Opinion about getting a custom heating element made

[sybercruzn]

well here's the response from the custom quartz element guy :(

Based on a quick review of the links, we must decline to get into this.

From what I know about smokers, you need to heat the chamber to the proper temperature. Quartz Infrared elements are very poor at heating air. The infrared energy must be absorbed by other objects then conducted to the air from that object. The 900W element from grainger is the ideal solution for heating air, as the large surface area of the fins can radiate the energy to the air more efficiently.

The tubular element must be heating the area around it and that in turn heats the chamber.

[pwaldman]

Sorry it's been awhile since I finally received the new heating element and had a chance to install it.  The installation was a bit of a problem and I went through several different variations until I was happy.  What I ended up with was taking the ceramic caps off the old Bradley element, grinding down the taper slightly, removing the stainless steel adapters off the new element, installing onto the quartz ends and terminating the wires by just twisting them into the wires of the OBS.  I also added a heat shield over the element to reduce the direct heat in the back and to protect the glass from drippings.  I also had previously modified my 4 rack OBS into 8 racks and added a fan.  Today I did 10 lbs of jerky (2 separate loads) and all went very well.  The heat up time was much faster as well as recovery after I opened the door (less than 5 minutes).  As far as control, I have a dual probe Auberins so that was easy.  I took temp measurements at the top middle and the bottom front.  Initial temp during ramp up the top was 10⁰ hotter but when it settled it was within a couple of degrees.  During the jerky smoke the pieces at the back of the bottom 2 racks cooked much quicker than the rest of the load.  I'll probably add additional shielding to help this.  When I put in my second load of jerky I only needed 6 racks so I did not use the bottom 2; all racks smoked fairly evenly with only one switch top to bottom front to back (total time was 3.5 hours with 2 hours of smoke and 1.5 drying; I finish in a dehydrator).  I'll take some pictures tomorrow of the setup to post.  Overall I am very happy with the new element especially if I don't have the short life I have had with the current lot of Bradley's.

Pete

[classicrockgriller]

Looking forward to the pics and glad you are happy.

[pwaldman]

Here are a few pics to give you an idea of what the final installation looked like.

Overall front view



Left side closeup



Right side closeup



Additional shield/protection



I read the earlier post from the company that supplies the quartz heating element but I found with the smoker empty it heated up just like the Bradley element only faster.

Pete