Bull (Possibly another) question about smoke, smoke leakage, and grease drip

[middleP]

My 340 began to leak grease after about 2 years. The sealer they use at the seams began to wear away. I’m sure recteq would’ve offered to help or even send a free tube, but I just went to Amazon and bought this:

Permatex 81160 High-Temp Red RTV Silicone Gasket, 3 oz​

This is the same sealer that recteq sells on their website but it’s only about $7 on Amazon. You’ll need to clean and degrease the seams using Dawn dish liquid or isopropyl before applying the sealer, but it fixes the leak. It will need to cure before using the grill.

When I purchased my 700 I put an extra bead on all seams before even burning the grill in. No leaks so far.

Thank you for the feedback! I attempted to find the leak, as well as snapped some poorly lit pics of the inside and out but still couldn't locate anything. Another call to the folks at recteq resulted in them shipping me a tube. I'll follow your advice and make sure it is primed and cured.

 

[middleP]

In the 7 years I have owned my 680, the grease bucket has seen grease twice (turkeys both times) as I use a disposable cookie sheet below the grate to catch any drippings. I also put a Traeger pan liner on the drip tray. For me, it makes clean up very easy inside the cooker and I don't get drippings on the patio.

This last time for my two chuckies I use a pan. Think it helped slightly. The odd thing though, I have hardly a few drips in my (foil lined) bucket but spots on the concrete - and this is a new location on the patio. Go figure.

 

[DenStinett]

Hell, it's an Outdoor Grill
You cook Meat on it
Grease is a byproduct of cooking Meat
Hot Grease has a tendency to find its way out of an outdoor Grill, no matter the quality of said Grill
If keeping all your accessories "RecTeq" is your thing, try this: https://www.recteq.com/Large-Premium-Grill-Pad
If not, any Auto Parts Store sells Drop Pans for your Garage Floor

 

[Grilltreats]

When I remove the drip bucket I stuff a couple of paper towels in the end of the drip chute, like has already been mention by another member.

If cooking beyond the drip tray you can expect grease to drip down into the barrel chamber as that is a given. I would say splatters of grease can do the same. As a side note: One thing I did was to swap the wheel sets around so I could raise the left side up more for grease to run off the drip tray better. I don't use foil because as the foil heats up it creates ripples in it and blocks the grease flow more.

The PID controller is very good, but it can't do its job with the lid left open too long as it is feeding more pellets in to try and maintain the set temp while open, which would then run the temp up once the lid is closed. To help with this I would make sure the minimum feed rate is set to 3.5% for a much faster recovery time after the lid has been closed back. Be mindful of lid opening times as well.

Like any type of grill when the grill finally reaches the set temp the white smoke typically settles down, provided no grease is still cooking off. With pellets grills I wouldn't be to concerned with a little white smoke. It is not like unprocessed real wood with lots of sap and extras burning off. You should see light blue smoke when the grill is up to temp, which is very clean and tasty. I would suspect varying white smoke based on the quality or brand of pellets. I only use Lumberjack brand. I find those to be the most pleasing and best smoke flavor for both of my Recteqs.

I put a gasket around my RT-700 lid. It was a thicker gasket made for a Vision grill found on AMZ. This gasket has lasted much longer than the FireBlack thin one before it. It is at least 2.5 years old now and still going strong. I did this for a number of reasons. One was to trap more smoke on the meat for longer periods. Another was to keep the exterior cleaner longer. My bonus was more even cooking across both sides of the grill. It is also very clear that more smoke is coming out of the drip chute so more smoke is hanging around down at the meat level. Very nice smoke rings on briskets for sure.

I often cook a full pack of thick-cut bacon on two mats. before the gasket I had to swap the mats around as the left side wasn't getting as done as the right side. After the gasket install, I no longer have to swap around the mats as both sides cook evenly now. I did raise the smoke stack cap another quarter inch or so to allow more airflow, or as an effort to keep the same amount of airflow as before the gasket install.

lastly, I don't clean out the chamber but a couple times a year at most. I like the extra insulation in the bottom for the winter months. It also soaks up any grease drippings that rarely occur.

I have had the RT-700 and a Bullseye for a little over four years now. I love these grills and the customer support I get from Recteq. They have been awesome even when I have admittedly messed up. Neither are perfect in an imperfect world, so I keep that in mind when seeking help from them. They can only do so much, mainly send parts as needed under warranty and produce helpful video's to try and help their customers. I have seen a lot of weird posts coming across their lines and forums. I hate it for them sometimes, but they ask for it when building these products for all to purchase.

Happy grilling!

 

[middleP]

Hell, it's an Outdoor Grill
You cook Meat on it
Grease is a byproduct of cooking Meat
Hot Grease has a tendency to find its way out of an outdoor Grill, no matter the quality of said Grill
If keeping all your accessories "RecTeq" is your thing, try this: https://www.recteq.com/Large-Premium-Grill-Pad
If not, any Auto Parts Store sells Drop Pans for your Garage Floor

Grease, grill. Yes. Certainly. Though not sure I'd describe this as finding a way out, rather bad seals.

When I remove the drip bucket I stuff a couple of paper towels in the end of the drip chute, like has already been mention by another member.

If cooking beyond the drip tray you can expect grease to drip down into the barrel chamber as that is a given. I would say splatters of grease can do the same. As a side note: One thing I did was to swap the wheel sets around so I could raise the left side up more for grease to run off the drip tray better. I don't use foil because as the foil heats up it creates ripples in it and blocks the grease flow more.

The PID controller is very good, but it can't do its job with the lid left open too long as it is feeding more pellets in to try and maintain the set temp while open, which would then run the temp up once the lid is closed. To help with this I would make sure the minimum feed rate is set to 3.5% for a much faster recovery time after the lid has been closed back. Be mindful of lid opening times as well.

Like any type of grill when the grill finally reaches the set temp the white smoke typically settles down, provided no grease is still cooking off. With pellets grills I wouldn't be to concerned with a little white smoke. It is not like unprocessed real wood with lots of sap and extras burning off. You should see light blue smoke when the grill is up to temp, which is very clean and tasty. I would suspect varying white smoke based on the quality or brand of pellets. I only use Lumberjack brand. I find those to be the most pleasing and best smoke flavor for both of my Recteqs.

I put a gasket around my RT-700 lid. It was a thicker gasket made for a Vision grill found on AMZ. This gasket has lasted much longer than the FireBlack thin one before it. It is at least 2.5 years old now and still going strong. I did this for a number of reasons. One was to trap more smoke on the meat for longer periods. Another was to keep the exterior cleaner longer. My bonus was more even cooking across both sides of the grill. It is also very clear that more smoke is coming out of the drip chute so more smoke is hanging around down at the meat level. Very nice smoke rings on briskets for sure.

I often cook a full pack of thick-cut bacon on two mats. before the gasket I had to swap the mats around as the left side wasn't getting as done as the right side. After the gasket install, I no longer have to swap around the mats as both sides cook evenly now. I did raise the smoke stack cap another quarter inch or so to allow more airflow, or as an effort to keep the same amount of airflow as before the gasket install.

lastly, I don't clean out the chamber but a couple times a year at most. I like the extra insulation in the bottom for the winter months. It also soaks up any grease drippings that rarely occur.

I have had the RT-700 and a Bullseye for a little over four years now. I love these grills and the customer support I get from Recteq. They have been awesome even when I have admittedly messed up. Neither are perfect in an imperfect world, so I keep that in mind when seeking help from them. They can only do so much, mainly send parts as needed under warranty and produce helpful video's to try and help their customers. I have seen a lot of weird posts coming across their lines and forums. I hate it for them sometimes, but they ask for it when building these products for all to purchase.

Happy grilling!

Appreciate you taking the time to provide this feedback. I'm hopeful I can get the leak under control and follow suggestions on sealing things up. I'll double back with recteq about temps that randomly over shoot 50-150° and will only come down by bottoming out the set temp.