My recteq 1070 has been great so far (had it about a year). Clean it after every 3 or 4 smokes, etc. It is built in to an island under a covered patio (not exposed to rain).
Fast forward to the night before Easter. Turned it on to start smoking a brisket for Easter lunch. It wouldn't light.
After looking into things, the auger was stuck in sawdust concrete. We'd had some powerwashing done earlier in the week to clear the pollen from everything and in the process, apparently enough liquid had gotten into the hopper to cause everything to solidify. Removed the motor, the screws holding the bushing in place and tried to remove the auger per the instructions but had no luck. Got a welding rod, put it in the drill, bent the tip (just the tip) and pushed it through the shaft of the auger where the motor normally inserted. After some cajoling it started to break up the "concrete" and made it all the way through to the firepit. Still couldn't remove the auger though. Poured some boiling water into the hopper that eventually permeated the "concrete".
Drilled a few more times with the welding rod and walla
Gave the thing a thorough colonoscopy, shop vac'd it, dried thoroughly and then reassembled. Turned it on, the motor started working but auger wouldn't move. Called support, they determined that the ball bearings in the motor weren't working so they shipped me a new one. I installed it over this last weekend and now everything is as good as new.
Moral of the story, I'm an idiot and didn't think about moisture getting into it during the powerwashing. Don't be an idiot. Recteq customer support was great.