Faulty smoke generator.

manxman · September 08, 2005, 03:02:45 PM

I have just had one smoke generator replaced under warranty and the replacement is now faulty!

This is part of an email I have sent to Bradley UK who are dealing with the issue.

Thought it may be useful for others who experience a similar problem to help them diagnose the possible fault.

""I got up at 6am yesterday to cold smoke for 4 hours. I checked again at 9am and noticed it had only used 2 hours worth of pucks instead of 3. Both the puck on the burner and the preceding puck were just a pile of ash and very little smoke was being produced.

Using the advance button I advanced the next un-burnt puck into position and the generator then burnt the next two pucks satisfactorily. The same thing then happened and for some reason the following puck did not advance automatically.

I then popped back every 20 minutes to check on the smoker and again had to use the advance button to move the pucks twice more when they should have advanced automatically and the smoke took around 6 hours to complete.

Once I had finished my smoking I cycled the generator using the advance button and you could see on some cycles the plate that actually pushes the puck shuddered excessively during the advance part of the cycle but on others it seemed fine.

I then opened up the generator and watched what actually happened inside the generator, you could see that on some cycles rather than a clean smooth movement of the two rods attached to the synchronous motor that drive the advance plate, the rods seem to snag during the cycling process, move vertically upwards slightly until they touched the housing above and then just before the cycle completed, jerk back down slightly into position with an audible crack. You can see slight scour marks on the housing where this has happened previously.

The generator has been kept clean, was free of any chipping build up and these was no evidence of any foreign body jammed anywhere and there did not seem to be anything worth lubricating that would resolve the issue.

Is there anything else I can try and do?"

A word of caution if opening up the generator when plugged into the mains and running it; if you are not happy or do not feel confident doing this, get a qualified electrician to check it for you! This is something I do associated with my work and I am happy to do it as I am sure quite a few others would be on the forum.

But better to be safe than sorry!

Hope this info may help others.

Manxman.

Thunder Fish · September 09, 2005, 12:34:43 AM

I took a friends S/S generator apart and found the advance would work but not the 20 min cycle.A bit of patience and some observing I discovered that the advance cycle would run the motor Counter clockwise and the timed cycle would run the wrong way.The contacts were not closing properly in that direction.
To correct the problem was to let it 1/2 cycle on the timer side pull the plug and plug it back in and the motor would change to the correct turn.
He has reported that after 3 smokeings it is still operating fine,my payment was some Sockeye salmon, smoked of course.
My thoughts is that there was a large drop in voltage at that outlet(Freezer,Furnace,A/C,etc)or it was unplugged in the middle of a puck cycle and just forgot which way to turn as the contacts were open at the time and most microwave motors do turn either way after each cooking (aka power up).
Hope this will help and as always use caution when working with electricity !
Terry

nsxbill · September 09, 2005, 01:37:19 AM

Great response Thunder Fish...very intuitive. I hope it works the manxman accross the pond!

Bill

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

manxman · September 09, 2005, 10:09:06 AM

Thanks for the reply Thunder Fish, much appreciated.[:)]

In this instance the motor runs the advance cycle the same way (clockwise) irrespective of whether it cycles normally or not although I suspect the problem cycles are sufficient to not close the contacts sufficiently as you say.

It cycles normally half to two thirds of the time and automatically advances a puck after 20 minutes whilst the other times they have to be manually forwarded.

Not sure it is the same problem as you mentioned? I think this may be a mechanical problem with the arms themselves, however I do plan to try what you suggest and pull the plug half way through a cycle.The worst that could happen is that I have to do it a second time if the motor starts turning counterclockwise!!

Thanks once again.

Manxman.

Thunder Fish · September 09, 2005, 11:07:34 PM

Did you try the solution on the other one?Those micro switches may look like they are closed but........... ......it is so close that if I recall it is a matter of about 1/16"-3/32" that will make a difference

manxman · September 10, 2005, 09:36:08 AM

Hi Thunder Fish,

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Did you try the solution on the other one?<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

It was a different problem on the other one, the heater element had packed up completely!

Given that the smoker is still under warranty I plan to let Bradley sort it out.

My original broken generator is in the loft somewhere, initially was going to bin it but then thought that was silly, it could come in useful for spares at some stage in the future when the warranty period has expired.

However, whilst the warranty is still valid I am sure Bradley will sort this issue out, I have been impressed with that aspect of them to date.

I have been less impressed with the general reliability in the first place though!

It is just a real pain in the bum when they go wrong , I have stockpiled a load of fish in the freezer over the past few days which is not so much of a problem.

It is when the thing goes wrong just before or during the actual smoking that it is frustrating as has happened on both occasions with my smoke generator.... still, have to get things in perspective because there are a LOT worse things going on in the world!!

Thanks for you advice.

Manxman.

Oldman · September 20, 2005, 11:57:31 AM

manxman,

Has the issue been fixed?

Olds

manxman · September 21, 2005, 07:42:53 PM

Hi Olds,

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Has the issue been fixed? <hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

Not yet! I got a response from John Watkins at Grakka, the UK supplier after a few days saying he had been away and needed a couple of days to catch up and would get back to me.

Another 10 days passed and nothing so I emailed him from work on Monday to remind him as I was getting a bit hacked off by this stage![:(]

I was off work Tuesday and Wednesday, it is that time of year I take my boat out of the water and lay her up for the winter, give her a good clean and do any repairs that are needed... having said that it is only a 20 foot day boat, nothing spectacular!!

So I hope by the time I get back to work tomorrow there will be a (satisfactory) reply waiting for me.

Fingers crossed eh? Will keep you posted!! I was very impressed the first time the generator failed, not nearly as impressed this time!!
[:(]

Hope all goes well in the Olds household.[;)]

Manxman.

manxman · September 22, 2005, 09:31:43 AM

Hi Olds,

Yes, there was an email waiting for me at work, there is a new generator in the post.

John has been at a trade show hence been away for a few days and they were waiting for a new batch of spare generators to arrive in the UK.

I did suspect there would be a logical explanation because the back up has been exemplary to date, still a bit frustrating but it should be all sorted when the new generator arrives. Just hope this one works!! [:)]

Manxman.

Oldman · September 22, 2005, 12:42:19 PM

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"> Just hope this one works!! [:)]<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">Amen.... I would be willing to pay more for a better generator. I keep saying I'm going to take down to a man I know my old generator and tell him to make me a better mouse trap...[;)] Well a repair kit to be more truthfully about it. [^]

What is funny is Chez's unit is 5-6 years old and he really does a lot of smokin' ~~ go figure. With your kinds of odds you should be playing the Lotto!

Olds

manxman · September 22, 2005, 02:21:28 PM

Hi Olds,

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"> I would be willing to pay more for a better generator. <hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

Yes, I agree. I am now on my third in less than a year and I seem to remember you are on your third one as well?

I have not long completed a Quality Managers course which was predominantly to do with my work at the hospital, however much of the early part of it was general quality control including manufacturing which was really interesting.

Part of our studies included the American Polaris project and also basically how it was Americans that made the Japanese so successful in the 1950's.

Two of the mainstays are quality of product and customer service, although you don't really need to do a course to tell you that!!

In most instances, Bradley certainly appear to have got their customer service well sorted when people have a problem.

However, I think there is some room for improvement in the initial manufacturing process in the first place, particularly the generators.[}:)]

At least I will have a few spare parts when the generator does go out of warranty!!

Interested to hear Chez's unit is around 5-6 years old, given that the unit has been in production since 1994 (?I think) there seem to be very few (?if any) people on the forum with BS's more than 2-3 years old.

It would be interesting to see how the 5,6,7+ year old ones are faring?[}:)]Presumably these owners don't know about the forum as it is only a relatively recent innovation.

Manxman.

Chez Bubba · September 23, 2005, 01:56:33 AM

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by manxman
 Interested to hear Chez's unit is around 5-6 years old, given that the unit has been in production since 1994 (?I think) there seem to be very few (?if any) people on the forum with BS's more than 2-3 years old.

It would be interesting to see how the 5,6,7+ year old ones are faring?[}:)]Presumably these owners don't know about the forum as it is only a relatively recent innovation.

Manxman.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

Manx,

It was pretty lonely here on the forum the first year. Nothing like the vibrant community it has become.

And no, none of Bradley's literature promotes the forum, so only those that happen to stumble upon it know it exists. I talk to someone every week who has a unit & didn't know about the forum. I usually see them posting a short time later though.[:)]

Kirk

http://www.chezbubba.com
Ya think next time I check into a hotel & they ask "Smoking or Non?" they would mind?

manxman · September 23, 2005, 09:25:20 AM

Hi Chez,

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Manx,

It was pretty lonely here on the forum the first year. Nothing like the vibrant community it has become.

And no, none of Bradley's literature promotes the forum, so only those that happen to stumble upon it know it exists. I talk to someone every week who has a unit & didn't know about the forum. I usually see them posting a short time later though.<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

I bet it was VERY lonely in the first place on the forum!

Not sure whether it is a good or a bad thing that Bradley don't not necessarily promote, but at least refer to the forum in their publicity material. Overall I think those that visited the forum under such circumstances would be left with a very positive impression.

On balance it is probably better that they don't but perhaps when people actually buy their BS an insert in the box pointing people in the direction of the forum may be beneficial.

For a start the recipes enclosed with the BS are in the main not very inspiring![}:)]

Manxman.

Oldman · September 23, 2005, 09:40:54 AM

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Yes, I agree. I am now on my third in less than a year and I seem to remember you are on your third one as well?
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

No, not really. I purchased 3 units and two of them had generators replaced. One was a week old unit, the other was about 6-7 months old.

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">For a start the recipes enclosed with the BS are in the main not very inspiring!<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">Amen to that. You know Bradley could download the recipes program and data base and burn them to a CD for folks. Or at least give the addy so people can download it.

Olds

manxman · September 23, 2005, 10:12:38 AM

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">You know Bradley could download the recipes program and data base and burn them to a CD for folks. Or at least give the addy so people can download it.<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

EXCELLENT idea Olds, particularly the CD. Folks are then free to update as they wish but at least it would give them a kick start!It would be a nice little bonus when they open up the box for the first time.[:)]

Didn't realise you had bought three units Olds, have you had any problems with the smoker cabinets such as the heater element?

Manxman.