Smoker Problem

peter ramone · March 13, 2005, 05:48:03 PM

Just smoked my first chicken, but 2hours in and the Biscuits are not burning, there being moved on every 20mins unburnt. The Heaters working fine and all lights are on. Whats wrong ?. Is the BS defective ?, The plate is charred but that shouldnt hinder it ?. Anyone help me before I ring the supplier tommorrow.

johnintx1 · March 13, 2005, 06:28:31 PM

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by peter ramone
 Just smoked my first chicken, but 2hours in and the Biscuits are not burning, there being moved on every 20mins unburnt. The Heaters working fine and all lights are on. Whats wrong ?. Is the BS defective ?, The plate is charred but that shouldnt hinder it ?. Anyone help me before I ring the supplier tommorrow.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
Try turning off all switches, unpluging the main plug, and all plugs for 30 sec. Then plug back in plugs, in correct order ,and turn on all switches. That happened to me before and this unpluging for 30 sec did the trick for me ,hope it helps you . Post back to let us know if it works for you.

Smoke on!!

peter ramone · March 13, 2005, 06:55:33 PM

Tried it 3 times, still no action, but thanks anyway.

Oldman · March 13, 2005, 07:04:04 PM

If you plate is cold, and yet the pucks are moving there is an outside chance if you are using an extend cord it is to small and thus not enough power is getting to the plate. If not and the plate is cold you will need to call Bradley....not who you purchased it from. If the part is defective and under warranty Bradley normally gets a replacement to you within 48 hours... sometime within 24 hours.

If your generator is defective and when you get a new one don't throw out the old one. Sometimes the advance goes crazy (very seldom) but it would be just bad luck if you discard the old generator and 5 months out of warranty this happened to you.

Olds

http://rminor.com

peter ramone · March 13, 2005, 07:14:00 PM

I am using an extension lead, but it seemed to work fine when i seasoned it yesterday and for the 2hours before it stopped smoking, but i will move it onto a dedicated ring and see what happens.

johnintx1 · March 13, 2005, 07:49:23 PM

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by peter ramone
 I am using an extension lead, but it seemed to work fine when i seasoned it yesterday and for the 2hours before it stopped smoking, but i will move it onto a dedicated ring and see what happens.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
Also,Make sure you use a 10 or 12 guage ext. cord to power the unit.
A reguler household cord may not be heavy enough.
Good luck!

Smoke on!!

SMOKEHOUSE ROB · March 13, 2005, 09:02:32 PM

peter, try taking the smoke genarator out of the bradley, and go plug it in to another outlet and see if it gets hot, if that dont work try taking a few screws out of it and look inside to see if anything came unpluged, if that dont work call bradley.

peter ramone · March 14, 2005, 07:35:13 PM

Rang Bradley UK, and there sending a new smoker unit (told to dipose of old unit myself) hows that for service. I usually have to send the faulty item back and wait for the results.

Oldman · March 14, 2005, 11:12:27 PM

Glad to here you were taken care of... Bradley does do a good job of honoring their warranty is a very timely manner.

Olds

http://rminor.com

clappy · March 30, 2005, 01:50:57 PM

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by peter ramone
 Just smoked my first chicken, but 2hours in and the Biscuits are not burning, there being moved on every 20mins unburnt. The Heaters working fine and all lights are on. Whats wrong ?. Is the BS defective ?, The plate is charred but that shouldnt hinder it ?. Anyone help me before I ring the supplier tommorrow.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

My smoker has quit smoking too after it's first use. Now I have to wait for Bradley to recieve my warranty card before they'll send me a new heating element for the somker box that, I have to install my self. Great quality in their product and great customer service? NOT! Also their online registration link doesn't work.

From all the posted problems, Bradley needs to do something about their quality control.

Dale

nsxbill · March 30, 2005, 03:12:28 PM

Clappy

Sorry about your problem.

Not in disagreement on quality control, but had you sent your card in, your part to replace would be on the way.

When mine failed, I called them, gave them the serial number and date of purchase, where I purchased from and I had the failed burner plate two days later. That, to me, is superior customer service.

They are not unaware of failings of the smoker, that is why they really expedite shipping of part to you.

Since my unit came drop-shipped from Bradley, no hassles. The burner plate is a piece of cake to replace...just unscrew the old one, connect the wires just the one coming out, and you will able to smoke again.

Bill

There is room on earth for all God's creatures....on my plate next to the mashed potatoes.

clappy · March 30, 2005, 04:00:18 PM

"Not in disagreement on quality control, but had you sent your card in, your part to replace would be on the way. "

I had sent the warranty card in but the unit broke before they recieved the card. The product registration part of their web site "They told me to use" does not work either. So I'm stuck with a $400.00+ smoker that doesn't work. 

"They are not unaware of failings of the smoker, that is why they really expedite shipping of part to you."

Why are they selling a product they know has problems? If this is so, thats a dishonest way to do business or at least warn the customer.

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by nsxbill
 Clappy

Sorry about your problem.

Not in disagreement on quality control, but had you sent your card in, your part to replace would be on the way.

When mine failed, I called them, gave them the serial number and date of purchase, where I purchased from and I had the failed burner plate two days later. That, to me, is superior customer service.

They are not unaware of failings of the smoker, that is why they really expedite shipping of part to you.

Since my unit came drop-shipped from Bradley, no hassles. The burner plate is a piece of cake to replace...just unscrew the old one, connect the wires just the one coming out, and you will able to smoke again.

Bill

There is room on earth for all God's creatures....on my plate next to the mashed potatoes.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

nsxbill · March 30, 2005, 04:13:15 PM

Clappy, don't shoot the messenger. I thought your note meant you had not sent in your warranty card yet.

I think they have the cabinets and parts assembled in China to save money and keep the cost of the smoker down. I am not defending Bradley, I contacted customer service by phone, and they took care of me. I have two of the SS models, so very invested in keeping them functioning.

Failure of the unit is always a bummer.

If you haven't done it, contact Cassandra. She is the best one to have dialog with there at Bradley, and historically provided excellent response to me.

Bill

There is room on earth for all God's creatures....on my plate next to the mashed potatoes.

JJC · March 30, 2005, 07:10:38 PM

Hi Clappy,

Sorry about the unit not working--that feeling of anger and disappointment is something all of us can relate to with one product or another in our lives. However, I wouldn't be too premature in judging Bradley on their customer service or even on their quality control. A forum such as this one tends to collect a very disproportionate share of the problems with a product (ever been on other smoker forums or for that matter, on car forums?), just as Consumer Reports customer surveys tend to overexaggerate problems because people with problems are much more likely to respond than people who are satisfied. Given that the BS is a relatively new approach to smoking (not just a better mousetrap) with its side-mounted smoke generator, there are bound to be problems here and there as the Bradley folks try to balance component quality, availability, and cost.

I would be very careful about implying that the Bradley folks are anything less than upfront and honest in their business dealings. There's way too many folks on this Forum with nothing but positive dealings with Bradley to worry about that! Give them a fair shake--they'll take good care of you [:)].

John
Newton MA

Habanero Smoker · March 30, 2005, 10:29:37 PM

I agree with John and Bill, Bradley has very dependable and fast customer service. I have dealt with many other manufacturers that make you jump through hoops to get them to honor their warranty, and then they want you to pick up the shipping cost, and return the defective part(s).

You cannot judge a product by visiting the forum, and reading posts from some members having problems. In this case the forum is a courtesy of Bradley to help costumers get the best use out of the product, and to seek help for problems; so you will see problems posted here. What you need to remember is what you have read on the replies from experienced members, and how the problem was resolved. That will give you a better picture of how Bradley backs their product and how they treat their customers.