Pro 575 Not Achieving Temperatures

[Uncle George]

JohnM, I definitely hear what you’re saying. A product should be tested and brought to market with all of the bugs figured out beforehand. Right now, I have a propane Weber that can handle more of the high temp cooks. I shouldn’t have to but will wait and see what Traeger will do to address the issue.

Uncle George, it seems that we have similar issues. However, my temps that my 575 is able to reach is a bit higher. I did contact Traeger Customer Support as I was driving in the car. To make a long story short, they aren’t acknowledging that there are any problems with the Pro 575 as of this morning. That was according to the Customer Service Rep that I talked too. They haven’t received any direction from Corporate.

I’m paraphrasing here but she went on to say that the grill temperature is measured at 3 places and the temp that you set on the grill is the correct temp. She told me that you can’t trust aftermarket thermometers measuring temps at the grill because there are other factors to consider (I.e, whether or not there is a chimney, temps vary in the grill duo to the convection and air movement, etc.).

I did go on to tell her that numerous people were backing up their claims because of the longer cook times that they were experiencing. I’m going to do my first cook (baby back ribs) tomorrow and am going to set the 575 at 245 degrees which will be roughly 225 as measured with my aftermarket thermometers. For right now, I’m going with the temp settings that I came up with yesterday.

Like I was saying, they aren’t acknowledging that there is an issue with the low temps. It was more of a “we know what we’re doing” type of attitude. I need to call them back later this afternoon anyway to complete the product registration.

I’m on my phone right now so will edit this post later this afternoon.

Hey,

So Traeger Supervisor called me and she is great, but the "Engineers" at traeger said that my temp problems are normal, and that the "Engineers" said the same thing they told you about the temp being measured in 3 different places. So they wont do crap for me. I was even thinking about exchanging it for the ironwood, no way I will do that now more $ nope. Im not giving this company a single $ for now. they will send me a new thermocouple, if that does not fixes my problem Im taking it back and getting a GMG, or camp chef or maybe a gateway drum.

 

[primeone]

Hey,

So Traeger Supervisor called me and she is great, but the "Engineers" at traeger said that my temp problems are normal, and that the "Engineers" said the same thing they told you about the temp being measured in 3 different places. So they wont do crap for me. I was even thinking about exchanging it for the ironwood, no way I will do that now more $ nope. Im not giving this company a single $ for now. they will send me a new thermocouple, if that does not fixes my problem Im taking it back and getting a GMG, or camp chef or maybe a gateway drum.

I sure hope that fixes the problem for you. If it doesn't, another option would be looking into the Rec-Tec or Grilla grills.

 

[mimatthe]

Scase, Uncle George, Cujo, and everybody else:

Thanks for all your responses, they all have been awesome. After doing a few cooks and getting only frustrated with the long cook times, I took my 575 back today. It just wasn't worth it to me to wait on hold anymore for unsatisfactory answers, wait for another thermocuple, or spend another few hours fiddling around with my router the app and the grill to get it all to work. I will be anxious to hear how this all works out as you get new RTD probes and see if this fixes the problems. My brother makes incredible stuff on his Traeger, and I hope they fix the issues.

 

[ChrisR]

Gosh, this is discouraging! I just purchased a 575, and it was delivered today. I'm still reading the owner's manual. My husband has never been interested in grilling or smoking (he does love his cows though.....) So, I have a friend who has had a Traeger for a couple of years who I will be consulting quite a bit, I'm sure. I wasn't really keen on the wifi capability, so I hope when I use it, I don't get too discouraged. I have only used a Weber, but have heard so much from the BBQ champions where I live about the wonderful flavor of smoked meats, I finally caved and bought the 575. I want to LOVE it!

I just purchased a Pro 575 in the UK. I had a problem trying to cook a rack of ribs using the 321 method They came out undercooked and were not even particularly hot. So I did some temperature tests. When set at 225 the grill runs at 180. Set at 350;it runs at 280. Set at 450 it runs at 350! No wonder my ribs didn’t turn out well. My dealer is looking into this for me and so we will see what happens. No steak searing will be possible until this is fixed!

 

[Drella99]

I too am having the Same problems with my 575 as everyone else. Smoked a Turkey and the temps were way off. The probe told me the Turkey was done, wasn't even close! Thank God I didn't just assume there probe was correct and eat the undercooked meat. Called traeger, the girl I talked to was very nice. Told me she was going to have a supervisor call me. Supervisor called the next day and wanted me to try things on the grill but I wasn't home. I have now been waiting for a week for a call back.

 

[Cujo]

Just a quick update. . .

I spoke with Traeger customer service this evening. My total time on hold and speaking to the rep was about 45 minutes. Once again, the Customer Service Rep was a gal that was really friendly. I also told her that it would be really difficult for me to return the 575 since I purchased it mail order through the military exchange.

I told her what my issue (not coming up to temp) was. She looked over my case from my previous calls a couple of weeks ago. She had me look at the temperature probe and that was fine. She then put me on hold and talked to her Supervisor. Once she got back on the phone she said that it was the controller and they’ll be shipping me out a new one.

Two weeks ago, I tried some baby back ribs and they turned out tough and dry. Last week, I cooked a brisket and that was a disaster. That one came out REALLY tough and dry. I thought that it might be the Traeger meat probe that was perhaps indicating the wrong internal temp of the meat. I guess that’s easy enough for me to double check and something that I should’ve done. Perhaps the two are related? Who knows.

Anyhow, in further discussion with the rep, the temp problems are pretty widespread. I probably shouldn’t mention this (because I don’t have any factual data) but from what I gathered from the conversation, around half of them are defective and the other half are working just fine. They’re receiving many calls from owners that are having issues and some of them are irate. It seems that they’re trying to make it right.

I’m just going to roll with it and hopefully the controller swap will solve the problems. I’ll keep you guys posted because hopefully when the issues are resolved, it’ll be a pretty slick setup.

 

[ChrisR]

Hi Everyone
In the UK you have. 30 day window to return faulty products. My local dealer is excellent and the local Traeger rep seems very genuine. However he is contacting the US Team for advice. Therefore can anyone tell me if they have received a replacement temperature controller and if so whether this has resolved the problem? I don’t mind waiting a reasonable amount of time to get this resolved, otherwise I will need to return my Pro 575 within the 30 day window.

 

[Arborman]

New to the forum, but long time Traeger user. Upgraded this past weekend (at least I thought I was upgrading) from the lil Tex to the 575 pro. I had wild temp fluctuations, false temp readings and extremely long cook times. Did a whole chicken, smoked a salmon and lastly did burgers. All took much, much longer then they should have. Called today, waited on hold for 30 minutes, and talked to a nice rep. Widespread problem on all the new grills... I asked if I should wait for Traeger to find a solution or to return to my ACE. She flat out told me to return it, which I am going to do. Bittersweet because I really dig the tech on this grill. But, if its not delivering then its worthless.

What other Traeger do you all recommend as my replacement?

 

[KirkP]

I just came across this forum as I was searching for others with similar problems as I've been having with my new Pro 575. I had an older Traeger for more than 10 years and really loved it but thought it was time for an upgrade. Brought my 575 home from HomeDepot two days ago but discovered the same problems in regard to temperature - at low temps it agrees well with my own thermometer probe but starts to significantly disagree above 200 F. At 400 F the grill is really only at 325. No way one can cook a decent steak at those temps. After waiting forever on hold to Traeger support yesterday, the woman on the phone just said I needed to calibrate my thermocouple. She emailed me some instructions but they only seem to instruct one how to swap the leads. I seriously doubt that will solve anything. I guess I need to push back tomorrow (if I can get through). Super disappointed - their customer service always used to be great.

 

[Cujo]

I don’t know if my issues are somehow related. My 575 has the temp issues as noted in my previous posts so it wasn’t a surprise that my meat probe was off when I tested it yesterday. Once I calibrated the probe, I stuck it back in ice water for about 5 minutes. The temperature that the Traeger was telling me was 48 degrees. I also measured the ambient air temperature when it was in the mid 60’s. The Traeger said 81 degrees. I then placed the probe in boiling water and it was reading in the 220’s.

It kind of explains why the ribs and brisket I tried on it didn’t turn out well at all. Unfortunately, I’m kind of in a bind and can’t return it (purchased mail order through the military exchange and have thrown away the packaging) but I have to admit that it’s trying my patience. Looking back, I should’ve just went with the RecTec.

I posted above that they’re sending me out a new controller. I’ll be out of the country but will give a report once I install the new one. I’ve talked to four different Customer Service Reps and have been on hold at least a half an hour each time.

Right now, I have a Weber iGrill ambient probe to measure the grill temperatures and am using a ThermPro to measure the temperature of the meat. I’m also using the Traeger probe (not reliable) so I now have three probes coming out of the grill when I should only have one.

 

[Kaiiuken]

Having the same issue with my 575. Just got mine earlier this week did the seasoning all seemed good. Hook right up to Wi-Fi no issues. First cook threw some chicken tenderloins on smoked them for about 20 minutes then set it at 350 checked them after 30 minutes and they were still raw grill temp seemed low. Cranked it to 450 and the chicken tenderloins took another 30 minutes to cook. The next day figured I try some burgers and brats. Set for 450 and the cook time was almost an hour. You could turn the brats by hand no where near the 450 mark even though the grill said it was. Called Traeger and it took about 90 minutes to get a hold of someone. She was nice got some info and escalated it. Was suppose to get a call the next day. Never did so I called and the guy I spoke with was really nice. He had me wrap the temp probe in the grill with foil and run it at 300 then at 400 and got some info. Asked if the temps seemed better but it was still off. He is having me do another cook today with the probe wrapped in foil and said he will call back tomorrow to get some info. He did state that this is a reported issue with the 575. So we will see. I am a little bummed because I had a LiL Tex that worked great and got rid of it to upgrade to a new Req Tec or Traeger. I opted for the Traeger because in 8 yrs or so that grill never did me wrong besides an occasional hot rod replacement. Now I am having second thoughts and wish I got the Req Tec. Guess we will see the only thing that can save my opinion now is how customer service backs up what appears to be a faulty product. We will see

 

[O C]

I emailed support about the problem. Advice on here is to call because they don't respond to email. Good advice, over a week and no response...Will have to find time in my day for a 90 minute call I guess.
I'll have to try the foil trick and see what happens. So far I've gotten by just setting to a higher temp, works ok for our usual chicken thighs and wings. But obviously not being able to get above 370ish limits any high temp cooks. I have done ribeyes and it took longer than expected with no searing to speak of, the second time I just pulled out the Akorn jr.

 

[Kaiiuken]

Having the same issue with my 575. Just got mine earlier this week did the seasoning all seemed good. Hook right up to Wi-Fi no issues. First cook threw some chicken tenderloins on smoked them for about 20 minutes then set it at 350 checked them after 30 minutes and they were still raw grill temp seemed low. Cranked it to 450 and the chicken tenderloins took another 30 minutes to cook. The next day figured I try some burgers and brats. Set for 450 and the cook time was almost an hour. You could turn the brats by hand no where near the 450 mark even though the grill said it was. Called Traeger and it took about 90 minutes to get a hold of someone. She was nice got some info and escalated it. Was suppose to get a call the next day. Never did so I called and the guy I spoke with was really nice. He had me wrap the temp probe in the grill with foil and run it at 300 then at 400 and got some info. Asked if the temps seemed better but it was still off. He is having me do another cook today with the probe wrapped in foil and said he will call back tomorrow to get some info. He did state that this is a reported issue with the 575. So we will see. I am a little bummed because I had a LiL Tex that worked great and got rid of it to upgrade to a new Req Tec or Traeger. I opted for the Traeger because in 8 yrs or so that grill never did me wrong besides an occasional hot rod replacement. Now I am having second thoughts and wish I got the Req Tec. Guess we will see the only thing that can save my opinion now is how customer service backs up what appears to be a faulty product. We will see

So the foil trick helped a little but the issue is still there. Basically got to crank it to cook anything. It’s reading about 100 degrees off. Traeger did call and they are sending me a new temp sensor to swap. I’m gonna be patient on this. Traeger is assisting to correct the issue and too many times the consumer over reacts. I love the grill besides this temp issue. The part is currently not in stock they said it will be in in about a week. Hopefully this corrects the issue. One thing I do know is after a very happy run on my LiL Tex Traeger will make it right.

 

[KirkP]

Has anyone here gotten a new RTD after they supposedly became available after 4/18? Just wondering if that actually solved the problem or you are now waiting on a whole new controller. Ah, I just re-read Kaiiuken's post before mine and see the probes are still not in stock.

Just got off the phone with Traeger support. They will send me a new thermocouple when they get back in stock, which unfortunately is now towards the end of this month (May).

 

[Dave1972]

Has anyone here gotten a new RTD after they supposedly became available after 4/18? Just wondering if that actually solved the problem or you are now waiting on a whole new controller. Ah, I just re-read Kaiiuken's post before mine and see the probes are still not in stock.

Just got off the phone with Traeger support. They will send me a new thermocouple when they get back in stock, which unfortunately is now towards the end of this month (May).

I got a new RTD sent to the house today. Installed it. Used 3 separate ambient thermometers to verify. Still 70 degrees off from what controller says at 225 and difference worsens as I go higher temp. Support at Traeger said try this first and if it doesn’t work they will send me a new controller next. I’ll be calling them tomorrow. Seen some other threads speaking of firmware updates. I also received the update before I put the new RTD on. Right now I can’t get the temp above 350s on a 70 degree night with no wind....