Pellet Fan
Pit Talk -- Comments and Questions Regarding These Pellet Pits => Traeger => Topic started by: glitchy on March 27, 2019, 10:50:46 PM
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Pulled the trigger on the new Pro 575 tonight. Easily assembled 95% solo in a little over an hour. Best assembly manual ever! Will post pics showing why in days to come. Started this thread to share some info on fist few cooks as I can. It’s busy busy time with our last ever soccer season just starting and graduation just a few weeks away. Part of the rush to get his now is to be able to knock out the butts and turkey for the party in just a couple cooking sessions. I can’t fit enough on the Memphis at once.
Next up is get connected to WiFire, season and the obligatory bacon first cook 8)
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Patiently awaiting your comments.
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Patiently awaiting your comments.
and pics of the assembled unit
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I will get some pics before and during seasoning and first cook. I put it together and went to setup WiFi and Traegers stuff was down. It was at the very end of their support hours last night, so I didn't get through and decided I was tired anyway. I called them again this morning and the morning support crew came in to find the system down. I'm not excited about this, but will give them the benefit of the doubt that they've probably more than tripled their WiFire user base in the couple weeks it's been out now having it on new grills starting at half the price of their original Timberline offerings. I'm not pressing the new ignite button until the that works though.
I am very impressed with their production capacity and distribution. These things are in stock everywhere, they've invested millions getting these built and in stock in so many places. You had to search pretty hard to even see a Timberline for quite some time.
When I did flip the switch the temp was set to 165, so that could be interesting if can hold that low. Max setting on Pro is 450. As far as build quality, it seems equal to or very slightly improved from my Junior and Texas. I had zero complaints about those when I owned them. Last night I felt like the new Pro seemed a little sturdier in the build, but it's also smaller than my Texas was, so less span to flex in the lid and barrel.
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No pictures?
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Alright, I got you covered.
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Though I’m guessing you were looking for a bit more...
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Topless
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Full Centerfold
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Assembly manual. I’m not sure, but maybe the six pack is to help you forget the lawyer added hopper grate. Who actually puts this in?
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More to come, but first...Let me take a selfie
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After my son’s game last night and snapping these tease pics, I got her on WiFi and did the burn off. I had to connect to my 2.4 GHz guest network for some reason, but I’ll probably try my main again when I move her to her home instead of the garage. Firing her up for the first time she went 0-350 in right at 16 minutes. Seems pretty fast to me. Ran 20 minutes at 350 and 30 at 450. She made it to 450 and held fairly well every time I checked.
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That is one tall cover. Nice photos and write-up... Now - how does she cook?
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Did you use a probe at great level to compare temps to the controller temps?
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Did you use a probe at great level to compare temps to the controller temps?
I didn’t even think about it, but can do that sometime. We had to leave the game early to help my daughter at home and when pulled into the garage I decided there was just enough time to do the burn off so fired it up.
I may cook some bacon and burgers tonight if we get back from our college visit in time. Maybe if it’s early enough and I can find my extra pit probe I’ll try to capture a few Fireboard grate graphs at different temps.
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Here’s the new pit probe
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I’m really digging the cheapest new feature they added.
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The inside of the Pro looks just like the Ironwood that Okie posted last week minus the sidewalls and downdraft.
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Super exciting, here’s the inside of a pellet hopper. I had one extra part left after assembly, not quite sure where it goes. Hope it doesn’t affect cooking performance.
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Alight, did a graph before and during first cook. Going to have to work through some stuff. Temps are a little off on lower settings and way off on higher. Cooked some bacon, then some big burgers to eat it on. In the graph temps were 170, 225, 300, 400, 450.
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Finished product.
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Running another test today to have data to send to Traeger. I'll post my Fireboard session later on when the test is done.
Summary so far:
1. Heats up faster than any other pellet pooper I've owned
2. Temps are far more stable than my previous 2 Traegers
3. Construction seems more refined. Metal is not heavier, but design has been more refined
Problem:
Temps are way off at higher temps
I put in the upper shelf and mounted my Fireboard probe to that for the test. Less than two inches from the Traeger pit probe.
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Here’s the graph, 250-350-450 were grill settings. Way off at 350 and 450.
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I don't know if I would be concerned about that. Place the temp probe on the grill grate and see how far it is off from the controller. That is the real test for me. Once I know how far it is off, I adjust the controller to get to the grill grate temp I desire.
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I don't know if I would be concerned about that. Place the temp probe on the grill grate and see how far it is off from the controller. That is the real test for me. Once I know how far it is off, I adjust the controller to get to the grill grate temp I desire.
Except it took me 90 minutes to ‘grill’ a package of bacon and some burgers starting at a set temp of 400 then moving to 450 after I saw how far off it was. The charts are posted of temps at the grate a few posts back showing the same discrepancy. If Traeger advertises you can smoke, bake and grill, the pit needs to be able to get to 400-450 degrees.
I bought this mostly for extra smoking capacity and smoking greasier cuts, but also want to be able to grill some burgers or chicken breasts for lunch if the Memphis is smoking something for dinner or to be able to ‘bake’ some bread and potatoes to go with whatever is on the Memphis.
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what kind of pellets did you use? is it the same as you use on the memphis?
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what kind of pellets did you use? is it the same as you use on the memphis?
Traeger Hickory. Use them all the time on the Memphis when I don't have CookinPellets or find Traeger pellets on sale locally and stock up.
I guess how I'm seeing the problem is the Traeger pit probe is way off at high temps. The controller truly believes that the grill is at 440-450 degrees, when the actual temperature at the probe (and pretty much at the grate from what I saw in my first test) is more like 360. A medium well burger after 45 minutes at 450 'Traeger' degrees, shows that my Fireboard is at the real temp or much much closer. There's no way the real temp is 83 degrees different in that 1.75" gap between the probes in this test. My analysis of the data is making me believe this:
At Traeger probe temp of 250, actual is 225 to 250 (very acceptable)
At 350, actual is 285-300 (not acceptable)
At 450, actual is 350-370 (beyond not acceptable)
If temps were simply 25 degrees off between the probe location and the grate, I could deal with that. Set the grill to 375 to bake at 350, easy stuff. It's just that the probe itself is completely out of whack. Hopefully it's something they can fix with a firmware update or a new pit probe.
Disclaimer: This is in no way an attempt to bash Traeger. I'm just sharing the information I'm finding for others interested in the new models. I'm in no hurry to try to return the grill or anything and hope to work with Traeger on a solution. I like the grill. I like the simplicity of their mobile app, the WiFi seems stable. I LOVE that they've really reduced the temperature swings. I have also found another forum where a few others are talking about the exact same issue, so this is not an isolated problem. Not sure if that is good or bad. It would be nice to just write it off to a bad pit probe, but if it's that, they must have a bad batch and not just mine.
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all interesting information...I hope they resolve the issue for you and for others. keep us updated
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I guess how I'm seeing the problem is the Traeger pit probe is way off at high temps. The controller truly believes that the grill is at 440-450 degrees, when the actual temperature at the probe (and pretty much at the grate from what I saw in my first test) is more like 360. A medium well burger after 45 minutes at 450 'Traeger' degrees, shows that my Fireboard is at the real temp or much much closer. There's no way the real temp is 83 degrees different in that 1.75" gap between the probes in this test. My analysis of the data is making me believe this:
At Traeger probe temp of 250, actual is 225 to 250 (very acceptable)
At 350, actual is 285-300 (not acceptable)
At 450, actual is 350-370 (beyond not acceptable)
I saw a similar conversation on a FB group the other day. I didn't see a resolution there, but the person was in contact with Traeger. Was that perhaps you, or another person having similar issues?
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I saw a similar conversation on a FB group the other day. I didn't see a resolution there, but the person was in contact with Traeger. Was that perhaps you, or another person having similar issues?
That wasn't me. I did reach out to them yesterday after compiling my data though and am anxiously awaiting their response. I tried to call first, but decided after waiting just a few minutes on hold to hang up and send an e-mail so I could send them the pictures they'd probably need anyway. I'm trying hard to be patient since they've just come out with these. The part that's hard is I saw a tweet or e-mail bragging about the 100,000 hours plus of testing they put into the new D2 grills :o
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Wide temp fluctuation and inability to get to above 400* has been the main c/o in the past. On the other hand, as a low slow smoker, I often got great results! Main reason I replaced Lil Tex was to get better temp control for high heat cooks. I never got satisfaction when calling tech. to fix that problem. Sorry to hear this on your unit. But for low/slow you should have good results. The person who ended up with mine has gotten great service out of it and it has yet to require a hot rod. He has learned how to do steaks and chops to his own satisfaction at lower temps by using GrillGrates.
I have a question for you:
What is your opinion on the heat deflector? It is SS but much thinner than the original style (which almost always warped). Have you looked at it while on high with the drip pan removed? Otherwise I like the design concept and it will always be in place. I really do like the double bottom and sides.
:2cents:
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I’m not one that cares how thick the metal is. IMO, it’s all about the quality of the steel and the finish. Have you seen many rusty Weber’s? Their metal is about as thin as anyone’s. The new deflector and controller combo definitely provides much more stable temps than my past Traegers if we can just get the pit probe reading right above 300, I think I’ll be very happy. No response yet though from support >:(
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This is becoming a topic of great interest to me, not that I have a Traeger ( had one ) . Please keep us abreast of your saga.
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Sent an email Sunday with pics, but still have heard anything. Sent follow up this evening asking for an acknowledgement that they even received it. Joined a FB Traeger group where I found a post that has many new D2 Pro users with this problem. Not sure if it’s all Pro grills with the issue, but haven’t seen anyone say or show theirs is right at high temps. Sounds like Ironwoods and Timberlines might be OK though, so guessing the forked up forking the code for the controller differences. Pure speculation though at this point. I say that because some original Timberline owners say they had same exact problem when they came out a couple years ago.
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I finally received a response from Traeger a short while ago. This is what they said. Tell me what you'd think of this response:
Thank you for reaching out the Traeger Support team. We're sorry for the late response.
We're sorry to hear about your grill's temperature fluctuation. We apologize for the inconvenience that this issue had caused you. We'd like you to try the following steps to help fix the issue of your grill.
Traeger Grills are going to fluctuation in temperature. This is completely normal. It occurs in your electric home ovens, and will occur on your grill.
What should you expect your temperature fluctuations to be? On average, over at least a one hour cook, in nice weather, your fluctuations should be no more than +/- 25 degrees.
If proper expectations are established. and grill is outside performance parameters, follow troubleshooting steps.
1. Ensure proper startup.
2. Ensure Shutdown was done properly, if both are good, continue to next steps.
3. Check pellet quality.
4. Clean grill (Especially fire pot).
5. Check the ambient temperature when starting the grill and make sure it is within +/- 10 degrees.
6. Check the grill components to make sure they are in good condition (Fan, Auger Motor)
7. Check internal integrity (drip tray, fire pot, heat baffle).
7.1. No holes form rusting through, some warping is okay and will at most create a small hot spot.
8. Repeated Opening and closing of the lid too often can cause temperature issue.
If the above troubleshooting steps don't fix the issue, please do not hesitate to contact us again at 1-800-TRAEGER and we'll see next available options for you.
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Here's what I originally sent them along with the pics from replies 21 & 22 in this thread:
I have a new Pro 575 that I purchased earlier this week. I'm finding that after a couple cooks and test sessions the temperatures the grill thinks it is at and the actual temperatures are way off when at higher temperature settings. At lower temperatures, this issue does not exist. What I am finding:
At Traeger pit/controller read temp of 250, actual is 225-250
At Traeger pit/controller read temp of 350, actual is 285-300
At Traeger pit/controller read temp of 450, actual is 350-370
After finding that it took 90 minutes to cook a package of bacon and some burgers at 400-450 degrees, I tested the temps against the grills readings using a calibrated pit probe mounted less than 2 inches from the grills built in control probe. I am attaching the graph from the test session. It ran at 3 different temps, 250, 350, and 450. It shows the data supporting the summary I put above. I'm also attaching pics showing the location of my monitoring probe in relation to the controller probe. I need your assistance in resolving this issue to be able to grill and bake on my new Traeger.
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The response was an off the shelf answer. They either didn't read and/or understand the information you sent them, don't care , too busy, or it may be a wait and see tactic as there are trying to resolve the
issue...Then again, as the pit has new components, there is little customer exposure so Traeger is waiting to evaluate more reports. Someone has to be first to report a problem... That begs the question. Why
would a new product be released partially proven? You may want to see if there is a more superior person you can discuss this with. There most definitely was several years ago..Keep @ it!
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My interpretation of their response...We sell a boatload of grills, 98% of the folks who buy our product have no idea there is a fluctuation, and you will eventually go away...
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The response was an off the shelf answer. They either didn't read and/or understand the information you sent them, don't care , too busy, or it may be a wait and see tactic as there are trying to resolve the
issue...Then again, as the pit has new components, there is little customer exposure so Traeger is waiting to evaluate more reports. Someone has to be first to report a problem... That begs the question. Why
would a new product be released partially proven? You may want to see if there is a more superior person you can discuss this with. There most definitely was several years ago..Keep @ it!
Ditto to John's comments.
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I’m guessing they get the fluctuation question multiple times a day...but if they would have really read, they’d see I wasn’t talking about the same thing. I asked them to escalate my issue. I do see a lot of promise to this grill, I just want to be somewhat accurate on temps and be able to get to and hold 400. I have my Memphis when I need more.
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Not a proper response given the data in the email, and definitely a canned statement. Make sure there are no holes from rusting through your brand new D2 Pro 575 ;) I'd ask them if that was something you truly had to be worried about even with it being so new.
I'd certainly be calling them as that is what they indicate should happen next.
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I will probably call sometime too, when I have enough time...I’ve spent a lot of time on hold already and had to give up to get going somewhere.
Put the front shelf on today and am cooking some beef ribs since I don’t need to get too hot.
I went a little OCD and drained the hopper of Traeger pellets, vacuumed it out after only like 3 hours of run time, very lightly oiled the inside of the barrel, then filled with CookinPellets hickory. Trying to keep the ash down since it’s a very lightly seasoned pit and a little breezy today.
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I finally had time to wait on hold for 10-15 minutes and was able to talk to them. They are sending me a new probe. Fingers crossed.
The pit cooked good yesterday and held consistent temps very well. Any big drop on the graph was cook opening the lid. I also raised the temp about 25 degrees at the end. Notice it doesn’t go up that much, 275-300 is where it really starts to diverge from accurate readings.
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Update on my 575. Traeger was back ordered on the replacement RTDs. I finally got mine last week, but several others on the owners group got theirs first and beat me to installing it and testing it. They all still had the same temperature problems, so I didn't even bother installing mine. Since this, Traeger has supposedly finally admitted that they are investigating these problems on the Pro 575 and 780, but have no idea when they will have a fix.
I do like the grill so far, but these temp issues need to get fixed so I can cook between 350-450 when needed. So, I'm really struggling with waiting indefinitely for a resolution or returning it and going without a second pit for now or spending even more to replace it with an Ironwood (they supposedly haven't had this issue with that series).
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Curious, if you return it, and are thinking of spending more or even the same to replace it, why stay with Treager when there are endless options out there today and just about every pricepoint.
Please don't think I am trying to be a D I am just curious that is all.
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Curious, if you return it, and are thinking of spending more or even the same to replace it, why stay with Treager when there are endless options out there today and just about every pricepoint.
Please don't think I am trying to be a D I am just curious that is all.
Unlike many on here, I am not a Traeger hater. I've tried other brands and quite honestly have been very disappointed compared to the 3 Traegers I've owned. If I knew what I know now, I'd have bought a Timberline a year ago instead of a Memphis. I was looking for the one grill to do it all and spent way too much money on a grill that still didn't fit the one for everything bill. It's an amazing grill as long as you never want to change temperatures once you start a cook (and always start with a clean grill). No reverse searing any meat with fat in it, no cranking up your grill at the end of a long cook to bake desert, bread, etc. I had a GMG and that was one of the worst product experiences of my life. I couldn't make it do anything right. Soot covered food, never could connect to WiFi, was considerably rusty after a year when kept under a cover and a roof. I replaced controllers, spent hours on the phone with support, even had a regional rep at my house looking over my grill. As many as they sell, I probably just got a lemon.
Sure, Traeger fell behind on innovation for a LONG while, but they also spent a lot of years perfecting the product first. Other grills may be made from thicker steel, but that doesn't mean they have as good of finish, other grills may hold closer temps, but that doesn't mean something in their design won't blow ash/soot all over your food. Others may get hotter, but that doesn't mean they won't have numerous grease fires.
Every design has it's pluses and minuses, but Traeger has lots of practice, easy availability, and a huge market share that people target with custom mods. So, why not a Traeger? Instead of gambling yet again on something that has no local dealership to see, touch, test the grill? Am I saying Traeger is better than Memphis? Absolutely not, but is a Memphis the perfect one grill for everything either? Not for me.
Edit: BigDave83, I just wanted to say I didn’t take anything iill from you question, just sharing my reasoning behind my choice. The is a secondary pit, so I don’t want to spend the kind of money to get another American made grill and if going Chinese, might as well go with the one easiest to get, repair, and upgrade. I know what I can and cannot do on a Traeger so I don’t have to learn the cons of another brand/design.
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You can drive to my house and pick up my Traeger XL for a good price ;D
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You can drive to my house and pick up my Traeger XL for a good price ;D
LOL, If I catered or did a lot of parties, I might take you up on that. I really think the new models have a lot of promise though. I like their WiFi and the temps seem to hold very steady even though they are off.
My whole intent with this thread is just to share what I’m finding. I hope they fix the issue before I give up and I should be happy. I’ve learned a lot the last few years trying lots of grills and figured out I’m probably best with two pellet grills even though I don’t use them enough to really justify it. At his time of my life, I tend to be able to slow cook 2-3 times a month and usually want to throw several things on to eat some now and save some for later. Mixing the temps, all the grease, etc. doesn’t work well on one pit. I could probably supplement that with charcoal, but I’m not wanting to spend that much time tending to it.
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BTW, If you try hard, you can fit four shoulders on the 575.
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Thank you for your input, I appreciate it. It is always nice to hear peoples thoughts on why or why not they chose a product.
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I can understand the need for more than one pit considering I have 5 and am looking at buying a 6th. I would like to get to 4, but may stay with 5 if I can't find one that does wings as good as one I would like to get rid of.
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Even the folks touting a Memphis (or other) as a single solution appliance .. they sous vide or instant pot or blackstone griddle etc etc etc.
Capacity, different temperatures, different dishes are all good reasons to have more than one pit/appliance.
DK
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I wouldn't actually call myself a Traeger 'hater', I own three Traegers. But then , other then the actual joy I've had to be able to cook with pellets on my first pellet grill, the Traeger Junior, I can't really say much good about them. Well, that's not entirely true... I've never had hard fast failures, even after basically severely neglecting mine and then turning them on to figure out they still actually work.
The bad is, I've never had a Traeger that I really love... The temperature holding ability is really bad on all three I own. Yeah, I can cook on all three of them, but not nearly as confident in any of the three as I am with my Fast Eddy, or even with the Rec Tec Stampede I own.
To see that Traeger switched to a new style controller had me very optimistic that they could put most of their temperature control issues to bed... But based on this report, I would say they apparently missed their chance to actually get things right. Maybe your's is a one off issue, but I somehow doubt it.
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Traeger is how I got started cooking with pellets. Having to learning it's idiosyncrasies taught me a lot. Was I grateful for the learning curve? Yes.. Knowing what I know now would I do it again (Traeger)?
No..
Those were the earlier days of pellet grills. To day the advancements have lead to more controllable, long lasting, better finishes and more user friendly pits..Premium brands have proven this adding
longevity to the mix as well as some extra features.." You have come a long way baby ".
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To see that Traeger switched to a new style controller had me very optimistic that they could put most of their temperature control issues to bed... But based on this report, I would say they apparently missed their chance to actually get things right. Maybe your's is a one off issue, but I somehow doubt it.
Actually, the new controller seems to hold a temp very nice, it's just not the temp you think it is at higher settings. You're right about it not being a one off. It's very widespread on the new Pro models, but the new Ironwood and Timberline don't seem to have the problems. Maybe they are using a different RTD on the Pros with different resistance or something (maybe their supplier isn't producing the right specs either). I'm sure they'll get it figured out and I'll report more after they do if I have the patience to wait. I bought it from a store with the old Sears like 'Your Satisfaction is Guaranteed' return policy just in case I found something like this. I haven't done much with it lately as I've been focused on my son's graduation and final season of soccer, haven't even kept up with the owner's group to see if anyone else has updates on the issue. Last I heard was they were acknowledging a Pro model problem and had instructed customer service to quit throwing parts at the problem until they've come up with a good fix. As well, man people have wrapped the RTD in aluminum foil and have gotten much closer on high temps. I haven't tried this myself, but haven't fired it up in 3-4 weeks either.
Other pellet grills manufacturers have changed part designs repeatedly and had numerous firmware updates trying to fix problems. This isn't unique to Traeger. At one time GMG even had a cold weather firmware and a warm weather version.
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Three months in and still no update for the temperature problem and it still seems pretty widespread. I talked to the dealer I purchased from and they are willing to take it back, so I will probably return it as I'm afraid if I wait too much longer they will no longer accept it. Watching the Traeger forum and Facebook groups the problems seem pretty widespread and people claim to be fed all kinds of strange information from Traeger support like how the grill somehow reads from 3 spots inside the cooking chamber (with a single RTD) and averages them, so any comparison using other thermometers cannot be accurate as well as everyone being told this is the first Traeger has heard of the issue when they call. I understand that there's a delicate balance between when to pull or hold a product, publicly admitting a bug, and just pretending it doesn't exist. However, it cannot be good for your reputation to tell customers they are stupid and say there's no problems with their product.
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Three months in and still no update for the temperature problem and it still seems pretty widespread. I talked to the dealer I purchased from and they are willing to take it back, so I will probably return it as I'm afraid if I wait too much longer they will no longer accept it. Watching the Traeger forum and Facebook groups the problems seem pretty widespread and people claim to be fed all kinds of strange information from Traeger support like how the grill somehow reads from 3 spots inside the cooking chamber (with a single RTD) and averages them, so any comparison using other thermometers cannot be accurate as well as everyone being told this is the first Traeger has heard of the issue when they call. I understand that there's a delicate balance between when to pull or hold a product, publicly admitting a bug, and just pretending it doesn't exist. However, it cannot be good for your reputation to tell customers they are stupid and say there's no problems with their product.
I think most Traeger users have no clue that this may or may not be a problem. You have quite a bit of experience compared to most users is my guess. If you are unhappy and have an opportunity to return it, I would too.
I remember when I first saw swings with my Traeger XL probably 8 years ago or so (maybe 10). The dealer came out and wasn't much help. Traeger sent a new controller and I kept the one that was replacement. After many years of experience on these forums, I am not sure there is any problem with the original controller. I think it is just the way the controller/grill functioned. I didn't know any better and apparently Traeger tech support doesn't either. It was easier (maybe or maybe not cheaper) for them to just send me a new controller.
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Thanks Bar-B-Lew, what's funny is satisfaction really isn't the core issue, I actually like the grill. If I was even 90% certain that they'd get the temp issue fixed, I'd keep it. The grill just flat out lies to you at higher temps. I'm not sure I even need it to get to 450, but I feel like products should perform as advertised, especially from a company that is marketing centric and selling imported products at premium prices. What I'm most scared of is a real problem that makes the grill non-function and not being able to get support to get it fixed.
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I returned this last night. I still liked the grill, but with no resolution in sight, I didn’t feel I could wait indefinitely to see IF they fixed it. Then today someone posted on the Traeger owners forum today that they are pushing an update over next few days and he got a support manager to send it to his grill fixing the problem, good grief.
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I returned this last night. I still liked the grill, but with no resolution in sight, I didn’t feel I could wait indefinitely to see IF they fixed it. Then today someone posted on the Traeger owners forum today that they are pushing an update over next few days and he got a support manager to send it to his grill fixing the problem, good grief.
Welp, ya can always buy it again, maybe from some place else! ;)