Damage to back of Unit

[mikemontauk]

It looks like I had a flare up as there was fire damage to the insulation on the back of the unit. I have been reading about why this might have happened. I had a brisket in overnight and I thought that the element failed. When diagnosing issue we found that the red wire (fuse) was the issue. Element was good.
I usually put a disposable aluminum pan in smoker to catch grease, and make cleanup easy. The smoker was set at 225. Any ideas on how to avoid in future? Could cleanliness of chamber, brisket touching the back wall led to this?
I re-ordered parts and then discussed issue with Bradley. After sending them a pic, my order was cancelled as they will not ship parts for a unit that has had a fire. I understand that concern. They did offer to send me a new chamber at a rate I think is pretty high (276). New on Amazon they are 360 shipped.
Is there a place where I can price a new chamber since the digital smoker is good?
Regards,
Mike

[Habanero Smoker]

Could you post the pictures on this forum that you sent to Bradley?

If your damage looked any thing like the below photo, then that occurs after normal use of the Bradley.


•Note that some of the foam insulation directly behind the heating element has melted. Sometime(s) during its 4 years and 8 months that I have had it, it must have overheated. I'm not too concerned, because there is extra insulation behind the element. It appears to be Mineral Wool insulation that has been installed under the foam. The Mineral Wool(?) is only installed directly behind the heating element.

The above picture was taken of my Bradly, prior to installing my second element. Since then, others have posted similar photos.

[mikemontauk]

I'm not to swift when it comes to posting pics. I'll keep trying.

[TedEbear]

I'm not to swift when it comes to posting pics. I'll keep trying.

It's not too difficult.

1. Upload your pics to a free host site, such as Photobucket.
2. While in Photobucket, click on the pic you want to post.  To the right of it you'll see an IMG box. 
3. Left click anywhere in it and the contents will automatically be copied onto your clipboard.



4. Paste the contents into a message on here.
5. You can click on the Preview button to see that it worked before posting your message but it is not necessary.

Hint:  If you think you'll be using Photobucket for different types of pics it is a good idea to start out by creating different folders for each them such as Food, Cars, Vacation, etc.  It makes it easier to find them some year when you might have hundreds of photos uploaded. If you do this, be sure you upload them to the correct folder or they'll still all just go to your root folder.

[Divey]

It looks like I had a flare up as there was fire damage to the insulation on the back of the unit. I have been reading about why this might have happened. I had a brisket in overnight and I thought that the element failed. When diagnosing issue we found that the red wire (fuse) was the issue. Element was good.
I usually put a disposable aluminum pan in smoker to catch grease, and make cleanup easy. The smoker was set at 225. Any ideas on how to avoid in future? Could cleanliness of chamber, brisket touching the back wall led to this?
I re-ordered parts and then discussed issue with Bradley. After sending them a pic, my order was cancelled as they will not ship parts for a unit that has had a fire. I understand that concern. They did offer to send me a new chamber at a rate I think is pretty high (276). New on Amazon they are 360 shipped.
Is there a place where I can price a new chamber since the digital smoker is good?
Regards,
Mike

I'm rather keen to see the photographs of your damaged smoker. I'm interested as to why the damaged parts cant be refitted.

Did you send any photographs to Bradley at the same time that you were ordering the parts to repair it ?

[Habanero Smoker]

I'm not to swift when it comes to posting pics. I'll keep trying.

Also if you click on the link below, it will take you to a pictorial. It is a little outdated, but still accurate enough to use. It will pretty much walk your through the whole process. It also provides some tips on how to set up the account. If you already have an account setup, and the pictures uploaded you can skip to Step #4.
How do I add pictures to my posts; on the Bradley Smoker Forum?

.....I'm interested as to why the damaged parts cant be refitted......

This sounds like a general policy to avoid any liability issue. Once Bradley saw the damage, and was aware of the extent of the damage; if they shipped the replacement parts, and a fire occurred in the cabinet after those parts were installed, they could be held accountable.

[Divey]

.....I'm interested as to why the damaged parts cant be refitted......

This sounds like a general policy to avoid any liability issue. Once Bradley saw the damage, and was aware of the extent of the damage; if they shipped the replacement parts, and a fire occurred in the cabinet after those parts were installed, they could be held accountable.

Surely there could be a waver regarding probable injuries, fire, death, or whatever, written by some legal dudes, signed by the owner of the product, and then returned to Bradly so their implication/liabilty was nullified.