Brand New Timberline 850 issues - need some feedback thank you

[TraegerTL850]

Hello -
I just had gotten my brand-new Timberline 850 and was overly excited. I read the owner’s manual that came with it and on pages 11 and 12 it explains how to 'Season Your Grill'.
I followed the steps as prescribed by the Traeger Owner’s Manual and had no issues with this process. As we do often have a couple over to cook out and decided to throw on some burgers easy right. I had an exceedingly difficult time with the aluminum drip pan liners in fact felt they were quite useless. Okay so during the cook cycle I was at the back of the TL850 for some reason and saw noticed something odd about the exterior paint down on the barrel just next to the downdraft. I had my friend Jim look at this and he said and verified that the exterior paint was blistered up about the size of a fifty-cent piece give or take a bit. So now I am wondering when this occurred was it like that the day it was delivered to me, could have been, I did not go over the TL850 with a fine-tooth comb. Or did it happen during the 'seasoning your grill' steps. A local Traeger rep says it is normal I said this is not normal as I had an IW650 for a while and never had any issues with the exterior paint blistering or peeling. But the Traeger Rep mentioned that there could have been a fire inside the TL850 something about the pellets and how they were being fed into the fire pot, but he did not elaborate any further. Who would have known everything looked okay? I was able to prime the auger no problems and ran the TL850 at 350 F for 20 minutes and then at 500 F for 30 minutes and then successfully went through the shutdown cycle. I am familiar with Traeger smokers as I had owned an Ironwood 650 before moving up the TL850. The Traeger Rep said I had the Cadillac of Traeger Smokers, okay great it is high end, but I should not be seeing the exterior paint blistering bubbling up, no way. Unless of course something was wrong with this TL850. It was brand new! The downdraft paint has discoloration in it already, is this normal after seasoning the smoker steps and 1 cook of hamburgers?
So now the Traeger Rep is coming out next week to look at this Timberline 850 high end appliance, anything short of a replacement will be unacceptable to my wife and I both. Are you kidding me we spent a lot of $$$ on this thing, & he told us he did not think it warranted a replacement barrel or replacement smoker altogether? My wife & I are like just dumbfounded at this response. Help me please I am searching for someone to give us some assistance with this issue. Also, the lid gasket is coming off already this grill was expensive and my dream smoker I am bummed out. Thanks for your support and help with this issue.

 

[RustyJake]

The blistering has happened to a few of us Ironwood owners too. Depending on how much time and effort you want to invest you may be able to get them to replace it. Some have managed to, others such as myself no. I don't have the time to extend to the process. My email reply was that the temperature exceeded 600 F. My grill has only been on 500 during the burn in.
I just accepted their admitting that the grill can exceed their high temperature and they were aware of the issue. If I have an issue with a fire I will supply their letter admitting the grill exceeded their maximum as accepting fault with any liability

 

[bfletcher]

I won't speak to the blistering paint; I've read some folks post about it but I don't have experience with that issue. I suppose I, too, would be upset if that were to occur.

Regarding the gasket, from the pic its clip does not seem to be deformed so perhaps it simply was not seated fully during the install. If I were in your shoes I'd try to fully seat it into the mounting hole.

Regarding discoloration on the downdraft panel I hold the personal opinion that you will be sorely disappointed if you expect for that not to occur. Some other users here will need to chime in if they have not experienced that. I liken it to the exhaust on a new automobile, which will also discolor.

Good luck.

 

[TraegerTL850]

its my humble opinion that when you work as hard as we do for our money and spend what $1799 for a TL850 you should have some level of expectation of the manufacturer's obligation in all of this. I am not expecting perfection but it baffles me to spend this kind of $ and see issues with the exterior paint already form the get go... It certainly does not give me a warm fuzzy feeling having issues like this from day 1 already... The Traeger rep said you have the Cadillac of Traeger smokers and I said well it best perform like a Cadillac then and not a Ford Focus.. I already know the drip pan liners and drip pan don't work as they should... so I am not optimistic as this point.. we may go back to a gas grill Thanks for the feedback

 

[RustyJake]

I agree with you on that statement.
What we paid, we expect a better quality. It is $1599 plus taxes for an IW650 in Canada.
It is a shame really

 

[Tim]

I have had the same problem. My TL850 went way over 500 when I went to reverse shear stakes. Also my temps go over 50 degrees hotter then what I set it for. Also the aluminum foil drip tray liner melted on the the drip tray. Traeger sent a new drip tray. They sai it was a fan problem that is causing the temperature problem. Received the fan and drip tray. Also they are sending them temp sensor that is at top of grill. Still waiting on that part.

any one know were these grill are made?

 

[RustyJake]

My fan roars at 425 and flames can be seen shooting past the drip tray on my IW650. The flames extend to where the heat marks are on the outside of the grill
I'd be concerned trying to run this at anything higher

 

[TraegerTL850]

I have had the same problem. My TL850 went way over 500 when I went to reverse shear stakes. Also my temps go over 50 degrees hotter then what I set it for. Also the aluminum foil drip tray liner melted on the the drip tray. Traeger sent a new drip tray. They sai it was a fan problem that is causing the temperature problem. Received the fan and drip tray. Also they are sending them temp sensor that is at top of grill. Still waiting on that part.

any one know were these grill are made?

Hi Tim wow I am not sure what to say this is just not acceptable on any level whatsoever... I just got mine and went through the seasoning your grill pages 11 & 12 in the supplied owners manual and lo and behold I just happened to see the blistering paint on the barrel lower right on downdraft - I saw that and could not believe it as this thing is expensive and I immediately called the BBQ Store where we purchased it from the manager said this is a Traeger issue so much for after the sale Customer Service I was just livid - I got in touch with the distributor and he was out recently and was trying to allay my fears about the blistering but did admit it was in fact a manufacturers defect - you think so - so just waiting to hear back from him maybe today whether he is going to replace this brand spanking new Traeger Timberline 850 Cadillac of the Traeger lineup - my wife and I both made it clear we were not impressed and had great reservations that this would in fact just get worse from here on out - the only thing to do is find out why this happened and replace this and let me know why this occurred and let me know what it is that needs to happen so it does not happen again - hey I don't want to be on this forum bad mouthing anyone or anything but we - you and me pay out of our hard earned $$$ should expect a certain level of performance and appearance in these high end appliances - whether it's the retailer or the distributor or the manufacturer just make it right for me the consumer the customer - don't make us jump through fire hoops to get it done to make it right - without us you have no reason to produce your products - Just Do The Right Thing Make It Right By The Customer

 

[TraegerTL850]

Good question RustyJake - where are Traeger products made? My best guess is China would that surprise anyone not on your life -

 

[RemE]

I don't think these are made in China but I could easily be wrong. The discoloration on the back looks about normal. The blistering looks lake maybe a metal prep defect before the paint/powder coat finish. It's not a deal breaker in my opinion but we are all hyper sensitive about blemishes on a new product. Look it over closely, if the blister is going to flake off and rust I would call them out. If it's just cosmetic but still firm and stable like the other paint I'd leave it be, it's on the back anyway.

The tray liners work pretty well for me they could be a touch deeper front to back but they cover most of what's needed.

When you open up the unit and look at the fire pot, it's hard to imagine the fire going anywhere but the pot so I'm not sure what the rep was trying to say exactly.

The cover gasket has those diamond shaped push clips, just re-seat the seal. I rubbed some silicone grease around the face to let the cloth gasket slide better on the grill as it's opened and closed. It worked for me.

It's a fire breathing dragon, it won't look pretty forever. I'm at 1 year now and love mine. My only issue was slow starting, Traeger sent me a whole new firepot/hot rod igniter assembly last month and it solved the problem.

 

[alphasig293]

I have same issues with my grill. Plus an issue with hinge/side. I contacted Customer Service, they didn’t seem worried. Contacted Traeger on FB. They are sending a new door, hinges, and back.

 

[RustyJake]

Seems to be more and more common as they get more of these out into the 'wild'. There is a design flaw on these and they don't want to admit it because it'll cost them too much $
Be interesting to see what back they send you.

 

[alphasig293]

It has to be the back that screws on, but the part where the paint is bubbling up, looks to be welded together.

I'm in a FB group and someone said he had a previous model, upgraded to the 850, has had multiple issues w/ the paint, and Traeger finally sent him a whole new replacement grill.

I think with some of these potential warranty issues you have to just keep on them, squeaky wheel gets the grease.

Like I said the Customer Service rep said it was ok, adjust my lid, and cook again. He did not seem concerned about the paint. However, when I messaged them on FB, they were more than willing to replace the parts.

Seems to be more and more common as they get more of these out into the 'wild'. There is a design flaw on these and they don't want to admit it because it'll cost them too much $
Be interesting to see what back they send you.

 

[TraegerTL850]

I don't think these are made in China but I could easily be wrong. The discoloration on the back looks about normal. The blistering looks lake maybe a metal prep defect before the paint/powder coat finish. It's not a deal breaker in my opinion but we are all hyper sensitive about blemishes on a new product. Look it over closely, if the blister is going to flake off and rust I would call them out. If it's just cosmetic but still firm and stable like the other paint I'd leave it be, it's on the back anyway.

The tray liners work pretty well for me they could be a touch deeper front to back but they cover most of what's needed.

When you open up the unit and look at the fire pot, it's hard to imagine the fire going anywhere but the pot so I'm not sure what the rep was trying to say exactly.

The cover gasket has those diamond shaped push clips, just re-seat the seal. I rubbed some silicone grease around the face to let the cloth gasket slide better on the grill as it's opened and closed. It worked for me.

It's a fire breathing dragon, it won't look pretty forever. I'm at 1 year now and love mine. My only issue was slow starting, Traeger sent me a whole new firepot/hot rod igniter assembly last month and it solved the problem.

Fire breathing dragon I like that analogy a lot

 

[TraegerTL850]

It has to be the back that screws on, but the part where the paint is bubbling up, looks to be welded together.

I'm in a FB group and someone said he had a previous model, upgraded to the 850, has had multiple issues w/ the paint, and Traeger finally sent him a whole new replacement grill.

I think with some of these potential warranty issues you have to just keep on them, squeaky wheel gets the grease.

Like I said the Customer Service rep said it was ok, adjust my lid, and cook again. He did not seem concerned about the paint. However, when I messaged them on FB, they were more than willing to replace the parts.

I just wasn't expecting to see the exterior bubble up and blister like this especially on a high end appliance that Traeger touts as the 'Cadillac' I am waiting on the Reps response to see what he is going to do about this - he admitted it was a defect in the manufacturing process okay what else is there that I don't know about that is unforseen at this time... this kind of thing should not be happening at all and others have it lot worse than this Traeger of mine... but $1800 is a lot of cash for me and my family to shell out to have issues like this already - there seems to be a lot of exterior heat build up maybe the thing isn't insulated properly there has to be an underlying cause for this and I know by now if we are all seeing this then Traeger and there network of distributors and dealers know about it as well ... thanks a lot keep on posting stuff good dialogue greatly appreciate you all and following all of you here - and you are accurate it is welded together at the back of the downdraft on the lower right hand corner of my TL850 - regards Shawn in KC area