Troubleshooting a modded, dual element Bradley.

[Iowabucks]

Hey everyone, I got a couple days off for the holiday and decided to do a couple short smokes. First was going to try some bacon candy and then smoke some wings. But it seems like right from the start that I'm having problems.

I modded my Bradley with dual elements, both with temp sensors wired in, and an Auber temp controller. It is 43 degrees out (no wind) but I have it in an insulated cabinet. It has run flawlessly through about a half dozen smokes but this time it doesn't want to get very hot at all. I'm guessing only one element is working. With two pounds of bacon in the Bradley it hasn't gotten over 180 degrees in about an hour. Usually it can get up to temp in 5 to 10 minutes.

The Auber's temp is set for 225 and the output light is staying on continuously, so I don't think it is the problem. I unplugged the heater from the Auber and plugged directly into an outlet and the temps stayed the same.

I'm assuming the wings will be cooked tonight in the oven, and i'm hoping I can limp this bacon along until the end. It was supposed to be cooked two hours at 225. It might reach 200 by two hours so I wonder if maybe 3 hours would be enough time to finish it?

Maybe tomorrow I can hook it up in the basement and check out the elements. Although I don't know any other way of telling if they are working other than physically seeing both elements glowing. I can open it up to see if my wiring is still intact and tell if either of the sensors have blown. How can I tell with a multitester if the circuits are powered?

[tskeeter]

My hunch is you have one of two possible problems.

An element has burned out.

A fusible link in the power supply wire to one of the elements has activated.

When I had similar temperature issues, my problem was a fusible link.  I think the smoker got too hot when a piece of pork shoulder can in contact with my wall mounted temperature probe.  The PID was reading the cold temp of the meat, rather than the air temp of the cabinet.  So the PID kept putting heat into the cabinet until a fusible link activated and shut down one heating element.

[Iowabucks]

I have fusible links inline with both elements. Can you visually see if the link is broken? or will a continuity test prove if they are still working?

Luckily I have an extra fusible link and an extra element on hand. Hope it's an easy fix.

[tskeeter]

Iowa, about all I know about electricity is that it will run up hill.  I don't believe that you can see if a fusible link has broken.  But, I'd think that a series of continuity tests would identify the problem component.

When I replaced the broken fusible link in my smoker, I didn't want to have to remove the heating element to install the new fusible link.  So I cut off the wire going to the element and the loop off the end of the new fusible link.  Then I crimped spade connectors on the ends of each wire and plugged them together.  Worked fine.  Should be noted that I salvaged the silicone? spade connector insulator off the old fusible link and slipped it on the new link before I crimped on the spade connector.  That way my new connection was protected from shorting out against the back of the smoker.

[Iowabucks]

Thanks tskeeter, will do, sounds like a plan.

Now that light is fading, I can definitely see only one element is working. Should make it easier to figure out.

[TedEbear]

You can also check the element to see if it is OK.  Remove a wire off one end and check the resistance through the element.  A working element will read around 27-32 ohms through it.

[GusRobin]

If the one that is not woring is the new one, mae sure all the wiring is still connected. I had a situation where the wire came loose from the connector ring.

[Iowabucks]

Wires were tight and the element shows no continuity. So I swapped it with another element i believe i got from you Gus, and they both work now with the cabinet plugged into a 110 outlet.

Hooked up to the Auber, i couldn't get the elements to power up, or show any output power. I believe that is just ignorance on my part. I have to say I still haven't got the hang of understanding how it works, or even use it enough to start to understand it. I did change the P value on it but other than that I just set the temp and that's all I know how to do. There must be some way to make it start to send power to the cabinet that I don't know right now but will figure out next time I go over the instructions again.

[Toker]

Something like it happend to me once. If you have a dual probe pid, try to plug your meat probe (if not already plugged) in to see . My problem was into the T/F option. To use your pid without the meat probe, ALL the 6 steps must be set to T even those steps you don't need to use o it won't turn ON. Sorry if it does not fix your bug, i just try something.

[Iowabucks]

You know what...I didn't have the second probe plugged in because all I wanted to know was the cabinet temp. When I plugged in the meat probe the output light came on and my Bradley lighted up.

I didn't realize you had to have both probes plugged in for it to work. So I'm guessing if you had one probe go bad you would be screwed, unless you had an extra probe handy. Maybe there is a work around for that, but I don't know it at the moment. Learn something new every day.

Looks like I'm back on track again and everything is working right. Thank you everyone for helping out. Less than a day and I have it fixed. I just don't understand how this one element lasted only about 8 smokes. I better order more.

[Toker]

YES!! Now you know, if you only need the smoker probe ALL THE 6 STEPS must be set at T EVEN the steps you don't need.  Now cheers and enjoy. Happy i've been able to help.  :D ;)