Hopper Wrap
The Hopper Wrap was quite possibly the most challenging sheet metal part on the grill, as it is deep-drawn and has some complex geometry. The controller pocket started as a series of radii but then was changed when the manufacturer had difficulty holding tolerances. See below for the evolution of the design.
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01
Hopper Wrap Location
The hopper wrap holds the controller and provides structure for the right side of the grill. It's made out of 1-mm powdercoated sheet metal after a multi-step deep draw process. It is welded to a number of mating parts.
02
Hopper Wrap (V1)
As you can see, the controller pocket is a series of radii formed by deep draw. However, the powdercoating and welding processes released latent stresses (formed during the deep draw) and led to deformation. This deformation compromised the water ingress protection. I worked directly with the manufacturer's tooling engineer and Traeger's own tooling engineer, but it was determined that the best course of action was to remove the radii.
03
Hopper Wrap (V2)
This version of the hopper wrap is in production! Many of the problematic radii were removed in place of simple flanges, and the geometry remained intact throughout welding/powdercoating.
04
Hopper Wrap, Weldment View
This is a view of the wrap and the mating part with which the wrap is welded to. As you can see, there is a cutout for the Grill Light, which I also designed.
05
Hopper Wrap, Exploded Weldment View
This is an exploded view of the wrap and the mating part with which the wrap is welded to. You can see the cutout for the Grill Light.