More Issues

[JZ]

I just finished smoking my first batch of ribs and started the clean up when I noticed more problems;

1. The plastic panel on the top of the door is cracked on the left hand side. This is not a structural issue but still needs to be replaced.
2. The bottom plastic door panel is cracked in 2 places -- in the middle of the panel and on the left side where the support foot is located.
3. The magnetic door seal is not sealing at the lower left side. Looked at this very closely and at first thought the door was warped but that is not the case. The magnetic strip seems to be distorted. It bulges out in the middle of the lower section of the door and then retracts at the left edge causing the gap. I tried to pull and push where necessary to straighten the seal but no luck.

So now I have a puck advance that is not working (I will take the SG apart and clean it to see if that remedies the situation) and 3 other problems that need to be addressed. I will have to make another call to Bradley to get replacement parts. Thankfully this is still under warranty.

I have already replaced the heating element and now this ------ all on a smoker that is only 2 1/2 months old and not used that much.

This is very frustrating.

[devo]

Man that sucks, at least you still have warranty

[viper125]

I was wondering how it got that bad. I replace things as they happen when under warranty. Not wait for a list! Can't figure why or what causes so much to go wrong on a couple but not all. I would suggest calling Bradley and read your list and ask for another one. Sounds like you got a lemon. Mine's still going strong with 0 problems.

[JZ]

I think the magnetic strip has been that way for awhile (remember the smoker is only 2 1/2 months old though). Anyways it did not seem to be causing a problem. But now that I have noticed more things I will want to get them all fixed at once.

However the cracked door plastic must be recent because shortly after getting the smoker I read some threads about cracked plastic and immediately checked mine. At that time the plastic on my new DBS was fine but the plastic on my older OBS was cracked. The OBS is not under warranty any longer and since I got the DBS I have not  been using the OBS (except when the heating element crapped out on the DBS) so I haven't fixed the crack on the OBS yet.

Today was the first time I noticed the cracked plastic on the DBS ----- I do not wait to get a long list together.

I hope I do not have a lemon and I wish that I could also say that I have had 0 problems with mine. That is exactly what I want.

I called Bradley earlier today about the puck advance issue and they said to clean out the SG. I noticed the cracked plastic later when I was cleaning things and Bradley was closed by that time. I have since cleaned out the SG but not had a chance to try it. I will call Bradley tomorrow about the other issues but will likely wait until I have had a chance to try the SG to see if that is still a problem or not.

[JZ]

So I pulled the SG apart and cleaned it as suggested by Bradley. The puck advance still would not work right. So I pulled it apart again and looked for binding issues. Found some scraping marks at the back left side of the advance slider. Took that apart, cleaned everything and sprayed with a protective lubricant that I use on my wood working tools to prevent rust and for lubrication. It does not leave a coating and no moisture --- kinda like a wax. Now the slider works fine with no sign of binding.

I took a real close look at the rest of the smoker while I had it in the warm shop and sitting on the work bench. There are 3 places where the plastic is cracked i) the top door trim, ii) the bottom door trim and iii) the bottom foot support. I looked at the door seal closer and with the warmer temps in the shop I could easily push and pull the seal to try to get it to fit the door better. But I could not get it to seal properly. I used some winding sticks to check to see if the door was warped and it appeared that it was. So I used some calipers and measured the gap between the back side of the door and the face of the cabinet. This proved that the door was in fact warped.

So I called Bradley and explained the situation ---- without hesitation I was told they would ship me a new door and new foot support. I like their warranty support and hope that this will be the end of my problems with the DBS.

My only concern now is that I noted the hinge support at the top of the door was also starting to crack where the pin sits inside the female plastic receiver. I expect that over time this will break as others have experienced. I hope this doesn't happen but if it does I will likely manufacture something stronger (if I am out of warranty). I note that someone else did this and gave some very good instructions on how to do it.

[viper125]

Glad to see the SG was a easy fix. Sounds like when I tear mine apart to clean i'll go ahead and wax or lube to prevent trouble. My question is.. can that hinge or receiver made from plastic be duplicated in steel or maybe aluminum? May be another good mod if possible.