Heating element appears to have stopped working -troubleshooting advice

[tmo1138]

Hello

I was trying to smoke a couple of pork shoulders... shortly after the smoking was done the temperature dropped in the unit and I noticed the heating element wasn't heating.  So I moved the meat to my oven to finish.. I'm not happy right now.

>:(

Anyway I bought the smoker in June.  I tried plugging the tower directly my outlet to see if would heat up at all.  No joy.

I presume this means the heating element needs replacement.  Any advice on what to look at for electrical connections, etc to see what else could be at issue?

Thanks.

[Habanero Smoker]

It could be a few things. First check your outlet to make sure the GFCI was not tripped.

Go to Bradley FAQ's to do some trouble shooting. It you can't find the answer there, post some follow up questions.

[NorthShoreMN]

That happend on my first Bradley . Unplug first then check the elements mounts. One was loose after that was tightened up it worked fine. No problems since

[beefmann]

1) check GFI to see it is tripped
2) check breaker to see if it is  tripped
3) check the heater with  ohm meter should be around 30 ohms
4)  check back thermo fuse behind back  cover
5) check check inline fuse behind back cover ( inline with 4 above )

[tmo1138]

Hey guys..  before I saw beefman's response I remembered I had a multi-tester.

Plugged the cabinet directly into power.. current goes to the leads for the heating element but the element doesn't heat up.

Unplugged and then tested across the posts at each end of the heating element.  No current flows through.

I think I found my problem..  I'll call Bradley on Monday and hopefully heater elements are under the 1-year warranty...

I'm still REALLY pissed...  I just bought this thing in June!  I'm just glad I noticed and moved to the oven in my house quickly..  At least the smoking phase was complete..

[devo]

Element are covered under the warranty. Seems there is a few of the units out there that had bad elements. Bradley address the problem but until the last one gets sold it will come back to haunt them. Call them Monday morning and they will fix you right up.

[SiFumar]

You're under warranty....Bradley will do right by you.  It has happened to a lot of us.  Glad you caught it in time.  A few early struggles have made it rewarding for me. ;D

[beezer]

Most likely the element burned out. This is common for the 500W elements. I've burned thru three with about 100hrs of cook time. I now have to keep two spares available just in case. If you have a multimeter, they typically read around 25ohms. If it's open, it's bad. Just because it's covered under warranty doesn't fix the problem. Read thru the forum, these 500W elements have a history of being unreliable. When my first element burned out, i was told a defective batch was in inventory. Three years later and I see have them fail. I added a second element to my smoker to add some heat capacity and I still had one fail.

[KyNola]

And my element in my digital is the original element and is 6 years old.  Hasn't failed me yet.

[tmo1138]

Hey guys,

Called support. Told them everything I did to diagnose the problem and they shipped me a new heating element. If all goes well I should be back in business. I'll keep you posted.

Thanks again for all of your input.


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[tmo1138]

Back in business!  w00t!

I even cooked some Rock Cod in it last night.  Thanks everyone...!