Brand New OBS, auto-feed not working (looked at FAQ)

[mattm]

Hey Bradley folk,

I just picked up my first Bradley OBS last night and the auto-feed has only worked once.  The manual feed has no problems whatsoever but after 20 minutes there's nothing, I have to push the button.

-Manual feed works fine
-There is no noise after 20 minutes, I've sat from the 15 minute mark to the 25 minute mark about 6 times yesterday while trying to season the thing
-It's brand new so there's little chance that it's a wear and tear issue.

I checked out the FAX and noticed the CW/CCW thing but requires me to cut the power while it's in the middle of the auto cycle and that never happens for me, there's no noises, it's not happening at all.

I have a strong feeling that I just have the bad luck of a bad timer chip but was wondering if there's anything else I can look at.

Basically, if the manual feeder is very smooth and there's no noise (it's not even trying at the 20 minute period), is there something else to look at before bringing it back for a new one (just the generator, no sense bringing the whole thing back, hopefully Canadian Tire is cool with that)

Thanks,

Matt m

[Tenpoint5]

Matt take the S/G off and unplug it from the wall. Then remove the 8 screws from around the outside of the bottom of the unit. It will then open up like a clam shell. Look around in there and see if there is any loose wires. You will not void any warranty's by doing this. This is actually part of your operator maintenance. You should take it apart and clean all of the wood chips out of it once or twice a season if you only smoke during the summer months. Try unplugging the unit when it is in mid cycle after manual activation if it works that way for you

[mattm]

Hey Tenpoint5,

I opened it up last night and checked it out but it was spotless as I also bought it last night (I discovered the issue after the first 20 minutes and the puck never moved, during seasoning). 

While open I made sure all connections were good and ran a couple manual cycles to make sure that the arm was moving back and forth correctly.  I disconnected and reconnected all the wires that were stuck on with clips and I also reseated the feeding tube and tried running it without the feeding tube entirely.  No go.  The big thing is that it looks like it's not even trying at the 20 minute mark, I don't hear a motor running at all (twice last night I had a bloody airplane go by right at the 20 minute mark).  Hence my thinking it might just be a defective timer chip.

I called Canadian tire and they said that they have 3 more in stock and that I can simply bring the smoke generator in and replace it which I think I will do as soon as I get off work.  I want to smoke stuff and not waste pucks trying to figure out why it's not feeding, to be quite honest.  I have a feeling there's not much I can do.

Matt M

PS: It also leaks out the top right corner of the door but looking that up it seems like it should go away after it's been heated.  I ran it for 4 hours last night and it was still leaking via the door corner.  I'm wondering if the unit was damaged during transportation.  The box had a hole in it and one side was dented in so I wonder if it fell off a skid or something, perhaps I should bring back the whole unit.

[mattm]

Oh...

I also tried starting a manual cycle and cutting the power midway through then giving it power again after a few minutes and that did nothing...  The FAQ (not FAX, oops) talked about cutting the power half way through an auto cycle.  Since it specifically said to run a manual cycle and then wait the 20 minutes to shut off during an auto cycle, I wasn't sure if cutting the power during a manual cycle would make a difference but tried it anyway.