Frustrated by temps

[al_sfbay]

Hi everybody, I am a newbie here.  I am on my 4th smoke with my new digital 6 rack.  My first smoke was a salmon and it was awesome.  My second was raw sweet potatoes, but the skins wouldn't allow much smoke permeation. It also didn't cook. But I was more focused on the smoked characteristics.   So my 3rd was cooked sweet potatoes but just cold smoked.  That too was awesome. I am now trying to cook a 3lb brisket.  I have had it in for 11 hrs.  I could not ever get the temp up over 158*.  Is this normal???  it is a warm day 63* and no wind so no excuses.  I was forced to pull the old "Texas Crutch".  Pulling it off and wrapping it and cooking in the oven. 

I ran a thermometer thru the vent and it never got over 158*, and it hovered for many hrs at 146* .  Is this a defective unit?  I'm not looking for hot cooked, I am just looking for 200*-225*.  Is this even possible with this unit?

[GusRobin]

recheck all your plugs.
Did you reset the unit. I believe the unit shuts off after 9 or so hours.
Is your vent open?
Do you keep opening?
What was the temps when you put the meat in?

Just some questions that will help in diagnosing the problem.

[Saber 4]

Welcome from Texas, Gus has you going in the right direction for checking for issues, you can also use hot water in the water bowl to help with heat recovery.

[Habanero Smoker]

Hi al_sfbay;

Welcome to the forum;

The following site has many trouble shooting tips.
Bradley FAQ's

[al_sfbay]

Thanks guys for the welcome.,
Gus, in answer to your questions, the unit never shut off, I had it set for as high as it would go.  I tried the vent open for 4 hrs, halfway for 4 and closed for 3, no radical change in temp, maybe 2*.  I only opened the smoker twice in 11 hrs and it dropped 10+/- * and recovered within 20 min each time.  Recovery was not a problem in my opinion.  After 11 hrs, I had to do the Texas crutch and put it in a 325* oven for almost 3 hrs to finish it.
The meat was room temp when I put it in.  The water was tap water. This was the only item plugged into this circuit. 
I repeat, it never got over 158* inside the smoker.  After 11 hrs of cooking on the highest setting possible, the internal temp on the brisket was 124*.  Im not looking for hot, only 200*-225*.  If I can't get over 124* internal after 11 hrs on a warm, 65*, calm day then this is only a cold smoker.

[al_sfbay]

I just got off the phone with Bradley.  They were very helpful.  Gus you nailed it.  The AC cords were not seating properly.  It seemed when I wiggled and pushed them they went in a bit farther in, so now the heating element seems to be heating up a bit more.  I will test today.

[Snoopy]

awesome to hear it was an easy fix, crappy way to find out. best of luck on the next smoke.

[GusRobin]

Glad it worked out.

[al_sfbay]

I did a cut up chicken last PM and it was perfect.  Managed to maintain between 210*-225* with the setting at 235*.  I also had a thermometer run thru the vent to calibrate the oven temp side of the pad.  It was only off by about 4*.  Yeah, I am learning this beast and liking it.  Thanks for all your help.

[Derwoodisa10]

I have been having the same problem - that is why I am reading this thread.  I hope your solution works for me!

[Derwoodisa10]

My temperatures are going up.  Thanks for posting the solution!