A question about my new Bradley.

RAF128 · October 29, 2009, 02:21:14 PM

I'm not new to the bradley smoker. Have had access to the original one for some time but haven't used it much. I've been looking at new ones and like the idea of digital and also the 6 rack so today I bought one. Unpacked it, read the instructions and seasoned it. I have plans to do a roast this weekend. It seems that it's not getting as hot as is should. I've had it plugged in for over an hour and the last time I looked the temp inside the smoker was barely over 120 degrees. I have the temp set at 220. Any ideas? The air temp outside the smoker is 60.

KevinG · October 29, 2009, 02:26:51 PM

I can't help with the outside temp being 60, I live in the hot part of the U.S. so I don't know if that will affect it or not. I have heard that some people have been having problems when they leave the vent closed. It might also be the connection of the box to the unit (too big of an air gap) or possilby a loose or dirty connection on the large plug (short Jumper cord) that goes from the smoke generator to the smoke tower.

OU812 · October 29, 2009, 02:41:59 PM

Sounds to me like only the smoke generator is getting power, unplug the power source to the cabnet (short cord) and replug it in pushing in hard then do the same on the other end of the same cord

OU812 · October 29, 2009, 02:45:06 PM

Oh ya open the door to see if the heating element is glowing red.

Also try not to use an extention cord, that affects the amount of amps the smoker is getting.

pensrock · October 29, 2009, 04:28:16 PM

Yep, sounds like a loose/bad connection. You can also try pluging the tower directly into an outlet and see if the heating element gets red. Do not run it this way, only for troubleshooting purposes. First try pushing all the power connectors in real tight. This is the most common problem.

RAF128 · October 29, 2009, 08:06:10 PM

I've been on the phone to the help people. I've tried all the suggestions here. I did plug directly into the smoke tower and the element come on. I've got rid of the extension and plugged directly into the plug. I have a tester and there is no power coming out of the smoke generator, so no power through the jumper cable to the element in the tower. There has to be a problem inside the smoke generator. I'll be calling the help desk again in the morning. IMO it's Murphys law ;). I don't know how many things I've bought that don't work out of the box.

Bradley (Head Office) · October 29, 2009, 08:24:30 PM

Hi Raf

You probably have a wire off inside your generator
go ahead and open the generator up and check the wires inside

RAF128 · October 30, 2009, 05:11:59 AM

Quote from: Bradley (Head Office) on October 29, 2009, 08:24:30 PM
Hi Raf

You probably have a wire off inside your generator
go ahead and open the generator up and check the wires inside

What's it going to do to my warranty after I've had my fat fingers, that don't know what they're doing, in there ;). I tried opening the generator on my original bradley and I noticed there are lots of wires in there. I could have a look though

deb415611 · October 30, 2009, 05:17:35 AM

Quote from: RAF128 on October 30, 2009, 05:11:59 AM
Quote from: Bradley (Head Office) on October 29, 2009, 08:24:30 PM
Hi Raf

You probably have a wire off inside your generator
go ahead and open the generator up and check the wires inside

What's it going to do to my warranty after I've had my fat fingers, that don't know what they're doing, in there ;). I tried opening the generator on my original bradley and I noticed there are lots of wires in there. I could have a look though

Raf,

Go ahead and check what Brian posted. He wouldn't have suggested it if it was going to void your warranty. Bradley's customer service is awesome.

RAF128 · October 30, 2009, 06:51:00 AM

Well, I fixed it. There was one wire off. Seems to me the wire was too short for where it was routed. Changed the route and everything is fine. Now, another question. After I got it working I set the oven temp at 120. I figured that when it reached that temp, it would shut down and hold it. Well, the temp kept climbing. Last I looked it was 135. Is my thinking wrong or do I have another problem?

KyNola · October 30, 2009, 06:57:50 AM

RAF,
Glad you got the issue resolved.

It is not uncommon to have temp swings in a Bradley, particularly when you are first coming up to temp. One thing you should know is that unfortunately the BDS is not completely accurate with the temp readings. The temp sensor is located on the back wall above the primary heat source. Consequently the temp readings have a tendency to read hotter than they may actually be. I'll wager that if you were checking the heat at the front of the tower, it would read less than 135. Many of us use the Maverick ET-73 dual probe thermometer. It is much more accurate and you can place one probe pretty much anywhere inside the cabinet to better monitor the heat inside and place the other probe in the meat to accurately gauge the internal temp of the meat.

I think you're good to go. Now get to smoking something.

KyNola

OU812 · October 30, 2009, 07:00:50 AM

What KyNola said.

Hopefull Romantic · October 30, 2009, 07:08:42 AM

First welcome to the forum and glad that your problems are resolved.

I also agree with Ky about the temp issues and the use of the ET - 73

HR

RAF128 · October 30, 2009, 07:33:14 AM

I have a single probe. I use it in the meat/sausage, or whatever. The double sounds interesting.

Tiny Tim · October 30, 2009, 07:33:45 AM

I'm gonna give a different reason for the temp to have kept climbing past your set point of 120. On my OBS, it'll hit 150 on a warm (warm here is 60+...to me anyway) day with just the Smoke Generator powered up. I'd set it to 180-200 and see what it does. If it still overshoots by a fair margin, then yeah, your temp sensor is not correct.