Argghhh...it happened to me, element toast after 6 smokes

Whitey Jr · July 05, 2011, 05:07:27 PM

I was half-expecting it to happen after reading some of the posts here, but it finally happened to me today. About a third of the way thru a summer sausage I notice the temp is steadily falling. BTW the 4-rack BDS is less than a week old. I wait a bit more and confirm the element is no longer heating before hopping on the phone with the folks at Bradley customer support. The girl on the phone had me do a few tests on the element before taking my info, and assuring me a new element would be shipped first thing tomorrow morning. That hardly helped my currently half-cooked sausage, so I hopped on the recently aquired project bike (1988 Suzuki Katana) and ripped out to the local Barbeque Country for an immidiate replacement (the shipped one will become a resident spare). The old element was cool enough for handling by the time I got back, so after disconnecting everything it was a quick-change worthy of Nascar to get the new one in and evrything back up to temp as quickly as possible. Everything is ticking along fine now and hopefully the short delay won't screw up the sausage too much. I also hope the new element works a lot longer than the original one.

-Whitey Jr

Smokin Soon · July 05, 2011, 05:52:47 PM

Hat's off to you for such a quick recovery and repair. Good job!

Ka Honu · July 05, 2011, 05:56:06 PM

After well over two years with the original element in my OBS, I finally got off my butt (so to speak) and ordered a spare from Yard & Pool. It arrived today. Hopefully I won't need to install it for a long, long time but it's nice to know it's in the wings (so to speak, again - seems we're always talking about wings and butts these days).

ghost9mm · July 05, 2011, 06:29:15 PM

Did the same thing a week or two ago, but I had a spare on hand and like you I had it changed out in a short time and up and smokin...saved the day..

wthr_dude · July 06, 2011, 06:15:55 AM

Welcome to the club :-\

muebe · July 06, 2011, 11:19:22 AM

Did anyone ever narrow down the serial numbers of the bad elements? Or what exactly to look for? Could save some headaches for people if they could identify them before they go out and get them replaced. Maybe a forum sticky to help new and existing owners. It is turning off many people who just paid $400 for a smoker that stops working in the middle of a smoke. It appears there are still a lot of these elements out there.

Here is a picture of mine. I think it might be one of the defective elements but not sure because it did not fail for me. I replaced mine with the 900w finned before it went out ;) You can see the silicone cracking at the end and the numbers from the element.

DF 120V 500W 1006 GYQ SERIES

TedEbear · July 07, 2011, 10:00:02 AM

Quote from: muebe on July 06, 2011, 11:19:22 AMHere is a picture of mine. I think it might be one of the defective elements but not sure because it did not fail for me. I replaced mine with the 900w finned before it went out ;) You can see the silicone cracking at the end and the numbers from the element.

Check it with a multimeter and see what the resistance reads. A working element will be between 26-31 ohms. 31 ohms is a brand new one, right out of the box.

muebe · July 07, 2011, 10:37:02 AM

Ted I got a 28.2 ohm reading from it so it is still good. But I do not really need it after my mod. Just was wondering if it was one of the defective ones. I had a few smokes on it before I replaced it....

Whitey Jr · July 08, 2011, 03:11:10 PM

My replacement element arrived via FedEx today (not Canada Post thank goodness). Exactly 3 days from making the call to the folks at Bradley. I had already picked up an immidiate replacement element at BBQ Country, but it was still pretty good customer service. Thanks Bradley! Now I have a spare on-hand. Anyone have reccomendations on storing it? Is the shed OK, or would indoors on a shelf somewhere be better?

-Whitey Jr

ghost9mm · July 08, 2011, 04:36:14 PM

I don't think it matters where you store it, it only matters that you remember where you store it...lol..I sometime forget where I put things... :D

viper125 · July 08, 2011, 06:20:24 PM

Ordered mine same day as smoker. After all the posts and the cost of one. I didnt think it made sence not to. Now thinking of doing a mod on it. Like the 900 one but may do the double just because I already have two. Is it better to do the one with switch?

Habanero Smoker · July 09, 2011, 03:15:32 AM

Viper;

I'm not sure what smoker you have. I have the OBS, and installed the switch. If you have one of the digital models, you will need to install the switch on the back plate.

For me the switch is very handy. I store my smoker outdoors 24/7, and having the additional element I have to hookup my DigiQ II every time I need to use the smoker. There are many times I want to do something quick, which does not require the need my DigiQ II to control the temperature. During these times I just turn the second element off, and use the Bradley as it was originally design.

muebe · July 09, 2011, 06:15:39 AM

Quote from: Whitey Jr on July 08, 2011, 03:11:10 PM
My replacement element arrived via FedEx today (not Canada Post thank goodness). Exactly 3 days from making the call to the folks at Bradley. I had already picked up an immidiate replacement element at BBQ Country, but it was still pretty good customer service. Thanks Bradley! Now I have a spare on-hand. Anyone have reccomendations on storing it? Is the shed OK, or would indoors on a shelf somewhere be better?

-Whitey Jr

Is the silicone on the ends of your replacement white or a different color? What numbers did you find stamped on the element?

Whitey Jr · July 09, 2011, 10:22:43 PM

The ends are definitely white. I didn't take a close look at the number. I'll take a cell phone pic of it next time I dig it out. What's the significance of either the colour of the ends or the number stamped on it?

-Whitey Jr

muebe · July 10, 2011, 09:27:03 AM

Quote from: Whitey Jr on July 09, 2011, 10:22:43 PM
The ends are definitely white. I didn't take a close look at the number. I'll take a cell phone pic of it next time I dig it out. What's the significance of either the colour of the ends or the number stamped on it?

-Whitey Jr

I was just wondering if there was something that would help to identify the bad elements so people who just bought a Bradley can replace the element before it dies on them. I thought that maybe the good elements have a different color silicone or model number. I know the older good elements have a red color silicone....