Bullseye with wild temp swings

[idHawk]

I recently purchased a Bullseye Black Edition. This is my second RecTeq. The first two cooks went well, with zero issues. Since then, every attempt has been a disaster, with wild temperature swings. I've called RecTeq and they have walked me through troubleshooting twice. Both times the grill has passed all tests with no issues. They cannot tell me why my grill is doing what it is doing. I thought I'd post here to see if anyone has any ideas before I return it. I have lost all confidence in this one.

Here is the scenario in a nutshell. I turn on the grill to 225 to do a low and slow cook. The grill will heat up well past 225, usually somewhere between 400 and 600 degrees. It will then slowly drop temp to 225 and hold for a bit. After about 15 to 20 minutes, the temp starts to drop, It will drop all the way down to around 105 degrees or less and then start to climb very quickly up to around 500 degrees again before settling back down to 225, where it will hold for a brief period before it starts to drop. This cycle will continue over and over until I manually shut off the machine. I have already ruined a couple cooks and have ZERO confidence in this machine. On another occasion I tried cooking some steaks at 500 degrees and the gill kept surging up to 999 degrees during the cook. Very frustrating that this is happening, and even more frustrating tha RecTeq cannot offer a solution, given than the grill appears to work according the to tests they have me run when I call them.

Thoughts?

 

[Jim6820]

I recently purchased a Bullseye Black Edition. This is my second RecTeq. The first two cooks went well, with zero issues. Since then, every attempt has been a disaster, with wild temperature swings. I've called RecTeq and they have walked me through troubleshooting twice. Both times the grill has passed all tests with no issues. They cannot tell me why my grill is doing what it is doing. I thought I'd post here to see if anyone has any ideas before I return it. I have lost all confidence in this one.

Here is the scenario in a nutshell. I turn on the grill to 225 to do a low and slow cook. The grill will heat up well past 225, usually somewhere between 400 and 600 degrees. It will then slowly drop temp to 225 and hold for a bit. After about 15 to 20 minutes, the temp starts to drop, It will drop all the way down to around 105 degrees or less and then start to climb very quickly up to around 500 degrees again before settling back down to 225, where it will hold for a brief period before it starts to drop. This cycle will continue over and over until I manually shut off the machine. I have already ruined a couple cooks and have ZERO confidence in this machine. On another occasion I tried cooking some steaks at 500 degrees and the gill kept surging up to 999 degrees during the cook. Very frustrating that this is happening, and even more frustrating tha RecTeq cannot offer a solution, given than the grill appears to work according the to tests they have me run when I call them.

Thoughts?

That’s certainly NOT how they are supposed to work. Since you have “lost confidence” in this grill (and, I don’t blame you for doing so), I would ask RT to replace it and accept the malfunctioning one as a return. If they hesitate, I would just return the grill and move on to some other brand.

There is no excuse for RT not replacing a grill with those issues immediately. Sounds to me like you got a CS newbie.

 

[C. Keeper]

I recently purchased a Bullseye Black Edition. This is my second RecTeq. The first two cooks went well, with zero issues. Since then, every attempt has been a disaster, with wild temperature swings. I've called RecTeq and they have walked me through troubleshooting twice. Both times the grill has passed all tests with no issues. They cannot tell me why my grill is doing what it is doing. I thought I'd post here to see if anyone has any ideas before I return it. I have lost all confidence in this one.

Here is the scenario in a nutshell. I turn on the grill to 225 to do a low and slow cook. The grill will heat up well past 225, usually somewhere between 400 and 600 degrees. It will then slowly drop temp to 225 and hold for a bit. After about 15 to 20 minutes, the temp starts to drop, It will drop all the way down to around 105 degrees or less and then start to climb very quickly up to around 500 degrees again before settling back down to 225, where it will hold for a brief period before it starts to drop. This cycle will continue over and over until I manually shut off the machine. I have already ruined a couple cooks and have ZERO confidence in this machine. On another occasion I tried cooking some steaks at 500 degrees and the gill kept surging up to 999 degrees during the cook. Very frustrating that this is happening, and even more frustrating tha RecTeq cannot offer a solution, given than the grill appears to work according the to tests they have me run when I call them.

Thoughts?

Short guy to the rescue

 

[Waterboy]

I’d call again and ask to talk to the supervisor if they give you the same (non)information. I think as they are expanding they have a lot of new CS reps. Going up a level should help.

 

[RattleR]

if you get the short guy, call Ray!

 

[rhouser]

I was thinking more of the cross bolt. I never looked to see if it was peened. Kind of like pulling the hinge pin on a door hinge.

I have never looked. Might not be possible.

v/r r

 

[rhouser]

Slow ignition (weak or bad igniter or bad position). Pellets fill up then get lit late. 0 - 600 degrees then drops as they burn off.
Burn then drops slowly to the "restart". I would go after auger feed rates and then the low setting flame out adjustment.

Start cold and check how long it takes to get your first bit of smoke. I would do this with the lid closed but without the grate and diffuser in place. As soon as it smokes, open the lid and see how many pellets are in the pot. I caught mine with a slow start once and when I checked, the pellet burner was full to the top. Would have been one hell of a start. I cleaned the out and did a little picking at the end of the hot rod. Haven't had a slow start yet.

v/r r

 

[idHawk]

Update:
I ended up returning the Bullseye. RecTeq customer service was not as insightful as I had hope they would be. They were very polite and seemed eager to help, but they believed the cause of the problems were the pellets. I was using Costco Pellets. While I agree that some of the pellets are long, they are very easy to break, so I have a hard time believing it was my pellets that were causing such extreme temperature swings. Outside of the length issues, I have found the Costco pellets to be of very good quality. Solid hardwood with very little dust. The RecTeq employee I spoke with told me the Costco brand are not real hardwood and create too much dust. These comments did not match what I have experienced, so I was very skeptical that changing pellets would solve the problem. In the end, I had lost confidence in the grill and decided it would be best to return it. I still have my OG 700 and it runs great. I just wanted something smaller. Perhaps I will look at a 590.

 

[C. Keeper]

Update:
I ended up returning the Bullseye. RecTeq customer service was not as insightful as I had hope they would be. They were very polite and seemed eager to help, but they believed the cause of the problems were the pellets. I was using Costco Pellets. While I agree that some of the pellets are long, they are very easy to break, so I have a hard time believing it was my pellets that were causing such extreme temperature swings. Outside of the length issues, I have found the Costco pellets to be of very good quality. Solid hardwood with very little dust. The RecTeq employee I spoke with told me the Costco brand are not real hardwood and create too much dust. These comments did not match what I have experienced, so I was very skeptical that changing pellets would solve the problem. In the end, I had lost confidence in the grill and decided it would be best to return it. I still have my OG 700 and it runs great. I just wanted something smaller. Perhaps I will look at a 590.

Hopefully you didn't have to pay restocking fees.

 

[idHawk]

Hopefully you didn't have to pay restocking fees.

I did not. No issues with RecTeq. I think I just got a lemon. It happens.

 

[C. Keeper]

I did not. No issues with RecTeq. I think I just got a lemon. It happens.

Good news, I'm glad.
The 380 is definitely a different pellet grill.

 

[Motodad1776]

Update:
I ended up returning the Bullseye. RecTeq customer service was not as insightful as I had hope they would be. They were very polite and seemed eager to help, but they believed the cause of the problems were the pellets. I was using Costco Pellets. While I agree that some of the pellets are long, they are very easy to break, so I have a hard time believing it was my pellets that were causing such extreme temperature swings. Outside of the length issues, I have found the Costco pellets to be of very good quality. Solid hardwood with very little dust. The RecTeq employee I spoke with told me the Costco brand are not real hardwood and create too much dust. These comments did not match what I have experienced, so I was very skeptical that changing pellets would solve the problem. In the end, I had lost confidence in the grill and decided it would be best to return it. I still have my OG 700 and it runs great. I just wanted something smaller. Perhaps I will look at a 590.

We live and hopefully learn, and their very ignorant comment about the Costco pellets "that is all I run these days" is very telling of their ignorance, or they simply just want to peddle their pellets that reputedly work the best in their pellet grills. I shall call them "pellet peddlers".......glad you got your money back.

 

[C. Keeper]

We live and hopefully learn, and their very ignorant comment about the Costco pellets "that is all I run these days" is very telling of their ignorance, or they simply just want to peddle their pellets that reputedly work the best in their pellet grills. I shall call them "pellet peddlers".......glad you got your money back.

Costco and Sam's club pellets here. Unlike Mr. @Motodad1776 , I keep my pellets cleaned and lubed for that trip down the auger.

 

[jasonbr1975]

I have a bullseye and although it has acted up before, like mostly grease fires at high temp, I’ve never experienced what you explained. The ‘bad pellets’ excuse is such a BS statement. Glad you got your money back. Probably a lemon and you’d likely be good getting another grill with no problems.

 

[rhouser]

The "Bad pellet" excuse can be tested by buying a 19 dollar bag of something NOT "bad pellet" from any ace, lowes, home depot, etc and see if the problem goes away. If not, Bad Pellets is not the cause.

A full refund is the least I would expect from RecTeq. I think they do support their products and want us to be happy.

v/r r

 

[RattleR]

Costco and Sam's club pellets here. Unlike Mr. @Motodad1776 , I keep my pellets cleaned and lubed for that trip down the auger.

What lube do you use

 

[C. Keeper]

What lube do you use

KY, it's water soluble

 

[Motodad1776]

KY, it's water soluble

Good ole Kentucky Jelly!!!!

 

[hfactor]

Same issue here, newbie, first two cooks experienced temp swings, bumped the feed rate to "8.5", seemed to have helped, but is a 25+/- degree swings what everyone puts up with? I want to smoke at 225 degrees, is that not possible with the 380? Come on!!

 

[Jim6820]

Same issue here, newbie, first two cooks experienced temp swings, bumped the feed rate to "8.5", seemed to have helped, but is a 25+/- degree swings what everyone puts up with? I want to smoke at 225 degrees, is that not possible with the 380? Come on!!

Unfortunately, IMO if you “want to smoke at 225 degrees,” you picked the wrong tool. The 380 is best at hot-and-fast cooks and will be a serious compromise for long, slow cooks at 225F. You could conceivably drive nails with a pipe wrench too, but it isn’t the tool that was designed for that job. YMMV