Dissapointed in Bradley's response

[Tom Reid]

First post folks but I must say I've been having a great read. Lots of good recipes here.

I own the Digital Smoker and mainly use the smoker to cold smoke salmon and have had great success in the winter. From what I've researched it sounded like the Cold Smoke Adapter kit was what I needed to continue cold smoking into the summer so I bought one. When I opened the box I was disappointed to discover the adapter kit did not include a long Sensor Cable but instead came with a bypass plug. I think a long sensor cable is a must with this kit so you can monitor the internal temperatures in the digital smoker using the display readout. As all digital owners know the digital smoker does not come with a thermometer on the door like the original. Bradley's design team conveniently added a digital thermometer with the temperature being read on the generator display. This now might be a design flaw according to their final response which you will read later...sorry I digress.

I sent an email to Bradley asking if they would consider adding a long sensor cable to their kit. Their first response..."The reason we don't offer a longer sensor cable is that the lowest temperature the Digital Generator can be set for and reads (in terms of having the oven side on) is 120 degrees. The Cold Smoke Adaptor keeps a much lower temperature than that, so that's why we just by pass the connection. It's best just to use a separate thermometer to keep track of the temperature."

Whoever sent that reply was wrong on the capabilities of their digital thermometer so I sent another email. Here is my email..."Thanks for your reply. No disrespect intended but I think you might be missing the point. Perhaps I wasn't clear so please allow me to explain again. I agree the lowest temperature when using the Digital Generator with the oven is 120 degrees, however, when cold smoking you do not turn on the oven portion of the generator. From page 14 of your manual, the recommendation to cold smoke is to disconnect the jumper cable which supplies power to the "Oven" in the smoker. The same can be achieved by simply not turning on the oven. The only source of heat then comes from the Bisquette Burner as it smolders the bisquettes. That burner and the smoldering bisquette supply adequate heat to Cold Smoke (approx 85 degrees). Of importance to note, the display does show the internal temperature of the smoker even when the "Oven" is off and it does display internal temperatures below 120 degrees as it should as it is a readout for a digital thermometer. It is easy to maintain and monitor (on the display) the desired temperature to cold smoke on cooler days by use of the top vent. The idea of your cold smoke adapter was to allow customers the advantage of cold smoking on warmer days by using the adapter kit to distance the source of heat for cold smoking, which again by definition from your user manual, is the bisquette burner. When cold smoking in the winter we use the short sensor cable provided and can monitor the internal temperature of the smoker. This cannot be done with the cold smoke adapter kit without a long sensor cable.That said, if a longer cord were to be supplied with the kit us Digital owners could get the full use of your digital smokers and the cold smoke adapter kit you have sold us. This would be a mute point if the Digital Smoker came with a thermometer on the door like your Original Smoker but it doesn't, it relies on digital technology which works very well and it could be maximized if a longer cable were to be supplied with the kit."

Here is their reply to my last email..."I understand what you are getting at. But there is really no need to read the temperature with the cold smoke adapter, reading the internal temp on the digital display is giving you the advantage to make sure that the smoker is pre heated hot enough to cook your food. If you wanted to see the temp in the smoker when you are cold smoking, then you have to get a thermometer and stick it in the smoker. We do not have a longer sensor cable available so that you can read the internal temp when you are using the cold smoke adapter."

OK...so now I am really frustrated. Note..."If you wanted to see the temp in the smoker when you are cold smoking, then you have to get a thermometer and stick it in the smoker."...this is the design flaw I noted above. Why didn't Bradley keep the thermometer on the door when designing their digital model? My guess is because the digital display thermometer serves the purpose. So why then should I have to get a thermometer and stick it in the smoker? And a second point is it is important to monitor the internal temperature when cold smoking. Adjustments to the vent on the smoker as well as the placement of the generator and metal tubing to try and get 85 degrees are critical. This is a no brainer!! Sorry, I digressed again!! :-\

Bradley Head Office themselves suggest cutting the cable that comes with the smoker and adding an extra length of wire. http://forum.bradleysmoker.com/index.php?topic=8160.75  

I've since built my own long sensor cable and it functions well to give me the digital thermometer readout. Some might question then why the rant and perhaps tomorrow I might question it myself!!  ::) My only point, and I do believe there are others who agree, is why didn't Bradley include a long sensor cable so we could maximize the products they sell. The design team really need to think outside the smoke generator box on this one.

[Tenpoint5]

Welcome Aboard Tom. 

I won't rag at you about your post because we all need to vent when FRUSTRATED and that is what you seem to have been doing, venting some frustrations. Brian from the head office usually comes by and checks things out. I will let him comment.

[OU812]

Welcome Tom

Hope this missunderstanding with the cable don't keep you from posting some great salmon cooks with us.

My thought on the cable would be keeping the price down. If there was a cable in every box and only half of the biers were the digital owners then there would be alot of cables sitting in a box collecting dust.

By the way I'm looking for one of those bypass plugs if you were to get rid of it.

[NePaSmoKer]

FYI

You can get a bypass plug at Radio Shack for like 80 cents.  Just take your cable in with you and say hey i need this female plug.

NO PROBLEMA


nepas

[Tom Reid]

Thanks for not ragging at me Tenpoint5. Appreciate the welcome.

As for the bypass OU812 I'm gonna have to hang onto it in case my home made long cable disappears or quits on me. Radio Shack have plenty as noted by nepas. The plug is called a Coaxial Power Plug. If you have an old power supply collecting dust in the garage or shed for anything from a laptop to a battery charger it's plug might fit. If you're buying one the Outer Dimension is 7/74" (5.5mm) and the Inner 5/64" (2.1mm) according to my package. Not sure how Bradley make the plug bypass, perhaps they've soldered the two inner connections together.

As to the cost for Bradley to include a large cable with the adapter kit it's only peanuts for them in the big picture. The other answer might be to include a longer cable with the smoker itself in case their customers buy the adapter kit.

[pensrock]

To make a bypass plug simply take a plug and solder a 100K ohm resistor across it. 1/8 or 1/4 watt will work fine.

IMHO
I cannot believe cost would be an issue to include a longer cable in with a cold smoke setup, it cannot cost more than $2.00 to make and I'm sure they would be getting them in bulk cheaper than that. I think I paid maybe a buck for two plugs and a piece of two conductor wire when I made my longer cable.

[OU812]

When I checked on making a longer cord it was going to be 14.60 b4 tax, that is y I was throwing the cost thing out there.

[pensrock]

That is most likely parts from Radio shack. They are quite pricey because you have to buy molded adaopters and such. I was shocked to see how much they wanted for a simple cord.

Go to Partsexpress.com and look for 2.1mmX5.5mmX9.5mm DC plugs (you will need two) and get a piece of two wire cord and make your own.

[OU812]

Yep the price was from radio shack.

Thanks pens for the info.

[okiesmoke]

The plug on an old Nokia cell phone charger is a perfect fit!