Operator's Manual

Well for immediate help,go to Find at page top,and input a keyword for you question.

Narrow your search to the FEC owners forum and the FEC open forum.

You may input comp questions,to the FEC comp forum.

Startup

That being said,on the next rainy evening,read the FEC forums and print ,or save,those things that look immediately useful.

It really won't take all that long and you will have our collective wisdoms.

Any specific questions that aren't answered,we'll try to elaborate.

Have fun and it will come quickly.

Great to see you post here Chris. May I introduce a fellow Okie that has been following this forum and the comps in Oklahoma for over a year and has now just recieved a new FEC100 Friday. He will be at OKC observing and asking questions.
Hey Russ I told him to stop by your trailer and check out the new rig and if thier is any tech questions your our go to guy around here.

Chris,

Welcome to the group. Sure, stop by at any comp and we'll talk you silly. Good group at the Oklahoma Comps.

As any specifics. The operator manuals is real basic. Don't hesitate to call them at Customer Service. More feedback they get, the more they'll take the input and work on it. They LOVE hearing from owners...really!

Russ

I've been biting my tongue, but I have to say, these units should have a better manual. There's no excuse for a unit costing this much and not getting a solid manual. If they're not going to help on the forum, then they're going to spend all kinds of time on the phone.
With the number of problems I've had with my unit, all of them could have been solved with a minimal users' guide.
And it's not like we need a step by step on how to cook. But there are buttons on the unit that aren't explained, fuses in places that aren't easy to get to (or indicated in the manual), and cs has neither weekend hours nor emergency (for pay) customer service.
Sorry, but new users need to know what to expect when they drop a couple thousand bucks. I love my FECs and would buy them again (or another in the future), but I honestly give the documentation a thumbs down.

I'm not defending,if you see my posts over the years,or denying.

I'd recommend that you email sales/service and make your well founded comments known.

They do not normally monitor our forums.

Donna,an owner/partner and Stuart who is the same and the president are typically quite responsive and can be reached by email,and you'll probably receive a phone call.

Just a thought.

Tom-Fl

quote:

Sorry, but new users need to know what to expect when they drop a couple thousand bucks. I love my FECs and would buy them again (or another in the future), but I honestly give the documentation a thumbs down.

Did you find the answers in the forum? You certainly posted questions and got answers.

Did you call CS with you specific feedback about the manual? They don't routinely monitor the forum, I do it for them. If you think the manual needs improving, call them directly with the suggestions.

CS prefers complaints go to them direct, not the forum so they can get specifics and deal with you direct.

Call them Monday.

I will take exception to your comment about "users need to know what to expect". They expect and receive the finest Customer Service for ANY BBQ company out there. They also have a support forum to get direct answers to direct questions. And in the years of the forum, haven't seen many complaints about the manual, but maybe your experience and feedback can improve that for others.

I hear ya okie. But we can agree to disagree on expectations. I certainly got a very involved cookbook when I bought both my FECs, but not very useful information on my unit.
I've actually considered writing something myself, but I have enough irons in the fire this year.
So anyway, my point was that without good docs, people are hung out waiting to call during the week or hoping they get answers here. I suspect the majority of problems happen when cs is closed and/or when people aren't near a computer. what then? and since I'm on call 24/7 it's not fair that everyone else isn't!

So I'm not trying to rebel-rouse, but having been put on the spot at events with a breakdown, I've been extremely fortunate to have a few friends' cell numbers that have gotten me out of a bind. Yet the repair answers were so simple they should have been written down.
And for the record, I have gotten fine service when I've called them- no doubt. I'm simply talking about the lack of useful documentation.

As for comments on the forum.... I've certainly sung the praises of my FECs across various forums, but I think honest evaluations are important.

say, something just came to mind... if someone was so inclined, and had access to all the archives of the forum, there could be a troubleshooting (or a more benign name like FAQ) forum or archive. but that can have issues, too.

quote:

Originally posted by skippyp:
say, something just came to mind... if someone was so inclined, and had access to all the archives of the forum, there could be a troubleshooting (or a more benign name like FAQ) forum or archive. but that can have issues, too.

Already is, it's called the FE Owners Forum, for posting questions about your smoker. Unfortunately, it's impossible to manage and people don't want to use the "search", when it's easy enough to also just read down through the threads. Based on page views, people are looking through them, just not posting a specific question.

Should have been around before these forums, the old "thread" forum, like BBQ search, is just a running commentary.

This is very helpful information. We want to provide you with the best smokers, service, AND documentation that we can. I would really appreciate it if you would send e-mail messages for improvements to me at d_johnson@cookshack.com. I will start collecting your ideas and we will work on improving future publications.

We hear you!