My BDS will no heat only smoke

[Cpelley1]

When I plug in my smoker only the smoker side will turn on, the burner side will not do anything.  It advances the pucks just fine, I just can't heat the unit up.

[Wildcat]

By the burner side, do you mean the main cabinet where the food goes?  Have you unpluged everything and re-connected it all?  Be sure all plugs are pushed all the way in.  Do you have the digital or the original?  If the original, make sure the slider on the front bottom is all the way to the right, then back it off just a tad.

[Mr Walleye]

Hi Cpelley1 and welcome to the forum.

We definitely need a little more info on it. If it is the DBS what does the front of the smoke generator say, on both sides of it.

Mike

[Cpelley1]

It is the digital smoker.  When I plug it in, the digital display works on the smoke side, and no lights come on, on the burner side.  I've tried unplugging and plugging everything back in, and E1 came on and then went out.  I hope it's an easy fix.  I got three racks of ribs to put in.

[Mr Walleye]

Try unpluging the main wire between the generator and the tower. Make sure you get it plugged in all the way. Sometimes it takes a pretty good push. The other thing to try is unplug the temp probe wire (small wire between generator and tower) and turn it end for end, then plug it back in.

Mike

[Mr Walleye]

One more thing for you. I don't know how familiar you are with the DBS but on the display on the front of the generator the upper left button turns on the generator and the upper right button turns on the tower heater. One other thing a few people have experienced is the power buttons can be very stiff and require a pretty good push with the tip of your finger.

Let us know what each side of the display shows when you try these.

Mike

[Cpelley1]

I tried everything you guys mentioned and still nothing.  I spoke to someone at Bradley and they told me to remove the cover and look for loose or disconnected wire.  I got home from work and took the cover off hoping to find a disconnected wire but found everything secure.  When I put the cover back on I plugged it in hoping by chance or luck it would work but still all I got was beeping and E1 message.  I still have 3 months on my warranty so maybe bradley will send me a new one.  Thanks for all the tips guys, this forum is great!

[West Coast Kansan]

E1 is the error indicating a bad connection at one end or the other on the small diameter cable from the smoke generator to the tower.  No heat when it beeps...

So try to free up the connection by plugging and unplugging the small cable several times at both ends. --- usually fixes the E1.

Looking inside the female connector you will see a small plunger type pin that sometimes is reported to stay stuck in and needs to be wiggled free.

Hope it helps. I am sure Bradley will replace it if trouble remains... they are very good about such things. 

[gscheig]

after 2 months, the burner element on my OBS has apparently gone bad.  Bradley is sending a new one for free.

Somethign to think about, but I do not have the DBS so I can't comment for sure.

[Cpelley1]

I talked to Bradley again, and they are going to send me two new sensors and a new sensor wire.  I hope this fixes it.

[Mr Walleye]

Hopefully that resolves it. Keep us posted.

Did you ever get working? How did you make out with your ribs?

Mike

ps
I've also heard a couple of people have had a wire off or loose in the smoke generator. It's really not the difficult to take it apart and check them.

[Cpelley1]

I finished the ribs in the oven and they turned out great. Bradley is sending me two new sensors and a new sensor wire.  Hope this fixes it.

[debbie4goldens]

you guys just saved my bacon, so to speak. It's a whopping 34 degrees outside and I've had ribs in for a couple of hours while napping on and off on the couch. I go out to check things and darned if I don't have a beeping E1 code going off. Eekkk! It's Alaska and I want ribs for dinner! I poked around and found your thread, unplugged, wiggled, and widgeted all of the wires and bingo. No E1 beeping and a lovely spring dinner is saved. Could give you all hugs! Deb

[bigredsmoker]

Hey Ice, another Alaskan!!! Welcome to the forum Deb! You will need to try Icemans sauce, he is a fellow Alaskan and his sauce is awesome. I need to palce another order with him (my third in four months). Again, welcome to the forum and keep us posted on your smoking adventures!

[iceman]

Welcome Debbie4goldens and glad to see another Alaskan on the forum. What part of the state are you from. I'm just out of Wasilla in Knik. Drop a line or PM when you have time.