Rec Tec material

[Wslayer]

Have looked and don't see the differences in materials used between Bull and Stampede. Is the Bull actually constructed of heavier material ? Heavier may be a plus for ND colder weather. I use welding blanket now on MES. Where is that stated if so ? Does Rec Tec have Black Friday discounts at all ? Thanks in advance.

 

[ifican]

Its not heavy enough that a blanket would not be warranted in really cold uses. Would probably still function ok for most things without but it would waste more pellets than otherwise needed.

 

[pbison]

The Stampede uses 18 gauge, while the Bull uses 14 gauge, this according to users on another forum who spoke to Rec Tec.

I don't know if it will make much difference in the cold, I've been down into the 30s so far and my Stampede has held temps fine, though I did have some trouble getting to 400 degrees. The Bull does have a blanket available though while the Stampede does not. That's probably more important.

 

[Wslayer]

This is one factor I am looking at also.

The Bull does have a blanket available though while the Stampede does not. That's probably more important.

 

[ifican]

If a blanket is the deciding factor, any welding blanket will do fine.

 

[Uncle Bob]

Call me a cynic, but I sure wish someone would produce some form of documentation (rather than hearsay) from RT on that reported difference in material thickness. There MIGHT be some rationalization based on the 700 having greater span along it's length, and slightly more circumference area, but both of those are proportionally minor. Likewise the 590 being angular on the barrel adds relative strength, but...…. Certainly not enough to justify a leap from 14 to 18 ga. which is fairly significant percentage wise.

 

[SlowmotionQue]

Call me a cynic, but I sure wish someone would produce some form of documentation (rather than hearsay) from RT on that reported difference in material thickness. There MIGHT be some rationalization based on the 700 having greater span along it's length, and slightly more circumference area, but both of those are proportionally minor. Likewise the 590 being angular on the barrel adds relative strength, but...…. Certainly not enough to justify a leap from 14 to 18 ga. which is fairly significant percentage wise.

I have been thinking the exact same thing.

I have heard the same "rumor" about there being a difference in the thickness of the steel between the Bull and the Stampede.

However one thing stands out to me. That is the lack of any mention of this difference in thickness in the marketing info on Rec Tec's site where they actually sell grills.

If this were, or is indeed fact, this significant difference in the gauge of the stainless steel, well then it seems to me that Rec Tec themselves would openly, and at least more aggressively than they appear to do now, tout this attribute.

However when I check the site itself, I see no, and have not seen any, mention of 18g vs 14g steel thickness between the two.

Strange that they wouldn't visibly tout or uptalk this difference as yet another justification for the price difference, if it were true.

Why remain silent about it if it's the truth, and furthermore, why up the warranty on the Stampede, "retroactively" from it's original 3yrs to 4yrs if it made that much of a difference?

 

[pbison]

Using my calipers around the lid opening, my Stampede measures around 1.2 mm on the sides and top and about 2.4 mm on the bottom, which may be doubled over to form the lip for the grate but it's hard to tell in the dark right now. 18 gauge stainless steel is 1.2 mm.

I don't have a Bull to check. But you can always contact Rec Tec and ask.

 

[Wslayer]

Thanks Uncle Bob, and Slow Mo, I concur just can't find any verification of thickness difference and that should be stated somewhere on there site one would think.

 

[Mike]

If a blanket is the deciding factor, any welding blanket will do fine.

I agree.

If you're cooking in very cold weather using a blanket will certainly help. I used a welding blanket last year during the winter and one of the biggest changes I've noticed was that my Rec Tec RT-700 got to temp in less than half the time without one.

 

[Wslayer]

The blanket isn't the main issue to my post, but kinda the hearsay of thickness of materials. I know a blanket is a plus for cold weather smoking ( as I use now). Reduces need of the heat source immensely. Thank you....

RT , are you seeing this post ? Verification of this matter would be beneficial to the smoking community.

 

[pbison]

The blanket isn't the main issue to my post, but kinda the hearsay of thickness of materials. I know a blanket is a plus for cold weather smoking ( as I use now). Reduces need of the heat source immensely. Thank you....

RT , are you seeing this post ? Verification of this matter would be beneficial to the smoking community.

Your chances of a response will be much better if you contact them.

I would guess that they don't advertise it because publishing that the Stampede is 18 gauge would probably have more negative impact than positive with potential customers. That is pretty thin and is not going to compare well to its competitors. Better to just point out that it's stainless steel and leave it at that.

14 gauge on the Bull, on the other hand, would be worth pointing out. Maybe they used to or maybe it's not actually 14 gauge, I don't know. But I do know that my Stampede is 18 gauge and if I were them I wouldn't advertise that fact.

 

[ifican]

More realistically the difference in those 2 gauges in cold weather are statistically insignificant. If you were talking 1/8 or 1/4 steel as some heavy duty smokers have sure, the heat retention of the metal means alot. In our cases not so much and not a real selling point. As long as the units are not rusting through and continue to function as designed long past the warranty period, then all is well in my book. Also as stated i do no believe rectec monitors this forum.

 

[pbison]

More realistically the difference in those 2 gauges in cold weather are statistically insignificant. If you were talking 1/8 or 1/4 steel as some heavy duty smokers have sure, the heat retention of the metal means alot. In our cases not so much and not a real selling point. As long as the units are not rusting through and continue to function as designed long past the warranty period, then all is well in my book. Also as stated i do no believe rectec monitors this forum.

Agreed. I'm curious if there is a difference, but I knew, or thought I knew that going in and it didn't affect my decision because I don't believe it would have any significant affect on performance. The PID controller is what keeps the temps consistent, not the metal thickness.

As for a blanket, yes you can use a welding blanket on the Stampede but keep in mind you will need to cut out the vent holes and will want to keep any of that fiberglass from ending up on your food. Shouldn't be a huge deal, just something to consider.

 

[SlowmotionQue]

Your chances of a response will be much better if you contact them.

I would guess that they don't advertise it because publishing that the Stampede is 18 gauge would probably have more negative impact than positive with potential customers. That is pretty thin and is not going to compare well to its competitors. Better to just point out that it's stainless steel and leave it at that.

14 gauge on the Bull, on the other hand, would be worth pointing out. Maybe they used to or maybe it's not actually 14 gauge, I don't know. But I do know that my Stampede is 18 gauge and if I were them I wouldn't advertise that fact.

Agreed.

I'd only add that well, if there actually is a difference in metal thickness between the Bull and the Stampede, there certainly could be more than one reason why they don't advertise it, as the difference might not be even as much as some of us have made reference to 14g vs 18g.

This was an interesting post that I found on this forum earlier today.

https://www.rectecforum.com/threads/rt-700-arrived-and-assembled.508/#post-4234

Curious why you think the 680 was better made? I do have a question about the 700 construction though. I think I read that the body is supposed to be 14 gauge stainless steel, according to my very accurate calipers it is more like 16 gauge. Was the older RT 680 more like 14 gauge?

This is the only reference that I can find on the internet where someone actually claims to have done what you did and took calipers to the metal and measured.

If we're talking 16g stainless steel in the Bull vs 18g stainless steel in the Stampede, well then surely we aren't talking an appreciable difference.

According to this chart, https://www.metalsupermarkets.com/sheet-metal-gauge-chart/. you're talking 1.270mm vs 1.587mm. Roughly 0.317mm difference.

The thickness of a sheet of printer paper is 0.1mm thick. so a difference of about 3 sheets of printer paper if the 16g figure arrived at by forum member Gregg is accurate.

If the difference is that minuscule, well then that could also be a reason why it's not vigorously advertised.

 

[Johnny Volvo]

Rec Tec CS sent a reply to my email asking thickness of the bull. Chamber is 14 gauge and lid is 10 gauge.

 

[Wslayer]

Thanks all for the replies everyone. I'm sure RT is aware of, and that they Check the site periodically. I don't think it would be ineffective for them to advertise what gauge their SS is. Unless they were ashamed of it for some reason Most consumers as I will when I pull the trigger are going to ask.

 

[Uncle Bob]

When marketing a product it's sometimes necessary to choose your "battles". I doubt that RT is "afraid" to market the gauge measurement of the product, but rather they don't want to get into the kinds of additional discussions/inquiries/potential arguments, as well as competitors perhaps using whatever values are present as mis-information. They would take on the need to educate on yet another feature that isn't all that informative in general terms. The general public doesn't really understand metal gauge measurements. It would be nice to hope that with instant information available in the palm of your hand for most people that they would look it up for knowledge/understanding. But as we all know that doesn't happen in the real world as much as it could/should. This discussion for instance; a couple folks did the "research" to get a dimensional value and then do the actual measurement...………..well, for the 590, nobody has apparently done a 700 yet. Part of what makes the comparative numbers somewhat unbelievable to me is that 14 ga. is approximately 50% thicker than 18 ga., even though in the hierarchy of numbers 14 and 18 aren't very far apart. From a fabrication standpoint 50% thicker is a fairly big number for two approximately similar operationally designed pieces of equipment. As we sometimes see, folks aren't shy about complaining about a feature or operation that doesn't please them, yet we've not heard any complaints about those flimsy 590s collapsing under their own weight on the porch............

 

[SlowmotionQue]

When marketing a product it's sometimes necessary to choose your "battles". I doubt that RT is "afraid" to market the gauge measurement of the product, but rather they don't want to get into the kinds of additional discussions/inquiries/potential arguments, as well as competitors perhaps using whatever values are present as mis-information. They would take on the need to educate on yet another feature that isn't all that informative in general terms. The general public doesn't really understand metal gauge measurements. It would be nice to hope that with instant information available in the palm of your hand for most people that they would look it up for knowledge/understanding. But as we all know that doesn't happen in the real world as much as it could/should. This discussion for instance; a couple folks did the "research" to get a dimensional value and then do the actual measurement...………..well, for the 590, nobody has apparently done a 700 yet. Part of what makes the comparative numbers somewhat unbelievable to me is that 14 ga. is approximately 50% thicker than 18 ga., even though in the hierarchy of numbers 14 and 18 aren't very far apart. From a fabrication standpoint 50% thicker is a fairly big number for two approximately similar operationally designed pieces of equipment. As we sometimes see, folks aren't shy about complaining about a feature or operation that doesn't please the Bullhem, yet we've not heard any complaints about those flimsy 590s collapsing under their own weight on the porch............

Good points as always Bob. Excellent points.

FWIW, I had a discussion with one of the owners of another pellet grill made of stainless steel. The discussion moved around to this subject. Owners of that particular grill, as well as the company which makes it, are quick to tout the American made point and that this grill is all American made.

At any rate, he told me that Chinese stainless steel said to be 18g, is not as thick as 18g American stainless steel.

When he said it, I thought he was just talking up his own product. But I don't know if there is an "international standard" for what thickness, composition, etc., is considered 18g stainless steel. Is there one?

Anyway, if there was any truth to what he was telling me, well then this might explain why the gentleman above who did measure the thickness of the Bull arrived at the conclusion that it was more like 16g stainless steel according to his measurements.

Curious why you think the 680 was better made? I do have a question about the 700 construction though. I think I read that the body is supposed to be 14 gauge stainless steel, according to my very accurate calipers it is more like 16 gauge. Was the older RT 680 more like 14 gauge?

 

[Uncle Bob]

@SlowmotionQue thanks for the kind words. It's conceivable that there is a difference in precise thickness of Chinese vs "American Made" stainless, though just because a finished product is "manufactured" in the USA doesn't assure that the materials were likewise manufactured in the US. That being said, I used a gap gauge to measure metal thickness just because it's convenient and had measured my 590 similar to @pbison with his caliper. It was an easy fit to the 18 ga. gap so, yeah, it may have been ever so slightly thinner than some other 18 ga products. And this measuring of the finished product brings up another question of reliable information. I'm still skeptical of the claims of thickness for the 700 that @Johnny Volvo was given from RT. A 10 ga lid would be just slightly thicker than 1/8", a fairly heavy piece to lift without spring assist at that overall size. And is that the measurement of the bare steel or with the powder coating, which itself would add something around 5 to 10 mils per side. While this is a fun conversation it's also not all that significant since as a practical matter I don't imagine that anyone has had any negative experiences related to metal thickness. Providing braggadocios blather for some is another matter.