Have You Experienced A Lid Pop: If So when Did You Purchase Your Smoker

[RHEINLEIN]

I bought mine in August 2021 as well. No lid detonations ever. I believe I did come close after shutting down directly from 400 to off one time just about when this started becoming a topic. I no longer do that. I have started with lid closed and lid open with no meaningful difference other than piece of mind with the lid open. I clean out everything before/after long cooks and manually re-prime the fire pot with a small handful of pellets after cleaning. My igniter extrudes about 1/16 of an inch from the housing.

The igniter rod on my new 590 is flush or slightly recessed.
The last two cook it would not light unless I made 2 startup cycles.
By then the pot is 40% full of pellets.
Can the igniter protrude too far?
I am thinking of adjusting out 1/8” proud (beyond face)

Hoping that will correct.

 

[Waterboy]

The igniter rod on my new 590 is flush or slightly recessed.
The last two cook it would not light unless I made 2 startup cycles.
By then the pot is 40% full of pellets.
Can the igniter protrude too far?
I am thinking of adjusting out 1/8” proud (beyond face)

Hoping that will correct.

The farther it protrudes out the more chance of damaging it when you clean the pot.

 

[RHEINLEIN]

The farther it protrudes out the more chance of damaging it when you clean the pot.

Got it. I normally just vacuum the pot.
How about you?

 

[Waterboy]

Got it. I normally just vacuum the pot.
How about you?

Mostly I do too but I’ve had to get a couple of stubborn clinkers in the past and used a pice of wood to pop them out. Not likely to hurt anything with a stick but the farther that thing sticks out to more leverage you can apply to it. 1/8” probably won’t hurt but is more than needed IMO. You’d get great ignition though.

 

[Nerdygrrl]

Got it. I normally just vacuum the pot.
How about you?

This was posted in my failed to start thread and taken from the RT video on how to install your ignitor rod. I know these aren't Traeger's, but this was the placement of my hot rod in the Traeger as well.

When I asked customer service for their recommendation I was told flush to 1/16th back is is fine and that a recessed ignitor is not an issue (shrug). Protruding is not an issue except for risk of damage.

Love the consensus over there.

 

[RHEINLEIN]

This was posted in my failed to start thread and taken from the RT video on how to install your ignitor rod. I know these aren't Traeger's, but this was the placement of my hot rod in the Traeger as well.

When I asked customer service for their recommendation I was told flush to 1/16th back is is fine and that a recessed ignitor is not an issue (shrug). Protruding is not an issue except for risk of damage.

Love the consensus over there.

View attachment 19853

@Nerdygrrl did you adjust yours?

 

[RHEINLEIN]

Mostly I do too but I’ve had to get a couple of stubborn clinkers in the past and used a pice of wood to pop them out. Not likely to hurt anything with a stick but the farther that thing sticks out to more leverage you can apply to it. 1/8” probably won’t hurt but is more than needed IMO. You’d get great ignition though.

Should the igniter rod break, I do not see a replacement part available on the RT website. I doubt they would provide a replacement if it were broken by the user ?

 

[Nerdygrrl]

@Nerdygrrl did you adjust yours?

Nope, it's going back. Just waiting for the plumbing company downstairs to get a box big enough.

 

[Nerdygrrl]

Should the igniter rod break, I do not see a replacement part available on the RT website. I doubt they would provide a replacement if it were broken by the user ?

The risk of break is smaller than risk of smoke explosions.

 

[C. Keeper]

Nope, it's going back. Just waiting for the plumbing company downstairs to get a box big enough.

Poor grill
So much for a forever home

 

[Motodad1776]

Poor grill
So much for a forever home

Perhaps a $3k Yoder would be a better option, the more you pay, the better it has to be.......right?

 

[Nerdygrrl]

Poor grill
So much for a forever home

Not interested in letting the dog have another chance to take a second bite. What's that saying? Fool me once shame on you. Fool me twice shame on me.

Given my experience with customer service and the lying and gaslighting, RT is not a company I want to support. There are plenty of equivalent smokers out there, that smoke just as well if not better. It would be one thing if they really set themselves above, but they have not.

I'm not beholden to some fan boy attachment to my smoker. It doesn't do what I need it to do, and the company and I have very different values.

 

[Threadcutter]

Not interested in letting the dog have another chance to take a second bite. What's that saying? Fool me once shame on you. Fool me twice shame on me.

Given my experience with customer service and the lying and gaslighting, RT is not a company I want to support. There are plenty of equivalent smokers out there, that smoke just as well if not better. It would be one thing if they really set themselves above, but they have not.

I'm not beholden to some fan boy attachment to my smoker. It doesn't do what I need it to do, and the company and I have very different values.

Curious........have you researched any competitor's units and if so, are you leaning in any particular direction ?

When I'm shopping fro a new grille, I'm going to give Yoder a long, hard look. Some of that has to do with @Greg Jones experience/feedback. I'm not getting any younger and screwing around with any appliance to fix what I consider to be design problems is not high on my list of priorities.

 

[SmokeOCD]

I'd really like a MAK next, all stainless. I've got about 5 years warranty left on the 1070 - so I need to start saving now. Another option is just buy whatever Costco is selling - you can return it any time regardless of warranty if you're not happy with it for a full refund.

 

[Threadcutter]

I'd really like a MAK next, all stainless. I've got about 5 years warranty left on the 1070 - so I need to start saving now. Another option is just buy whatever Costco is selling - you can return it any time regardless of warranty if you're not happy with it for a full refund.

I did hearing aids through Costco. They ARE the shizzle.

 

[C. Keeper]

I did hearing aids through Costco. They ARE the shizzle.

 

[Nerdygrrl]

Curious........have you researched any competitor's units and if so, are you leaning in any particular direction ?

When I'm shopping fro a new grille, I'm going to give Yoder a long, hard look. Some of that has to do with @Greg Jones experience/feedback. I'm not getting any younger and screwing around with any appliance to fix what I consider to be design problems is not high on my list of priorities.

I had two Gen One Timberlines previously that were rock solid. Never an issue. I sold my 850 to buy the 1300 and sold the 1300 when I had to move and didn't know where I was landing or for how long. There is a lot to like about those units.

Everything I have heard about Yoder has been A++. A friend of mine in CA has one. They are a bit above my pay grade so I try not to think Yoder thoughts.

I have my Weber Summit here and a BGE, so the pellet is more about convenience cooking for me as the BGE is a way better smoker. Somebody near me is selling one of those funky Grilla pellet smokers dirt cheap. I may buy that just to play around with until next spring/summer or I will just pull the trigger on another Timberline. I really like the barrel height of the Timberlines. The extra clearance made larger cooks a bit easier

This smoker is no better or worse than any other unit out there in its price class. It's not as infallible as people claim and the customer service in my experience has been a joke. It's fine for what it is. My issue is less with the smoker now that I have identified the issue and is instead with the company and how they go about handling it.

There is a lot to like with these units, and as with any product or company there is also a lot to approve upon. Unfortunately it will take a class action lawsuit for RT to wake up.

 

[Motodad1776]

So why didn't keep the Timberlines, assume just wore them out, why not buy another if were good overall for you? I still say most don't have real issues with their RT, but agree that RT tech support sucks and the company doesn't "appear" overly enthused to stand by their products or to admit to real issues/faults.

 

[Motodad1776]

I'd really like a MAK next, all stainless. I've got about 5 years warranty left on the 1070 - so I need to start saving now. Another option is just buy whatever Costco is selling - you can return it any time regardless of warranty if you're not happy with it for a full refund.

Holy crap, I can buy 2 RT 590's for the price of their cheapest and tiny model!!!

 

[Nerdygrrl]

So why didn't keep the Timberlines, assume just wore them out, why not buy another if were good overall for you? I still say most don't have real issues with their RT, but agree that RT tech support sucks and the company doesn't "appear" overly enthused to stand by their products or to admit to real issues/faults.

It's pretty clearly stated in the first paragraph of the post you just replied to. I could go into more detail on why I didn't store my 1300 if you would like. It was a first Gen, and I wanted to upgrade to a D2 controller. I wasn't sure if I would have room for the 1300 nor if I was going to need the cooking space so it made sense to sell it and put the cash towards the move. FF to May after my move and when I was looking to pull the trigger and went down this road.

You can say most don't have issues, and that's whatever but how many people had to adjust their heating rods to avoid smoke explosions, how many start with their lids open to avoid smoke explosions, how many smoke explosions have been documented?

RT knows of all of this and the solution is very simple. One sentence added to their assembly manual.