I think my Bull got mad cow disease!

[Superprohero]

1.5 yr old RT700 suddenly lost it's mind acting way out of the ordinary. I always cook at lowest setting for max smoke flavor to start and several hours later increase temps. Started having issues with it starting up as if the igniter wasn't working so I did a few handheld torch starts. Then it started having issues where I have the setpoint at something like 200 degrees and it will heat up to like 290 or even 360 and kick the fan off and on constantly like it would normally do to cool itself down. But while it's doing this you can still hear it feed itself a few pellets and the temp never goes back down to anything near the setpoint. Once I heated the internal temp probe with a handheld torch to trick it into thinking it was warm and not feed it any more pellets. After that it continued to do the same thing so I had support send me a new internal temp probe thinking I ruined it with the torch. Installed the temp rod and adjusted the igniter rod to protrude out an 1/8" and now it starts up on its own but seems to take longer and while I'm waiting to hear the flame, it's still every few seconds feeding it more pellets! Once the flame gets going it starts the same routine again by heating up way past setpoint and doing the endless cycle of kicking the fan off and on as if it's trying to cool down but still you hear the auger feed it a small amount of pellets as soon as the fan kicks off. I think by it continuing to feed it pellets it can't cool to the setpoint. Anybody experienced this and have a solution? Called Recteq but they are closed due to the hurricane.

 

[C. Keeper]

 

[kstone113]

Check your feed rate. It might of gone back to the default 6.5%. That might explain your issue. I would try lowering the feed rate and see what happens.

 

[TheRicker]

Your high temp is most likely caused by leaving the lid open after the fire catches. The fan turning on and off occurs after you did close the lid and the controller realizes what the actual temperature is versus the set temp and goes through its cool down process. Depending on how hot the fire got, it could take 30 minutes or more for the grill to get down to the set temperature on its own…with the lid closed.

I’m not sure how you’re hearing the pellets drop into the fire pot unless you’ve got the lid open. The grill cannot get to the set temperature with the lid open. That’s a fact. With the lid open, the temp probe in the chamber may never reach the set temp. The controller sees that the cooking chamber has not yet achieved the set temperature and continues to feed pellets in its efforts to get the grill to the temp you set it for. That could lead to a raging fire in the fire pot if the lid is left open too long after it starts.

I don’t know what a “a long time to start” is to you. I’ve timed startups from 4 - 8 minutes. Keep in mind the ignition rod makes the pellets smolder. The fan stokes the fire pot and at some point there’s a spark and then flames. Depending on a few separate factors (the state of the pellets, outside temperature and humidity, wind, etc.), it could take several minutes for the fire to ignite. And I’m not 100% sure if the RecTeq controller has a set time the igniter rod stays on or not. My old Traeger igniter only stayed on for 4 minutes. And if the fire didn’t catch, you had to recycle the power or start the fire in the fire pot manually.

Priming a fire box
You should only have to prime the fire pot for the initial burn and whenever you clean out / vacuum the cooking chamber, and specifically, the fire pot. You should not have to prime it otherwise…especially after a regular cook. So I don’t know if that’s impacting your startup sequence.

I say all of this and I’m asking myself how many years has it been since RecTeq made the 700’s? This scenario with a post by a “new member” who has had their recteq for some time sounds somewhat repetitive.

 

[Superprohero]

Check your feed rate. It might of gone back to the default 6.5%. That might explain your issue. I would try lowering the feed rate and see what happens.

I tried lowering it to 35 and it acts the same. Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[Superprohero]

Your high temp is most likely caused by leaving the lid open after the fire catches. The fan turning on and off occurs after you did close the lid and the controller realizes what the actual temperature is versus the set temp and goes through its cool down process. Depending on how hot the fire got, it could take 30 minutes or more for the grill to get down to the set temperature on its own…with the lid closed.

I’m not sure how you’re hearing the pellets drop into the fire pot unless you’ve got the lid open. The grill cannot get to the set temperature with the lid open. That’s a fact. With the lid open, the temp probe in the chamber may never reach the set temp. The controller sees that the cooking chamber has not yet achieved the set temperature and continues to feed pellets in its efforts to get the grill to the temp you set it for. That could lead to a raging fire in the fire pot if the lid is left open too long after it starts.

I don’t know what a “a long time to start” is to you. I’ve timed startups from 4 - 8 minutes. Keep in mind the ignition rod makes the pellets smolder. The fan stokes the fire pot and at some point there’s a spark and then flames. Depending on a few separate factors (the state of the pellets, outside temperature and humidity, wind, etc.), it could take several minutes for the fire to ignite. And I’m not 100% sure if the RecTeq controller has a set time the igniter rod stays on or not. My old Traeger igniter only stayed on for 4 minutes. And if the fire didn’t catch, you had to recycle the power or start the fire in the fire pot manually.

Priming a fire box
You should only have to prime the fire pot for the initial burn and whenever you clean out / vacuum the cooking chamber, and specifically, the fire pot. You should not have to prime it otherwise…especially after a regular cook. So I don’t know if that’s impacting your startup sequence.

I say all of this and I’m asking myself how many years has it been since RecTeq made the 700’s? This scenario with a post by a “new member” who has had their recteq for some time sounds somewhat repetitive.

The lid gets closed as soon as the initial smoke from all the smoldering subsides which happens shortly after I hear the fire in the pot. I've let it run for well over 2 hours without ever opening the lid and it never drops remotely close to setpoint. I can hear the auger motor spin when it injects more pellets and see them move in the pellet bin. It definitely doesn't behave at all like I've known it to for the past year and a half since I picked it up new at Recteq headquarters in GA. Even tried a new bag of fresh unopened pellets.

 

[RattleR]

The lid gets closed as soon as the initial smoke from all the smoldering subsides which happens shortly after I hear the fire in the pot. I've let it run for well over 2 hours without ever opening the lid and it never drops remotely close to setpoint. I can hear the auger motor spin when it injects more pellets and see them move in the pellet bin. It definitely doesn't behave at all like I've known it to for the past year and a half since I picked it up new at Recteq headquarters in GA. Even tried a new bag of fresh unopened pellets.

RT CS by phone and I would submit this one might be the controller but they will take you through level one support process, not sure if they have a level two, which are generally the ones that can actually help but a manager should be able to light their fire. Remember calm and cool else you will get the Short guy.

 

[Superprohero]

RT CS by phone and I would submit this one might be the controller but they will take you through level one support process, not sure if they have a level two, which are generally the ones that can actually help but a manager should be able to light their fire. Remember calm and cool else you will get the Short guy.

Yea, being in a somewhat customer service job myself, I never talk down or get shitty to anybody. I usually just ask if they can help me out and we work through it like adults should. I'm hoping Recteq isn't in too bad of shape because their pre recorded message from when I called them earlier said they were due to come back to the building today to assess the hurricane damage.

 

[Waterboy]

A couple of things I would check are the fire pot (is it cleaned out) and the chimney stack. My chimney dang near creosoted all the way after a couple of years. I just unbolted it and scraped it out. Ran much better after that. If your airflow is messed up it can affect temps in unpredictable ways.

 

[SweaT-rex]

If the smokestack is obstructed your Bull will act like this. Constipation can cause a raging Bull. If your firepot is good & the smokestack is clear, then it’s likely the controller

 

[Pacman]

Actually I hadn't paid much (any) attention to this thread, but I have noticed that my 1250 has been a little more volatile with maintaining temperature in the last few months. I really actually pondered if it had to do with firmware!

I've knocked off some "chunks" from the chimney "hat" over the years, but never bothered to look in the smokestack. I need to clean my grill anyway after three briskets so I'll add this tip to the list in the coming days.