Grrr! Ive got to take my new Brinkmann verti back

big_rob · Jul 21, 2008

I bought a new Brinkmann Vertical Charcoal Smoker from Home Depot this past Friday. This is the one with 2 doors opposed to the one at Wally World that only has one door. So I get it home, set it up, and cure it. As soon as I go to check the charcoal by opening the bottom door, the bottom screw hole tube that sticks out so you can screw in the handle brace/retainer became unwelded. I could get the door to stay closed by placing the broken bottom piece that was still attached to the brace at an angle instead of right underneath the top screw and tightening up the top screw.

Anyhow, I decided to use the smoker for the fatty throw down because it was the weekend and I wanted to see what Brinkmann would tell me Monday morning.

I had to be careful when closing the bottom door but I got it to stay closed during the 4 hour fatty smoking Saturday afternoon. When I went to clean it out on Sunday the top screw holder broke its weld thus causing the whole handle assembly to fall right off.

I looked at the part after it fell off and it looks like they didnt even weld it, its like it was glued on and this came out of an unopened box.

Fast forward to this morning.

I call up the Brinkmann numbers that are on their website and the number in the warranty section, both are ringing busy. Not looking too good for the Brinkmann corporations quality control department in my eyes.

So, Im taking it back to Home Depot and hoping they have no issue with me returning a smoker thats been used one time and has and awesome smokey smell.

Im prolly going to get another Brinkmann verti because for the price range it cannot be beaten, but I just hope the quality of the welds are better on the new one. If not, Ill be writing Brinkmann off on any future charcoal smoker ill be buying.

vlap · Jul 21, 2008

I have the single door version and have had no trouble with it. I hope this means you got the bad lemon and this is not a constant problem for them. Check with cowgirl. She has the 2 door version and I do not think she has had any trouble.

Hopefully home depot will hook you up with a new one.

big_rob · Jul 21, 2008

And the funny thing Is Im quite happy with the quality on my ECB or R2D2 as I call it. Thats one of the reasons (other than price) I went with the verti.

I dont think Home Depot will give me a hassle because Ive still got the receipt from Friday as well as the parts that fell off. Im just not looking forward to having to recure it.

luv2camp35 · Jul 21, 2008

I have the Home Depot version as well and have had ZERO problems with it.

Used it yesterday to smoke a shoulder, fatty and ABT's and she hummed right along for over 12 hours.

I like it more and more after converting it to propane. I throw a couple of charcoal briquets in with my wood chunks and I get a good smoke ring.

And mounting it to my old grill frame was one of my better ideas. I can tend to the meat and chunks without getting on my knees.

I doubt you will have a problem with Home Depot taking this back.

cowgirl · Jul 21, 2008

I have the 2 door version and have not had a problem with it.
Sorry to hear about your's Big Rob....hope you get it resolved!!

big_rob · Jul 21, 2008

Thanks

Home Depot is pretty good about taking back defective items, I just dont want to have to cure a new one

holy smokes · Jul 24, 2008

Rob,
I had the same problem.
My top handle snapped off when I was putting mine together.
I didn't use hardly any pressure.
Thanks for confirming my suspicion that the handle was glued on.
I bought the last one at HD that evening and I didn't want to take it back/get refund...
I simply drilled the holes out, took some 1 1/2" stainless steel bolts and nuts and reattached the handle.
If you look closely at the picture you can see the mod.

As well, the door kept popping open as the case had too much of a gap on the left side.
I took a small "L" bracket and wedged it into the gap behind the catch and it works perfectly.
Both of these fixes took me approximately 15 minutes tops.

If I can only get some stove rope, I can fix the air leaks....

Kevin AKA,
Holy Smokes

vlap · Jul 25, 2008

Do you have a photo of this fix? My door likes to pop open as well...

pinkmeat · Jul 25, 2008

I upgraded the temp gauge to a Weber stainless replacement for a grill. I picked it up at True Value. Had to fab a mounting plate. I used a spare vent from an old barrel smoker and drilled a couple holes for mounting. The only thing you need to watch is grate placement/heights because this probe is much longer then the Brinkmann one that comes with the smoker. You will be measuring the grate temps if you don't watch it. The other thing I noticed was that there was NO smoke coming through the gauge like with the factory leaky gauge. I am trying to seal up the top portion of the smoker, so I liked that.

I used both gauge this week for the same cook. At one point, my fire flared up to 260F on the Weber, the Brinkmann gauge read 310F. I think I will be glad I made the switch. Here's a pic of what I did and the result:

pinkmeat · Jul 25, 2008

I used some pipe insulation that had adhesive strips on the ends. I took a razor blade and cut it to about 1/2" width, and stuck it around where the door frame where the door hits the smoker "body." That sealed it quite a bit and made the door close a lot tighter in the process.

I am going to redo it soon, so I'll repost the results, but this way you'll accomplish two things.

holy smokes · Aug 5, 2008

Sorry it took me so long to reply.

Here's a pic of the bracket in place:

And a closer pic of the handle modification:

Kevin
Aka, Holy Smokes

seldomseensmith · Aug 5, 2008

I bought the same smoker last week with the same problem. I returned it the same day and the new one was put together so that the locking mech wouldnt reach the latch point. Frustrating. I will come up with something later but for the first try I ended up jamming a piece of wood in the door frame to keep it shut. Anyway. just sharing in your frustration. whatever. it was $60. What did I expect.

wreckedum · Aug 5, 2008

Holy smokes...What do you use to catch the ashes under the square wok? Do any of you find that the bottom vents are a couple inches lower than they should be?

mrsb · Aug 5, 2008

I use the original charcoal pan to catch the ashes. I don't know about the vents. There is still a number of things for me to figure out on temp control

guvna · Aug 6, 2008

you should just return that thing and buy an afterburner for R2D2.

pinkmeat · Aug 6, 2008

Square Wok charcoal basket is where it's at. I just made a basket out of chicken wire I had laying around, and then wrapped it in heavy grilling foil a couple times. Has worked well so far.

Grrr! Ive got to take my new Brinkmann verti back

Newbie

Master of the Pit

Newbie

Meat Mopper

Legendary Pitmaster

Newbie

Newbie

Master of the Pit

Smoking Fanatic

Smoking Fanatic

Newbie

Newbie

Newbie

Smoking Fanatic

Smoking Fanatic

Smoking Fanatic

Similar threads

Hot Threads