new heater for bradleysmoker

[careff]

Thanks Beefmann

See you got the 900 heater from Grainger what about the pid? I looked at another post and they made one but it is alittle confusing and looks time consuming. Would I need anything else besides the heat element and the PID controller or is there more accessories that go with the PID

[pensrock]

So am I correct in stating the 900 watt finned heater will not work just as a replacement heater for the bradley. By that I mean one would have to install a fan of some sort to insure enough flow past the fins? I would be very interested in replacing the bradley heater with the higher wattage heater but have no plans at this time to add a fan/blower.

[beefmann]

careff,

here is a link for information on the PID

http://www.susanminor.org/forums/showthread.php?s=0e02a7c5b9a60e667267d8842db2be36&t=315

what i had done was by passed the front slide controll of the bs and connected thoes wires directly to the heater.. traced the other ends out while adding  about a foot of 16 gage .. maybe longer .. enough anyway to make it inside and to the pid on the smoke generator ( you  will  need to follow the wiring driections provided by auber) i did get the relay version and not the ssr

and you would have to  mount a thermocouple from the inside of the be to the pid and power .. fairly  simple.

i did the  compleat mod including  cutting the hole for the pid in the smoke generator in about an hour and half


Pensrock

according  to graingers  website there is no air flow  required on the 900 ... how ever on higher watterage heaters there is air flow  required.

as well as these finned  heaters can be used in the food heating / prep industry... I  would recomend watching  closly if you  do not  use a fan. the heater upper tempture is 1200' f it might warp the back panel of the bs and  short its self out

[careff]

Thanks Beefmann I will look into it do you have any pictures?

[beefmann]

careff,

here are the pictures of my heater mod

http://forum.bradleysmoker.com/index.php?topic=7203.0

[pensrock]

I think I'll take a closer look at them. I can always find a small piece of insulation board at work to put between the heater and the back panel on the tower if it looks like it would be a problem. Also since I can ramp up and down temp with my PID controller, I can always slow the heat up a little if necessary. I think it will work fine as is. Thanks for the help.  Do you happen to have a Grainger part number handy?
pens

[westexasmoker]

I think this is the part number 4E266 - Heres a link

http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/wwg/productIndex.shtml?operator=keywordSearch&search_type=keyword&QueryString=finned+heater

C

[careff]

Just wondering what everybody thinks about the plug and play pid

[beefmann]

I have been using one for 8 months and worth every penny... I  would not smoke  with out one.

keeps the tempture where you  set  it   with the 500 watt heater and with the finned  heater typically +/- 8 f with a 70 outside  temp. ( that is the nature of the 900 watt finned  heater )

[careff]

Thanks Beefmann
     I will probably go for the 900 fin heater and the plug and play just don't know when I will let you know and will probably have a few more questions


Careff

[beefmann]

any time careff