575 vs 780 regarding pellet consumption

[Kenrock4]

I am looking at the 575 and the 780. I like the idea of the 780 but our kids are moved out and it is only my wife and I at home now. For the most part the 575 will be plenty big for what we are doing. Does it make sense to get the 780 anyways for those times we want to do larger quantities or will we just be burning up a lot of extra pellets operating a large grill for small portions. I'm thinking that it takes the same amount of smoke and pellets to heat up the 780 regardless of the portions you are cooking and this could be significantly more than a 575 each and every time we cook.

 

[dunawayfamily]

We chose the 780 to allow for using cast iron pans alongside grilling the proteins ...

 

[Kenrock4]

Thank you dunawayfamily for your advise. I am leaning towards the 780.

 

[Jessejames690]

Get the 780. Its what i did and never looked back. Pellet consumption will be hardly any difference

 

[Kenrock4]

Thank you JesseJames690. I will be picking up my 780 today.

 

[Kenrock4]

Get the 780. Its what i did and never looked back. Pellet consumption will be hardly any difference

Thank you. Picking up a 780 today!

 

[Jessejames690]

Make sure your phone is connected to 2.4ghz on your wifi and not 5ghz when setting the grill up on wifi. The grill only runs on 2.4ghz. It will wanna do an update once connected

 

[Kenrock4]

We chose the 780 to allow for using cast iron pans alongside grilling the proteins ...

Thank you. Picking up a 780 today!

 

[dunawayfamily]

Make sure your phone is connected to 2.4ghz on your wifi and not 5ghz when setting the grill up on wifi. The grill only runs on 2.4ghz. It will wanna do an update once connected

Here are my two "write-ups" that I share multiple times a day on the various Traeger-related FB Groups - they seem to be the most common problems getting WiFIRE up-and-running ...

First step in troubleshooting issues with WiFIRE: One thing to verify on your end is the need to use separate network names (SSIDs) for the 2.4GHz and 5GHz Wireless frequencies - depending on what WiFi Router/Access Point you use, as well as what mobile device you are using to run the app on, it may be a requirement ... when the network names are the same, and if your mobile device supports 5GHz, the mobile device will by default attach to the 5GHz frequency, while the Grill is connected on the 2.4GHz frequency, resulting in no connection between the App and the Grill ... giving one of the wireless network frequencies a different name allows you to "force" the mobile device to attach to the 2.4GHz network and successfully connect ...

I call my IOT-based device Wireless Networks...
idIOT
idIOT 5GHz
...to support this specific scenario

Additional troubleshooting scenarios and information listed here:
https://www.traegergrills.com/support/wifire-controllers
https://www.traegergrills.com/support/wifire-troubleshooting

WiFIRE Troubleshooting Wizard: http://wizard.web.traegergrills.io/wifire/welcome

=====================

Failed / Hung Setup of WiFIRE | Airplane Mode Workaround

ISSUE: Multiple people have reported that the initial setup of WiFIRE will fail/hang before completion ... this is due to the App device defaulting back to the "preferred" 5GHz Wireless Network after handing off the necessary 2.4GHz Wireless Network information to the Grill (Network Name (SSID), Encryption Type, Password). The App Device MUST reconnect back to the 2.4GHz Home Wireless Network in order for the setup process to successfully complete.

WORKAROUND: The best way to eliminate the failed/hung setup state for WiFIRE is to first put your App Device into Airplane Mode, then manually turn Wi-Fi back on, then "forget" the 5GHz Wi-Fi network, then connect to the 2.4GHz Wi-Fi network and start the setup process from the beginning ... this eliminates any potential issues with regards to the App Device reconnecting back to the wrong (i.e. 5GHz) Home Wi-Fi Network during the setup process ... once the setup process has successfully completed, you can take the App Device out of Airplane Mode, and reconnect to the 5GHz Wireless network on your App Device (if desired) ...

 

[dunawayfamily]

And relative to the Updates available (Firmware and Config) - this is another common FAQ since not all WiFIRE controllers are upgrading "as expected" to the latest releases:

Firmware for all Traeger Grills is currently 2.01.0 - that is likely to change in the month of May as another update is forthcoming ... The ability to support 500 degrees is tied to the Config data file version for each Grill, and that value is Grill Model specific - see the following: https://www.traegergrills.com/status

04.016 is the current Config data version for the PRO 575
03.010 is the current Config data version for the PRO 780
08.005 is the current Config data version for the Timberline 850
07.006 is the current Config data version for the Timberline 1300
06.009 is the current Config data version for the Ironwood 650
05.009 is the current Config data version for the Ironwood 885
10.005 is the current Config data version for the Silverton 620
09.005 is the current Config data version for the Silverton 810
11.005 is the current Config data version for the Century 885

The pending May Update SHOULD address the KNOWN ISSUE for those Grill owners who are unable to get WiFIRE to update to the latest Firmware / Config versions - so you may need to be patient and wait for that release to go live ... and at present, updates can only be PUSHed down from the Traeger Cloud, so you cannot invoke it manually ... at some point, the Traeger App will support PULL updates, so you can control if/when the update(s) are installed ...

 

[Kathleenmelissa]

Get the 780. Its what i did and never looked back. Pellet consumption will be hardly any difference

Helpful advice. Thanks!!!