I just bought an Original Bradley Smoker two days ago and used it yesterday for the first time. The advance button sticks every time, right out of the box. I read some of the posts with similar problems. I guess this is quite a common occurrence. I called the office and they said they'd send me out a new one and gave me instructions (which I already read here on the forum) for a temporary fix. Obviously I haven't received the new button yet, but I'm optimistic in the outcome based on the conversation that I had with Jessica at Bradley. I'll follow up when I get the new button and get it resolved.
I was fortunate to figure out it was sticking since it was the first time I'd used it and didn't really know what correct operation was. But I figured after it kept advancing and advancing that the button was probably stuck....and it was. Fortunately I didn't lose any pucks to the water but I had to catch them until I could get the button unstuck....which took some effort. After that, the smoker worked great. Did some pork chops with apple pucks that turned out great. Now, to get that button fixed and move on to more smoke!