I got my new DBS and seasoned it yesterday. Everything worked well. Today while smoking two turkey breasts the hot plate for the pucks quit burning them. I put one package of pucks in, 4 hours worth of smoke, and it didn't burn the last two. I have 2 Bubba pucks so it's not because they weren't on the plate.
I had plenty of time left on the timers for both the oven and the smoker. I turned off the smoker tried reseting and still wont burn the pucks. Everything seems to be working alright with the smoker side, it advances them fine all the timers and buttons seem to be doing their job. The hot plate just won't create smoke.....
Anyone have any suggestions in case it is just something silly causing my problem. Otherwise I guess come Monday I can call Bradley and see what they will do.
From your description it sounds like everything is functioning properly except the burner plate itself is not getting hot. I assume you have confirmed this by holding your hand near the burner plate. I would follow the wires into the smoke generator (you may have to take the generator apart) and make sure the wires are connected properly. It certainly would be possible during shipping, etc that a wire could have come loose. If not I would definitely give Bradley a call on Monday.
Good luck
Mike
Hi folks - I am a new user of the forum and the BDS.
I could not figure out how to post a new question so I used reply to post my question, sorry about that.
I am new to smoking but have some friends who compete. From everything they have told me a good sized brisket or pork putt can take 12, 14 hours or more to cook.
Why in the world does the timer only go to 9:40?
Is there any way around this design flaw and keep the infrared cooker on longer?
Hi John and welcome to the forum!
To post a new topic just select the topic page you want, then where the subject line of the threads are if you look all the way to the right you will see a few tabs, one of which is "New Topic".
I can't answer your question of "why" they would limit the timer to 9:40. Having said that the limit really never affected any of my smokes. Even when doing butts, sometimes up to 20 hours, it really asn't a big deal to just reset the timer before you go to bed. You will want to change the water bowl anyway.
Since that time I have added a PID so the timer limitation is no longer an issue. The other option is a BBQ Guru DigiQ.
Mike
Hi Mike
Thanks for the reply.
What is a PID and what does it do?
What I feel is the issue about the 9:40 time limit is that with a big brisket or butt that require a long cook time - I will either have to stay up late so I can sleep in or get get up very early to reset the timer. I am assuming that you do not want the smoker to cool down before the meat is done and then have to bring it back up to temp. I do not know if I am correct about that or not.
It just seems that a display with one more digit would have added virtually nothing to the cost of manufacturing, nor would charging 4 or 5 dollars more would cost them sales. If one will pay 479.00 - I am sure they would 484.00.
Thanks again
John
I agree, there really is no reason they couldn't have built it with out the limitation.
Prior to having the PID when I do a long smoke like a butt I will start it at 5 or 6 pm. I usually apply about 4 hours of smoke, so around 10 or 11 pm I dump the spent pucks, refill the water bowl and reset the timer. This would give me 9:40 of sleep time which is about 4 hours more than I can ever sleep.
A PID is a homebuilt control used to control the DBS or OBS. If dialed in correctly they will control the temp to +/- 1 or 2 degrees. Here is a couple of links. The first is a link to Olds recipe site that has a great set of instructions to build one. The second link is to some information on the one I built. Also, If you click on the smoker at the bottom of my post it will take you to Olds recipe site which has some great tried and true recipes.
http://www.susanminor.org/forums/showthread.php?t=315
http://forum.bradleysmoker.com/index.php?topic=4735.0
Mike
Quote from: johnchitown on September 11, 2007, 07:11:45 PM
Why in the world does the timer only go to 9:40?
Well, that is what happens when a software programmer is not a smoker :o
Appears to be a timer limitation (microcontroller probably has a 16 bit counter with a 5 bit prescaler). Run it at 60 Hz zero crossing of the A.C. line, and that about gets you to 9:40.
Arcs_n_Sparks
Quote from: Arcs_n_Sparks on September 12, 2007, 05:56:22 PM
Appears to be a timer limitation (microcontroller probably has a 16 bit counter with a 5 bit prescaler). Run it at 60 Hz zero crossing of the A.C. line, and that about gets you to 9:40.
Arcs_n_Sparks
Huh!......... ???
:D :D ;D
Mike
Quote from: Mr Walleye on September 12, 2007, 06:02:44 PM
Huh!......... ???
Step away from the microcontroller...... :D
Easy way to count time is to look when the A.C. power crosses zero volts. Happens 60 times/second in one direction (120 in both directions). A 5 bit prescaler is a simple divider (divide by 32). That output happens on roughly 1/2 second intervals. The output is an input to a 16 bit counter (typical in all microcontrollers). That divides by roughly 65,000. That gets you to about 34,952 seconds before it overflows. 9:40 is 34,800 seconds.
So...... The non-smoker programmer figures 34,800 seconds is plenty and avoids an overflow condition. Ouch...
Arcs_n_Sparks
Oh ya Arcs... That's alot clearer now! ::)
It's kinda wierd... I sorta under stand it! ;D
Mike
Quote from: Arcs_n_Sparks on September 12, 2007, 06:26:59 PM
seconds before it overflows.
Arcs_n_Sparks
Oh, Seconds before it overflows. I see. It is a toilet thing. ::) ::)
Well, that is what happens when a software programmer is not a smoker :o
You are partially correct. I spoke to a guy at the factory - and
Apparently, Bradley not only gave the project to a non smoker but one in China (I hope they did not put Lead or Anti Freeze in the Code) - but no one at Bradley took the time to write a detailed specification detailing what exactly was needed. Nor apparently did they do a detailed review of the prototype so they could demand fixes be made before final acceptance.
I guess Canadian companies are no different than here in the US. The only thing that matters is what will it cost - not is it correct.
I addition to the time limitation - after only 3 smokes it appears that the feeder mechanism in my smoke generator is not working correctly.
Before going to bed, I loaded the tube to the top with wood.
When I got up this morning - I found that only about 7 or 8 bisquettes had been used. When I opened the door the I found the bisquette
on the heat plate was nothing but ash, the next one in was smoldering and the one next to that was singed a little.
Anyone experience this problem?
I am going to calling Bradley and request a new generator.
Oh thats the doohicky thingymajigy kanooderswitch not working good ;D ;D
nepas
Quote from: johnchitown on September 13, 2007, 07:49:51 AM
When I got up this morning - I found that only about 7 or 8 bisquettes had been used. When I opened the door the I found the bisquette
on the heat plate was nothing but ash, the next one in was smoldering and the one next to that was singed a little.
Did they not feed, or did they hang up?
Quote from: Arcs_n_Sparks on September 13, 2007, 12:46:31 PM
Quote from: johnchitown on September 13, 2007, 07:49:51 AM
When I got up this morning - I found that only about 7 or 8 bisquettes had been used. When I opened the door the I found the bisquette
on the heat plate was nothing but ash, the next one in was smoldering and the one next to that was singed a little.
Did they not feed, or did they hang up?
That my question also. Around 12 bisquettes, the bowl will fill up with spent one, which could interfere with the bisquettes feeding properly. Why were you apply so much smoke. Generally 4 hours is good enough for larger items.
The pucks did not feed.
When I would press the feed button - I hear a solenoid pulling in be no feed occurs. After pressing 3 or 4 times it will eventually advance a puck.
I called the factory - told them of the problem and was told a new generator would be sent out immediately. Not even one question.
Makes me think they know they have a problem. At least they stand behind their product. The new generator should arrive in ten days.
Quote from: johnchitown on September 14, 2007, 07:19:27 AM
The pucks did not feed.
When I would press the feed button - I hear a solenoid pulling in be no feed occurs. After pressing 3 or 4 times it will eventually advance a puck.
I called the factory - told them of the problem and was told a new generator would be sent out immediately. Not even one question.
Makes me think they know they have a problem. At least they stand behind their product. The new generator should arrive in ten days.
Thats whats so great about Bradleys customer service. Sometimes i think batches get bugs in em.
nepas
I think that the reason the last 2 pucks did not burn is because there was no way to push them on the burner. You need to add a few extra pucks (which will be wasted) or get your self a set of 3 Bubba Pucks from Bryan and yardandpool.com. If you want 1 hour of smoke you need 3 pucks to burn then an extra 2 or 3 to push the smoking pucks along.
That is just my 2 cents.. ;D
Been gone for a few days, sorry for not replying.
They did not get hung up. The problem appears to be with the pusher mech. Upon finding the situation I would push the advance button the it would drop another bisquette and push it forward. Sometimes it might require 2 or 3 pushes before the motor would cycle.
Bradley sent a new smoke generator out. I try it out this weekend.
The amount of smoke one likes is a very subjective thing. But if the Bradley designed the generator to hold 28 bisquettes - the water pan should be sized to hold the spent ones. Seems like a simple enough thing.
Quote from: johnchitown on September 19, 2007, 07:57:49 PM
Been gone for a few days, sorry for not replying.
They did not get hung up. The problem appears to be with the pusher mech. Upon finding the situation I would push the advance button the it would drop another bisquette and push it forward. Sometimes it might require 2 or 3 pushes before the motor would cycle.
Bradley sent a new smoke generator out. I try it out this weekend.
The amount of smoke one likes is a very subjective thing. But if the Bradley designed the generator to hold 28 bisquettes - the water pan should be sized to hold the spent ones. Seems like a simple enough thing.
True, the amount of smoke is subjective, but using that much smoke can double or triple the cost of meat. Just kidding, but it has some truth in it. :)
You can do what many have done, use a larger aluminum pan with more water in it.
Just got through helping my buddy get his digital smoke generator replaced from Bradley (no computer). He had exactly the same problem and after many phone calls and a lot of failed suggestions on a fix they replaced it.
During the time Bradley tried to talk him through a fix I had a chance to watch it's operation from inside and try to figure out what was amiss. I think I read somewhere here that the pushing arm alternates between a CW and CCW rotation, (Walleye, maybe?). My buddy's unit would cylce normally, maybe 3 or 4 times in the CCW direction and then attempt a CW rotation at which time the arm would swing 90 degrees and stop instead of the 180 degrees required to pull the shelf back to drop the next puck causing a misload. During the next cylce it reversed direction and the puck would drop and advance normally. Really looks like the problem is mechanical rather than digital unless the switching direction is programmed. Anyway, I plan on picking his up and trying to repair it as a backup but in the meantime my DBS shipped at the same time as my buddy's has started doing the same thing. Here we go again. ??? >:(
Hi Art
I'm just thinking out loud.
I think the motor has to rotate one revolution for a complete cycle and it would appear it can run in either direction. Based on this, there must be some form of position sensor that allows the motor to stop in the correct position otherwise once it got out of sync it would never get back into sync. The other thing I wonder about is, does it continue to rotate one direction until it meets too much resistance, then it reverses and continues to function in this direction unless it meets resistance again. If it is resistance that causes it, it could be caused by a couple of different factors such as binding of the slide or a week motor.
Hmmm........
Mike
Some while back, a member solve the problem of getting the motor back in sync. I can't fully recall what he did, but it was something like interrupting the power supply at a certain point, then restoring the power.
Habs.... I think I remember something about that as well.
Mike
I just did a quick search and I found it.
http://forum.bradleysmoker.com/index.php?topic=2145.0
Mike
Great!
I meant to have save that tip just incase I had that problem.
Thanks, Mike & Habs!
Great post by Manxman! There are several points touched on that I had been wondering about.
I've got a generator on the way from Bradley now and can't wait to get into this one and work out the problem. By the way, when my buddy got his generator replaced the first one he recieved was an OBS gen. The DBS gen. arrived a day later after Bradley called to acknowledge the mistake and told him to keep the OBS. Evidently, Bradley's main interest is pushin' pucks. I'm thinking about hanging it on an offset smoker my brother got from Lowes and controlling it with a Digi Q. haven't worked out all the details yet but it should prove interesting. Thanks again guys! ;D ;D