Bull Smoke Leak on New Grill

[Rectec700Miami]

Hello All--

New 700 owner here. Done about 6 cooks on the 700 since I got it a little less than a month ago. Pretty satisfied, except that I am noticing some pretty dense grease collecting on the outside of the smoker for just having done 6 cooks. Upon further investigation, it appears that the hood does not sit exactly flush with the rest of the grill on the right side. I am able to see the internal light of the grill shine through the crack on the right side of the grill (the side where the grease is collecting), but not on the left side of the grill (which is clean from grease). I've attached a few photos to show what I mean. My question is, is this meaningful enough to try to get Rec Teq to address? On one hand it doesn't feel like a big deal, but on the other, I just spent $1,200 on a new grill so I would hope that the product would be perfect.

Any guidance would be appreciated.

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I have had nothing but great experiences with Tech Support!!! IMHO calling them idiots is a great disservice to them and to you!!!

This is a post I made 2 years ago. All the upgrades are still in place and working. We use our Bull every week and the sealed smoke chamber works great. There are other upgrades that might interest you, bigger wheels, upgraded auger, removable power cord, front table. All can be found on the forum.

I am also new to the RECTEC 700, and after much research to buy my first pellet burner I chose the 700 for the stainless steel, powder coat exterior and warranty among many other features and reviews. I was not very pleased during the first cook to see excessive smoke coming from around the door and from the door emblem. We sealed the emblem by removing it and filling the attachment holes with RTV sealant but the door did not have an even seal on the smoker around the edge where the door meets the smoker. I had a stainless steel shop cut two lengths of high grade stainless 1/16” x 1 1/4” x 15 1/8”, gently bent them to shape of the smoker, and attached them to the inner sides of the smoker as shown in the picture. Then added the high temp sealing tape shown below. I also sealed around the base of the chimney and the port where the wires are routed through the smoke chamber to the controller.

You can use RTV sealant or JB Weld Cold Formula which is great for metal to metal bonds. Use a lot of small clamps such as these:

I used 5 clamps and did one side at a time. You can get the clamps from Ace Hardware who also carries the JB Weld epoxy glue. Be prepared to allow the glue to dry enough to remove one clamp and give you a chance to clean the excess glue off with lacquer thinner, replace the clamp and remove another until the excess glue is removed. Let dry over night with the clamps installed.

Attach the sealing tape to the inside of the lid. I used this BBQ/Smoker High Temp Tape from Amazon and it has worked excellent.

Notice that the tape is inset on the sides of the smoker lid to make contact with the new Stainless Sides that were installed first.

The Smoker does not leak after these modifications and external cleanup after a long 14 hr brisket cook was a simple wipe down. No external smoke or grease marks were found.

 

[Motodad1776]

I have had nothing but great experiences with Tech Support!!! IMHO calling them idiots is a great disservice to them and to you!!!

Well that's why there are opinions I reckon, at least we used to be allowed to have opinions. I have been here long enough to hear plenty of bad experiences with RT support, and it most certainly appears to matter who you speak with. That is with anything and any company, I work in healthcare and deal with tech and customer support from vendors on a daily basis, I both deal with some real turds and deal with some great folks. The great ones don't give you the run around or make excuses for their products, nor do they blame the user for said issues. In saying that however, I feel that RT as a company are pretty solid and have overall good products with mediocre tech support, but honestly........there just isn't much to go wrong with these units as they are very simple machines, more in the line of quality assurance issues and the company attempting to make it right.

 

[Wayde F]

Hello All--

New 700 owner here. Done about 6 cooks on the 700 since I got it a little less than a month ago. Pretty satisfied, except that I am noticing some pretty dense grease collecting on the outside of the smoker for just having done 6 cooks. Upon further investigation, it appears that the hood does not sit exactly flush with the rest of the grill on the right side. I am able to see the internal light of the grill shine through the crack on the right side of the grill (the side where the grease is collecting), but not on the left side of the grill (which is clean from grease). I've attached a few photos to show what I mean. My question is, is this meaningful enough to try to get Rec Teq to address? On one hand it doesn't feel like a big deal, but on the other, I just spent $1,200 on a new grill so I would hope that the product would be perfect.

Any guidance would be appreciated.

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View attachment 17861

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I have an RT 700 also. Same issue. They told me that it was normal. Most of them have an eighth of an inch gap. I line that edge with foil. From the inside to the outside, all along the sides and the top. Cuts down a lot on the brown film that gets on the edges of the barrel.

 

[Motodad1776]

I have a very seasoned and lovely smoky patina all over the inside of my grill, outside looks pretty darn good however, I do keep it relatively pretty clean appearance wise. I am still impressed with just how well this machine works and the BBQ it yields, has yet to let me down.