Trailblazer Temperature excursion question

[Mastertech59]

I hear ya @Clm65 . I am a little skeptical too. Good luck on your test. I think I am going to not use any blended flavored pellets just to be safe. What do you think @Mastertech59?

I have used several bands of blended flavored pellets and the only one I had trouble building and getting to temperature was the Pit Boss Classic Blend, I don't think this pellet blend is bad just the bag I got.

 

[Clm65]

Is internal probe clean, is it pointed straight up not close to the side, pot cleaned out real good, nothing caking up in the auger channel, no pellet dust in hopper, maybe something in control panel is acting up. Just throwing some ideas out

I cleaned the probe just before this last use, and it is straight and in its proper spot. I did vacuum the pot out after my initial problem smoke a few weeks ago, but I did not clean out the auger channel and it has been a while since I vacuumed out the hopper, so those are definitely things to check.

Now I get to share some good news...I am also having a problem with the temperature alarms on the RecTec app (used to work great, but don't work at all anymore). I tried calling customer service a few hours ago specifically for this problem, but did not get a real person before it went to their message system. I hung up without leaving a message. About an hour ago I got a call from RecTec, saying they had a missed call from my number and asked if I still had a question! What other customer service returns a missed call???? And to take it a step further, they said my controller is not the latest version and that is why my alarms don't work...so they are sending me a new controller as a warranty item! I love this company!

 

[charlesrshell]

I cleaned the probe just before this last use, and it is straight and in its proper spot. I did vacuum the pot out after my initial problem smoke a few weeks ago, but I did not clean out the auger channel and it has been a while since I vacuumed out the hopper, so those are definitely things to check.

Now I get to share some good news...I am also having a problem with the temperature alarms on the RecTec app (used to work great, but don't work at all anymore). I tried calling customer service a few hours ago specifically for this problem, but did not get a real person before it went to their message system. I hung up without leaving a message. About an hour ago I got a call from RecTec, saying they had a missed call from my number and asked if I still had a question! What other customer service returns a missed call???? And to take it a step further, they said my controller is not the latest version and that is why my alarms don't work...so they are sending me a new controller as a warranty item! I love this company!

WOW outstanding. Can't beat that. I hope it clears everything up for you. Can't wait to hear the results.

 

[Keister]

I‘m a little skeptical, but I guess it could cause a spike if each pellet is one type of wood and you got a pocket of one type of hotter burning pellets dumped in at once. I do think the auger feed rate plays a role, so maybe it is a combination of several things. I would like to get a temperature data logger and have a precise plot of the entire temperature profile on my next test, but not ready to spend a bunch of money on this yet. I do have a Thermoworks Chef Alarm that records peak temperature, so I will set that up. So far I have only been watching it periodically, so I’m not sure if I’m actually seeing the peaks.

The app does have a temperature chart so you should be able to see when the temp goes up or down during your test. You may have to take multiple screen shots for the whole test if you're want pics of the entire cook. Good luck. I've been having the same issue the last couple of days on my 340 too but I was blaming different types of pellets, I have some RT pellets and some apple wood pellets from a local store intermixed in the hopper right now. Otherwise I've never had this problem before and my feed rate is still set at default (6.5). I may vacuum out all the pellets to make sure I'm using a single brand before I start any lengthy low/slow smokes.

 

[Clm65]

The app does have a temperature chart so you should be able to see when the temp goes up or down during your test. You may have to take multiple screen shots for the whole test if you're want pics of the entire cook. Good luck. I've been having the same issue the last couple of days on my 340 too but I was blaming different types of pellets, I have some RT pellets and some apple wood pellets from a local store intermixed in the hopper right now. Otherwise I've never had this problem before and my feed rate is still set at default (6.5). I may vacuum out all the pellets to make sure I'm using a single brand before I start any lengthy low/slow smokes.

You are absolutely correct, and I do use the temperature chart to at least see the number of spikes. But the problem I have with the chart is that it either does some sort of averaging or only captures the temperature at certain intervals, so it may not show the true peaks. For example, I observed the temperature hit 252 yesterday, but the chart only shows it hitting 242. In my 6 hour smoke, I actually only had maybe 4 or 5 spikes, with 242 being the max recorded. I can live with that, as long as I know what is causing it. If it is due to blended pellets, great. But if it is due to something starting to fail, I would rather know that before the warranty runs out.

If you do go to a single pellet brand in your hopper, let us know if it makes a difference in your temperature stability.

 

[Keister]

You are absolutely correct, and I do use the temperature chart to at least see the number of spikes. But the problem I have with the chart is that it either does some sort of averaging or only captures the temperature at certain intervals, so it may not show the true peaks. For example, I observed the temperature hit 252 yesterday, but the chart only shows it hitting 242. In my 6 hour smoke, I actually only had maybe 4 or 5 spikes, with 242 being the max recorded. I can live with that, as long as I know what is causing it. If it is due to blended pellets, great. But if it is due to something starting to fail, I would rather know that before the warranty runs out.

If you do go to a single pellet brand in your hopper, let us know if it makes a difference in your temperature stability.

Will do!

 

[Keister]

As promised, yes I do get a variance between the two types of pellets (at least the ones I used). The RT ultimate blend pellets I used did just fine at maintaining low temps at the preset 6.5 feed rate. The apple wood pellets (America’s Choice) burned a bit higher at low temps and could not maintain the temp at 225, more like 240-255 until I lowered the feed rate to 4, then it held like a champ. I did another test with ribs today keeping the feed @4 using the RT pellets and it still controlled the temp just fine, so for now I’m going to just leave the feed rate at 4 and see how it does going forward as I experiment with different pellets until I find my favorite. ??
I saw where other members say fruit wood burns hotter so maybe that was the difference versus brand. I hope this was somewhat helpful.

 

[Clm65]

As promised, yes I do get a variance between the two types of pellets (at least the ones I used). The RT ultimate blend pellets I used did just fine at maintaining low temps at the preset 6.5 feed rate. The apple wood pellets (America’s Choice) burned a bit higher at low temps and could not maintain the temp at 225, more like 240-255 until I lowered the feed rate to 4, then it held like a champ. I did another test with ribs today keeping the feed @4 using the RT pellets and it still controlled the temp just fine, so for now I’m going to just leave the feed rate at 4 and see how it does going forward as I experiment with different pellets until I find my favorite. ??
I saw where other members say fruit wood burns hotter so maybe that was the difference versus brand. I hope this was somewhat helpful.

Good info! I did a couple of pork butts today, but I used the same Smokehouse pellets that were potentially giving me spikes on my last couple smokes. I did, however, use the new controller that RT sent me - I only want to change one variable at a time. I didn't monitor temps very closely, but the new controller allowed me to use the app alarms, including the one that says I'm 10 degrees above setpoint. That alarm only came in twice, and both were shortly after opening the cover for more than a couple of minutes. So it is possible that my controller was causing the problem, but I admit my data points are insufficient to draw any real conclusions.

edit: and the new controller came with a default feed rate of 3.0, in case anyone is keeping track.