excalibur

[frank]

:( I got in my dehydrator yesterday I am playing with it now but it does not freaking work fan runs no heat

tried the trouble shooting but that only says to turn it on and rotate the dial up to 40 times tried it still does not work anyone else have this problem????

[frank]

I am SOOOOOOO mad/disappointed I have waited two weeks for this to come in prepared pesto stuffed mushrooms just for this The pesto came out incredible now I cannot make them.


I put my oven on the lowest temp and put a therometer in but it right away goes to 200 I am ready to go buy a walmart one just to make some stuff while i work out the kinks(ie yell at the company once they open)

[Eva]

Hey Frank, The D doesn't get too hot as a general rule. I don't know if yours is defective, but for me it takes some time for it to warm up and continually runs air in the meanwhile. A dehydrator warms up a bit but it's biggest use is for removing the liquid...

I don't know if that's helpful. I'm on my second Excalibur dehydrator (have two of them, not that I got one to replace the other!), and I've been generally very happy with them. I hope you get it worked out!

If your pesto came out well, you can probably enjoy a tasty treat without the dehydrator... :)

[frank]

I have had it running for up to 15 minutes and nothing Fan works great I look inside and I cannot see anything getting warm. I mean there are coils in there Shouldn't they get a little different color (red)

I would love it If I were wrong. I am afraid to just stick the mushrooms in and let it go.

[frank]

well I am taking a big leap of faith here I put the mushrooms in and am going to go to bed. I work overnights and am really really tired by now When I wake up I will either have a great meal or NOTHING :(

please please please work

[HolyGuacamole]

No, the coils won't get red.

Of course, I am not there to see, but it sounds like your dehydrator is working fine to me.

I do everything at 105 and that feels barely warm to me, NOTHING like "warm" on an oven. In fact I have had my Exaclibur going constantly for about 2 days now at 105 and even with this constant use, the outside of it only feels slightly warm, and when I open it, it's just a warm wind that comes out. It doesn't feel anything like "hot."
If you leave it on for a while and it's still really not getting warm at all, then yeah, it's probably broken, but at first blush it doesn't sound like it to me. Rather it sounds like you're thinking it should get hot, but it really, really shouldn't.

You can always use that thermometer to check the temp inside, if you're unsure.

Good luck. :)

[HolyGuacamole]

Also, your shrooms won't be "cooked" when you take them out - they'll have changed texture, be softer and juicier, but they won't be hot and they won't seem the same as something you'd cooked in your oven. That's a good thing. ;)

[frank]

thank you for the replies

DUH :o I cannot believe that I didn't think of putting the therometer in the D before It is in there now

I understand what you are saying about it not being "cooked" I am just nervous and panicking Plus I have been up for about 20 hours now Guess i might not be thinking too clearly lol

I will check the therometer soon and go the heck to bed

thank you again
frank

[annavon]

:( tried the trouble shooting but that only says to turn it on and rotate the dial up to 40 times tried it still does not work anyone else have this problem????

I'm confused by what you mean by rotate the dial up to 40 times. Does it mean to rotate back and forth 40 times?

What I have done is to let the dehydrator warm up on the highest setting and then I turn it down to 105. See if that works. If it doesn't work (and you have a thermometer in there to verify, then I would think it will still be under warrenty.

[MelissaO]

I hope your shrooms turn out. If not then why not make a raw noodle dish to eat your pesto with?

If you do not have a spiral slicer you can use a regular potato peeler and peel either carrot or zucinni (they will look like fettucine noodles), sprinkle some sea salt on them and let them sit a little bit to soften, rinse off in cool water and then add your pesto....makes for a nummy meal.

:D

[HolyGuacamole]

Hope your shrooms turned out!
Get some good rest. :)

[frank]

sadly they did not turn out I went to bed at noon and at 7pm I opened the D and the temp said 80degrees
What a disappointment:(

I am prob going to try them anyway and I have a lot of pesto left over. I could do the zuch or carrot noodles tomorrow for lunch or something like that.

Of course the customer service is open from 9-4 pacific time I live in the east and slept from 12-7 eastern

So it worked out perfectly for me not to call. Oh well I can call tomorrow. I like working overnights this is just one of the drawbacks


I really like the design (not being round) but I have to say I am very disappointed in this. I read the book cover to cover and there are 3 things in there that I have issues with.

I guess it is true about first impressions. Here is a company with a good reputation but now it has a negative image in my head. Not a good thing for me to let happen but it is fairly normal also

For the trouble shooting under the part that says, fan works but no heat. Honestly this is what it says......

check for any loose wires...
or it may be stuck due to rough shipping (box was in perfect condition on arrival) with the fan running turn the knob back and forth between the highest and lowest settings pausing for a moment on each setting. Repeat for 40 knob rotations


come on!!!! Rotate the knob? I am not a huge electronics person but really how does that work???

Also the first paragraph of the trouble shooting guide says this

All dehydrators are checked three times for any electrical or mechanical problems. They are shipped in perfect working order.

****Really "perfect"??? Sounds pretty cocky to me Not like these are all hand made. That just kind of rubs me the wrong way. I don't really like talking in absolutes like that

One more thing, the door does not fit very well. So I looked that up in the trouble shooting guide again

The last line says "Due to design constraints this is the best we can do". So this is in "perfect" working order but yet the door might not fit right. Yet that is not there fault this is the "best they can do"


sorry felt the need to vent

frank

[Nayeli_Raw]

What a bummer. I am interested in what they say when you call tomorrow.

[lsadeseyens]

I know this is a disappointment, but sometimes things go wrong. I would contact the company and my guess is they will send you another one. My brother had a heater sent to him that wouldn't work and did just what I said. They had no problem sending him a new heater (which worked fine) and problem was solved. It does make it hard to trust a company when you receive a defunct item, but it does happen sometimes~~what matters is that the company is willing to fix the problem!!!

[frank]

what do you mean sometimes things go wrong???? NEVER!!!!! Life is wonderful and stress free 52/12 :D

btw 52/12 is my own thing because I got tired of 24/7
52 weeks 12 months. I know it is stupid but hey stupid is as stupid does ;)


I will give them every chance to make things right tomorrow. I will not have a bad attitude starting off. It is prob better I didn't call them today in the heat of the moment.

[raweater]

I have had it running for up to 15 minutes and nothing Fan works great I look inside and I cannot see anything getting warm. I mean there are coils in there Shouldn't they get a little different color (red)

I would love it If I were wrong. I am afraid to just stick the mushrooms in and let it go.

They definately should not ever change color at all, they only get slightly warm, remember it only heats to slightly above room temperature, it should not get hot at all.

[raweater]

Not to sound dumb but what temperature is your dial set at? You said the thermometer read 80, but that is the temperature of the lowest setting, was it on 80 degrees on the dial?

To be absolutely sure it's defective set it to 155 degrees and let it run for at least 30 minutes with a thermometer inside and then check the temperature.

About turning he knob back and forth 40 times this would be to unjam the thermostat's moving parts in case it is physically jammed, so try that. Mine had the opposite problem once, it would heat to very warm temperatures that slightly cooked the food (the elements still did not get red, they are only made to get slightly warm), turning the knob back and forth did indeed fix it by unjamming the thermostat. Perhaps yours is jammed in the opposite position.

I'm still not convinced your machine is defective.

[frank]

I had it set on 125 and it was there for 7 hours running continuously and the therometer was in it the entire time. After 7 hours the thermostat read 80 degrees. Yes that is warmer than the room but about 12-15 degress but is that right? I mean that is 45 degrees lower than the setting. I have a hard time believing that is correct.

I saw someone else posted on this thread and I was excited. I WANT to be wrong about this. I read these posts right away hoping someone is going to tell me something that will fix it or whatever.

oh and yea I turned that knob more than 40 times. Heck I did it 40 without letting the machine turn off. Then I turned it another 40 turning it all the way off and on again.

[Eva]

Frank -- have you called them? They are quite nice at Excalibur in my experience. I hope they can help you! Please do report back if you find out anything extra from them. :)

[frank]

I will be calling them. They open at 12pm eastern standard time. Still have 2 and a half hours

[rawstrength]

Good luck getting this resolved.

[HolyGuacamole]

They'll make it right, I'm sure of it.
:)

[freshlight]

what do you mean sometimes things go wrong???? NEVER!!!!! Life is wonderful and stress free 52/12 :D

btw 52/12 is my own thing because I got tired of 24/7
52 weeks 12 months. I know it is stupid but hey stupid is as stupid does ;)


I will give them every chance to make things right tomorrow. I will not have a bad attitude starting off. It is prob better I didn't call them today in the heat of the moment.

I love this! Thanks for making me laugh :D:)

[frank]

In case anyone is wondering I DID NOT call yesterday. I got called into work and by the time I got ready I didn't have time.

I brought the phone number but I work in a mental hospital and lets just say it was a bad day.

So now I am just getting home after 16 hour shift and I cannot call until monday:(

On a positive note, when I work doubles I always ate a very very SAD diet.

This time I brought a smoothie I threw together and 2 salads. Oh and a small portion of a choc peanut butter dessert that I found on this site somewhere.

I ended up being very hungry and ate both salads in the first 6 hours I was there. I was also not crazy for the smoothie. I had no recipe, I was just throwing things in there and normally they turn out good. This time, not so much.

Anyway I ended up going to the store at the end of my first shift. I have been to this store many times and walk away with a pint of ice cream or fried chicken or a hoagie.

This time I left with a natural cut up fruit bowl and 2 bananas :D

Just to be honest I did get one other thing. I ball of moz cheese That is just my biggest and prob only craving.

Ok so it is not 100% raw but that cheese was the only thing all day. I was happy. Working doubles have always been a huge trap for me.

[snoops]

Good work on the food choices. Ummm choc peanut butter recipe??!! I would love to try that:D

[HolyGuacamole]

You did great, Frank, and it will get easier and easier.
I want to know what this choco-PB recipe is, too. :D