Puckerator

[La Quinta]

Ok...my learened friends...my puck generator isn't pushing the pucks off the cliff...only partially...they're just dangling...Any ideas? I did move the OBS several times when it rained to get it under cover...did I mess with it by moving it? and no...I didn't remove the puckerator first. Just rocked it over...under cover.

[Ontrack]

LQ-I had the same problem a while back. I think it was either Habs or Oldman who told me to take the generator apart and clean all the "sawdust" out. I didn't even have to go that far. I just took the puck tower off of the generator and stuck the nozzle of my leaf blower into the hole. I was surprised at how much stuff came out, because after every smoke I would blow it out with (weak) lung power. This took care of my problem, and now I use the leaf blower method after every 2 or 3 smokes and haven't had a problem since. Worth a try...

[La Quinta]

Thanks OnTrack...wish I had a leaf blower!! But I think i know who to ask...I'll try it!!

[Habanero Smoker]

Also, if there is not obstruction you may have had a power interruption during smoking. Push the advance button, and when it is half way through the cycle, unplug the generator. Wait about 30 seconds and plug it back it.

I think T² posted this trouble shooting tip.

[tsquared]

Ontrack--what a great idea with the leaf blower! I'm going to try that next smoke. LaQuinta--Use your sand blower, that'll do it! ;D
T2

[La Quinta]

Ok guys...I tried the method of interrupting the puck generator...that didn't work...first puck goes down fine...after that I have to keep checking (which, as we all know, increases the length of cooking time). I'll try the blower method next week. And yes, T2 we are sand blowers here!!! By the way...what's a leaf??!! Like a palm frond?!!! (I'm kidding of course, we have grapes, oranges, key limes and lemons) they all have those "leafy" things on them!!!

[LilSmoker]

Hi La Quinta, hope i'm mistaken, but it sounds like a worn gear, maybe lost a couple of teeth on the gear wheel?

They're not very strong, and the slightest resistance can shred them.

Hopefully it is just a blockage, you'll need to strip it right down to be sure though.  :-\

Probably best to call Bradley at the first opportunity  :'(

Anyway hope you get sorted soon............LilSmoker

[tsquared]

I'm smoking 8 racks of salmon strips right now and the generator is working great. I didn't blow  it out last time I did a cold smoke and had resigned myself to manually advancing the pucks every 20 minutes since it was cranky the time before that but the generator worked fine. I scratched my head and the only thing I could come up with was that with my cold smoke set up, the generator is slightly tilted towards the bowl therefore it's less work for the arm to push the pucks. I stuck a strip of 1/2 inch wood under the generator side of the box for this smoke and so far --no problems.  I'm not sure that this helps but it's not hurting. I'll keep messing about on different smokes and see how it goes.
T2

[Tiny Tim]

If that shim helps, you may want to carefully bend the ramp/burner plate down a touch where it connects to the rest of the smoke generator, then you won't have to mess with the shim anymore.

I've read about others that had the ramp running uphill, and their call to Bradley led them to doing this fix.  Also, in one of my Cabela's catalogs, the pic of the smoker shows one with the ramp level, while the one next to it is running downhill at a pretty good angle.

[LilSmoker]

La Quinta, did you manage to solve the problem?

.......LilSmoker

[La Quinta]

LS...I just had it "blown out" and am going to try smoking some nuts today so I'll see if that did the trick. It did have a lot of puck entrails in there!! I'll let ya know!!! (say a little prayer!!) :) I hope it worked...moving those pucks by hand is...well...a pain in the arse!!

[La Quinta]

Bad news my friends...the blower treatment did not do the trick. :( I guess I'll try the "taking it apart" thing (gulp) next.

[acords]

Sorry to hear this >:(.. Seems to be alot of this going around ::)

[Gizmo]

LQ,
Did you try to advance the puck with the feed tube removed?  Does the push tray retract and return?

[La Quinta]

No...I did not try that...but it does push the pucks....just not over the edge into the bowl....the burned out puck hangs on the edge and the next one gets 3/4 burned...then the next one...yada...yada...same church different pew after the first one...(which gets pushed off) That's what I don't get...the thing pushes the first one into the bowl fine...then it gets wacky.