Bullseye Bullseye temp problems....any ideas?

[jonny_comfort]

Got my Bullseye 380 for Father's Day...best gift ever.

So after more than a dozen cooks, I have noticed some strange temp issues. Cooking burgers, I had the temp set to 350, and it shot up over 500 on its own during the cook. Then, same cook, it dropped to under 200 for a while before climbing back up to the area I had set.

Today, I was reverse searing steaks, and noticed two things. First, the temp probe was off, it was reading higher by a good 30-40 degrees than any other thermo I tried. That's the first time this has happened ever. Second, I kicked in riot mode, and the actual temp went up to around 460, but then dropped to the high 300s and would not go any higher. For reference, I've literally been getting 700-750 on riot mode before. Temp outside was in the mid 60s, so not so cold it should have affected anything. Then, after steaks were done, I dropped temp to 350 and ran it that way for a while. It did hit 350 but then dropped into 230-280 and after about 20 minutes, it did make it back up over 300 but did not get to 350.

I just vacuumed the grill and fire pot today before cooking. I typically clean it out after every 3-4 cooks unless I do a long cook, then I clean it before the long cook to be on the safe side. I get no error messages when I start it up or during cooking.

I am not sure what to look at next, I really hope this is not a "normal" situation with this grill because it's the best I have ever cooked on.....have a brisket and two racks of ribs planned for Christmas and really don't want them to get ruined. Any ideas?

 

[ol' stonebreaker]

Have you checked the auger feed rate?

 

[jonny_comfort]

Have you checked the auger feed rate?

Hi,

Not sure how to do that. Would that be covered in the owner's manual? I see mention of page 13, and see that there are different settings you can scroll through. Sorry to sound like such a noob, this is the first pellet grill I have had so not familiar with the details.

I can tell you that it has worked flawlessly in the past, and I have not changed any settings, so don't know if that makes any difference.

 

[jonny_comfort]

Have you checked the auger feed rate?

Have not checked the feed rate but did just go through the test program, the auger is definitely feeding the pellets fine. The only conclusion I can come to right now is that the pellets in the bottom of the hopper might have an issue, they sat in there for a couple weeks. While the grill did not get wet, we get a lot of humidity down here. Will try emptying the hopper tomorrow and completely vacuuming everything out just to see if it makes any difference. During the test, I let the auger run for several minutes and it fed pellets freely so I'm not sure.

 

[Greg Jones]

It sounds to me like it could have been the pellets also. The minimum auger feed rate setting would not have any bearing on this issue. Changing the minimum feed rate setting is only useful if your grill won’t maintain a low temp setting, and this would only happen with high ambient temperatures (summertime).

 

[jonny_comfort]

It sounds to me like it could have been the pellets also. The minimum auger feed rate setting would not have any bearing on this issue. Changing the minimum feed rate setting is only useful if your grill won’t maintain a low temp setting, and this would only happen with high ambient temperatures (summertime).

cleaning out the hopper and auger tube this morning, then testing to see what it does before I put this brisket on. thanks for your thoughts

 

[gwrace1]

Mine has a tendency to do this at startup. If I give it another 15 minutes or so it comes down to the set temp.

 

[jonny_comfort]

Ok, cleaned out the hopper, ran the auger on test mode until the tube was empty. Vacuumed out everything. Cleaned the temp probe inside. Prime the fire pot and fired it up. Took about 20 minutes to start increasing temp. Now, have it set at 225 and it has been all over the place still. Dropped to 144 and stayed there until I set temp to 350. Then, it climbed to around 205. Dropped it back to 225 and it's been reading 275-278 for the last 10 minutes. Just now started coming back down, and appears to have finally parked itself at 235, which I can live with. Have a 15 pound brisket on it right now so I am really hoping it was just sorting itself out.

Whadaya know, just settled at 227 and holding there. Hoping that everything I did finally sorted this out.

EDIT, still holding at 227 and good smoke happening but I noticed the fan never shuts off. I seem to recall the fan would pulse on and off at lower temps....but it is staying around 225 so I can't complain.

 

[jonny_comfort]

Man I am so looking forward to this

 

[jonny_comfort]

So, we are almost 4 hours in, and I couldn't help it....I had to take a sneak peek. Man, now I really can't wait lol

 

[C. Keeper]

Sure looks good!

 

[Tempoman18]

Auger rate set too low can cause flame out, then the temp drops, the grill tries to restart, shooting temps really high, and repeating the process. I would keep it at the factory rate (in your settings on the app) and see what happens. I do have to turn down the rate when it’s really hot outside during the summer, but that’s it

 

[Tempoman18]

Auger rate set too low can cause flame out, then the temp drops, the grill tries to restart, shooting temps really high, and repeating the process. I would keep it at the factory rate (in your settings on the app) and see what happens. I do have to turn down the rate when it’s really hot outside during the summer, but that’s it

Oh, and check the box for excessive ash

 

[jonny_comfort]

So, here's the fix....

I cleaned everything out. Emptied the hopper, vacuumed all dust and ash out. Put in fresh pellets. But I also cleaned the temp probe in the grill too. Once I started it up and it bounced around a while on the temp like described above. It settled right down and worked like brand new. One big brisket, two racks of ribs, some burgers, pulled smoked chicken and burnt ends later it is all good. And the food was just awesome...

 

[jonny_comfort]

Brisket just before resting

 

[charlesrshell]

Where is drip pan?

 

[jonny_comfort]

Where is drip pan?

I usually do not use one. After every long cook I clean the grill anyway.

 

[charlesrshell]

I usually do not use one. After every long cook I clean the grill anyway.

I don't like using drip pans, but I do to prevent grease leaks from bottom of grill body.

 

[Sockwalker]

Brisket just before resting

Looks great! Glad you’re getting the grill dialed in... my Bull has had a couple of spikes above setpoint and for the most recent one I just shut off the grill for 4-5 minutes then re started and it was spot on for duration of cook.
This was with clean and primed fire pot and all ash vacuumed from chamber.

 

[jonny_comfort]

I don't like using drip pans, but I do to prevent grease leaks from bottom of grill body.

I hear ya, have not had the problem. For a really long, fatty cook I would have to. This brisket did not give me any issues with grease.