So i started some ribs... temp dipped a bit to 196... and now its down to 135 1 hr later... i think the heating element died... any suggestions?
Oven. Quickly.
done... i tried plugging the back of it directly... doesn't heat up after 10 min... guess it died... :(
Is the heating element getting red at all? If not another one bit the dust!
after 10 min... nada... its toast... can't believe it went out mid smoke... :(
10 months... 8 smokes... and poof it died :'(... checked fuses too... that's not the problem...
Sorry to say most seem too! If you got a spare it only takes a short time to replace. If not head for the oven!
no spare unfortunatly... i left bradley a voicemail... hopefully they'll call me back monday... its still under warranty and i bought extended warranty for 3 more years... but now i'm wondering if its just worth the extra money to buy a extra just in case... reading some threads seems like this is pretty common... and the last thing i want is for this to happen again...
Well it was way to common. But they got a bad batch then another. So they changed suppliers I believe. Any way the ones going are slowing down as the smokers that had old one are getting bought and used. I think mine must be a new one. no problem yet. But I still bought a extra in case. Now converting it to two elements. But i will always buy a spare. Cheap insurance I believe.
how much do the elements cost if you don't mind me asking... hmm.. 2 elements sounds wonderful... i always felt that with a full load it just takes way too long to heat up
I get mine at
www.yardandpool.com (http://www.yardandpool.com)
I got one as a back up. Mine is over two years old and still going strong.
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Quote from: jiggaman on November 25, 2011, 01:23:21 PM
how much do the elements cost if you don't mind me asking... hmm.. 2 elements sounds wonderful... i always felt that with a full load it just takes way too long to heat up
I just got a replacement eliment and had them send 2 more as back up, they were 27 bucks each.. I would like to talk to someone about what i need to do to put 2 eliments in, just parallel ( piggy back } them or what.
Jim..
I paid 25.00 also the mods are all listed in the recipe files under mods. Try this link.
http://www.susanminor.org/forums/forumdisplay.php?330-Additional-Heating-Element-for-OBS-with-On-Off-Control
Don't know if I will ever need them, but I have two backups, got them at yard and pool...
Hey jiggaman why don't you PM brian. He comes on often and he might help you out.
As soon as I read "ARGH!!!!" I knew what it was. I'm getting tired of this happening. It just happened to me -again-!!! This was the 5th element. The unit is less than a year old.
The unit typically fails every three smokes. I just loaded mine up tonight with 2 butts, 1 hour later, it was just the smoker element heat. About 96 degrees in the box. I could put my finger on the heating element... and not get burned. Of course this happens on a Friday evening.
I know that Bradley will take care of it and all, but THIS IS GETTING FRUSTRATING! And what happens after the warranty runs out? I can't keep buying elements every three smokes.
Now I have 2 butts with very little smoke in them that will have to go in the home oven. :'(
I may just abandon the DBS. Maybe there's a big green egg or Komodo is in my future.
If I were Bradley, I'd seriously re-think that particular heating element design. And after re-thinking and re-engineering, hopefully be able to offer a retrofit kit to help out the units that are out there that keep failing.
Quote from: WideGlideMike00 on December 09, 2011, 06:18:00 PM
If I were Bradley, I'd seriously re-think that particular heating element design. And after re-thinking and re-engineering, hopefully be able to offer a retrofit kit to help out the units that are out there that keep failing.
I agree... I would have more respect for them if they would just come out with a $40 or $50 kit that really will fix the issues. I am afraid to smoke because I usually smoke overnight.... I know that I am playing russian roulette with the heating element... and I have had two hinge failures... I can work around hinge failures because the magnet on the door will hold the door closed, but it is not something that I think I should be dealing with.
Not sure on hinges, But maybe you'd be better off doing the 900 watt mod and getting away from the 500 watt elements
I been down this road also, 4 times calling to get a new element. My 5th element when I phoned I talked to Brian and he told me he had some new ones made in Canada to get away from the poor elements. So far I have about 40 hours on it and its still going strong. Hopefully you will get a good one and your troubles will be behind you.
It seems like my average smoke time is 14 to 16 hours.... and I have been getting 3 or 4 smokes out of one element... so that is about 45 to 60 hours per element. I have had two failures of the element.... and the element I got this week looks identical to the ones I have been seeing for the last 6 months. They did change the part number a bit on the last one. The numbers at the very end of the part number stamped on the side of the element look like a date code to me.
I see the element mods that people are doing here... but I didn't buy a Bradley smoker to start a new hobby of re-designing a smoker... I just want it to work. If I wanted to design my own, I would have already done that.
Maybe not! But if I was so positive things were that bad I sure wouldn't keep up the same thing then complain. But that's me. Just my opinion.Plus the redesign has already been done and tested.