Timberline XL Issues:

[JPSBBQ]

I am watching the temps myself. I did a hi-speed brisket cook last Sunday (8 hours total from on the grates to wrapped in a foil pan complete for transport). My Hi-Speed brisket protocol is 325 deg till the point hits 160, then inject and double wrap in foil individually. They go back on the racks at 300 till the flat hits 200 deg internal. Pull packs and rest for 30 - 60 minutes. Finally, slit foil and drain juice. Move and place each brisket into a foil pan and cover with foil. Did 6 briskets for a total of 80 pounds +/-.

I used my Signals thermometer from ThermoWorks. It has 4 probe pickups with temperature reading, averaging and graphing on each probe. Since it is wifi connected, I can monitor things with my IPAD and the company app.

I set an air probe on the second rack and 3 meat probes into 3 of the briskets. I then set the two wired XL probes into 2 more Briskets, and "drove" the XL Meater spike into the last brisket. (I am not in love with this meater probe yet)

The XL onboard sensors and the ThermoWorks air probe stayed within 10 degrees of each other most of the way. Only time it really deviated was reporting changes after door closing. I believe the issue during the door recovery may be due to the point placement of my "air" probe vs the reporting sensors on the XL.

I have done this cook many times on my old Timberline 1300 so I have a baseline "normal" for timing and function. I found my new XL did nothing alarming and performed well. Briskets were delicious. The XL grease management performed flawlessly. Grease management was the reason I moved off the Timberline 1300. In high volume cooks I needed to always be aware of the Timberline 1300 management. The XL had 0 issues.

Subjectively, I believe I am getting a better smoke and more smoke across the continuum using the XL. I am still working on a cleanup protocol, but, it is getting there.

Tomorrow, I will be doing another known cook.

I will do between 12 and 14 racks of St. Louis trim pork ribs cooked dry Memphis style.
I generally run these for between 6 and 7 hours at 275 degrees. I do not wrap them.
I use a rub and yellow mustard, then on the fire for 6 hours till I open the lid for the first check.

I do not use meat probes with ribs. I DO monitor the grill temps. For this cook I WANT my 275 to BE 275. I will probably run 2 air probes to cross check the Traeger sensor temps. For ribs it is all about time and temp. I use poke tests, bend tests, and twist tear testing to judge finish.

I am going to be watching for temperature consistency and accuracy, product delivery cook times and final product outcome meeting what I expect for St Louis ribs (acting normally), and grease management.

Who doesn't love ribs.

I will report any XL issues. This will be a good test for air flow and grease management.

There is a trend in the industry away from tightly controlled temps. The tighter the temp swings the more efficient the burn and the less smoke profile is created. Many are allowing or encouraging a wider temp fluctuation and using an average as their display temperature. That's basically how the smoke boost functions work with all the manufactures. They are applying this technology to the higher temp cooks as well. Not sure if that's at play here with the XL, but given the noise about improved smoke profiles, I'd be surprised if it weren't. Good Luck with the testing.

 

[ARCEE]

i would like to get a read on what kind of sensor setup they are using (mechanical). I see a single thermal probe (for lack of a better term) located behind the grid wall at the back right of the unit. I wonder if that is the only sensing point.

I would like to know if the temperature display is real time, is it averaged, is it delayed. How is the open door temperature recovery program set up. Does it do a "door closed now, delay while the temp returns to max, then apply more fire" type algorithm?

I have read references to multiple sensors being in the XL. I find no literature supporting that. What is normal supposed to look like. I have a Timberline 1300 sitting right next to the XL that I am planning to sell off when/if the XL performs.

I have 18 racks of St Louis ribs to cook tomorrow. 275 the whole way. Should take between 6 and 7 hours. We shall see what we shall see. Great grease management test. Grease management was the issue with my 850 and 1300. If the XL cooks the ribs and they are good, then I am all in.

Still working on a good cleaning protocol. I am about 75% done with my cleaning process development. About 2 hours to clean up after an 80lb brisket cook. This had everything looking good for the next cook. Mostly I am spending time learning how to best clean things up.

 

[DKrics]

Everybody sharing their experiences and insights is very helpful. I haven't cooked a brisket yet. I suspect low temps this does well. And not having to mess with foil was a big selling point for this unit. I REALLY like the induction top. But if the thing can't heat up to cook some burgers, like previous Traegers can easily do, and like it is advertised to do, then it isn't going to be the grill / smoker that I need. I have some decisions to make before my return period at Home Depot ends!

 

[magoo40]

Hi All,
Check out my heat-up issues with my new Timerberline XL below. This data was collected from Traeger's own Wi-fi data using Home Assistant and a custom plug in.
I set the temp to 450 and it took over 30 mins to hit 350. It took 40 mins (total) to hit 450.
Notice the slope of the heat up. It went from nothing registered to Boom! I don't know if this is true vs heat just not registering at the thermometer.
Notice the slope from start up to 180 is steep, but it slows down from 180 to 300. The heat up from 300 to 450 seems more reasonable.
So, I was cooking thin slices of marinated ribeye (like a Korean BBQ). Thus the number of temp drops when the lid was opened.
Notice how later in the cook, the temp really never gets above 200, despite being set at 500 starting at 708.
Look at the hump at the 7:45 mark. The lid is closed. Target temp is 500. But the "curve" is flat. The temp goes down despite the lid being shut! This is an issue.
I think there has to be a software issue in terms of feedback and heatup. I am afraid this D2 drive or whatever it is called may try to be too fancy for its own good, leading to slow and improper heat ups in the Timberline XL.
Sorry for my rant! But now I have additional data to support it.


View attachment 9382

It would be interesting to see the same exercise tracked with a Fireboard or something like it.

 

[Keystone]

There is a trend in the industry away from tightly controlled temps. The tighter the temp swings the more efficient the burn and the less smoke profile is created. Many are allowing or encouraging a wider temp fluctuation and using an average as their display temperature. That's basically how the smoke boost functions work with all the manufactures. They are applying this technology to the higher temp cooks as well. Not sure if that's at play here with the XL, but given the noise about improved smoke profiles, I'd be surprised if it weren't. Good Luck with the testing.

Similar issues, I had to replace the controller. I've experienced this problem on two previous Traegers, each required the replacement of the controller. Based on this repeated experience my suspensions are a lack of test of the controller's firmware prior to shipping the controller to the assembly location. Easy to make a test system and moments to test each controller. Serious consideration should be given to an incoming inspection using a statistical sampling rate based on ANSI / ASQC Z1.9 (MIL STD 414)

Based on the replacement rate I've experienced the cost of this investment would be paid for very quickly. Basic manufacturing quality systems would have resolved this problem long ago without the customer satisfaction issues.

Once replaced each Traeger performed very well.

With firmware the controller could easily give the operator the ability to control how many degrees of variation they would like to allow =/- X degrees from the target. This potentially could result in more efficient use of pellets. In my case i would seek a tight control of temperature, I'm more concerned about the quality of the meat smoked than saving a few cups of pellets.

 

[JPSBBQ]

Similar issues, I had to replace the controller. I've experienced this problem on two previous Traegers, each required the replacement of the controller. Based on this repeated experience my suspensions are a lack of test of the controller's firmware prior to shipping the controller to the assembly location. Easy to make a test system and moments to test each controller. Serious consideration should be given to an incoming inspection using a statistical sampling rate based on ANSI / ASQC Z1.9 (MIL STD 414)

Based on the replacement rate I've experienced the cost of this investment would be paid for very quickly. Basic manufacturing quality systems would have resolved this problem long ago without the customer satisfaction issues.

Once replaced each Traeger performed very well.

With firmware the controller could easily give the operator the ability to control how many degrees of variation they would like to allow =/- X degrees from the target. This potentially could result in more efficient use of pellets. In my case i would seek a tight control of temperature, I'm more concerned about the quality of the meat smoked than saving a few cups of pellets.

Just one note. It’s my belief that the tighter the control of temperature fluctuation, the more efficient it should be on pellets. I guess I could be wrong, but inducing inefficient burn to create more smoke I would think would be by definition inefficient. It’s the age old dance between smokiness and tight temperature control. For every person you please you are bound to displease another. They can’t please everyone, that’s for sure.

 

[LonestarCowboy]

Sorry to see you are experiencing this but it is more common than anyone will admit to. I have had the same issue since 2018. Traeger has spent numerous hours with me on the phone gathering data from my Timberline 1300. Traeger had sent me multiple replacement thermal couples (Temp Sensors) control boards and fans. None of these has solved the issue. What has helped is to make sure you leave the lid closed for about 20 minutes after reaching your selected temperature this seems to help reduce the temperature fluctuation when opening the lid. However it does not stop the problem about every 3rd time I use the grill it will have the issue. Pellets don't seem to help, if you don't keep your pellets stored in a dry condition this can have an effect. After about 2 dozen brands and types of pellets I quit keeping up with them. Good luck.

 

[DKrics]

I got my XL around 2 months ago and was very disappointed regarding the time it would take to heat the grill. It was never less than 30 minutes to get to 350. Sometimes it would take 50 minutes. Calls to support didn't solve anything. Diagnostics were all fine. I tried different pellets, but nothing worked. Times only minimally improved with multiple additional cooks.
About 3 weeks ago I got a flame sensor error. I troubleshot with support and they mailed me a new part. While waiting for the part, the error disappeared. The part arrived and I was debating whether or not to install it since the error was resolved.
I decided to change the part.
Last night: ignition to 470 took 25 mins starting at 82 ambient temperature. Interestingly, for the first 5 minutes, the temp was stagnant, but it took off from there. It took 20 minutes to 350 and 25 minutes to 470.
I don't know if this was a random situation, or if the old flame sensor was always crummy despite previously passing the multiple diagnostic tests. Perhaps this was why my grill took forever to get to temp and others would state theirs heated up quicklly.
Just wanted to share my experience with you all, especially those who are having trouble achieving reasonable heating times.

 

[JPSBBQ]

I got my XL around 2 months ago and was very disappointed regarding the time it would take to heat the grill. It was never less than 30 minutes to get to 350. Sometimes it would take 50 minutes. Calls to support didn't solve anything. Diagnostics were all fine. I tried different pellets, but nothing worked. Times only minimally improved with multiple additional cooks.
About 3 weeks ago I got a flame sensor error. I troubleshot with support and they mailed me a new part. While waiting for the part, the error disappeared. The part arrived and I was debating whether or not to install it since the error was resolved.
I decided to change the part.
Last night: ignition to 470 took 25 mins starting at 82 ambient temperature. Interestingly, for the first 5 minutes, the temp was stagnant, but it took off from there. It took 20 minutes to 350 and 25 minutes to 470.
I don't know if this was a random situation, or if the old flame sensor was always crummy despite previously passing the multiple diagnostic tests. Perhaps this was why my grill took forever to get to temp and others would state theirs heated up quicklly.
Just wanted to share my experience with you all, especially those who are having trouble achieving reasonable heating times.

When you say flame sensor, do you mean RTD type probe or wire? Just curious. Maybe the new ones have something different from the older Timberline? The older ones have a wire sorta thing with an exposed end that protrudes from the side wall of the cooking chamber.

 

[DJDDay]

Last night: ignition to 470 took 25 mins starting at 82 ambient temperature. Interestingly, for the first 5 minutes, the temp was stagnant, but it took off from there. It took 20 minutes to 350 and 25 minutes to 470.

Man... this would bother me if I bought this grill for $3000+ USD. My basic Pro 780 takes about 15-20 minutes to go from cold to 500F at 85F ambient.

 

[DKrics]

When you say flame sensor, do you mean RTD type probe or wire? Just curious. Maybe the new ones have something different from the older Timberline? The older ones have a wire sorta thing with an exposed end that protrudes from the side wall of the cooking chamber.

They shipped me a whole hot rod and panel piece. I didn't need to adjust anything. Just unplug the current piece and install the new one.

 

[DKrics]

Man... this would bother me if I bought this grill for $3000+ USD. My basic Pro 780 takes about 15-20 minutes to go from cold to 500F at 85F ambient.

Agreed. I was pissed. My previous Silverton worked like a charm and got to temp in 15 minutes. This grill is way bigger so I will concede that it may take a bit longer to heat up. But when support was saying 45 mins is okay I was like who are you kidding? Don't gaslight me! If I wanted to wait an hour for things to heat I would have kept my Weber kettle and chimney for charcoal cooks.

 

[JPSBBQ]

Agreed. I was pissed. My previous Silverton worked like a charm and got to temp in 15 minutes. This grill is way bigger so I will concede that it may take a bit longer to heat up. But when support was saying 45 mins is okay I was like who are you kidding? Don't gaslight me! If I wanted to wait an hour for things to heat I would have kept my Weber kettle and chimney for charcoal cooks.

Interesting, I would not have suspected that as the issue. That’s why they’re the experts. Hopefully that squares everything up for your unit.

 

[Hoot]

There is a trend in the industry away from tightly controlled temps. The tighter the temp swings the more efficient the burn and the less smoke profile is created. Many are allowing or encouraging a wider temp fluctuation and using an average as their display temperature. That's basically how the smoke boost functions work with all the manufactures. They are applying this technology to the higher temp cooks as well. Not sure if that's at play here with the XL, but given the noise about improved smoke profiles, I'd be surprised if it weren't. Good Luck with the testing.

The Timberline XL is junk. Mine hasn’t worked since day one. Still waiting for Traeger to make it right. Over two months now. Do not buy this grill.