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LEr — Low Temperature Alarm/Fire Out Alarm: What It Means & How to Fix

The LEr (low temperature) error occurs if the grill has dropped below 120ºF after 20 minutes, indicating that the fire has gone out, or hasn’t been successfully ignited.

LEr most commonly occurs due to the following reasons:

Grill runs out of pellets mid-cook
Fire hasn’t been established during startup (in first 5min)
Ignition rod (hot rod) not working
Fan not working (no air flow to firepot)
Auger fails to push pellets into the fire pot
Fire goes out due to moist pellets
Fire goes out due to too much ash in the firepot
Fire goes out after turning to low temp setting from high temp operation
Fire goes out due to low temperature operation (Smoke or 180ºF) in hot weather

If LEr is displayed on the controller display, follow these steps:

Turn off the grill and unplug it from power
Open the grill lid
Take out the grill racks, grease drain pan and baffle plate so you can see the firepot
Review the information below and the troubleshooting flowchart to diagnose the reason for the LEr

Temperature Drop – What to do

If you notice the temperature has dropped well below the controller setting (with grill lid shut) but LEr is NOT yet displayed on the controller screen, and there isn’t a huge amount of smoke, follow these steps:

Turn the grill to shut down cycle.
Carefully open the grill lid.
Remove the grill racks, grease drain pan and heat baffle to check the firepot.
If the firepot is full, or overflowing with wood pellets, scoop most of them out with a metal spoon.
Do NOT use a vacuum out the pellets as there may still be hot embers in the firepot.
Wait for the grill to fully cool down and then vacuum out the firepot.

Moist Pellet Clean Out

If moist pellets are the reason for the fire out they need to be cleaned out and replaced with fresh, dry pellets.

Fan Not Working (No Air Flow)

Good air flow provided by the fan is required to establish and maintain the fire in the firepot. The fan is clearly audible when the grill is running, so listen to that sound. Also check to ensure that air is blowing into the firepot.

No air flow due to a faulty fan will result in the firepot filling up with pellets during startup perhaps with a small amount of smouldering smoke, but inability to establish and maintain a fire.

If the fan isn’t working, have a look through the holes in the bottom cover (or temporarily remove the bottom cover with power unplugged) to ensure nothing is blocking the fan. Frogs, geckos and spiders have been known to climb up into the grill and prevent the fan from rotating. If the fan looks clear, give it a spin with a screw driver to make sure it is freely spinning (with power off), and then try starting the grill again.

If the fan is not working, see Fan Not Working (No Air Flow) for more information.

Too Much Ash-What to do

The firepot will accumulate ash over time. Depending on the type of pellets used, the ash may need to be cleaned out every 10-20 hours of operation.

If ash is not vacuumed out regularly, the fire may fail to light or burn properly. With too much ash in the firepot, the fire can easily go out mid-cook, resulting in temperature drops, spikes, or even causing burn-back and smoke from the hopper.

Below is an example of a firepot that has accumulated a lot of ash. The entire pellet feed tube is covered, and there’s no way for new pellets to contact the ignition rod to ignite. In this case, a moist bag of oak-based pellets was partly to blame as they generated this much ash in only 10 hours of operation (which is not typical).

When vacuuming out the firepot, also check for any buildup of compacted ash, especially around the ignition rod. If you find any, you may need to break it up with a screwdriver (or similar tool) and vacuum it out.

The end of the ignition rod can also be gently cleaned with a wire brush or flat screwdriver to remove any built-up minerals that have melted off from the burning wood.