Software update, no remote start

[au4stree]

Wondering if this is industry-wide. I’ve been out of it with recent surgery and haven’t been able to cook. But I went to start my recyeq and a weird message kept coming up, “please stand by your unit to start cooking” ie you have to manually start your grill. I don’t wanna get into the reasons why, I think Recteq fumbled this big time, but does your cooker now do this?

[Donw]

Actually it is more likely a standards or insurance issue. There are lot of things where you use to be able to do something remotely but codes, UL, and insurance policies have now forbidden. Remote starting your car might be okay but something where the first step is starting a fire might be across the line. There is a lot my technicians use to be able to do remotely but now, even if we are allowed remote access, we have to prove to the software that someone is on site and standing by, usually by entering a code or press

[Jerod Broussard]

When I bought my Grid Iron Pellet Pooper in 2018 the company didn't have a remote start due to liability issues.

[carolts]

Newer versions of the coffee roaster I use also have a feature where you have to push a button on the unit every so often or it stops...so it's happening across a number of appliances that can catch fire. As they say in the business: "it's a feature!"

[Donw]

Mine does too. It does keep my attention on the machine so I’m not walking off and forgetting it is running. A good thing.

[realdocBBQ]

Yes, the Recteq groups are full of people Losing. Their. Minds over this.

Some folks are having a meme-fest over it, though.

[Jerod Broussard]

Gotta link(s)

[STEbbq]

Grilla still does remote start or at least advertises a version of it, but it seems like Recteq dropped the ball on communicating here. I will be curious what customer service (you know, the over the top guys) do to address it.

[au4stree]

Not much. I’ll post their reply. Such a lame response on poor communication (reactive vs proactive). That’s my gripe, poorly communicated. I get the safety piece.

[au4stree]

Sorry, meant to add. I loved my Grilla but had such poor WiFi performance I had to sell it. The only reason I went back to a pellet pooper is I wanted a cooker that was “easy”.

[randy.56]

This is an industry wide new standard. Band on all remote starts. Something bad must have happened to change it. Nobody will offer it soon.



Seems that starting Wednesday, the ability to start the smoker from the app is going away due to safety and some regulations. Unfortunately, the company hasn’t sent anything official, but the owner, Ray Carnes did verify it but gave little detail. Here’s some screenshots from FB from Ray.

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[Jerod Broussard]

First Yard Darts and now this..........

[hoovarmin]

Jerod Broussard Lawn Darts were awesome.

[Sid P]

Jerod Broussard hoovarmin Come on guys, they were called "Jarts", and yes, they were awesome.

[ItsAllGoneToTheDogs]

It seriously should have never been allowed... if it had become widely implemented it would have been a very low effort attack on the world by remote starting every grill and hoping for a few hundred house fires

[Johnny Booth]

Something about connecting a fire to the internet doesn’t sound right. 🤔
Back in the early Internet, there was a story about a fridge that was spamming. Apparently, the manufacture had left an open mail-relay deamon in their code. Someone turned it on and was forwarding their spam from it.

[hoovarmin]

ItsAllGoneToTheDogs seems like that idea came to you quickly, hehehe

[au4stree]

Response from Recteq when I asked why they didn’t communicate a major software update.

Regarding the recent App Change:
Trust me when I tell you that we explored every possible option and work around, and this change was out of our control. This is simply and Industry-Wide Standard that we had to comply with. No grill manufacturer will be able to offer this feature in retail going forward. All other functions on our APP were unaffected, as this industry standard specifically applies to the remote start up.I, along with everyone at recteq, care deeply about your satisfaction. Recteq’s Customers are incredible and the most passionate customers on the planet. Everyone always asks about our “Special Sauce” that makes recteq unique. That’s simple…It is you, the customers. We will continue to do everything in our power to offer you quality, well-built products and back them up with world class customer service.
We hope you understand our position and appreciate your continued support.
Ray Carnes
Co-Founder / Recteq
706-294-1729.( Personal Cell)

[ItsAllGoneToTheDogs]

that doesn't answer your question... that looks like the canned response for those angry its gone not about the non-communication?

[randy.56]

Note: personal cell, how many other owners do that? you found out when it did not work. Mine is old school. No app no wifi connection.

[bbqLuv]

My Traeger has a manual start and remote adjustable settings including shutdown.
Safety is the reasoning. See above.
I support no remote start. I would not use it if I had it. If a grill shuts down in the middle of a cook I would want to find out why before restarting, but that is me.

[Donw]

In the 80’s a fire alarm went off at a major Chicago telephone switching hub. The central operator assumed it was a false alarm and did a remote reset. When the alarm went off again, and again, and again he reset it repeatedly assuming it was a false alarm. It wasn’t and his mistake caused tens of millions of dollars damage. Another similar incident soon after in Las Vegas caused the deaths of firefighters and very quickly not only the fire codes but elevator codes were rewritten removing remote control from life safety systems. Both incidents involved trained people who knew better.
UL followed and removed remote control from many of their standards too.
I’m very surprised that remote starting of a machine that uses combustible materials survived this long.

[Jerod Broussard]

Remote Start and self-driving vehicles live on....

[Johnny Booth]

I see the cars are under pressure as well. There are too many things that can defeat the AI. Stupidity being #1 and unfortunately, the most prevalent feature of the human race.

[jfmorris]

Well, I can see this as a big issue if you have a power hit while not home, and can't restart your cooker. Time for a UPS to keep your pellet pooper going through power spikes and glitches?

I guess I don't have remote start either on my charcoal cookers, but at least it won't spontaneously just stop burning, without some warning that the fire is going out by dropping temps in the app on my phone...

I will make an educated guess that someone, somewhere, had a pellet cooker that kept going out, making a big pile of excess pellets spilling over in the burn pot, and eventually it DID start, and the grill caught fire and burned down a house or something. Likely because it was all too close to something flammable, against the guidance in the user manual. They then sued the company that made the grill.

This is why we've had lawn mowers that turn off when you release that stupid safety bar on the handle for the past 30 years, and didn't have it before that. Some idiot grabbed the mower itself or something or got his foot under it and lost fingers or toes, while it was running. So this makes me wonder... will the little robot lawn mowers soon require someone on site to watch it mow the grass, so that no one gets hurt by the spinning blade?

[Johnny Booth]

I’m betting yes, or they will be so weak and slow it will take forever to cut your grass.

[Sid P]

Next we’ll have to stand by it and hold in a button to keep it burning. If I’d known this last year I’d have gone for a WSCG instead of the Grilla Silverbac.

Don’t we all know by now that you can’t fix stupid?

[au4stree]

This. I know why they did it, that’s not the point. It’s that I paid for a cooker with certain features and it was removed without my consent. I bought the pellet cooker with remote features because I wanted easy. In the great scheme of things, this is definitely a first world problem.

[IdahoJim]

My Memphis Advantage lets me adjust the temperature and shut it down remotely (when I can get the wifi to work). It has never offered remote startup. I never questioned it. It just made sense to me. You oughtta be there when you start the grill. Look inside, look around, move it where you want it, make sure it has pellets etc.

[jfmorris]

I think the concern is if you lose power or the cooker shuts off unexpectedly while you are away and monitoring the cook from your phone.