Using a Guru and a Stoker!

[mguerra]

Just spoke with John. He admitted he has poor customer service, that he is an engineer, he works the business solo with occasional help from his wife. At present he can't afford to hire a customer service person. He was very apologetic and admitted he can't always answer the phone or emails. He was quite sincere in his desire to help me. I'm satisfied. He offered to throw in a few freebies because of the long delay in servicing my unit. He also reported he is aware of the posts all over the various BBQ forums regarding his customer service and is doing his best as the sole employee of the company. Being an independent entrepreneur myself, I am accepting this level of service for this product. Others may not. It's true I get immediate, happy, helpful service from the BBQ Guru folks and I appreciate that, but I am not quitting Rock's.

[Otto Maddock]

I ordered the Stoker last week. John and I had some great conversations about the unit and technology in general. Hopefully I do not experience some of the issues previously posted.

The unit should be here any day now. Additionally, I am waiting for the delivery call as my new bronze big-boy should have arrived at the LA docks last week!

[LarryR]

Doc, glad you're hanging in there with John, once he makes it right you will not regret your decision. There's nothing like sitting on the #9 tee box checking your email on your SmartPhone seeing that you need to slow your cook down a bit as the cooks going faster than your golf game (Stoker emailing you updates), accessing your Stoker remotely and lowering your pit temp. Amazing (and fun) stuff!

[mguerra]

Dad blast it, is EVERYONE getting a bronze? I thought I was getting a one-off, they are a dime a dozen!

[Otto Maddock]

Well, the one I purchased was already built and on the boat. I just paid for it...

How could I not buy it?

[mguerra]

Of course you had to buy it, these bronzies are beautiful! I'm just being petulant. Enjoy.

[Loquitur]

The Stoker should be here any day now. Additionally, I am waiting for the delivery call as my new bronze big-boy should have arrived at the LA docks last week!

Anybody have any ideas on how we are going to get the Stoker to fit the new KK's with the built in inducer tubes? I haven't heard back from Dennis yet on the details of what he is working on.

[jdbower]

As a temporary fix, I'd probably go to Home Despot or an autobody shop with the fan in hand and see if I could get a short length of metal pipe that fits inside the opening. I'd check plumbing, they should have copper pipe there but I'd probably go for the iron stuff they use for gas lines (seems like it should stand up to heat better). Car exhaust pipe may be even better since it'll be thinner. Depending on how good of a fit it is you may also want to try some muffler tape to keep it in place. This should be a serviceable cheap, temporary fix until Dennis gets back to you.

[Otto Maddock]

Anybody have any ideas on how we are going to get the Stoker to fit the new KK's with the built in inducer tubes? I haven't heard back from Dennis yet on the details of what he is working on. [/quote]

John mentioned that he was going to contact Dennis about the setup. I'm not sure if this has happened or not.

[Otto Maddock]

Ha!... First time trying to use the quote feature and I bombed it!

[mguerra]

OK, here's a thought. The Guru and the Stoker are similar in that the round nozzle is a separate part that bolts on to the fan housing. It's possible the Guru nozzle may bolt right on to the Stoker fan housing. As soon as I get my Stoker back, I will check on this. It might take a little mod to do it, we'll see. If I can get it to work, then we would have to see if BBQ Guru would sell their nozzle assembly as a separate part. You would expect they would for customers who damage theirs occasionally. I still have not been able to ascertain whether Dennis intends to make some KK's with the standard 1-3/8" port, which the Stoker fits, and some with the smaller Guru specific port. It's true the smaller built in Guru inducer port is a nicer, cleaner look aesthetically, but the larger port gives the customers more flexibility in their choice of Guru vs. Stoker. Of course the whole problem could be obviated if either John or Dennis would make a Guru sized Stoker adapter to bolt on to the Stoker fan housing. This is going to be an easy fix ultimately.

[mguerra]

To use the Stoker right now on a Guru sized port:
Remove the Stoker nozzle, tape the flat plate of the Stoker fan housing right on to the Guru faceplate on the KK with some dryer/ AC duct metal tape. That should work temporarily.

[Loquitur]

As a temporary fix, I'd probably go to Home Despot or an autobody shop with the fan in hand and see if I could get a short length of metal pipe that fits inside the opening. .... This should be a serviceable cheap, temporary fix until Dennis gets back to you.

Thanks, Jeff - great idea!! I'll see what I can find. Dennis is already back to me, as well. He is working on it and will have news for us shortly.

Just spoke with John. He admitted he has poor customer service, that he is an engineer, he works the business solo with occasional help from his wife.......I am accepting this level of service for this product......I am not quitting Rock's.

I'm willing to cut him some slack too. The Stoker has some features I really like, such as connecting with an Ethernet cable instead of a USB cable and allowing me to glance at the Stoker Log from multiple desktop computers in my house as well as my wireless notebook. I want to do everything I can to make it work.

Susan

[mguerra]

If you are bold, and handy, do this: put the Stoker fan housing right up against the Guru faceplate on the KK. Minus the nozzle of course. With a pencil or a Sharpie mark through the holes of the Stoker housing on to the faceplate. Drill the holes on the faceplate and attach the Stoker with self tapping sheet metal screws. Figure out how to weatherproof the fan, since this is a permanent mounting. Look at my post "Stoker Raingear" for a solution. Get the sheetmetal screws first and use the correct size drill bit, that will cut stainless!! It's possible you might want to put a small piece of gasket material between the Stoker fan housing and the KK faceplate. You can get it at an auto parts store. This is all assuming the Stoker fan faceplate is the same size or smaller than the KK Guru faceplate. Otherwise this won't work. As I don't have my Stoker fan right now, I can't check on this!!!!

[Loquitur]

I couldn't find any small pieces of copper pipe at Lowe's that would fit inside the Stoker adapter tube though I found lots that were the same size and lots that were too small. But I did find these reducer pieces that fit good on the larger end and which acted like a length of pipe the right size when assembled together. They were labelled 1x3/4.






I'll try to get muffler tape next to secure the pieces together, though they seem to stay pretty well together on their own. I'm thinking worst case I could get a plumber to solder them together. This is how it looks sitting in the KK. Before I try it, I will give the fan some support from the bricks up so it isn't pulling down. I'm optimistic at this point!!