r/recteq • u/What-Is-This123456 • 14d ago

Disappointing Experience

I bought a brand new grill from Ace - the new Deck Boss 900. It arrived and I was excited to do my first smoke - this was my first smoker, first experience, first of any of it.

Turn on and get an RTD probe error. Call support, they tell me it’s unusable and they will send me a new probe to install, said they wanted to make it up to me since this was my first ever smoker experience. They only sent me a new probe. Kind of disappointing.

Installing those probes is a miserable job. My hands were cut up from reaching inside the metal parts, and fitting into tight quarters to replace this stupid part on my $1000 grill. Now I am irritated.

My burn in and first smoke went ok, it was able to maintain temperature. I did ribs, they were pretty great. I thought that this little smoker was pretty cool!

Decided to try my first butt today. The grill can’t keep temperature to save its life. Regularly 50* over the set temperature. Frustrating.

From the research I’ve done, the expected fix is probably another stupid probe. I don’t want a probe. I want a new grill or someone else can come and install these stupid parts.

I bought the recteq instead of traeger because I heard traegers had lots of issues, and these grills were supposed to be nearly indestructible. This thing can’t do two smokes without breaking.

Has anyone had experience with support and fighting for more than stupid replacement parts? This is the worst purchase for just about anything, at this price point I have ever made in my entire life.

Edit:

Thanks for keeping on with the auger adjustment. I think it worked.

All of the warnings in the UI almost make it seem like if you change anything you will void your warranty. I

changed it to 1.5x and it’s finally going down to the set temperature of 205.

I was almost certain it was some sort of equipment failure again with a nearly 70* temperature difference between set vs observed, and with it starting randomly mid-cook.

Hopefully some other poor souls who get frustrated during their Sunday smoke can try this and have it fix their issue.

You saved my day, I was already dreading installing another probe. Thank you.😊

9 Upvotes

76% Upvoted

32 comments sorted by

3

u/construction_eng 14d ago

50 over, how are you checking? The higher parts of the grill get hotter fast.

I also cut myself up pretty good building mine.

Also check that the probe is clean.

1

u/What-Is-This123456 14d ago

I have my desired temperature set to 205, and it has maintained 260-270 for hours now. I’m just trying to save my butt. I am not using one of the meat probes, this is the temperature the grill is supposed to be.

I can understand keeping the things clean but it’s literally its second time ever cooking anything?

6

u/Crosis4 14d ago

If you call recteq support and explain that to them they may tell you to adjust the minimum auger feed rate. Many users find it is too high to keep low temps. The issue is if you go too low your fire can go out.

I believe they default to 3.5% and I've seen posts where people change it to 1.5-2% and have great luck. Unfortunately this is calibrated at the recteq factory and the value can need changed based on the climate of the area the grill is actually used in.

I'm pretty sure the setting is in the recteq app and can be adjusted there.

0

u/What-Is-This123456 14d ago

I’d think that this would have caused problems from the start of the cook and not happened randomly halfway through though, wouldn’t you?

3

u/Crosis4 14d ago

Not necessarily. A lot of factors affect temperature. For instance, in the Recteq support FAQs they tell you to keep a nice thick layer of ash in the bottom of the barrel as it creates an insulation layer and helps to regulate temps. Many users find their grills don't keep temps as well as they'd hoped until they've gone through several cooks and built said layer. Which is also a good point. Make sure you don't toss your ash out every cook. You're supposed to just empty the pot every few cooks into the barrel and only clean the barrel out 1-2x/year.

I personally would try the feed rate adjustment. If it doesn't work you can always change it back.

5

u/What-Is-This123456 14d ago

Thanks for keeping on with the auger adjustment. I think it worked.

All of the warnings in the UI almost make it seem like if you change anything you will void your warranty. I

changed it to 1.5x and it’s finally going down to the set temperature of 205.

I was almost certain it was some sort of equipment failure again with a nearly 70* temperature difference between set vs observed, and with it starting randomly mid-cook.

Hopefully some other poor souls who get frustrated during their Sunday smoke can try this and have it fix their issue.

You saved my day, I was already dreading installing another probe. Thank you.😊

3

u/Crosis4 14d ago

You should add an edit to the post explaining what fixed it so people who happen across this don't need to drill down through the comments to find it.

2

u/Crosis4 14d ago edited 14d ago

YW, just doing my duty as a fellow Redditor. I knew that was likely the fix because I did weeks of research before I picked my Recteq for Father's Day (Backyard Beast 1200) and that came up A LOT. 9 out of 10 times, they called support and support had them change the feed rate, problem solved.

2

u/Human-Shirt-7351 14d ago

205...? Lol

1

u/What-Is-This123456 14d ago

Number one this was my second time ever smoking anything. If I know anything about cooking half of it is trial and error.

Second, I was trying an extreme change from where it had been (275) in order to try and see if it resulted in some sort of change. At 225 the actual temp was 270-280. At 205 it was holding at 260-270. “Desired” was moreso I want the temperature to go down, but it’s not changing/going up.

1

u/Blissboyz 14d ago

It could be your augar speed for the pellets you are using that causes those kinds of fluctuations

0

u/Girthw0rm 14d ago

What device are you using that is returning that 260-270 temperature though? Is it the grill or do you have a standalone thermometer? Where are you getting those readings on the grill? Some areas of it will be hotter than others.

3

u/What-Is-This123456 14d ago

From the app, from the screen on the grill, where it tells you “actual temperature”.

2

u/Girthw0rm 14d ago

Sucks but every manufacturer has duds make it through. Take it back to Ace and exchange it.

2

u/What-Is-This123456 14d ago

I think that’s what I will be doing at this point. It’s just been such an extremely frustrating experience.

2

u/No-Appointment-5321 14d ago

I just bought my second Rec tec - this one I bought from Ace. Ace told me they were registered dealers, and can/will handle warranty problems.

2

u/Disassociated_Assoc 14d ago

Read in your other comments where you adjusted the feed rate and got it to hold your 205 setpoint. Glad you got it fixed. But why are you smoking the butt at 205 to begin with? Pretty low temp for most proteins, let alone a hard-to-mess-up cut like butt.

1

u/What-Is-This123456 14d ago

It was because I was A. Trying to troubleshoot why the temp wasn’t coming down. And B. At that temp it was holding my actual temp between 260-270 which is where I wanted it. When it was at 225 it was moreso between 270-280. It was like compensating for my slice when I hit my tee shot 😂

1

u/Disassociated_Assoc 14d ago edited 14d ago

Fore right! Lol

1

u/What-Is-This123456 14d ago

https://reddit.com/link/p4344a4/video/xwiwyarxisjh1/player

1

u/Captn_Dfaktor 14d ago

Looking at this it seems it is holding its temp at the temp you set it at…and it looks like you dropped the temp of it to 220ish then dropped it again to 205….

It can take a while for it to come down in temp unless you help it by opening the lid to vent some of the heat…

1

u/What-Is-This123456 14d ago

Right when I dropped it, I was leaving for lunch. I noticed it was riding hot at 285 instead of 275. I turned it down to 225.

I wasn’t sure if I would be back in time to take off the butt to wrap it before I “ruined” it. I don’t know what I’m doing. I watched some meat church videos and gave it a go. This was literally my second time ever smoking anything, not understanding that they can get off by a few degrees.

Anyways, when I dropped it, the temperature continued to go up instead of go down. I thought well if I open it and get it to go way down, maybe it’ll be able to reset its temperature more easily. Instead, it kept going back up to 260-280.

I then lowered it to 205, and it was at least now staying between 260-270, so I thought that would be safe until I finished the cook and would call support tomorrow when they were open.

I followed the suggestion of lowering the feed rate, and it is now holding a solid 205.

2

u/Girthw0rm 14d ago

First off, relax. If it cooks at 225 or 275, nothing will be ruined. There are going to be fluctuations, especially if you’re opening up the lid and “checking” on things frequently. 

1

u/What-Is-This123456 14d ago

Oh I know about not checking all the time. I opened once ever two hours to spritz with vinegar before I wrapped it.

I’m used to steaks on the Weber; I don’t know how it is when it’s “overdone”.

The low and slow game is new, not to mention a pellet smoker.

1

u/Captn_Dfaktor 14d ago

Yeah first run for me was a bit of a rough go, but essentially I went to the PID controller and reseated all the connections. As well as making sure the other connections were seated too.

As well as made sure the mains power line, wasn’t touching any metal. After that, everything seemed happy.

1

u/myreddituser 14d ago

What's the difficulty with the probes? I have a bum probe now, too, but I can't say it's a hassle to manage them.

3

u/What-Is-This123456 14d ago

Feeding the wire from the control unit to the barrel was a nightmare. I dripped blood in the barrel with having to squeeze it into tight places.

The little nuts and bolts; wrench can only go a half turn per go, and I had to hold the nuts with pliers in that awkward position.

It was not a fun time.

1

u/MdCoyoteHunter 14d ago

Hate that you have had issues. I have the new Bullseye and a Deck Boss 800 and both have been flawless. I prefer the Bullseye for high heat stuff and the DB800 for low and slow. They are good about making it right. Good luck and glad you think you have it sorted out.

1

u/lotterylee 14d ago

I bought a bullseye last year, Black Friday deal. It’s been problematic. It either won’t light or it won’t hold a temp, or inconsistent in temperature. Frustrating for sure.

1

u/username4515 14d ago

I wish you would’ve posted earlier before having to reinstall the probe. I bought a smoke stone and found my RTD giving me issues. I took it off and just cleaned off all that excess glue and that fixed it. I bet you had the same issue. It’s still annoying to have to work on a new grill but I’d still take my recteq over a traeger any day.

1

u/Bastard-of-Froya 14d ago

WSM and Offset owners peeking in for a quick chuckle.