprits are the hot rod. If it gets rusty, it doesn’t produce enough heat to cook the meat. In this case, you need to replace it. 

Turns out, a defective control board, auger issue, and faulty induction fan are responsible for this issue. 

3. Grill In Demo Mode

The Traeger grill won’t ignite if it’s in Demo Mode. If your grill activates the Demo mode, the controller will read demo mode. You can easily turn this mode off to allow your grill to ignite again. 

Just head over to Menu > Settings > Demo Mode. Then, choose Off. Your grill will reboot once you select the Off and back your grill to the normal operating condition.

FAQ:

Why does it take so long for my Traeger to ignite?

It’s normal. Some AC grills even take up to 15 minutes to ignite. If your grill doesn’t ignite after that period, follow our guidelines to troubleshoot the issues. 

Why is my pellet grill not igniting?

Your pellet grill won’t ignite if the firepot gets dirty with ash build-ups or dirt. Vacuum the firepot to suck away that debris to let your grill ignite properly. 

How long does it take for a Traeger hot rod to turn red?

It takes up to 4 minutes for your Traeger hot rod to turn red and ignite the wood pellets in the firepot.

How do you unclog a Traeger Auger?

Disassemble the Traeger unit first. Then, locate the auger and hit it with a mallet or hammer until you break the auger jam. 

Can you leave pellets in Auger?

No, you can’t leave the pellets in Auger. If you store the pellets there, they could absorb moisture and get stuck in the auger. Consequently, the auger fails to move the pellets from the hopper to the firepot. 

Conclusion

Your Traeger grill won’t ignite due to a dirty firepot, a bad hot rod, and a defective auger motor. Besides, poor-quality pellets and a faulty induction fan are responsible for the igniting issue. 

From the top to the bottom of this guide, we have provided the solution to those issues. Just follow our guidelines to solve the Traeger ignition issues. 

If you can’t fix the Traeger grill ignition problems after trying out those troubleshooting steps, call Traeger customer service for help.