Bull Rough night with my butt

[NinoRT700]

So I put a 10lb butt on to go overnight low and slow and would bump it up when i got up. Started at Lo and went from 180-225 to get it to steady out and when i got up it’s been on 250
That turned into a nightmare. All night i was getting alerts that the temp was shooting up and dropping too low and back and forth constantly. Was doing auger adjustments to try to get things to level out and was just a fight for 75% of the night with very few steady stretches.
Temp was low 50’s all night. No wind
Had to bump temp up a few times to try to find a sweet spot but even when i did you can see it was still up and down a little the whole time.

(Enjoy Thread title lol)

 

[C. Keeper]

So I put a 10lb butt on to go overnight low and slow and would bump it up when i got up. Started at Lo and went from 180-225 to get it to steady out and when i got up it’s been on 250
That turned into a nightmare. All night i was getting alerts that the temp was shooting up and dropping too low and back and forth constantly. Was doing auger adjustments to try to get things to level out and was just a fight for 75% of the night with very few steady stretches.
Temp was low 50’s all night. No wind
Had to bump temp up a few times to try to find a sweet spot but even when i did you can see it was still up and down a little the whole time.

(Enjoy Thread title lol)

Wow, sounds like your butt took a real pounding

 

[Chevys10zr2003]

That is odd. Do you think maybe you have some long pellets or something causing them not to load in the auger tube correctly? I've never had any issue like this so I am just guessing.

 

[NinoRT700]

That is odd. Do you think maybe you have some long pellets or something causing them not to load in the auger tube correctly? I've never had any issue like this so I am just guessing.

I pretty much went through all the pellets that were in there through the night so i put another bag in so im hoping that was the only issue.
I also have the 3rpm which has always made me have to adjust auger speed for different temps but it never caused the problem i was having through the night.
Just hoping this isn’t going to be the new norm

 

[kstone113]

What is the feed rate at? I've heard most who have the 3pm motor set their feed rate for 1%. That chart is crazy but it does look like it go better around 6am.

 

[Motodad1776]

I'd just put on 235 and call it a night, have personally never used the "Lo" setting, have you always had the 3 RPM auger motor? I ask because I have never had to adjust my feed rate for any ambient temp swings outside, the controller has always maintained whatever temp setting I set. Granted I have a 590, so perhaps the 700 is somehow different?

 

[NinoRT700]

What is the feed rate at? I've heard most who have the 3pm motor set their feed rate for 1%. That chart is crazy but it does look like it go better around 6am.

Ive had to run the feed rate from 1-3.5% so far. In 95* weather i had 1 to get it steady from LO to 225. After 275 i had to go 2% to go steady from that point up but recently in cold i had going 2% to keep steady at LO and 3.5% for max. Just getting crazy, hopefully it was only pellets
Also around 6am is when i went to 250 and 2.5% which was pretty steady only going back and forth a few degrees at points

 

[PRC]

Ive had to run the feed rate from 1-3.5% so far. In 95* weather i had 1 to get it steady from LO to 225. After 275 i had to go 2% to go steady from that point up but recently in cold i had going 2% to keep steady at LO and 3.5% for max. Just getting crazy, hopefully it was only pellets
Also around 6am is when i went to 250 and 2.5% which was pretty steady only going back and forth a few degrees at points

The feed rate setting only affects what the lowest temperature you can select and not get flameouts. The higher you set the % the higher your minimum temperature will be. Setting the feed rate to a higher % does not help at all with the max tempature the grill will get up to. On the 1250 I set it at 1% except when the outdoor temperature is below 20 degrees F and I want to smoke at 180-200 degrees F, then I set it at 2%. On the 1250 I found if you are cooking at 225 or higher just leave it at 1% reguardless of the outdoor temperature and it is rock solid.

 

[ol' stonebreaker]

Sounds like a pellet problem to me. This last bag of pit boss pellets has given me some temp problems. This is my 4th bag of pit boss and they have a lot of fines in them and my auger makes a lot more noise cracking pellets. Going to contact pit boss and have a chat with them.

 

[kstone113]

The feed rate setting only affects what the lowest temperature you can select and not get flameouts. The higher you set the % the higher your minimum temperature will be. Setting the feed rate to a higher % does not help at all with the max tempature the grill will get up to. On the 1250 I set it at 1% except when the outdoor temperature is below 20 degrees F and I want to smoke at 180-200 degrees F, then I set it at 2%. On the 1250 I found if you are cooking at 225 or higher just leave it at 1% reguardless of the outdoor temperature and it is rock solid.

Exactly what PRC said....only affects low temps. I think you should just go with 1%.

 

[NinoRT700]

Sounds like a pellet problem to me. This last bag of pit boss pellets has given me some temp problems. This is my 4th bag of pit boss and they have a lot of fines in them and my auger makes a lot more noise cracking pellets. Going to contact pit boss and have a chat with them.

That’s what I’m hoping it is. I pretty much ran the hopper dry with the last cook so i added a fresh bag in and I’ll just have to give like an 1hr+ run at different temps and hope for the best

 

[Grilltreats]

I have done a lot of overnight butts at 225° with the minimum feed rate set to 3.5% to avoid any flameout from high winds. I have never had an issue using Lumberjack pellets and I sleep all night without alarms. Never would I attempt an 180° overnight cook especially during the winter months. I just feel like that is just asking too much from the grill.

 

[Rileybowler]

Why should anyone have to adjust the auger, I was under the impression that the electronics told the auger what and when to do. I do know that there are problems with the bullseye not holding the correct temperature. It seems to me that every time someone has a problem with a Rec the first thing they tell you is check the length of pellets . I have a bullseye and have many problems with temperature control and I have 2 other brands and not 1 single issue with this, not trying to be a jerk just stating fact. Why even have an electronic temperature control if you cannot depend on it to hold the correct temperatures.

 

[PRC]

Why should anyone have to adjust the auger, I was under the impression that the electronics told the auger what and when to do. I do know that there are problems with the bullseye not holding the correct temperature. It seems to me that every time someone has a problem with a Rec the first thing they tell you is check the length of pellets . I have a bullseye and have many problems with temperature control and I have 2 other brands and not 1 single issue with this, not trying to be a jerk just stating fact. Why even have an electronic temperature control if you cannot depend on it to hold the correct temperatures.

The PID controller does tell the auger when to feed pellets based on the temperature it is maintaining. The feed rate only sets the minimum amount of time that the auger feeds pellets each cycle. The higher you set the feed rate the more pellets will be put in the fire pot each time the PID controllers knows it needs to add pellets to keep it on the correct temperature. It has no effect on flameouts because of high winds. In fact, I have never heard of high winds causing a flameout, I do not believe that is even possible.

 

[NinoRT700]

The PID controller does tell the auger when to feed pellets based on the temperature it is maintaining. The feed rate only sets the minimum amount of time that the auger feeds pellets each cycle. The higher you set the feed rate the more pellets will be put in the fire pot each time the PID controllers knows it needs to add pellets to keep it on the correct temperature. It has no effect on flameouts because of high winds. In fact, I have never heard of high winds causing a flameout, I do not believe that is even possible.

I’ve never had an issue with wind or outside temp causing the swings it was doing this cook. I’ve only had to adjust feed rates when temps outside are low or high.
When i do my cook this week with fresh pellets I’ll know if it was that

 

[NinoRT700]

I have done a lot of overnight butts at 225° with the minimum feed rate set to 3.5% to avoid any flameout from high winds. I have never had an issue using Lumberjack pellets and I sleep all night without alarms. Never would I attempt an 180° overnight cook especially during the winter months. I just feel like that is just asking too much from the grill.

I had it set it at 180 for 4-6hrs for the extra smoke. 50* overnight wasnt winter temps so didn’t worry and then was going to raise temp after that time. It just was not holding temp anywhere for the most part. I’m hoping it was only a pellet issue and will make my life easier if it is

 

[NinoRT700]

I'd just put on 235 and call it a night, have personally never used the "Lo" setting, have you always had the 3 RPM auger motor? I ask because I have never had to adjust my feed rate for any ambient temp swings outside, the controller has always maintained whatever temp setting I set. Granted I have a 590, so perhaps the 700 is somehow different?

Yea I’ve had it pretty much from the start.
I did testing in the summer for about 5-6hrs
Changing auger speeds to see what temps were staying steady at what feed rate. Here’s pic of post i made in summer

 

[PRC]

Changing auger speeds to see what temps were staying steady at what feed rate.

You cannot change the auger speed; the auger always runs at the same speed. The feed rate setting is simply an adjustment to the MINIMUM number of seconds the auger feeds pellet's each time the PID knows it needs to feed pellets to keep the current temperature setting.

 

[Lager1829]

You cannot change the auger speed; the auger always runs at the same speed. The rate feed setting is simply an adjustment to the MINIMUM number of seconds the auger feeds pellet's each time the PID knows it needs to feed pellets to keep the current temperature setting.

Minimum Feed Rate - the most misunderstood recteq feature.

 

[Debbydebbydebby]

Wow, sounds like your butt took a real pounding

I have the same temperature variability notifications on my RT-590