BRADLEY SMOKER | "Taste the Great Outdoors"

Bradley Smokers => The Digital Smokers (BTDS76P & BTDS108P) => Topic started by: wthr_dude on May 01, 2011, 12:17:49 PM

Title: Heating element not working :(
Post by: wthr_dude on May 01, 2011, 12:17:49 PM
I started some ribs this morning and the smoke element fired right up and ran for 4 hours, I didnt really pay much attention to the temp until I went to change the water, thats when I realized that the heater element wasnt working.

I have checked everything I can possibly check and still nothing, guess I'll throw the ribs in the oven and call bradley in the morning, sounds like I'm not the first with this problem by the posts I read.

Any other suggestions?? the unit is about 7 Months old

Eric
Title: Re: Heating element not working :(
Post by: devo on May 01, 2011, 12:23:58 PM
Did you check the element with a multimeter?
Title: Re: Heating element not working :(
Post by: wthr_dude on May 01, 2011, 12:36:38 PM
Thats way oustide of my skills, lol. I buy good stuff because its not supposed to break and that way I dont have to fix it, so lets hope customer service is good
Title: Re: Heating element not working :(
Post by: Jim O on May 01, 2011, 12:56:27 PM
Hey Dude !

You'll find Bradley's customer service " rocks " !!


Jim O
Title: Re: Heating element not working :(
Post by: viper125 on May 10, 2011, 07:45:53 PM
Personaly never found that to be true. Everything breaks sooner or later.
Title: Re: Heating element not working :(
Post by: GusRobin on May 11, 2011, 05:54:38 AM
For a while Bradley had a rash of element failures and traced it to bad elements. They have since changed suppliers and it appears the problem has been resolved. It is my understanding they replenished all inventory of replacement units but unfortunately there are probably some smokers out there that still have elements made by the old supplier. Bradley customer service is probably the best I have encountered and will get you up and running in no time. Replacing the element is simple and they will probably walk you through it. And there are plenty of folks on this forum that will be willing to help via on-line or personal phone call. Just ask and help will come running.
Title: Re: Heating element not working :(
Post by: ghost9mm on May 11, 2011, 10:02:12 AM
Hi Eric.. it sure would be good to hear how you made out getting a new element, and if your problem was taken care of by bradley, I am pretty sure you were taken care of, but your word on how things went means alot...
Title: Re: Heating element not working :(
Post by: ILUVRIBS on May 15, 2011, 09:47:35 AM
I just bought my smoker 2 months ago and yesterday had the same problem, the element failed after about 3 hours of cooking time. I too will be calling Bradley tomorrow. Hope it's true that there was a run of bad elements and this isn't the achilles heel of these smokers.
Title: Re: Heating element not working :(
Post by: djkost on May 15, 2011, 07:16:21 PM
Try to reset yout oven temp timer. I thought mine stopped working and I reset the oven timer and temp setting and it took off. Might save you time waiting for a new part
Title: Re: Heating element not working :(
Post by: wthr_dude on June 03, 2011, 10:20:02 AM
Sorry it took me so long to respond but Bradley customer service was awsome.

He knew right away that it was a bad heater element and had a new one in the mail the next day with instructions on how to use it.

I used it for the first time yesterday with no problems and smoked a couple of delicious cornish hens!!
Title: Re: Heating element not working :(
Post by: ghost9mm on June 03, 2011, 04:49:33 PM
Really glad to hear that, Bradley without a dought is a great company...glad to hear that you are up and smokin again...good for you..
Title: Re: Heating element not working :(
Post by: WarrioMedic on June 04, 2011, 05:19:13 AM
I encountered the dreaded heating element problem this morning.  I bought it last week, and have only used the smoker three times, so this was extremely disappointing after the decent sized investment in a digital smoker.  Unfortunately it is the weekend, so no customer service till Monday.  I hope their customer service is as good as I hear.  May I ask how long it took to receive the replacement parts?
Title: Re: Heating element not working :(
Post by: devo on June 04, 2011, 05:52:20 AM
Not much comfort but your not alone on the element problem. Most new owners have had their element go out just after a few smokes. I bought my bradely in Jan and a few weeks later I was phoning for a new element. I'm in Ontario and it took four bussness days to get to me. Their new elements seem to be holding up much better. Custermer support is number one.
Title: Re: Heating element not working :(
Post by: mhoy on June 04, 2011, 04:55:19 PM
Yeah, the replacement came pretty quickly for me too. A++ for service, however just in case I purchased an extra backup one while I was at it.

Mark
Title: Re: Heating element not working :(
Post by: watchdog56 on June 05, 2011, 07:30:22 AM
Mine went out a couple of weeks ago and I called Bradley on a Monday and I got mine on Thursday.
Title: Re: Heating element not working :(
Post by: ghost9mm on June 05, 2011, 07:37:44 AM
Mine went out yesterday morning, I have several spares and replaced the bad element and was up and running in about 20 minutes... :D