Bullseye Question about patio 410

[jercam88]

i just got my patio 410 today and I have a question.
do I start it with the lid up or down ? The Recteq videos sometimes show it down.
however… I have seen other videos saying never start a pellet grill with the lid down as it may explode.
please let me know.
thanks in advance !

 

[Waterboy]

The recteq official method is to leave it closed. You do risk a lid pop (explosion) if you do it that way. If you want to avoid the possibility of the lid pop then start your grill with the lid open. I almost always start mine with the lid closed but I have had one lid pop in 3 1/2 years. You just have to decide which way you feel most comfortable. It certainly doesn’t hurt anything to open the lid at start up, many on this forum do it without reporting any negative issues doing it that way.

 

[Gonefishin]

The only down side to starting with it open, if it’s not raining, is you have to be there to close it.

Like Waterboy, I’ve always done mine closed. If I’ve had the lid pop thing I didn’t notice. As mine is 50 feet from the house to keep the smoke out, closed is the most convenient

 

[RHEINLEIN]

I light with the lid open, you’ll see a lot of smoke roll as the igniter starts heating up the pellets. Once the flame actually ignites, the smoke instantly goes away. This is when to safely close the lid.
I have only once had an incident but see no harm from lighting up with the lid open (while standing by)

Have fun with your new machine !

 

[jercam88]

Thanks for the replies. Recteq replied to my question and says to have the lid closed. I’m still confused by this.. why risk the lid pop ? I’ve seen some videos of some lid pops that look none too fun. I’m just curious why recteq would recommend the lid being shut..seems against conventional grill wisdom To me.

 

[db80]

I have the Deck Boss 590, and I always start mine up with the lid closed, but I had the same question before. The Recteq videos say to do it closed. I did a little research, and found that T....r also says to start it up with the lid closed with the exception of a few models. Other brands say the exact opposite. I figure there are differences in the designs from one brand to another, so maybe this is why the directions vary from one to another.

 

[Greg Jones]

The real question should be ‘What is to be gained by starting it with the lid closed?’ If the answer is , then start it with the lid open. There are a number of questionable decisions recteq has made in the design of their grills. No sealed lid-why? Leave the lid closed for startup-why? Who hasn’t butt dialed someone on their phone, yet recteq allows you to start your grill, with a cover on it, from your phone ,when you are hundreds of miles away. Love my grills but some of the recteq decisions are not as well thought as I would have thought they would/should be. Open the lid at startup until you see smoke. No lid pops, no worries.

 

[RattleR]

To echo @Greg Jones, do you start your gas grill with the lid closed, stick burner, propane smoker or even a Charcoal grill by loading it and starting with a starter? I for one, do not. Have I with my Bull, once or twice while working in a hurry but re-thought that rush. Better with it open, I can also hear it move from lighting the pellets, to pellets burning. Even as bad as my hearing is, don’t ask it is bad.

 

[Jim6820]

Who hasn’t butt dialed someone on their phone, yet recteq allows you to start your grill, with a cover on it, from your phone ,when you are hundreds of miles away.

That’s why my grill remains unplugged unless I am using it!

As for starting with the lid open or closed, since I live in the “EverWet State” (Washington), I usually start with the lid closed and have never had a “pop.” Maybe the RT-340 is a different beast and doesn’t fall victim to that problem; I don’t know.

 

[RattleR]

That’s why my grill remains unplugged unless I am using it!

As for starting with the lid open or closed, since I live in the “EverWet State” (Washington), I usually start with the lid closed and have never had a “pop.” Maybe the RT-340 is a different beast and doesn’t fall victim to that problem; I don’t know.

I think, wait for it, it is not a result of the lid open or closed state but, wait for it……Conspiracy theory coming, possible petroleum contamination in random pellet batches. Just my wonderment based on how pellets are handled during processing. Ok throw rocks now

 

[SmokeZilla]

Interesting discussion. I always start with the lid closed and so far have not had a problem. I also only use the higher end pellets except for the Costco blend that I have been experimenting with. That said, the instructions for my gasser specifically state ”do not start with lid closed”. I guess every device has its peculiarities. Further, if you read the clearances for air gaps around most grills, their recommendations for fuel, and other instructions, most people may find an oversight with the rules. We can definitely add the RT700 to this list of good vs. bad. I don’t think the marketing would be as impressive if you couldn’t do the remote start which is one their most touted features. For all of you that have been to RT‘s Academy, have you ever heard a pop or bang? Just wondering.

 

[Jim6820]

Interesting discussion. I always start with the lid closed and so far have not had a problem. I also only use the higher end pellets except for the Costco blend that I have been experimenting with. That said, the instructions for my gasser specifically state ”do not start with lid closed”. I guess every device has its peculiarities. Further, if you read the clearances for air gaps around most grills, their recommendations for fuel, and other instructions, most people may find an oversight with the rules. We can definitely add the RT700 to this list of good vs. bad. I don’t think the marketing would be as impressive if you couldn’t do the remote start which is one their most touted features. For all of you that have been to RT‘s Academy, have you ever heard a pop or bang? Just wondering.

I can understand the concern about starting a gas grill with the lid closed (though I have done it). You are filling the body of the grill with very explosive natural gas or propane from the moment you open the burner valve. If the spark igniter doesn't immediately fire things off, you quickly get a significant volume of gas in the barrel because the gas is heavier than air and settles in the lowest spot.

 

[SmokeZilla]

I can understand the concern about starting a gas grill with the lid closed (though I have done it). You are filling the body of the grill with very explosive natural gas or propane from the moment you open the burner valve. If the spark igniter doesn't immediately fire things off, you quickly get a significant volume of gas in the barrel because the gas is heavier than air and settles in the lowest spot.

You are right. I’ve also watched grain elevators spark and explode filled with dry goods. When it comes to fire and ignition sources, I don’t mess around. I co-designed several pyrotechnic packages for specialized applications and the demonstration/validation phases of the development program included a lot of lessons learned.

 

[Grilltreats]

Now six years in with two Recteqs I always leave the lids closed when lighting. Now, to do this means monitoring the progress closely so there are no snafus lighting until lit. I even have a gasket around my lid on the 700. There's nothing wrong with leaving the lid open when lighting. You just have to remember to close the lid once lit to save on pellets and time heating up. I have never had an "explosion".

Even more so you also want to monitor the shutdown cycle closely. Sometimes you can shut it down too hot or too windy, or things don't always go as planned and you can have some smoke coming up out of the pellet hopper. This is not good. To remedy this is to run the auger for a few seconds more to push the smoldering pellets out of the tip of the auger chute right there at the fire pot. This is very rare, but I have had this happen a few times in six years. It takes about 20 to 30 minutes to start seeing smoke from the pellet hopper. I always leave the power cord plugged in another half-hour after shutdown in incase I need to run the auger again.

 

[Greg Jones]

For all of you that have been to RT‘s Academy, have you ever heard a pop or bang? Just wondering.

At Academy, I don’t recall them ever starting a grill when participants are there. All the grills are up and running before anyone arrives. They just don’t have the time to wait for grills to warm up-things happen there far too fast for that.

 

[SmokeZilla]

At Academy, I don’t recall them ever starting a grill when participants are there. All the grills are up and running before anyone arrives. They just don’t have the time to wait for grills to warm up-things happen there far too fast for that.

GJ,

Thanks for that information. Based on the videos it seems everyone is anxiously hanging out before they even begin the cooking sessions and it would seem easily recognizable to the visitors if they were hearing booms from the grills as they were lined up before the forum but I realize there is music playing and other distractions. I must be in the lucky group of owners as I have done over 600 cooks over the last ~5 years with the RT700 and remain blast free. I am pretty good about the routine maintenance and don’t allow pellet dust to gather in the fire pot, nor in the bottom of the pellet feed assembly. When I take the Bull on the road, I make sure to clean it and test if before departure and do a pre-temp run up before using it at the destination.

 

[Beach Bum]

At Academy, I don’t recall them ever starting a grill when participants are there. All the grills are up and running before anyone arrives. They just don’t have the time to wait for grills to warm up-things happen there far too fast for that.

Our experience was the same. When we arrived each morning, we could see the smokey cloud on the patio. I never heard any booms, and we have never experienced one at home. We kept the lids closed for years, until we read posts on this forum.

 

[Greg Jones]

Thanks for that information. Based on the videos it seems everyone is anxiously hanging out before they even begin the cooking sessions and it would seem easily recognizable to the visitors if they were hearing booms from the grills as they were lined up before the forum but I realize there is music playing and other distractions. I must be in the lucky group of owners as I have done over 600 cooks over the last ~5 years with the RT700 and remain blast free. I am pretty good about the routine maintenance and don’t allow pellet dust to gather in the fire pot, nor in the bottom of the pellet feed assembly. When I take the Bull on the road, I make sure to clean it and test if before departure and do a pre-temp run up before using it at the destination.

So did you hear a lid pop when you attended Academy? I’ve never experienced a lid pop either, with nearly 5 years experience as a recteq owner. But other people obviously have experienced this, and you ignored my question-what is to be gained with starting the grill with the lid closed? I would think coating the inside of the grill with the acidic smoke of the initial startup would be enough incentive to keep the lid open for a few minutes? Seeing all that creosote dangling from the inside of the lid should be incentive enough to open the lid.

 

[Jim6820]

Hmmm. I must live in a creosote-deprived world because I can’t find any “dangling from the inside of the lid. In fact, I don’t find much of a coating of anything inside the lid. I’m wondering if the stackless vent system on the 340 plays a role in that?

 

[Greg Jones]

Hmmm. I must live in a creosote-deprived world because I can’t find any “dangling from the inside of the lid. In fact, I don’t find much of a coating of anything inside the lid. I’m wondering if the stackless vent system on the 340 plays a role in that?

You do recall that I have a 340 also, yes? You don’t get anything that looks like this inside the lid of your 340? I keep my grills pretty clean, and this shot is of the inside of my 340 tonight.