Replacement Smoke Generator...

[Spliner]

This last fall I purchased a replacement smoke generator for my New OBS from yardandpool.com.  I never got a chance to use it, and the old one worked but it was getting weak (wouldn't advance if I used bubba pucks too) so I figured it'd be good to have a spare.  Anyway, just this last weekend I attempted my first smoke with it and it would not advance pucks, and was jamming them.  It looks to me like the advance mechanism isn't going all the way back into place, and it seemed to actuate twice when I pressed the button and doesn't seem to try and do anything every 20 minutes.  I got by manually pushing pucks through this last weekend but need to fix this thing and doubt yardandpool.com will help since I never tested it in the first place.

It almost looks to me like the mechanism that pushes the pucks might be installed upside down or something because I can drop a puck all the way to the bottom and push it through with my finger.  On my original one unless the arm pulls back a puck won't drop all the way in. 

Does anyone have any pics/diagrams how this thing should be put together because I am likely going to need to take it apart and fix it.  I really think it's just put together wrong, because it seems to actuate when I push the button and the burner works fine.

Spliner

[iceman]

Could be defective.
Have you contacted Yard and Pool? They have excellent customer service. Bradley also stands behind their products and will help you out. Before you go through the trouble of trying to fix it yourself I would contact them and explain your situation. I'm sure they will help you out.
Just say'n  ;)

[Habanero Smoker]

From your description the push plate is either not installed, installed upside down, or stuck in position when it is fully retracted. I think installing that part wrong would be impossible. If it can feed bisquettes manually, then it is installed. It is more likely that it gets stuck in the position when it is fully retracted. Open the generator and look for anything that can be causing the push plate to get stuck. Below is a link some photos of a disassembled Bradley generator. The best photo of the push plate is in Step #4.
How to clean the generator.

You may want to try to realign the push plate rails. That information is at the end of the below link.
Why won't my bisquettes advance automatically ...?

After trouble shooting, I would follow Iceman's suggestion.

[Spliner]

I'll give that a shot.  Would rather not hassle with returning it when the mechanism inside is fairly straightforward.  Especially when I have my old one to compare.  What makes me think the push plate is either not installed or upside down is that when it's not feeding a puck I can drop one and push it through to the burner with my finger.  On my old one the action is pull back which drops a puck down, then push forward which pushes it on to the burner.  This one is goofy, might be missing a part or something. 

I'll contact yard and pool and see what they say, but since I no longer have the box as well, nor any of the original packing material I wouldn't expect them to send out a new one.  I won't have time to take it apart until either this weekend or next so a support email won't hurt.

Spliner

[Spliner]

Bradley suggested I fill out a warranty claim so I'll be doing that this evening.  ;)

Spliner

[Habanero Smoker]

I misread you first post. I thought the generator was feeding the bisquettes when you pushed the advance button.

[Spliner]

I'm going to clean up my old generator this weekend and keep my fingers crossed that it lasts a couple more weeks while Bradley helps me sort out the new one.  If they will repair/replace it I'm going to let them.  I've never really given the old one (3-years old now) a good cleaning, all I've done is clean the residue off of the slider and burn plate.  The old one was getting weak though, I noticed if I used 3 bubba pucks at a time on top of the bisquettes sometimes it wouldn't feed.  So I was having to leave the bubba pucks out until the last puck went into the slider then drop them in one at a time. 

This new one not only has the pusher either not installed or installed wrong, it seems to push twice toward the burner when you press the button instead of pulling back then pushing forward.  It also isn't feeding automatically; at least ever 20 minutes it's not.  I timed it for up to 30 minutes and it would just sit there.  Works when I press the button (well, works wrong anyway), but otherwise the timing mechanism isn't working.  So it has multiple problems.   /shrug

Spliner

[Spliner]

Here's a pic of the push plate as I was describing.  It's back about 90% instead of sitting so the pucks can sit on top of it.  If you push the advance, it pushes forward twice instead of pulling back then pushing forward.

[Habanero Smoker]

It would seem like something is interfering with the push plate. Have you tried loosening the guide rails?

[Gafala]

Here a shot of mine.

[Spliner]

Still waiting on Bradley to call me back after sending them the pic.  Seems like I may need to take it apart anyway to see what I can do with it.  If I had some sort of a guide how the push plate mechanism was supposed to be assembled I'd take it apart and try myself to fix it.  However, all I can find are the cleaning pics from Susanminor.org and they don't show a ton of detail about that mechanism.  If I don't get something settled with Bradley this week I'll disassemble both my old one and the new one and compare the two to see what is wrong.  Just didn't have time this weekend to try that.

Edit:  Bradley called me back just before lunch and will be taking a look at the generator for me.  I'll be sending it in this week.  They aren't far from me, one state over in fact, so shouldn't take long to get it back in working condition.  I can baby along the old one for a couple of weekends ;).

Spliner

[Spliner]

Just an update.. The support guys from Bradley called me back today, they were testing out the generator I sent to them and even after re-adjusting things it went back to doing the same thing again so they are sending me out a new generator.  There's a moral to this story:


1)  Bradley rocks!
2)  Their customer service is 2nd to none!
3)  Refer to #1 and #2


This fall I'm planning to purchase a 6-rack to go with my 4-rack, and this just made up my mind.  As soon as my garage is done i'll be rocking 2 Bradley smokers!

Thanks for everyone's suggestions, and thank you Bradley Smoker for your products and customer support!

Spliner