Intermittent Ignition - Negative Customer Service Experience

[AlphaPapa]

I have been having intermittent trouble with my 590 not lighting over the past 2-3 months. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. When it doesn’t, I open it up and find a pile of pellets in the pot. A few of them may be slightly warm. Once or twice, I cleaned out the fire pot and tried again and it lit. Other times, the retry failed and I lit it manually. Now, when it fails, I just light it manually.

I put in a trouble ticket online. A couple of days later I get a message back saying I would need to call. Note to self… don’t bother submitting an online ticket.

It took me a couple of weeks to be in a position to call while I could be next to the grill. That was today. After about 5-10 minutes of being on hold I got a message saying I would need to leave my name and number and they would call me back when it was convenient for them. After not getting a call back for an hour, I tried the number again. After about 3 minutes I get a live person! Hooray! He walks me through the self tests. Of course, the igniter appeared to be working this time. He asked me to run the grill at temp for an hour and then call back. When I expressed concern that I might not be able to get through, he said he would call me back in an hour.

He did indeed call me back. When I told him everything ran fine (I knew it would), he said “great! Let us know if you have any more problems.” I said it is an intermittent problem. It just happened to work this time. He said igniters either work or they don‘t. Duh? He suggested the next time it didn’t work, I should call them. What could they possibly have me do at that time that would fix this intermittent problem? Turn everything thing off and try again? ”Oh, great! It worked. Call us if you have any more problems.” And, besides, when I find out it didn’t ignite, I am already in crisis mode manually lighting the thing so I can have dinner ready somewhat on-time. Frustrating!

Any suggestions?

 

[Greg Jones]

It sounds to me like your igniter is recessed too far. The tip should be flush with the protective shroud. If it’s recessed too far, you will get exactly the behavior you describe.

 

[Waterboy]

What @Greg Jones said. I adjusted the igniters on both of my grills to be flush, if not a hair proud, of the tube and haven’t had a problem with either one lighting since doing It.

 

[AlphaPapa]

It sounds to me like your igniter is recessed too far. The tip should be flush with the protective shroud. If it’s recessed too far, you will get exactly the behavior you describe.

Thanks Greg!

Does anyone happen to have a picture of what it should look like? Also, how do you adjust the depth?

 

[Greg Jones]

Thanks Greg!

Does anyone happen to have a picture of what it should look like? Also, how do you adjust the depth?

One thing you will need is a 2.5mm hex wrench. You need to remove the 4 bolts securing the fire pot, hope that you have enough loose wiring to pull everything out enough to loosen the 2.5mm set screws, pull the rod out slightly so that it is flush, then reverse the process. If you don’t have enough play in the wiring to clear the fire pot, you’ll need to clip the zip ties on the harness to get the play you need. There are multiple videos on YouTube from recteq that describe complete igniter replacement, but clearly only the steps involving adjustment are relevant to you.

One important step is to understand how the rod is secured. A lot of people want to try and loosen the hex nuts on the side of the pot-those are actually welded and the 2.5mm set screws thread into them. Let us know if we can help further. Many of us have needed to make this adjustment.

 

[Waterboy]

Here is a post I did on tuning up my 700. It has before and after pics of the igniter.

 

[Gonefishin]

There are a couple videos on it too, probably on the replacing igniter vid.

 

[AlphaPapa]

Thanks all!

 

[matjac33]

I moved mine a touch proud on my RT700. It significantly improved startup and I dont get a giant billow of smoke anymore from too many pellets in the pot.

 

[Motodad1776]

The ignition rod adjustment does make a big difference, also be sure you are cleaning out the firepot completely from time to time.

 

[C. Keeper]

The ignition rod adjustment does make a big difference, also be sure you are cleaning out the firepot completely from time to time.

Hey, @Motodad1776 you mean bowl, right?

 

[Motodad1776]

Hey, @Motodad1776 you mean bowl, right?

Whatever "ignites" the passion you are about to embark on, and nobody wants a dirty firepot.

 

[C. Keeper]

Whatever "ignites" the passion you are about to embark on, and nobody wants a dirty firepot.

My BIC hasn't failed me yet

 

[BillyR]

I have been having intermittent trouble with my 590 not lighting over the past 2-3 months. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. When it doesn’t, I open it up and find a pile of pellets in the pot. A few of them may be slightly warm. Once or twice, I cleaned out the fire pot and tried again and it lit. Other times, the retry failed and I lit it manually. Now, when it fails, I just light it manually.

I put in a trouble ticket online. A couple of days later I get a message back saying I would need to call. Note to self… don’t bother submitting an online ticket.

It took me a couple of weeks to be in a position to call while I could be next to the grill. That was today. After about 5-10 minutes of being on hold I got a message saying I would need to leave my name and number and they would call me back when it was convenient for them. After not getting a call back for an hour, I tried the number again. After about 3 minutes I get a live person! Hooray! He walks me through the self tests. Of course, the igniter appeared to be working this time. He asked me to run the grill at temp for an hour and then call back. When I expressed concern that I might not be able to get through, he said he would call me back in an hour.

He did indeed call me back. When I told him everything ran fine (I knew it would), he said “great! Let us know if you have any more problems.” I said it is an intermittent problem. It just happened to work this time. He said igniters either work or they don‘t. Duh? He suggested the next time it didn’t work, I should call them. What could they possibly have me do at that time that would fix this intermittent problem? Turn everything thing off and try again? ”Oh, great! It worked. Call us if you have any more problems.” And, besides, when I find out it didn’t ignite, I am already in crisis mode manually lighting the thing so I can have dinner ready somewhat on-time. Frustrating!

Any

 

[BillyR]

My last experience with their "customer service" was also a complete waste of time. As a matter of fact, my brother is looking at a smoker and I told him I currently cannot recommend a RecTeq. I do not trust them to make things right. Sad because I love the product.

 

[Threadcutter]

It's great that you guys figured out a fix for this problem. I don't presently have a problem with my 700, but I will try and remember this In case I come across this in the future.

It's too bad that Recteq ships product that even needs this to be done In the field/by the customer. Or, that CS does know enough (or care enough ?) to advise customers of this solution.

 

[AlphaPapa]

Here is a post I did on tuning up my 700. It has before and after pics of the igniter.

Finally got a chance to adjust my igniter position. Thanks for this link. It helped! The igniter wasn’t recessed much, if at all. I did extend it out just a bit and put it back together. First test worked perfectly. Only time will tell if the “intermittent” part is fixed.

Thanks to all.

 

[AlphaPapa]

Since adjusting my igniter position I have had 5 or 6 good starts in a row. So, I think the intermittent problem is fixed. Thanks to this forum for coming through when Recteq customer service failed.

 

[ghuns]

Finally got a chance to adjust my igniter position. Thanks for this link. It helped! The igniter wasn’t recessed much, if at all. I did extend it out just a bit and put it back together. First test worked perfectly. Only time will tell if the “intermittent” part is fixed.

Thanks to all.

I had an annoying problem like this with my 700. I had a better experience with CS than you did. They sent me a new igniter. But by the time it got here, it was working fine again, so I never installed it.

I ended up figuring out that I only had the problem when using Pit Boss Comp blend pellets.

 

[Motodad1776]

Since adjusting my igniter position I have had 5 or 6 good starts in a row. So, I think the intermittent problem is fixed. Thanks to this forum for coming through when Recteq customer service failed.

WOW.....don't use your grill much eh? Glad to hear that seems to have resolved the issue.