Puck Advancer....NOOOOOOOOO!

[BCSmoker]

Oh No....puck advancer was going crazy! It wouldn't stop feeding pucks. After like 6 pucks I realized what was happening. I tried everything...plug/unplug, start/stop...kept giving me an "E1" error message. I cleaned it out I checked and rechecked all the connections. Here's what happens:
Starting with the SG unplugged and open. I noticed the armature was past the microswitch. Upon plugging it in, the armature did its thing and rotated until it "found" the switch. Once it hit the switch, the unit went to standby with no power to the display. Once I pressed the ON button for the SG it instantly went to the E1 error and kept beeping. I turned it off, unplugged it, tried again with the same results. Next, I plugged it all in, it did the "start up" routine. It gave the E1 error code and beeped. I manually advanced the armature, pressed the microswitch and nothing.

Now I have relatives coming over for Easter Dinner tomorrow and the smoked turkey ain't happen!

Is there anything I can do? or is the switch pretty much DOA?

Thanks in advance and Best Wishes over this Easter Celebration!

[Habanero Smoker]

If it is an "E1" error, that has to do with your sensor cable. It may be loose, or the contacts and connectors may need to be cleaned. The below link may help.
E1 Error

Once the "E1" error is corrected, your original problem may return; the generator may start continuously feeding bisquettes. If that happens you may be able to get through your cook by manually feeding bisquettes every 20 minute. For example, load the first three bisquettes. The generator will move the first bisquette to the burner, and two and three will be resting on the guide rail. Set a kitchen timer for 20 minutes and when that goes off, add another bisquette to the chute. That will move bisquette two to the burner, with number 3 and 4 sitting on the guide rail. Continue until you apply the amount of smoke you want. That will get you through the cook, and you can work on the problem later.

If you get it working, you can apply the smoke, then move the turkey to a kitchen oven. To give you a time frame of how long it will take; I just smoked a 18.5 pound turkey. I applied smoke for 2:40 hours. Then removed it and transferred to a 325°F preheated oven. The internal temperature was 80°F, when I removed it from the Bradley. It took another 1 hour 55 minutes to bring the thigh up to 165°F. Keep in mind if you take your internal temperature higher, it will requires additional time.

Here are some other helpful hints.
Bradley FAQ's

[BCSmoker]

Habs, you are the BEST!

Thanks for the response. I got her working again by cleaning the ends of the TC wire as well as blowing out the female plugs too. Works like a charm! I may go buy another TC wire from Bradley though...heck I live about 3 miles (yes miles..not kilometers LOL) away from their plant in Delta, BC Canada.

As always, your time is greatly appreciated.

Smoke on Brother!

[Habanero Smoker]

Great to hear you got it running properly. Living that close to the plant, you shouldn't have any trouble getting parts. :)

[JohnM70]

I ran into the same problem yesterday. I was preparing to smoke a chicken and had everything setup.  Started the smoker with no pucks to get it warm set my PID for temp .got the chicken (vertical stand) put it in the cabinet, loaded the pucks (6) advance them to the hot plate. And then it started... advancing the pucks one right after another. >:( I managed to stop only losing 2. I started again and this time I got the E1 error. I kept the cabinet on just to keep the chicken cooking.
I signed onto the Bradley forum and quickly found this post and others, including the FAQ's. Checked the TC and cleaned both male and female ends. That corrected the problem... for 2 pucks! I decided 1 hour of smoke was enough.
Up jumped the devil. I noticed the temp on the PID was bouncing all over the place as the cabinet was heating up. I knew what happened from a previous experience. Suyi from Auber Instruments asked me to test port 1 on the PID with the food probe and it worked. I ordered a new probe and all was well.  That is until the great conflagration (see Thanksgiving Brisket). I needed new probes for the Mavericks and PID!
While cooking the chicken I swapped the temp probe with the food probe an all worked well. I ordered a new temp probe from Auber. I sent Suyi a note and explained what happened. I got a return e-mail this morning and he was sorry for all the problems and sent me 3 used probes. Wow, that is customer service. I quickly explained that the second one was due to a fire and not a malfunction of the probe. One of the probes he sent was an internal... I may experiment with that.
Least I forget I coat all probes with red RTV where the wire enters the probe. The one that failed yesterday had most of the RTV removed (??)
Now for the fun part, I took the SG apart and check the micro switch lo and behold it was sticking. I have 2 port butts to smoke starting Friday morning. I adjusted the switch position and sprayed a very little 'Safari Charlie' :) on the switch. I manually ran about 25 pucks through without a failure. Now I am ready for the butts. Also I am ordering a new switch.
By the way look up 'Safari Charlie' you will be amazed what it can do/fix
Also, you cannot beat Bradley for Customer Service either.
John