running hot as well

[Chugbug]

Bought the Pro 22 last month, during the 1st 2 cooks it would run hot....dial set to smoke, it stayed between 220 and 235. I bumped it up the the 180 setting and the temps would not change. Once I went to 225 and above the smoker was almost dead on. Traeger sent me a controller and thermometer. Today while cooking at the smoke setting it stayed around 200 degree but later in the day it started rising again and got as high a 251 degree while on smoke. Called Traeger support and was told its running normal but they wanted to go through troubleshoot but I couldn't as I was doing some chicken.....so for you long time smokers out there whats your thoughts?
Smoker is in a well vented 3 sided build, air temps were 85 degree, windy (it was out of the wind)

 

[Linefinder]

Would love to see some replies to this one. I have a Pro 22 that I've used 3 times. The 1st 2 times was on flat out high and it held temp within 10D the whole time. Yesterday I tried a 7 hour cook at 225D. The last hour, though, it jumped to 275+ and I couldn't get it to cool down.
So far, I'm really liking the unit, but this concerns me a bit.

 

[RemE]

Would love to see some replies to this one. I have a Pro 22 that I've used 3 times. The 1st 2 times was on flat out high and it held temp within 10D the whole time. Yesterday I tried a 7 hour cook at 225D. The last hour, though, it jumped to 275+ and I couldn't get it to cool down.
So far, I'm really liking the unit, but this concerns me a bit.

I'm curious, what were the weather conditions? Was it in the hot sun?

To nerd out a bit on a servo controlled pellet feeder, and its limits.

Just guessing here about low temp cooking and interaction with sun and weather. In full sun my grill gets pretty hot, I do wonder if the sun can add enough heat that the controller drops to its minimum pellet feed rate to maintain a fire but it's still not low enough to drop the temp below a certain point?

This seems to make sense, if you raise the temp, that the grill can maintain it better because the controller would not be against its lowest feed limit. In your case, setting the temp to even "keep warm", which is the lowest pellet feed rate to maintain a fire, your grill would have probably still been too hot if my guess is correct.

I would think in the shade and/or cool temps that the grill would hold any set temp.

Just educated guessing here. If this is the case, on that low temp cook in the sun, you could dump a little excess heat by cracking the lid a bit or adjusting the exhaust (if your grill allows that). This would allow the controller to get back into its working range.

This is where a heavily insulated grill would shine, its would be less affected by external conditions, hot or cold.

 

[Linefinder]

I think you may be on to something. The ambient temp was high 80's, but here in Colorado the sun is almost always intense. Yes, the grill was in the direct sunlight for most of the cook cycle. I'm going to have a hard time getting around that, so I may simply have to be aware that it's going to happen.

Thanks for your input. I'd have never thought of that.

 

[RemE]

I think you may be on to something. The ambient temp was high 80's, but here in Colorado the sun is almost always intense. Yes, the grill was in the direct sunlight for most of the cook cycle. I'm going to have a hard time getting around that, so I may simply have to be aware that it's going to happen.

Thanks for your input. I'd have never thought of that.

I added to my reply with more thoughts.

 

[StillinICT]

Typical hot rod problem from the factory. It is too far in. Remove the fir pot and extend the hot rod out no more than 3/8 of an inch.

 

[Linefinder]

I did finally try cracking the door to let some heat out, and it dropped a few degrees, but nowhere near the 50+ degree overage.

I may have actually been lucky on this cook. The recipe was 225 for 3 hours, cover in foil for another 3, then 1 more hour unwrapped. They were done without the last hour.

 

[RemE]

Typical hot rod problem from the factory. It is too far in. Remove the fir pot and extend the hot rod out no more than 3/8 of an inch.

?? Once the grill is running, the hot rod is turned off.

If the rod was too far in, the grill would have trouble lighting. Too far out and its life would be shortened from the fire heat. But it doesn't measure temps so it shouldn't have anything to do with the issues in this thread.

 

[Linefinder]

Typical hot rod problem from the factory. It is too far in. Remove the fir pot and extend the hot rod out no more than 3/8 of an inch.

Thanks, I'll give that a try!

 

[RemE]

I did finally try cracking the door to let some heat out, and it dropped a few degrees, but nowhere near the 50+ degree overage.

I may have actually been lucky on this cook. The recipe was 225 for 3 hours, cover in foil for another 3, then 1 more hour unwrapped. They were done without the last hour.

Some folks here like to use a pop up awning for shaded cooking in summer. I'm in sunny California and have the same issue as you in summer.

 

[Linefinder]

I just had an idea......My BIL uses a fiber glass insulated blanket (from Harbor Freight of all places) for cooking on his Traeger during the dead of winter, and I've witnessed him pull off more than one successful cook in temps hovering near 0 F. I wonder.....if it keeps the intense cold out, maybe it'll keep the intense sunlight off? Seems that would be an even more direct method than a shade cover.

 

[RemE]

I just had an idea......My BIL uses a fiber glass insulated blanket (from Harbor Freight of all places) for cooking on his Traeger during the dead of winter, and I've witnessed him pull off more than one successful cook in temps hovering near 0 F. I wonder.....if it keeps the intense cold out, maybe it'll keep the intense sunlight off? Seems that would be an even more direct method than a shade cover.

That would probably work I'd bet.

A pop up shade stops the sun and allows air to circulate, so might be better in the heat.

My Timberline is double walled, however, there is surprisingly no insulation in the space. I just added ceramic wool insulation in the bottom half to cure a heat issue in the grease catch system and exhaust areas on the 850's. While working on it these last couple of days, in the sun, I know hot hot it gets just from the sun!

I'm now thinking that I may go ahead and insulate the rest of the sides. It would make the grill more efficient all the way around.

 

[BlazinFred]

I'm curious, what were the weather conditions? Was it in the hot sun?

To nerd out a bit on a servo controlled pellet feeder, and its limits.

Just guessing here about low temp cooking and interaction with sun and weather. In full sun my grill gets pretty hot, I do wonder if the sun can add enough heat that the controller drops to its minimum pellet feed rate to maintain a fire but it's still not low enough to drop the temp below a certain point?

This seems to make sense, if you raise the temp, that the grill can maintain it better because the controller would not be against its lowest feed limit. In your case, setting the temp to even "keep warm", which is the lowest pellet feed rate to maintain a fire, your grill would have probably still been too hot if my guess is correct.

I would think in the shade and/or cool temps that the grill would hold any set temp.

Just educated guessing here. If this is the case, on that low temp cook in the sun, you could dump a little excess heat by cracking the lid a bit or adjusting the exhaust (if your grill allows that). This would allow the controller to get back into its working range.

This is where a heavily insulated grill would shine, its would be less affected by external conditions, hot or cold.

My Memphis pellet grill is double walled stainless steel and holds temp.at 100 degrees or 15 degrees outside...no need for a blanket

 

[Terry Shaw]

I think you may be on to something. The ambient temp was high 80's, but here in Colorado the sun is almost always intense. Yes, the grill was in the direct sunlight for most of the cook cycle. I'm going to have a hard time getting around that, so I may simply have to be aware that it's going to happen.

Thanks for your input. I'd have never thought of that.

That would probably work I'd bet.

A pop up shade stops the sun and allows air to circulate, so might be better in the heat.

My Timberline is double walled, however, there is surprisingly no insulation in the space. I just added ceramic wool insulation in the bottom half to cure a heat issue in the grease catch system and exhaust areas on the 850's. While working on it these last couple of days, in the sun, I know hot hot it gets just from the sun!

I'm now thinking that I may go ahead and insulate the rest of the sides. It would make the grill more efficient all the way around.

 

[Terry Shaw]

Some folks here like to use a pop up awning for shaded cooking in summer. I'm in sunny California and have the same issue as you in summer.

That helps, my ambient Temps here in the Desert are typically North of 110 Degrees in the PMs
My Traeger runs an average of 25 degrees above any setting, you would think that the RTD would adjust the controller.