I don't normally empty my MAK 2 Star hopper, as I've not found that any rain/snow gets in it. However, I have had a couple of auger lockups due to, I presume, pellets absorbing moisture from the air, and then freezing solid. I wish there were an easy way to dump the hopper, and then command the auger to reverse, and clear the tube back out the dump chute. I think you can command it forward to clear the tube, but I'm not interested in taking the cook chamber apart to then empty the burn pot. I use mine 3-4 times a week commonly, and doing that after every cook would be a PITA to me. A direct manual power switch for the auger would be great, but I'm sure the safety police will never allow that to be a factory thing. I haven't ruled out doing it myself though.