Puck feeder sticking problem..... Please help!!

[Habanero Smoker]

Hi;

Welcome to the forum.

I wouldn't throw the bisquettes away. First are you sure that is what caused the jamming? If the bisquettes were the cause because they swelled due to moisture, then you can use them on your grill to add some additional flavor to grilled food.

Smoke on your grill.

[Uncle Al]

I was in the same quandary a few weeks ago and followed down the same path of unsuccessful cleanings and ponderings.  After several emails Bradley said my warranty was expired & told me to just go buy a new generator for 130 bucks!  Instead, I decided to see if I could affect repairs myself.  I took the outer cover off and plugged it in to see where the operation was failing.

After several forced cycles, the swing arm on the bottom was catching on the head of a wood screw that was not fastened down flush but at an angle.  The swiing arm is stamped metal and has a sharp edge so the two were catching resulting in a failed puck drop because the arm only went half way.  Make sense?  Take a look when it goes around both ways because it seems to go one way or the other randomly depending on where it travels on the limit switch.  Keep hitting the 'Advance' button until it catches the poorly installed screw head.

Stay tuned next week for the solution...



Just kidding.  I took a dremel tool with a long fine rotary blade and poked it in on top of the screw head.  Then I rounded off a small part of the swing arm for a 1/2 "to take away the edge that can catch.  Smoked three times since then without any further problems.

Uncle Al

[tsquared]

My solution to intermittent puck advance(after cleaning a couple of times, lubricating the advance mechanism etc.) was to stick  a thin piece of wood trim under the 2 legs of the smoker box nearest the generator, thus creating a slight downward  slope for the pucks. That was 2 or 3 years ago--never had a problem since. Go lo-tech or go home! ;D
T2