RT590 High fire

[BlowingSmoke]

So my first RT590 was damaged in shipping, I contacted customer service and they gave me the option to send me the parts to repair the grill or ship me a new one. They let me use the damaged one while I waited (which was extremely awesome of them) and I’ve had the new grill for probably 6 weeks. The new grill doesn’t seem to come up to temp as quickly and on full doesn’t seem to get nearly as hot. Using RecTeq pellets and have also tried perfect mix and lumberjack. Does everything else right.
Damaged grill would preheat to 400 in 10-15min and on full saw 550+
New grill I’ve never seen get to 500 and if I set to 400 it takes 20minutes unless I set it higher first and then turn it down to what I want. Keeps temp extremely well once there.
Ideas? I know there’s a low fire adjustment, is there a high? I’ve pulled apart and vacuumed often.

 

[Dougfresh]

That’s about how mine operates. Takes a little while to get to 400 plus. Have you checked the minimum feed rate?

 

[BlowingSmoke]

Minimum fire on my new grill came set at 3%. I don’t know for sure what it was set at on the first one but from what I read I thought that only matters for low temp operating? Am I wrong on that?

 

[SmokeZilla]

I was just reading one of the other posts on this site (wish I remembered who so I could give him/her proper credit), but they discovered their internal temp probe was leaning against the interior side of their grill creating a heat sink like situation. When in that position, it was keeping the grill around 350 degrees. Don’t know if that will help you but I thought I’d give it a mention.

 

[Clm65]

Minimum fire on my new grill came set at 3%. I don’t know for sure what it was set at on the first one but from what I read I thought that only matters for low temp operating? Am I wrong on that?

At a lower auger speed, you are adding a small amount of fuel (pellets) in a given period of time, which is appropriate for low temperatures. If you want high temperatures, you need to add enough fuel to reach and maintain the higher temperature. If the auger setting is too low, along with other external factors such as low ambient temperature, it may be hard to achieve high Smoker temperatures. I would try increasing the feed rate a bit and see how it responds. And do you know what the feed rate was on the original grill?

 

[Greg Jones]

At a lower auger speed, you are adding a small amount of fuel (pellets) in a given period of time, which is appropriate for low temperatures. If you want high temperatures, you need to add enough fuel to reach and maintain the higher temperature. If the auger setting is too low, along with other external factors such as low ambient temperature, it may be hard to achieve high Smoker temperatures. I would try increasing the feed rate a bit and see how it responds. And do you know what the feed rate was on the original grill?

With all respect, that information is just not accurate. First, the auger speed does not change-it is fixed. A pellet grill regulates the feed rate by starting and stopping the auger. The minimum feed rate setting is just what it says it is, the minimum feed rate of pellets to the fire pot. The only reason for a minimum feed rate, as opposed to letting the controller have complete control, is to avoid flame outs at low temperature settings.

Once the user has set the target temperature of the grill to a point that is higher that what can be reached at the minimum feed rate, the controller has complete control of adjusting the feed rate up or down to match actual grill temperature to desired grill temperature. The minimum feed rate setting does not have any bearing whatsoever of how hot the grill can get. No need to take my word on this-a quick call to recteq support will confirm this.

 

[Clm65]

With all respect, that information is just not accurate. First, the auger speed does not change-it is fixed. A pellet grill regulates the feed rate by starting and stopping the auger. The minimum feed rate setting is just what it says it is, the minimum feed rate of pellets to the fire pot. The only reason for a minimum feed rate, as opposed to letting the controller have complete control, is to avoid flame outs at low temperature settings.

Once the user has set the target temperature of the grill to a point that is higher that what can be reached at the minimum feed rate, the controller has complete control of adjusting the feed rate up or down to match actual grill temperature to desired grill temperature. The minimum feed rate setting does not have any bearing whatsoever of how hot the grill can get. No need to take my word on this-a quick call to recteq support will confirm this.

Thanks for the clarification, I was under the impression that the speed lowered, and the duration that the auger runs is controlled to (try to) match demand. Learn something new every day!

 

[Greg Jones]

Thanks for the clarification, I was under the impression that the speed lowered, and the duration that the auger runs is controlled to (try to) match demand. Learn something new every day!

Glad to help out! I probably should mention that the feed rate of pellets is not the only factor that controls temperature. Unlike the auger, the fan is variable speed and will speed up/slow down, even shut off, to adjust the amount of oxygen supplied to the fire. That’s why the grill starts to sound like a plane taking off if the lid is left open for too long.