Bullseye Unexpectedly running into "riot mode" temperatures

[yergg]

I have had the RT-B380 now for about two months and for the most part I have been happy with it so far but not without this issue that is really driving me nuts.

When adjusting temperatures up after its initial position, the grill wants to almost go into "riot" mode as the temperature rises unexpectedly to over 500 and one time to over 600. In both cases I had meat on the grill and the only way to save the situation was to pull the plug and open the lid. I know this can cause other issues, but it doesn't explain why the grill is acting the way it was.

This weekend I was smoking some Chicken quarters. For the first hour I ran on Low to get some smoke in, and then for the next hour I raised the temp to 300. Everything seemed fine and walked away to do my normal thing when all of a sudden, I started to hear the smoke detectors go off. Smoke from the smoker had leaked its way into the house and opening the door I saw smoke billowing out of the smoker. The temp was reading 500+ and I could see flames coming from inside the smoker.

Again, the only thing I did was increase the temp from the initial Low setting to 300.

I have reached out to Recteq support about this anomaly at least twice and both times they determined that the smoker is operating as expected.

Anyone else out there have a similar experience with this unit?

 

[hput2]

I’ve never had that problem. I think their trying to slough it off. It sounds dangerous to me!

 

[Bradman]

I have had the RT-B380 now for about two months and for the most part I have been happy with it so far but not without this issue that is really driving me nuts.

When adjusting temperatures up after its initial position, the grill wants to almost go into "riot" mode as the temperature rises unexpectedly to over 500 and one time to over 600. In both cases I had meat on the grill and the only way to save the situation was to pull the plug and open the lid. I know this can cause other issues, but it doesn't explain why the grill is acting the way it was.

This weekend I was smoking some Chicken quarters. For the first hour I ran on Low to get some smoke in, and then for the next hour I raised the temp to 300. Everything seemed fine and walked away to do my normal thing when all of a sudden, I started to hear the smoke detectors go off. Smoke from the smoker had leaked its way into the house and opening the door I saw smoke billowing out of the smoker. The temp was reading 500+ and I could see flames coming from inside the smoker.

Again, the only thing I did was increase the temp from the initial Low setting to 300.

I have reached out to Recteq support about this anomaly at least twice and both times they determined that the smoker is operating as expected.

Anyone else out there have a similar experience with this unit?

I had that problem. I was getting major temp swings without touching it. I ended up changing the auger rate to 7.0 and that fixed all the problems I was having. Not sure if it will fix your problem but it might be worth a try.

 

[NavyHSKR]

In situations like that, I always pull the meat, raise the temp, then put the meat back on after reaching the new temp. Also cooking hind quarters, they can drop a lot of juices, and probably a good idea to have a drip pan under them to prevent flame ups.

 

[yergg]

I had that problem. I was getting major temp swings without touching it. I ended up changing the auger rate to 7.0 and that fixed all the problems I was having. Not sure if it will fix your problem but it might be worth a try.

Thanks, I will give that a whirl.

 

[yergg]

In situations like that, I always pull the meat, raise the temp, then put the meat back on after reaching the new temp. Also cooking hind quarters, they can drop a lot of juices, and probably a good idea to have a drip pan under them to prevent flame ups.

I will also keep this (remove meat then adjust) in mind. As for a drip pan, I have one but only use it on long low and slow cooks. I will make sure to put it in every time I use it from now on.

Thanks for the advice.

 

[NavyHSKR]

I will also keep this (remove meat then adjust) in mind. As for a drip pan, I have one but only use it on long low and slow cooks. I will make sure to put it in every time I use it from now on.

Thanks for the advice.

Don't need to use it on every cook, just those that might have more "drippings". Chicken thighs drip quite a bit when cooked as they have more fat in them.

 

[kstone113]

That is not normal at all. If the feed rate adjustment doesn't work, definitely give RecTec a call. Could be a bad controller.

 

[Greg Jones]

In situations like that, I always pull the meat, raise the temp, then put the meat back on after reaching the new temp. Also cooking hind quarters, they can drop a lot of juices, and probably a good idea to have a drip pan under them to prevent flame ups.

 

[Greg Jones]

I had that problem. I was getting major temp swings without touching it. I ended up changing the auger rate to 7.0 and that fixed all the problems I was having. Not sure if it will fix your problem but it might be worth a try.

Just a coincidence as the MFR has nothing to do with high temp spikes. The higher the MFR setting, the hotter the grill is going to run, at the minimum setting on the controller. In other words, a MFR setting of 7.0 may cause the grill to run at say @275° when set low vs. a MFR setting of 3.0 may cause the grill to run 180° when set to low. Lots and lots of misconceptions on minimum feed rate that have been discussed here over the years.

 

[Lager1829]

Just a coincidence as the MFR has nothing to do with high temp spikes. The higher the MFR setting, the hotter the grill is going to run, at the minimum setting on the controller. In other words, a MFR setting of 7.0 may cause the grill to run at say @275° when set low vs. a MFR setting of 3.0 may cause the grill to run 180° when set to low. Lots and lots of misconceptions on minimum feed rate that have been discussed here over the years.

The most misunderstood setting. Leave it at the factory setting unless RT support advises otherwise. They should put that in bold print in the manual.

 

[JakeR]

Ive had it happen a few times. Usually with wings , like you said , going from the smoking stage to the crisping stage. Your best bet is to keep the fire pot relatively clean all the time and the grill as clean as possible. And as stated remove the food while cranking up. Ive had fires at 350 with chicken .

Nothing worse than losing your cook right at the end.

 

[Bradman]

Just a coincidence as the MFR has nothing to do with high temp spikes. The higher the MFR setting, the hotter the grill is going to run, at the minimum setting on the controller. In other words, a MFR setting of 7.0 may cause the grill to run at say @275° when set low vs. a MFR setting of 3.0 may cause the grill to run 180° when set to low. Lots and lots of misconceptions on minimum feed rate that have been discussed here over the years.

Huh, coincidence maybe. All I know is I was having major temp swings before I made the adjustments and now I am not. I never have tried changing them back to see if maybe the temp swings were just a break In period. Next time I need an excuse to go out and have a few beers, I’ll switch it back and test it.

 

[Stryker03]

I have had the RT-B380 now for about two months and for the most part I have been happy with it so far but not without this issue that is really driving me nuts.

When adjusting temperatures up after its initial position, the grill wants to almost go into "riot" mode as the temperature rises unexpectedly to over 500 and one time to over 600. In both cases I had meat on the grill and the only way to save the situation was to pull the plug and open the lid. I know this can cause other issues, but it doesn't explain why the grill is acting the way it was.

This weekend I was smoking some Chicken quarters. For the first hour I ran on Low to get some smoke in, and then for the next hour I raised the temp to 300. Everything seemed fine and walked away to do my normal thing when all of a sudden, I started to hear the smoke detectors go off. Smoke from the smoker had leaked its way into the house and opening the door I saw smoke billowing out of the smoker. The temp was reading 500+ and I could see flames coming from inside the smoker.

Again, the only thing I did was increase the temp from the initial Low setting to 300.

I have reached out to Recteq support about this anomaly at least twice and both times they determined that the smoker is operating as expected.

Anyone else out there have a similar experience with this unit?

what type of pellets were you using?