18 month old P10 died

[ncoleman007]

Halfway through a routine cook, I went out to see how things were going.  The display was off.  I checked the breaker and tested the wall socket with another appliance, which worked.  Tried flipping the on/off switch, but nothing.  It's dead.  Now what?  I emailed Bradley but haven't heard back yet.  The only difference in cooking, was I had the temp set to the highest for the first time.  The ambient air outside was about 8 Celcius.  Burned two bisquettes then died during the third one.  While I'm waiting for Bradley, I though I'd check the forum for any clues.

[Habanero Smoker]

Hi ncoleman007;

Welcome to the forum. Sorry to hear you P10 die. It couldn't have happened at a worst time.

Bradley doesn't have any weekend hours so you should hear from someone on Monday. Did you notice how high the temperature did reach on the display before it shut down. Even if it was due to over heating, the sensor would only cut off power to the heating elements, and the display will still be on, but showing an Err4.

The lack of all power is puzzling. The only thing that I can think of at this time is to wait until it cools down, turn on the main power, and press and hold the rotary for a few seconds, and see if the display comes on.

The other thing, with the power off is to remove the cover of the cabinet sensor, and press on the middle knob of on the switch. The instructions for this is on page 25 of your manual.

[ncoleman007]

Thanks!  Unfortunately, I have no idea how high it got, as I try to set and forget, but I'll certainly give both those suggestions a try tomorrow, (its dark and I gotta go out tonight...) and report back.

[Habanero Smoker]

I updated my response with a little more clarification.

I hope it is something simple.

[ncoleman007]

Well, pushing the control knob with power on did nothing and the display remained blank, which means, of course it still could not show any error codes. However, proceeding further with the second suggestion, unplugging and removing the small access panel on the back, gently pulling the insulation aside, revealed the heat sensor and the little black capped pin in the middle, which I pushed and heard a click.  This must have successfully reset the device, as when plugging the cord back in and flipping the switch, the P10 powered on as usual.  Fantastic!!

This is a good feature intended to protect everything from high heat, though why it tripped this time, (and don't say "high heat obviously"...) is not clear as there was no evidence of fire and the ambient temperature outside was not too high or low.  At any rate, I am happy and since I almost never use a heat setting above 250F, I doubt the cut-off will trigger again, but if it does, I now know what to do.

Excellent help, thank you!   :)

[Habanero Smoker]

That is great to hear.

What I've learned on the temperature inside the cabinet is that I've have gotten readings as much as 40°F higher than that on the display. This mainly occurs during the preheat. So if you set the display at it's highest temperature, it could have obtained a temperature of 356°F or higher - which the senso to shut off the heating elements. It must have gotten a bit beyond 356°F for the high temperature limit switch to trip, and shut all power down.

Hopefully you will hear back from Bradley, and they may provide further insight as to why that switch to trip when the P10 was set at it's highest temperature.

[ncoleman007]

Well, a little more than 3 years later, 5 Feb 2025, and the same thing happened. Searched the web for an answer and ended up back here at my original post, which I'd forgotten about. Same solution worked and I'm back in business. Same scenario too I think. Normally cook at 250F, running late so cranked up to 300F, and went back outside to a dead smoker. Very cold weather too.

Just thought that I would update that it happened again for the same reason, but the same fix worked perfectly. Reset the sensor behind the rear panel!  Yay!