Everyone needs to calm down

[timhorn]

Adding a water pan for every long cook is not, to me a real solution -

100% agree here. All of the grease from the product drains towards the center fire pot, so what happens when you want to load this up with 8 boston butts? If you put water pans under every sq inch of the grill surface, you're going to affect smoke and heat distribution. If you only put a pan under some of the meat, the rest of it will still drip down, drain to the center and potentially catch fire anyway. That's why I think (and hope they will) they need to quickly tool up a custom part to resolve the issue entirely.

 

[Brian Vallotton]

Well for me I was calming down... by sending it back in the box and NOT having to deal with issues that were supposedly already worked out in their research and development. After only a few days in the wild it became apparent that the SmokeFire was not what people were being told it was going to be on the physical unit itself and the software. So I did what was cleanest all around and refused shipment. It is four days today since then and I have yet to even have Weber acknowledge me or even communicate how and when I will get my money back. So I am going to do a claim on my VISA card this morning. So there it is. I am thinking I may buy the Rec Tec RT700 with the smoke box attachment and searing grates.

 

[arod757]

I was pretty calm... after I left the thing at Lowe's. I just saw another video where a guy had smoke coming from the hopper, another common problem with pellet grills that Weber said it all but solved with its "innovative" hopper/auger design.

Therein lies the problem with this whole thing, at least for me. Weber touted this pit as the pellet grill meant to solve all the usual, common problems that every other pellet grill have: auger/hopper fires, inability to sear without specialized grates, ash management and better grease collection, uneven heat distribution, just to name a few.

Now, it's not impossible to mitigate these problems; I have for years on my Traeger Lil' Tex Elite and put out some great food doing so. But I was excited that all these issues had been solved by Weber, because they said so. I foolishly believed them and dropped $1000 on the EX4, just to end up with a pellet grill with the same old problems, not to mention a couple of new ones. That is why I returned it, because I wanted something truly innovative, not a grill like every other with the same old issues.

 

[Brian Vallotton]

I was pretty calm... after I left the thing at Lowe's. I just saw another video where a guy had smoke coming from the hopper, another common problem with pellet grills that Weber said it all but solved with its "innovative" hopper/auger design.

Therein lies the problem with this whole thing, at least for me. Weber touted this pit as the pellet grill meant to solve all the usual, common problems that every other pellet grill have: auger/hopper fires, inability to sear without specialized grates, ash management and better grease collection, uneven heat distribution, just to name a few.

Now, it's not impossible to mitigate these problems; I have for years on my Traeger Lil' Tex Elite and put out some great food doing so. But I was excited that all these issues had been solved by Weber, because they said so. I foolishly believed them and dropped $1000 on the EX4, just to end up with a pellet grill with the same old problems, not to mention a couple of new ones. That is why I returned it, because I wanted something truly innovative, not a grill like every other with the same old issues.

Well said! That is exactly how I feel about it. I am not new to pellet grills. I had a Traeger Texas Elite 34 for almost 4 years and was very happy with it until the auger went out. I then took it to Costco and got a full refund even though it was out of warrantee! So with that money and a few more bucks I was upgrading... but it didn't really seem like an upgrade. In four years on my Traeger I never had any issues until it quit on me.

 

[Cambridge Brian]

So my best guess is there are way more that 50 disappointed people out here. I have been waiting a week for Weber to get back to me. I have called twice with really long waits on hold and still no solution. Mine will not even do the burn in slowly goes out before it reaches 600 and no error code. I would think that I should have had some support by now. I think that they are overwhelmed with calls.

 

[Brian Vallotton]

So my best guess is there are way more that 50 disappointed people out here. I have been waiting a week for Weber to get back to me. I have called twice with really long waits on hold and still no solution. Mine will not even do the burn in slowly goes out before it reaches 600 and no error code. I would think that I should have had some support by now. I think that they are overwhelmed with calls.

I am sorry you are going through this. The good news is that I do believe that Weber will make it right for you. I am guessing they are swamped over there in every way. In the meantime I wish you peace, because in the end, without peace it does not matter what we have or do. Peace. The kind that comes from above!

 

[ROZ!]

I hope we'll get to that point soon. I think there are just so many people getting them at once that want to share their experiences, especially first-time pellet grill owners like me that it will take a little time to die down.

Personally, I hope everyone sticks with it (this forum) and we can turn it into exactly what you are expecting.

You are prolly right. And to be honest theres only so much positive a single person can write if its working decently. "I cooked. It worked.Heres a pic and what I did" vs it not working and continuously sharing that with no solution

That said I have a 12 pound brisket and wings ready to go for the weekend so will hopefully have a positive thread going soon!

 

[Brad S]

For some perspective check out this thread about a rec tec with problems. Not knocking rec tec, I hear they are nice and have great customer service. The bull was at the top of my list until the smokefire came out. https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/new-rec-tec-not-very-happy-with-it.249296/

 

[gchristian3]

For some perspective check out this thread about a rec tec with problems. Not knocking rec tec, I hear they are nice and have great customer service. The bull was at the top of my list until the smokefire came out. https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/new-rec-tec-not-very-happy-with-it.249296/

You do realize that they no longer make the 680, and this is from 2016

 

[Brad S]

You do realize that they no longer make the 680, and this is from 2016

My point is there are problems on every grill. Who knows, at some point I'll bail on the smokefire and get a bull but for now I'm trying to remain hopeful. My smokes have gone pretty well. I'll have to try some pork butts soon with water pans under the grates to see if it solves the grease fire issue. That will probably be my deciding factor.

 

[Grey]

I have six cooks in, slow/low and fast, and at this point I have not had any issues. I have made sure pellets are flowing properly, extremely minor inconvenience as far as I am concerned. I clean it between every cook and even on my stick burner with a separate fire box I have experienced grease fires. Why I clean between every cook.

So far so good and if I do have any issues I will report back.

I also want to add that I have never owned a Weber product so I have zero brand loyalty

 

[Karen R.]

I feel that everyone needs to calm down and relax a little.

Yes, I am 100% sure that some people are having issues.
We are seeing a few dozen people having issues, however I am sure that they have already shipped thousands.
If 50 people are reporting problems and they have sold 5000, that is only 1% defect rate.
That is outstanding for a brand new product to market.

People watching these forums need to remember is that this is a brand new release for Weber so all eyes are on them.
When Camp Chef released the new Woodwind, the world was not watching.
When Rec Tec released a new model, the world was not watching.
Thousands were not rushing to buy their new model as it was released.

EVERY BRAND has issues.

Camp chef and RecTec have jammed augers, auger fires, pellet hopper fires, grease fires, controller issues, auger failures, fan failures, etc.

Search any brand you are thinking about getting using keywords such as issues, problems, stuck, broken, etc.
I have found pages for all.

I think people need to remember that this is a multiple purpose unit.
When I have cooked greasy burgers and stuff on my Genesis there were some flare ups.

If you put a probe in your oven, it will swing 20-30 degrees, this is normal even though the display says the temp stays constant.

The pellet grills that have a huge heat shield/drip pan don't have flare ups/fires because the flames never touch the grease.
With a quick search, I found that Camp Chef, Pit Boss, Rec Tec all can have this problem if the heat shield is pulled back and the grease comes in contact with the flame.

Search google with any brand and grease fire, ie. Rec Tec grease fire.

Mine showed a date of 11/26/19.
I've made pork butt (12hr smoke) checked pellets once or twice during smoke. Longest unattended time was 5 hrs.
spatchcock chicken
hamburgers
sausage
pork chops
chocolate chip cookies!

Nothing I would consider a major issue.


Remember, more people will be posting complaints than successes.
Keep that in mind.

I am glad that you haven't had any major issues. What were your minor issues? Thanks for your perspective.

 

[JesusQuintana]

So my best guess is there are way more that 50 disappointed people out here. I have been waiting a week for Weber to get back to me. I have called twice with really long waits on hold and still no solution. Mine will not even do the burn in slowly goes out before it reaches 600 and no error code. I would think that I should have had some support by now. I think that they are overwhelmed with calls.

Call this number 224-334-3886
This is the number to weber. When give they give the option to receive a call back, select it. They will call you back within 15 minutes. I’ve done this 4 times and have heard back each time.

 

[Cambridge Brian]

Call this number 224-334-3886
This is the number to weber. When give they give the option to receive a call back, select it. They will call you back within 15 minutes. I’ve done this 4 times and have heard back each time.

Thanks. I talked to Weber last night and had to send pictures of the auger in the bottom of the hopper now. Hopefully this is heading in the right direction now.

 

[timhorn]

My point is there are problems on every grill. Who knows, at some point I'll bail on the smokefire and get a bull but for now I'm trying to remain hopeful. My smokes have gone pretty well. I'll have to try some pork butts soon with water pans under the grates to see if it solves the grease fire issue. That will probably be my deciding factor.

Have you done much low and slow cooking yet? Digging into all the reviews and videos it seems that people who are using it to grill or do "hot and fast" smoking seem to have very little problems, but the folks doing low and slow long term cooks of fatty meats are seeing all the issues. If that is the case, that sucks, but you could at least adjust accordingly.