Bull $2K, and problems from the get go

[mooncusser2k]

dont get to comfortable toejam. probably more issues to come. if you start blowing breakers again ( which most people have ) make sure your not plugged into a GFI breaker. for some reason alot of response has made of this. i have the same problem, i cant run my bull off of a Gfi breaker. i had the same problem when i got two of my smokers as far as missing parts or parts not connected or attached all the way. there should be a law about claiming to be made in the USA when all the manufactures have to do is assemble the built in china then put together here. Recteq isnt the same as they were 3 or 4 years ago. for that reason ive just bought a Camp Chef. i figured if i have to spend so much time fixing what Recteq just sold me and fix future problems, what the hell i might just as well buy something cheaper as most of these smokers arent built to last more than 5 years anyway. the biggest gripe i have is when you call them about a problem and the first thing they ask is, " are you in front of your grill". hell no im at work so i can pay for this thing. with 3 hours time difference its tough to tell your boss, i have to go home about 1:00 so i can call my smoker guy and get my smoker working. im only venting cause ive bought 4 smokers from Recteq and for the price they should be alot better and trying to talk to someone after 8:00 their time would really be helpful.
good luck

I've never tripped a breaker running my RT, and it's always plugged into a GFCI outlet via an extension cord.

I've also never seen RT claim their grills are made in the USA. I have seen a lot of people make incorrect assumptions.

Their QC could stand improving, along with packaging for some items.

 

[C. Keeper]

I've never tripped a breaker running my RT, and it's always plugged into a GFCI outlet via an extension cord.

I've also never seen RT claim their grills are made in the USA. I have seen a lot of people make incorrect assumptions.

Their QC could stand improving, along with packaging for some items.

Perhaps explaining the term fragile to the carriers would also help.

 

[Greg Jones]

I've also never seen RT claim their grills are made in the USA. I have seen a lot of people make incorrect assumptions.

Yup. The recteqs are not assembled here either, it’s all made and assembled in China. An exception to this is the Beast and the Chuckwagon. Their chassis and grill bodies are made in a USA fab shop, then assembled with all the Chinese electronics, fire pot, etc.

 

[mooncusser2k]

Perhaps explaining the term fragile to the carriers would also help.

There's a losing battle if ever there was one.

FWIW, the RT-700 comp cart is far from fragile, but the first 2 sent to me arrived looking like they'd been dropped from a truck and dragged for a few miles. I was told while making the order to not refuse delivery, so it wasn't unexpected...

 

[Ahi]

So there has never been any issues with a Yoder? I would be interested to learn more on that if you can enlighten me. Maybe it will sway me to switch. Thanks..

Edit:

Never mind.. I just cruised over to the Yoder Forum and it seems all the posts there are issues unlike here where most posts are about cooking & enjoying. Good luck & enjoy your Yoder.

I just followed the Yoder link and it seems they have issues with a bunch of things. Both RT and Yoder make good products but until the human element is accounted for, there will always be issues. I just want a company with passion and heart in what they do along with a great product and it seems Recteq offers that. I called CS the other day and they returned my call even though I did t leave a message…they returned because they saw that they missed a call from my number. Who does that? I thought it was pretty cool.

 

[Thor8594]

I owned a Yoder for about 6 months, could not get rid of it quick enough. I live in Arizona, very dry climate and had 0 rain the whole time I owned it, it was rusting on the lid and the barrel. It used way more pellets than the RT-700 does. The steel grates sucked and the top shelf was rusting when I unpacked it. The paint started to bubble and peel. I could go on and on but it is not in my backyard anymore and I could not be happier. My old stick burner after about 7 years didn't have that much rust and it was bare metal for the most part, seasoned with oil.

 

[Doubt3]

Mine will be delivered Friday. I hope I don't have these same issues.

 

[PRC]

dont get to comfortable toejam. probably more issues to come. if you start blowing breakers again ( which most people have ) make sure your not plugged into a GFI breaker. for some reason alot of response has made of this. i have the same problem, i cant run my bull off of a Gfi breaker. i had the same problem when i got two of my smokers as far as missing parts or parts not connected or attached all the way. there should be a law about claiming to be made in the USA when all the manufactures have to do is assemble the built in china then put together here. Recteq isnt the same as they were 3 or 4 years ago. for that reason ive just bought a Camp Chef. i figured if i have to spend so much time fixing what Recteq just sold me and fix future problems, what the hell i might just as well buy something cheaper as most of these smokers arent built to last more than 5 years anyway. the biggest gripe i have is when you call them about a problem and the first thing they ask is, " are you in front of your grill". hell no im at work so i can pay for this thing. with 3 hours time difference its tough to tell your boss, i have to go home about 1:00 so i can call my smoker guy and get my smoker working. im only venting cause ive bought 4 smokers from Recteq and for the price they should be alot better and trying to talk to someone after 8:00 their time would really be helpful.
good luck

Not being able to run on a GFI protected circuit means you have an electrical problem with your 700 and it could be dangerous to be running it. The GFI trips because there is a grounding problem and it saves you from being shocked/electrocuted.

 

[ToeJam]

All issues have been resolved and many cooks have taken place. If I were to have any remaining gripes, it would be that the lid doesn't quite conform to the smoker and has small leaks. I have however remedied this with some high temp gasket material, so all-in-all, it's finally working as it should have from the start.

I first started my foray into smoking with a Masterbuilt vertical electric smoker, then went to a CampChef, then to a Oklahoma Joes, and then to the RT700. I have to say that the masterbuilt lasted quite a while and performed pretty well given its primitive design. What I didn't like was having to manually feed soaked wood chips into the tiny hopper manually. Then came the Camp Chef. It was a huge step up, I ordered it with the sear box - kind of a waste of $$ to me, but a lesson learned. I wasn't thrilled with it due to a couple of things, namely the short stand it came with, and having to replace the controller due to big swings in cooking temps. I sold it and moved onto the Oklahoma Joes Rider DLX. It had the perfect height, huge cooking area, multiple shelves, and well fitting cover. The down side to this smoker was that it was a bi**c to clean and once again the controller had to be replaced on this one due to wild temp swings, and you had to actually disassemble parts to do a clean out of the firepot area, which was no friggin' joy, trust me. And now onto the RT700. Other than the few (relatively small issues) I've had with this smoker, it seems to be the best one so far, time will tell. I bought the comp cart thinking it would elevate the smoker to a level I loved about the Rider DLX, but it didn't even come close and was annoyed that for the $$$ it cost, I could've had a cart built for the height I was looking for.

 

[BradBQ]

All issues have been resolved and many cooks have taken place. If I were to have any remaining gripes, it would be that the lid doesn't quite conform to the smoker and has small leaks. I have however remedied this with some high temp gasket material, so all-in-all, it's finally working as it should have from the start.

I first started my foray into smoking with a Masterbuilt vertical electric smoker, then went to a CampChef, then to a Oklahoma Joes, and then to the RT700. I have to say that the masterbuilt lasted quite a while and performed pretty well given its primitive design. What I didn't like was having to manually feed soaked wood chips into the tiny hopper manually. Then came the Camp Chef. It was a huge step up, I ordered it with the sear box - kind of a waste of $$ to me, but a lesson learned. I wasn't thrilled with it due to a couple of things, namely the short stand it came with, and having to replace the controller due to big swings in cooking temps. I sold it and moved onto the Oklahoma Joes Rider DLX. It had the perfect height, huge cooking area, multiple shelves, and well fitting cover. The down side to this smoker was that it was a bi**c to clean and once again the controller had to be replaced on this one due to wild temp swings, and you had to actually disassemble parts to do a clean out of the firepot area, which was no friggin' joy, trust me. And now onto the RT700. Other than the few (relatively small issues) I've had with this smoker, it seems to be the best one so far, time will tell. I bought the comp cart thinking it would elevate the smoker to a level I loved about the Rider DLX, but it didn't even come close and was annoyed that for the $$$ it cost, I could've had a cart built for the height I was looking for.

You can always attach risers to your comp cart to get the height youre looking for

 

[waylander]

So if the crate/package comes in really banged up - should you refuse shipment? Asking since my 1250 is scheduled to arrive later today...

 

[JGW]

OK, so replacement parts arrived (I'd have thought they'd expedite them, but no - regular post) - Had to go into the smoke chamber, loosen the hopper bolts, take off the cover that protects the auger/fan, have my son help pry the hopper away from the smoke chamber where the wire was pinched/shorted, and had one b**ch of a time getting the new light assembly wires ran back down and into the area where the plugs are located underneath. It's done, but nowhere was there any printed info or video on how to accomplish this. Smoker is together and running now, but I think I should have been compensated for all the aggravation. 2 weeks since it arrived and just today was able to use it......

Call them and complain about what you had to go through. They might offer something as a good will gesture. Rub / Sauce pack, T shirt, something.

 

[Grillozilla]

So if the crate/package comes in really banged up - should you refuse shipment? Asking since my 1250 is scheduled to arrive later today...

Probably depends on what you mean banged up. Does it affect the grill itself, Damaged, dented, etc. or is it just a few rips in the outside of the box but all components are good? Either way, I would always take a picture of it before unpacking so at least you have some record.

 

[waylander]

Probably depends on what you mean banged up. Does it affect the grill itself, Damaged, dented, etc. or is it just a few rips in the outside of the box but all components are good? Either way, I would always take a picture of it before unpacking so at least you have some record.

Crate and package came in clean. Sent via SEFL - They gave me a 3 hour window and were only a few minutes late. Driver said mine was his 3rd of the day and he has delivered like 30 this month. No complaints on delivery..... Now to assembly .

 

[eric_jk]

there was a yoder on fb marketplace in my area that was supposedly only a few years old. It was the ugliest thing I've ever seen. It was covered in rust from head to toe. Definitely dissuaded me from ever considering a Yoder. For that kind of money, I would expect it to survive the elements at least a little. I was considering either Pitts & Spitts or Mak Grills, but at the end of the day, if I wanted something that was stainless steel, it would have been at least 2-3x the cost of the RT-1250 I ordered. I think if the RT-700/1250 was made in the USA, you'd be looking closer to the $3K price point considering how much stainless steel is in it and looking at comparable market prices.

 

[Roaniecowpony]

All issues have been resolved and many cooks have taken place. If I were to have any remaining gripes, it would be that the lid doesn't quite conform to the smoker and has small leaks. I have however remedied this with some high temp gasket material, so all-in-all, it's finally working as it should have from the start.

I first started my foray into smoking with a Masterbuilt vertical electric smoker, then went to a CampChef, then to a Oklahoma Joes, and then to the RT700. I have to say that the masterbuilt lasted quite a while and performed pretty well given its primitive design. What I didn't like was having to manually feed soaked wood chips into the tiny hopper manually. Then came the Camp Chef. It was a huge step up, I ordered it with the sear box - kind of a waste of $$ to me, but a lesson learned. I wasn't thrilled with it due to a couple of things, namely the short stand it came with, and having to replace the controller due to big swings in cooking temps. I sold it and moved onto the Oklahoma Joes Rider DLX. It had the perfect height, huge cooking area, multiple shelves, and well fitting cover. The down side to this smoker was that it was a bi**c to clean and once again the controller had to be replaced on this one due to wild temp swings, and you had to actually disassemble parts to do a clean out of the firepot area, which was no friggin' joy, trust me. And now onto the RT700. Other than the few (relatively small issues) I've had with this smoker, it seems to be the best one so far, time will tell. I bought the comp cart thinking it would elevate the smoker to a level I loved about the Rider DLX, but it didn't even come close and was annoyed that for the $$$ it cost, I could've had a cart built for the height I was looking for.

Not sure how high you want to go, but you could get some 4 x 4" square tube and cut 4 lengths of it to make some spacers for the casters. If you're looking for more than that, you might have to get a bit more artsy-craftsy.

 

[Stratratbj96]

I have recently purchased two RT-1250s and both of them were perfect. The only problem I had was slow shipping. My first order sat at the distribution center 45 minutes from my house for a week. The second one was shipped by a different company and was delivered in a reasonable time period.

 

[Simarti28]

Are you saying the RT-700 isn't USA made?

I thought the PID controller was made in the USA, but I could be wrong. I wouldn’t sweat the “Made In China”aspect, recteq is a quality product.

 

[C. Keeper]

I thought the PID controller was made in the USA, but I could be wrong. I wouldn’t sweat the “Made In China”aspect, recteq is a quality product.

It appears that everything on the RT-700 is made in China.

 

[Zonktified]

You think because you buy "LOCAL" you'll have a more premium product? The only benefit you'll have is being able to drive to the dealer for a refund.

OUCH!