American Hunter feeder warning

[goodoleboy1012000]

This weekend I went and bought an American Hunter Digital feeder to replace one of the 8 Wild Game Inv Monster D feeders I have. (the barrel cracked from them burning the woods off and not letting me know) Looking at the fact that the feeder barrel was one solid piece I decided to give this one a try. No where on the box did it say what battery to use so I get on my smart phone and it says 6 volt and gave a model number. The store I was in did not sell this brand battery so I just get a 6 volt battery like my other feeders use. When I insert the batter the whole unit starts smoking. I remove the battery and see that the circuit board that makes contact a contact burnt in half. Luckily I was able to remove the timer from my wild game inv feeder I was replacing and retro fit it in the new housing. When I called American Hunter they told me tough luck and it was my fault so you are own your own. Needless to say that is wrong just bad customer service, when you buy a product and get everything that you need to get it going get to the woods and it starts smoking. I could understand if the box said "Spring top Battery Required" then I would have just gotten a spring top battery but it just says what it does on the website and I'm posting that below. Also the timer is inferior to Wild Game Digital timers.

•Adjustable feed rate (1-30 sec)
•Varmint guard built in
•Pre-wired for: varmint buster BL-VB1 and solar panel BL-R680-S
•Includes powder coated “No Blow” slinger
•Requires 6 Volt battery recommended
•DE-30045 (not included)

 

[Jim Ammons]

I have an AH feeder. The + and - springs fit the box a certain way. If you used a different type 6 volt you probably shorted it out making your contacts reversed otherwise six volts is six volts. I realize this doesn't help your feeling with AH's attitude!

 

[goodoleboy1012000]

Yep

I figured that out, looking at the circuit board I thought they had designed it for either. When I get back to the land this weekend I just going to take it back and get the Moultrie.

 

[savage11006]

I bought an ah spinner and put on my barrel. Haven't had any problems out of it. The varmint buster works wonders on coons.

 

[goodoleboy1012000]

Glad you had better luck than I did, all im saying is if you have a problem dont expect any help from AH and if you use a spade type instead of a sping top battery you will have a problem

 

[snookdoctor]

I feel for you, but I can't fault the company on that one either. They did tell you what battery to use in their product. Using the wrong parts in many items will void warranties.

 

[GT-40 GUY]

I have an old ON TIME feeder that I just changed the clock timer. It is probably 10 years old. One 6 volt battery last about 3 years. I just put in a new 6 volt battery also. I wish they still made that model. The plastic barrel, motor and legs cost $99.

gt40

 

[goodoleboy1012000]

I posted what the directions said

If you look at the first post it says 6 volt and recomended a model number of one of their products. When I got it home and took a closer look the spade type battery put the + and - on the same bus causing a dead short. And yes you can fault the company for not saying the what type of 6 volt was required If they would have said spring top only I would have gotten a spring top.Ah is the only feeder I have every used that did not have the simple gator clips that allow you to us any 6 volt battery I have been running wild game brand feeder for a few years now and the only problem I have ever had was this split hopper. This time around im going to give the moultrie a shot.