The lid won't close all the way on my Traeger grill - there is a 1/2 gap at the bottom. The grill is about 3 months old - Tried to adjust the hinges at the top with no effect - any ideas?

Do you get an error messsage that looks like LEr? If a Traeger can't reach 125 for ten consecutive minutes, it will automatically shut down. Try starting at a higher temperature than "Smoke" if it's cold outside.

Hello Joe;

My name is Peter. I am a retired field service refrigeration technician.

This was your first time setting the gap between the doors. So, I will share with you the various ways to adjust the doors gap.

1.) On the bottom of some doors there are adjustment screws for pitching the door left or right to set the gap. This was a good design idea, but there is not locking nut to hold the setting. Opening and closing the door will remove the setting. So, if you have these adjust screws, we will forget them.

2.) Lets try this: Adjust the front leveling bolts. Loosen the top of the door hinges. If the gap is smaller at the top, lower the leveling bolt up on the left hand side. Turn the bolt counter clockwise to raise. Pound on the doors to free them to adjust. If the gap is smaller on the bottom, on the right jacking screw, raise the jack bolt by turning the jack bolt clockwise. Once again, pound on the door to free for the adjustment. Then tighten to top door hinges.

3.) OK, This did not set the gap. The gap between the door is different depending on the model. Determine the gap which you would like to set. Using something solid like pieces of wood (do not use cardboard it will crush), loosen the top hinges, evenly space the wedges and tape them to the door. Now tighten the top hinges and remove the wedges.

4.) Ok, This did not set the gap. Look on the bottom of the door at the hinge. You have a matching set of grommets. These grommets interlock when the doors close to keep the doors closed. These are high wear components. The doors rest on these components. One grommet set may be more warn than the other affecting the door gap

If you're cooking when it's hot outside, it's hard to maintain low temperatures. In the heat of summer, I have to tend my grill continually opening and closing the lid to keep the temperature down to my cooking temp of 180. That, of course, lets the smoke escape. If it gets too hot when the temperatures are moderate, i.e. 60s and 70s, the augur may be dumping too many pellets into the fire pot and need realigning. I suggest you contact Traeger customer service at http://www.traegergrills.com and see what they suggest.

Traeger grills just will NOT smoke at temps much above 200 degrees. I have to stand by my grill continually in the summer to keep opening and closing the lid to let the heat out. That also lets the smoke out. I also have turned the grill off and on to try to maintain the temperature at 180 degrees where it smokes best and cooks low and slow. It's less of a problem in the winter months. Then I find myself setting the temperature higher turning it from low to medium and back to maintain the temperature I want.

Sounds like you've got grease in the bottom that's catching on fire. Take the grill apart and clean out the bottom of the barrel. You'll probably need a shop vac to clean out the ash, too.

They dont always fit perfectly, To have it fit as good as possible,
put lid in down position loosen bands slightly manipulate bands to allow lid weight to close gap then retigthen bands in this position now when closed lid should sit fairly squarely on base

Glenda, you can try adjusting the hinges, to help square it up. But, if the lid was damaged or sprung during shipping, there's not much you can do, except contact Charbroil Customer Service 1-866-239-6777 for a replacement. Adding a sealant is not an option.

Here's the company contact info so you can get the parts directly.

To order parts directly from the factory:
PARTS DEPARTMENT
TRAEGER WOOD PELLET GRILLS LLC.
PO BOX 829 ,Mt. Angel, OR. 97362
(503) 845-9234 1-800-872-3437
Fax: (503) 845-6366
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.traegergrills.com

Try loosing up the nuts a bit, there may need to be some play in the nuts for the lid to open and close properly.