More heating element trouble shooting...and a fire in the cabinet?

[Jaunty]

Thank you very much NePaSmoker, GusRobin and KyNola especially for your input. I think I will ask Bradley USA for a second opinion. Thanks also for input on the spare spare part. Sean

[TedEbear]

I think I will ask Bradley USA for a second opinion.

Actually, the headquarters is located in Canada.

[Jaunty]

I think I will ask Bradley USA for a second opinion.

Actually, the headquarters is located in Canada.

Whoops sorry!

[Tiny Tim]

The "Fire rod" appears to be the heating element for the bisquette burner.  Just looked at my SG and it has a similar tube coming out of the plate heading to the inside of the SG box.

[Jaunty]

Just for the benefit of any one in a similar situation, I emailed the main Bradley address, and the responses came back from their UK agent Grakka as  pasted below. They do not seem concerned...(Read from the bottom up for it to make sense!).

Anyways, the heating element seems fine.  I think the lining is more about trying to insulate the cabinet rather than any safety measure so I am using it again. Next job is to try and take apart the briquette feeder and give it a good clean as I get an error every 20 minutes when it tries to load the next biscuit. Has been out of use for a while now though so may be a bit seized up inside!


"Hi Sean

There is no way that the Cabinet can overheat as the heating element is not powerful enough to do this.
The lining will change colour as you use the smoker. It starts to look like lasagne.
The sensor is found on the back wall of the cabinet (inside). It is half way up and looks like a small knob about the size of a 50p. If this was faulty, then the cabinet element would not heat up at all. So this is obviously not the case.
The cabinet is also fused so any sign of an electrical fault, it would fuse the whole house.
I would suggest you test run the smoker before you use it again. Just the cabinet, unplug the generator and put it to one side, then put the main power cable into the back of the cabinet.
The cabinet element should glow red after a few minutes and the cabinet will heat up. I would run it for about half an hour as a test. If you have no problems, then carry on and use it as normal.
If you do have problems, get back to me.

I'm afraid we do not sell the cabinet separately. I do have new doors if you want to replace your door. The Bradleys are very safe and simple machines so this should not affect the use of the smoker.

Let me know what you wish to do


Kind regards

xxxx
Grakka Limited


-----Original Message-----
From: Sean Trent
Sent: 14 May 2013 12:57
To: Grakka Limited Sales
Subject: Re: Fire in back of Bradley Cabinet?

Hi xxxx. There has been no sign of any fire at all inside the cabinet and there has never been a build up of fat.

As you can see from the picture the cabinet has overheated or there has been a fire in the sealed  part of the cabinet, to the extent that the fire resistant lining has melted.  This makes me believe it was an electrical fault in the wiring in the cabinet or a failure of the heat sensor to turn off the element (I believe there is a heat sensor? Can I check or change this?). This is not caused by a fat flare up in the cooking area. 

I have changed the heating element already and it is working. My concern is whether  the cabinet is actually safe to now use with the damaged lining? Is it possible to get a replacement 4 rack digital cabinet, to be safe? The smoke generator is fine.

Finally, what is the other spare part I have been sent by you (see photo of it in the linked thread).

Thanks a lot.

Sean.


------Original Message------
From: Grakka Limited Sales
Sender: xxxx
To: Sean Trent
Subject: RE: Fire in back of Bradley Cabinet?
Sent: 14 May 2013 09:45



Dear Sean


The only way a fire can be started is if the hot meat fats are not regularly not cleaned out, or the bowl catching the burnt bisquettes is not full of water.

Fires are very rare in the Bradley and are only caused by user error.

If you wish to purchase a heating element for your cabinet, please contact us. They are £9 + postage.


Kind regards

xxxx
Grakka Limited


-----Original Message-----
From: Sean Trent
Sent: 12 May 2013 00:17
To: [email protected]
Subject: Fire in back of Bradley Cabinet?

Hi. Rather than re-write everything it really is much easier to ask you to read the thread and check the photo here on the Bradley Smoker forums:

http://forum.bradleysmoker.com/index.php?topic=28283.0

I have had the unit 4 years. It was not heavily used, and always had a cover on when not in use, The heating has not worked for the probably the last 18 months so probably when it had the internal fire? Is it now safe to use the unit? Do you know what the fault was as I would not want it to happen again and burst in to flames? Is it possible to get a new cabinet only (the smoke generator seems fine).


Happy to call and discuss but wanted to get you the info first.

Many thanks"

[rveal23]

Wow, I am amazed with those responses.

[Habanero Smoker]

Wow, I am amazed with those responses.

I am also. I wonder if he took the times to look at the photos.

[KyNola]

Wow, I am amazed with those responses.

I am also. I wonder if he took the times to look at the photos.

Ditto a million times.  He is either misinformed or simply doesn't give a $h!t.

[Saber 4]

I think I would either contact Brian direct on the forum or call Bradley in Canada during the week, I don't think they would be happy with your situation or the response you got. Please keep us posted on how it turns out.

[Jaunty]

Thanks all. I did email Bradley HQ, I assume they referred it back to Grakka as I am in the UK. May be it was a fat fire that over heated and melted the lining - but if it was, then I really think I would have realised when I took the charred and cremated food out of the cabinet! I do use it outside, so at least if it bursts in to flames it should not be too serious  :).

The hot smoked salmon worked out well and reminded me why I am very glad to have the BDS back in service, even if it is now not very well insulated.  I took apart & gave the feeder a good clean today & that seems to be running well again. Hopefully I will have a few more years faithful service from it. All the best and thanks for your input.

[beezer]

I have to say the 500W heating elements are not very reliable. I have a BDTS for about three years with about 150hours of on time. I have replaced the element three times. The first failure was after 10hrs out of the box. I was told a bad lot of elements was in the field. I have three different lots with the same problem. I added a second element thinking maybe one element is overstressed, and I bought a PID. This past weekend one of the two elements blew out during cooking. The unit is never operating about 200F.

[Jaunty]

Well I'll have to agree the elements are not very reliable - after all that, my second smoke since it was "fixed" and the new element is not working  :(.

I don't need the Bradley for cold smoking, so if hot smoking is this difficult I may just retire it. Cold smoke first then cook afterwards.

EDIT - So the element works if plugged direct in to the mains. As a stop gap any idea what temp it will hit if I run it like this, and is it safe to do so?

FURTHER UPDATE - Any clues on how I can test the in line fuse for continuity? A link to a description? I tried ice and a lighter on the heat temp sensor. Still can only get the heating element to work plugged direct in to the mains.

[TedEbear]

Well I'll have to agree the elements are not very reliable - after all that, my second smoke since it was "fixed" and the new element is not working  :(.

I don't need the Bradley for cold smoking, so if hot smoking is this difficult I may just retire it. Cold smoke first then cook afterwards.

EDIT - So the element works if plugged direct in to the mains. As a stop gap any idea what temp it will hit if I run it like this, and is it safe to do so?

I guess you've figured out that the element is not bad if it heats when you bypass the SG.  The easiest thing to check would be the fuse on the back of the SG.  Other than that, take the SG apart and look for a loose connection inside.  If you want to bypass the SG and plug it in directly I don't know what temp it would reach but I'd guess it would trip the high temp sensor in the cabinet at around 275-300 degrees.

[Jaunty]

Thanks. Have checked all the wires, just trying to figure out how I can test the in line fuse now.

[TedEbear]

If you have a multimeter disconnect one end of the fuse and check for continuity across it.  If you don't have one, maybe a neighbor has one you can borrow.