Grill Start-up Guide

Following the correct startup process is very important as it can have many different affects on your cook, even hours in. Grills started incorrectly may experience temperature swings, flame outs, and many other issues.

To determine if your grill is a closed-lid startup grill, you will need to find your model number.

1. Open hopper lid
2. Look for the bar code sticker underneath the words "Attention Serial #"
3. The first alpha-numeric combination is the model number, then separated by the year it was produced and the month.

Now that you have your model number, see if it is in the list below. If your model number is in this list, you know your grill requires a closed-lid startup. If you do not see your grill in this list, you may assume that your grill requires an open-lid startup.

• TFB01LLD
• TFB01WLB
• TFB01WLE
• TFB01WLEC
• TFB29PLD
• TFB30KLF
• TFB38TCA
• TFB38TOD
• TFB42DVB
• TFB42DVBO
• TFB42LZB
• TFB42LZBC
• TFB42LZBO
• TFB52PUD
• TFB52QCC
• TFB52QPC
• TFB52QGC
• TFB52QZC
• TFB57CLB
• TFB57CLBC
• TFB57GLE
• TFB57GLEC
• TFB57GZE
• TFB57GZEC
• TFB57PZB
• TFB57PUB
• TFB57PUBC
• TFB65BLE
• TFB65BLEC
• TFB65DVC
• TFB65LZB
• TFB65LZCC
• TFB65LCBC
• TFB78GLE
• TFB78GZE
• TFB78GLEC
• TFB78GZEC
• TFB85LLD
• TFB85WLB
• TFB85WLE
• TFB85WLEC
• TFB88PLD
• TFB88PUB
• TFB88PZB
• TFB88PUBC
• TFB89BLE
• TFB89BLEC
• TFB89SLC
• TFS60LZC
• TFS60LZAC
• TFS60LZCC
• TFS62GVF
• TFS62PLD
• TFS62PLD
• TFS62PLDC
• TFS81BLF
• TFS81PUB
• TFS81PUC
• TFS81PZB
• TFS81PZC
• TFS81PZD
• TFS81PZDC
• TFT18KLD

Close-lid Startup

Closed-lid startups are very simple. When ready to cook, set your Traeger grill directly to the desired temperature and preheat with the lid closed for approximately 15 minutes.

Open-lid Startup

If your grill requires an open-lid startup, follow these steps:

1. When ready to cook, set your Traeger grill to the smoke setting with the lid open. You will hear the fan running.
2. Wait for the fire to establish (approximately 4-5 minutes). You should be able to hear a difference in sound from just the fan to hearing a flame going.
3. Close Lid.
4. Increase the temperature to the desired temperature and preheat for approximately 10-15 minutes.

Common Startup Questions

Should the fan cycle off and on during startup?

• This depends on the grill. The fan on non WiFIRE grills should run continuously. The fan on grills that have WiFIRE do cycle on and off during start up

I set my grill for 450. It says "preheat complete" at 375. Is this normal or require some kind of action?

• At 375, consumer is okay to put food on the grill. The "Pre-heating" screen goes away once one of two events occur: either 15 minutes after ignition sequence ends, or within 5 degrees of the set temp.

You should always shut down your grill using the grill's shut down feature, regardless of the model. One of the main reasons for this is for safety to prevent backburn and grill fires.

Backburn and Grill Fires

When you turn off the grill without using the shut down feature, mechanical components like the auger stop functioning; meanwhile, the fire will still be going full force in the firepot. This combination can cause the pellets in the auger to ignite, causing a grill fire.

Using the proper shutdown feature can also prevent the grill from burning out the remaining pellets in the fire pot at the end of your cook. The next time you start your grill, because the firepot was not burned out with the prior proper shutdown, you may experience a grill fire from the remaining pellets in the firepot.