Hello! + Some Questions

[wsamon]

Hi all. I'm a brand new owner of a used RT-680. It's a little rough around the edges, but I was able to fire it up yesterday for a minute or so and it seemed to work fine. I'm going to be reconditioning it a bit, including some sanding and repainting, fixing a broken wheel, etc. then look forward to using it for my first ever pellet grill cook this weekend.

I just thought I'd say hi and see if anyone has any tips for me. A couple small things that I'm curious about:

1) The "nose ring" handle is a little chipped up and rusty but I don't see it available on the Rec Tec site. Any idea how I could get a new one or refinish this one?

2) The hopper lid doesn't quite close all the way. There's no visible gap, but put weight on it and it goes down another 3/8" or so. Is this a problem?

3) I live in a warm, humid, sometimes rainy area (FL). Do you suggest keeping it covered or uncovered? I hear conflicting things, and a gas grill that I keep covered is developing a rust hole on the bottom of the main chamber, possibly due to water getting underneath the cover and not being able to escape.

4) Has anyone done any mods that make it easier to remove unused pellets? This thing holds a ton, and I would love to keep them in the hopper for ease of use, but since the grill will be stored outside in a humid environment I'll probably need to remove them after every cook. Buying a separate shop vac just for my grill hopper seems a little silly, and I'm definitely not using my dirty all-purpose one on pellets I plan to use again. Plus, it would be sweet to be able to change pellet types mid smoke.

5) For that matter, has anyone tried to make the hopper lid air-tight, thus reducing the impact of being stored in a humid environment?

6) Even though there's some rust, I've read that repainting the inside of the grill may not be worthwhile since it's already got layers of dirt and grease that will probably never come off and will prevent the paint from sticking. Anyone have any experience with this?

7) Since I'm already re-painting it anyway, I was thinking of painting the lid something other than red. Blue would go better with my house, black would make it a lot more subtle and is much easier to find, etc.. Does changing the color sound like a bad idea? Would it hurt resale value if I were to try to sell it some day?

 

[ifican]

Welcome first of all, I will try to give input on what i can.

2) as a general rule no, smoke will generally leak from all over this in and of itself is not an issue but some do "seal" because they dont like it.

3) I am in cali and keep mine covered and even plugged in when not in use.

4) wanting to change pellets to try something else from one cook to the next i get, wanting to swap mid stream is just going to give you headaches and i would not recommend. As far as removing them, along with keeping plugged in and covered, I never remove from the hopper. If i want to try a new brand i simply finish what is in there. Put enough for cook in and go with that, as not all pellets are created equal its better to test with a small batch. Others may feel differently.

5) Air tight can be more troublesome than its worth. With a little air flow, some moist air isnt an issue. But allow any moisture into an air tight chamber with medium that will absorb that moisture given enough time, you could run into issue. I have not seen or heard of anyone having any hopper issues to this point. As a side note i keep stored pellets in an airtight dog food container and have not had any issue there either.

6) Unless your looking to test yours, friends and or families immune system. Please do not paint the inside. Also if you plan on using any chemical at all in there to clean (orange cleaner works best for me), clean as well as you want. Then fire it up and run it on full blast for a bit, this should burn off everything you used and rid it before your next cook. Better to do it when your cleaning so you dont forget.

7) In my opinion dont worry about resale value, enjoy it for what it is. To reiterate #6 above, I would shy away from painting inside. I say this as someone that can figure anything out, just dont see the need to given potential risks. But i know some will def agree with you in that sense.

Anyways, again, welcome and remember to share pics .

 

[wsamon]

Welcome first of all, I will try to give input on what i can.

2) as a general rule no, smoke will generally leak from all over this in and of itself is not an issue but some do "seal" because they dont like it.

3) I am in cali and keep mine covered and even plugged in when not in use.

4) wanting to change pellets to try something else from one cook to the next i get, wanting to swap mid stream is just going to give you headaches and i would not recommend. As far as removing them, along with keeping plugged in and covered, I never remove from the hopper. If i want to try a new brand i simply finish what is in there. Put enough for cook in and go with that, as not all pellets are created equal its better to test with a small batch. Others may feel differently.

5) Air tight can be more troublesome than its worth. With a little air flow, some moist air isnt an issue. But allow any moisture into an air tight chamber with medium that will absorb that moisture given enough time, you could run into issue. I have not seen or heard of anyone having any hopper issues to this point. As a side note i keep stored pellets in an airtight dog food container and have not had any issue there either.

6) Unless your looking to test yours, friends and or families immune system. Please do not paint the inside. Also if you plan on using any chemical at all in there to clean (orange cleaner works best for me), clean as well as you want. Then fire it up and run it on full blast for a bit, this should burn off everything you used and rid it before your next cook. Better to do it when your cleaning so you dont forget.

7) In my opinion dont worry about resale value, enjoy it for what it is. To reiterate #6 above, I would shy away from painting inside. I say this as someone that can figure anything out, just dont see the need to given potential risks. But i know some will def agree with you in that sense.

Anyways, again, welcome and remember to share pics .

Thanks for the replies!

I'll post some pics both before and after the paint jobs.

I do plan on enjoying it for myself. However, I've never had a pellet grill before, and my wife doesn't necessarily seem too keen on having 3 grills (gas, electric smoker, this) sitting on our patio all the time. I'll have to both win her over quickly and enjoy the process. I'm not really concerned about that, but there's the possibility.

Is keeping it plugged in all the time for a particular purpose, or just because you don't have to unplug it?

I'll probably skip painting the inside. If I did, my plan was to let it air-dry in the garage for a couple days then fire it up on high for a while to burn off any leftover crap. The idea was to help rust-proof it. It's already got a little, and while it's not doing any damage yet, I really don't want holes like my 5 year old gas grill got. The Rec Tec is definitely built better, but is already 5+ years old I believe.

My questions about the hopper are mainly centered around the reason I got this grill so cheap in the first place: they stored it outside and the pellets at the bottom of the hopper and in the auger gunked up so much it no longer fed pellets at all. We had to manually clean everything out with screw drivers, shop vacs, and leaf blowers to get the auger working again. Unlike in Cali, I expect this may happen somewhat frequently here since we often get 70-80% humidity. I don't want to have to free the auger every couple months, or anytime I don't use the grill for like 3 weeks.

Before anyone says anything: no, there's no way I'm realistically going to both plan to not use the grill for 3 weeks and remember / take the time to remove all the pellets. Yeah, that might happen occasionally, but neither my life nor my brain work that way.

 

[ifican]

I keep it plugged in cause its right there, im a bit lazy and it makes it much easier to fire it up right away on the occasional times I dont recover it that same day and use it the next.

This year for us has been 80+% humidity (its 86% right now). Its so bad that when i get up in the morning everything outside is wet like it rained. No issues with hopper. I suspect whomever you got it from let water get inside, once that happens all bets are off. That or they used really cheap junks pellets.

So in all honesty there are plenty of really good high heat paints that would probably work fine, its just much safer to let it be and never worry about that part. Sides, the lids are thick enough and a decent enough stainless that you might get a little rust but i suspect its never going to completely rust through, at least not before its long gone.

Also quite frankly im really surprised others havent already jumped in here .

 

[pbison]

I've had humid weather, but nothing ongoing like what you guys have, with no issues. I wouldn't think sealing the hopper would do a whole lot. I did seal my lid mainly to keep the outside of the grill cleaner, and it has helped a great deal with that. Now that the weather is cooler I have noticed some moisture trapped under the cover at times when I take it off. I'd pass on a form fitting Rec Tec cover and get a decent quality aftermarket one that fits looser and is ventilated near the top. I think you probably need something just because of the electronics and hopper. I get the argument that it may do more harm than good, but in my experience, it's been a net benefit on my gassers.

As for changing out pellets, I thought I would want that but in reality haven't found much reason to stray from straight Hickory. I'm still new at pellet grills, but I wouldn't worry about it until you have run a few different types through to see what you think.

 

[Buckeye smoker]

Welcome. I'm a little confused as to why you wouldn't just call customer service and get your issues fixed? (Or atleast discuss it with them)You have a great warranty and customer service at your fingertips.
And for the recording ,sealing my lid on my 700 (and the hopper lid) was a great decision. Not only does it keep the grill cleaner, the meat is smokier and there was no change in performance of the smoker. To each his own. I would call CS and see what they can do for you.

 

[PeterC]

If you feel the need to empty your hopper, this will come in handy.

Bucket lid vacs are also available on amazon

Let you have separate buckets for different pellet types

https://www.homedepot.com/p/WEN-3-2...MIjuL1_ZKP5QIVgoTICh0VNAMEEAQYASABEgKksPD_BwE

 

[PeterC]

Welcome. I'm a little confused as to why you wouldn't just call customer service and get your issues fixed? (Or atleast discuss it with them)You have a great warranty and customer service at your fingertips.
And for the recording ,sealing my lid on my 700 (and the hopper lid) was a great decision. Not only does it keep the grill cleaner, the meat is smokier and there was no change in performance of the smoker. To each his own. I would call CS and see what they can do for you.
[

If you feel the need to empty your hopper, this will come in handy.

Bucket lid vacs are also available on amazon

Let you have separate buckets for different pellet types

https://www.homedepot.com/p/WEN-3-2...MIjuL1_ZKP5QIVgoTICh0VNAMEEAQYASABEgKksPD_BwE

 

[wsamon]

Sides, the lids are thick enough and a decent enough stainless that you might get a little rust but i suspect its never going to completely rust through, at least not before its long gone.

Thanks for mentioning that you don't have a problem with the humid weather. I wonder how they got water in it.

The material is definitely thick, but this is one of the older models where the only stainless pieces are the racks, drip pan, and heat shield.

I'd pass on a form fitting Rec Tec cover and get a decent quality aftermarket one that fits looser and is ventilated near the top. I think you probably need something just because of the electronics and hopper. I get the argument that it may do more harm than good, but in my experience, it's been a net benefit on my gassers.

As for changing out pellets, I thought I would want that but in reality haven't found much reason to stray from straight Hickory. I'm still new at pellet grills, but I wouldn't worry about it until you have run a few different types through to see what you think.

I'll probably get a cheap cover for it. With how strong our sun and wind is, we go through covers quickly, so keeping their cost down is helpful.

I'm not that interested in changing out pellets mid smoke to be honest. It was more of a potentially cool side-benefit. What I don't want is to have to buy a separate shop-vac just for removing leftover pellets that I'm going to reuse, and drag it out of the garage to go through the hassle of removing the pellets after every smoke

Welcome. I'm a little confused as to why you wouldn't just call customer service and get your issues fixed? (Or atleast discuss it with them)You have a great warranty and customer service at your fingertips.
And for the recording ,sealing my lid on my 700 (and the hopper lid) was a great decision. Not only does it keep the grill cleaner, the meat is smokier and there was no change in performance of the smoker. To each his own. I would call CS and see what they can do for you.

I seriously doubt I have any warranty. I got this used from someone on Craigslist and it's already over 5 years old I believe. I contacted them through FB about the paint at least and they mentioned a youtube video on their channel showing how to do it, and gave me the # to CS. Unfortunately, I can't find the youtube video, but I'll give them a call today hopefully and see what they say. Unfortunately, I've read that it might be difficult to paint the lid because it was powder coated.

 

[Buckeye smoker]

Guess I missed the part about it being used the first time through.

 

[ifican]

You have a great warranty and customer service at your fingertips.

Calling them and asking these questions is a good option, but i wonder if the warranty is valid if your not the original purchaser. Does warranty follow the product?

 

[Uncle Bob]

No, warrantee does not follow the unit.
Somewhere on their site, sorry I don't have a link for you, they state that the warrantee applies to original purchaser. Now, given what we've learned about their willingness to please customers they might make exceptions on a case by case situation. Not on this one since the unit is probably too old though..

 

[wsamon]

I still need to call them about the bull ring, but here's a picture after repainting it. I didn't realize how awful the picture was at the time I took it, so I'll need to take another one that shows more of the details, has less glare, and where the blacks appear correct. The main body got painted with a "metallic black" that has little flecks of silver in it that you can't see here.

I'm thinking of redoing the smoke stack so that the body is the same blue as the lid and the cap is a chrome paint instead of the blue. I think that'll make it pop a bit more than the flat black / blue combo it currently has

to compare, this is how it was when I got it:

 

[Buckeye smoker]

@wsamon I think it looks great, and like the Rebel opposite horn mounting...lol

 

[wsamon]

@wsamon I think it looks great, and like the Rebel opposite horn mounting...lol

lol I don't know why I did it that way (probably an accident at first), but I kind of like it. I've found that I tend to open the grill from the side more often than directly in front for whatever reason (probably because I'm checking the temp gauges), so it's often easier to reach.

 

[Buckeye smoker]

The only thing I might slightly worry about would be if it adds more pressure (weight/twist) to the handles or lid in that position....but I still like it !!!...haha

 

[wsamon]

It doesn't seem to from what I can tell. As you know, everything on these grills is built really sturdily.

One thing I definitely want to do though, is put some kind of padding on the lid stops at the top. I'm pretty sure that they'll end up scratching the paint job pretty quickly if I don't since it's not powder coated anymore. Does anyone have any suggestions for this? They're so thing that I imagine getting something to stay will be difficult.

 

[Greg Jones]

One thing I definitely want to do though, is put some kind of padding on the lid stops at the top. I'm pretty sure that they'll end up scratching the paint job pretty quickly if I don't since it's not powder coated anymore. Does anyone have any suggestions for this?...

I sealed my entire lid with adhesive felt gasket material, and I cut some two pieces to put on the lid stops. Works great.

 

[ifican]

Sealing is interesting, my kamado benefited tremendously from sealing. However the rectec now so much. Sure less smoke leaks but im not sold on it being any game changing effect. I will say it does keep the front smoke discoloration down but after some time the gasket on the bottom will fill with grease and your going to have to change it, so keep that in mind.

 

[Buckeye smoker]

I sealed mine and like it...used the leftover for the hopper lid.