Heating element not working at anything other than max power

[SublimeOne]

This is only my 2nd smoke with my OBS.  About 2 hours into smoking 2 pork butts I noticed the temperature had dropped below 140 (when I had it at 210-220).  The power light was all the way off for the heating element and when I tried sliding it around the only way it would come on was to move it to max power.  That isn't going to work for smoking these butts, anybody have any suggestions?   Very disappointed if this thing is broken already. 

[SublimeOne]

At max power the heating element is glowing red and at any other temp it's definitely off.  I left my butts in there for 4 hours and just kept fiddling with the max power and no power until I was done with the smoke and put them in the oven to finish.  Very unhappy with my Bradley on this one though.  I tried unplugging it and letting it sit for 10 minutes and it didn't make a difference at all.  It seems like a very simple machine so I don't know what else to try to make it work. 

[Gizmo]

I don't have an OBS so can only offer some typical suggestions.  Look for loose wires going to the controls.  Wires often come off during shipping and can cause various problems.  There will be no doubt that no matter what the problem is, your problem will be taken care of.  Brian (Bradley Site Admin) checks in often and will give you some advice.  Most likely others with OBS units will be able to give some advice as well.

[Habanero Smoker]

Hi SublimeOne;

Welcome to the forum.

Your first message didn't mentioned any time periods, such as when did it drop to 140°F and how long it has been there. You second message didn't mention how hot it actually got after 4 hours; but with turning the power on/off and opening the door to check the element, the temperature would not be an indication of whether or not the slider control works.

It is not unusual to see a temperature drop of what you are describing, especially with two butts, and if you didn't preheat, or set the butts on the counter to come to room temperature for an hour or two. Also it would take a few hours for the smoker to recover. With two butts you want the the slider fully to the right until the temperature get up to your desired cabinet temperature. It's a rheostat not a thermostat, so you want it at full power until you get back to your desired cabinet temperature.

You are there dealing with it, but I have to mention that the light is sometimes hard to see, because it dims as you slide the control to the left. I've never taken a look at the element other then when it is on full power and I'm not sure if it glows at all settings.

Have you checked the smoker without the butts in it to see what temperatures you are getting? If you are getting decent heat without the butts in the smoker, then the smoker was properly functioning within it range.

Is there a crack on the faceplate directly above the slider control? If so moisture may have gotten into that area and damaged the circuit board.

What vent opening where you using?

[Bradley (Head Office)]

Hi Sublime

Like Hab's has explained with the 2 butts in your smoker the controller should be all the way to max until the cabinet temperature recovered then you could slowly
start to slide it to the left until it mantains the temp you want. Remember as Habs has explained it is a rheostat not a thermostat you will have to keep adjusting, It does not
react fast to adjustments give the smoker some time between them. Try not to open the door to peek this will just cause you to lose more heat and make the cook time longer.

You will not see the element glow until max power or just below max power as well as the power indicator light is not very visible in daylight.

I would do a test on your smoker empty and see how the temperature holds.

Brian

[SublimeOne]

Habanero,

The temperature was holding just fine at 210ish for the first 2 hours of smoking.  I hadn't been opening the door or checking the heating element but I went outside to check on it and the cabinet temperature was down to 140 and the power light was completely off (it was dark outside so it was easy to tell) and when I opened the door there was no glow at all from the heating element.  I did preheat the bradley before smoking past the 210 mark (probably 240 or so) and I had the butts on the counter for 2.5 hours to bring them up close to room temperature.  I tried setting the slider about a half inch from the maximum without opening it for 45 minutes the temperature had dropped to 120. 

I had the vent open half way during cooking and I don't see any cracks in the unit. 

[SublimeOne]

I just plugged it back in and am going to see if I can get it to heat at anything other than max power (which is hotter than I would like to cook anything at).  It was unplugged all night and I just plugged it back in and set it to 75% power and I didn't see any lights come on but I'll humor myself and let it sit for an hour or so and see if there's any temperature change inside the cabinet.

[SublimeOne]

Well after a half hour at "75%" power the thermometer reads about 80F (it's 85F outside right now).  I used my IR thermometer on the heating element and it read no differently than any other part of the inside of the cabinet (about 90F due to it being a black box in the sun).  So it's clearly not kicking on at anything other than 100% power.  I'm going to try it at full power and see how hot it gets in there.  

Edit:  On for about an hour at max power and temperature is up close to 250.   I'm going to slide the bar over 75% and watch the temp drop.  I haven't opened the door and will not open the door.  

Edit: 10 minutes later without opening the door the temp is down to almost 180.  Pretty sure my bradley is broken...

[Bradley (Head Office)]

Hi Sublime

Thanks for retesting the smoker.
If the power indicator light is not coming on  when you have the slide 3/4 of the way to max
i think you have a defective control switch.

Give the office a call on Monday and we can send you out a new switch

Brian.

[SublimeOne]

Thanks for your help, I will call on Monday.