FOREVER to get to Temp; erratic;

brentkassing

Member
Messages
9
Grill(s) owned
  1. RT-680
I've had my 680 for two years and have regular problems with its ability to get to temp. I've had numerous conversations with support only to be told to do the same things over and over:
1. clean the pit
2. use fresh pellets
3. make sure probe is not bent towards barrel
4. Turn it on, then turn it off after 30 seconds and then turn it on

ON 1/22 it took 2 hours and 15 minutes to get to 375. Last night it never got there after 2 hours. There are times when it all works fine. There is clearly a flaw somewhere. I even unplug and plug back to help get a fresh reset. Perhaps they are using Windows 95?

Anyone have any ideas? AT this point, I'm ready to dump this thing and buy a different brand. I never know from time to time whether it's going to work.



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Will they not send you a new controller? It seems if you’ve called them multiple times they would escalate the proposed solution. Maybe call them and explain you’ve been through this too long and want a replacement controller. If they won’t do it I would give one of the owner’s a call and let him know why you are unhappy. That’s why they give us their numbers.
 
Just for the sake of curiosity, have you tied coming up to temp with the meat probes plugged in & spread out laying on the grill surface before? The reason I ask is because I have a electric infrared pellet barrel smoker with a PID controller & single meat probe option, it gets wonky sometimes & stalls on building heat, I turn it OFF & back ON with the probe plugged in & everything goes back to NORMAL ... might be worth a shot.
 
Just for the sake of curiosity, have you tied coming up to temp with the meat probes plugged in & spread out laying on the grill surface before? The reason I ask is because I have a electric infrared pellet barrel smoker with a PID controller & single meat probe option, it gets wonky sometimes & stalls on building heat, I turn it OFF & back ON with the probe plugged in & everything goes back to NORMAL ... might be worth a shot.
I have not tried that. I'll give it a shot. At this point, I'll do the hokey pokey to get it to work.
 
I had a couple temperature issues recently. Both recteq and aftermarket probes when plugged in would read over 100 when it was 40 out. I sent them pictures and a video. They thought the temp probe connectors were bad so they sent a new controller and two new probes. All works OK now. Also, the 700 would stall out at ~450-460 after ~80 minutes. I had gaskets on the lid. As a test I propped the lid open ~1/4" and it ran up to ~495. I took the gasket off and will be OK with stains during the test. I'll try it a few dozen times and see how it does.
 
I had a couple temperature issues recently. Both recteq and aftermarket probes when plugged in would read over 100 when it was 40 out. I sent them pictures and a video. They thought the temp probe connectors were bad so they sent a new controller and two new probes. All works OK now. Also, the 700 would stall out at ~450-460 after ~80 minutes. I had gaskets on the lid. As a test I propped the lid open ~1/4" and it ran up to ~495. I took the gasket off and will be OK with stains during the test. I'll try it a few dozen times and see how it does.
What did you mean gaskets on the lid?

The answers they came back today was to remove the foil under the grates, clean the smokestack....what they don't seem to understand is the iterative nature of things...it either works all the time or doesn't...and if it doesn't it's not because I have foil on something on Friday and the exact same setup fails on Sunday.
 
Some folks put gaskets around the lids to keep the smoke and stains in. Lots of posts on this site about it. I hope you stick with it and it gets it fixed. We are enjoying trying new recipes on ours. Tonight i used two wing dusts my daughter bought me from Kosmos Q (crazy cool dude) for Christmas and they were Great.
 
After several more e-mails, they pretty much have blamed me for not keeping it maintained properly; which is completely ridiculous: They never responded to the erratic nature of the operation. Why it works on one day and not the next day where nothing has changed. Nor did they address how the temp goes up and down. All in all, it's really disapointing as I bought it because of their customer service.

Am I done with them? Yes. This smoker will be fine and do great for ribs, pork shoulders, etc where I typically keep temp at 225. But for anything that requires some real heat, I will use my Weber 10 year old gas grill that still works perfectly and gets to temp in 5 minutes.

My best to you all that have working devices.....I appreciated the tips.
 

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