Heating Element Question

[rcger]

I'm looking for some opinions here.  My 6-rack digital is about 6 years old.  I'm still using the original element in it.  Do you think the element looses it's effectiveness over time?  It seems that I'm never able to get it to preheat to over 220*, with both the heating element glowing brightly, the smoker element heating and boiling water in the pan.  I'm judging the temperature from a PID and a Maverick temp gauge.  I do have an extra element, but I don't want to change it if it's not necessary.  Thanks in advance.

[tskeeter]

rcger, at one point I asked Bradley Customer Service what the expected service life of a heating element was in hours of operation so I could change out the element when it was getting close to it's expected service life (to minimize the risk of 3 AM element failures).  I didn't get a direct answer, but the person who responded did say that there were some folks who replaced elements once a year.  Well, both your experience and mine (I'm at 3 years with a dual element mod) would indicate that the real service life under anything but the heaviest use is way, way longer than 12 months.  However, I do take the response I got to indicate that the performance of heating elements does decline with use.  At six years, I suspect that your heating element is a senior citizen and that installing your spare element would probably improve the performance of your smoker.  But, I'd keep the current element as a spare.  (Since replacement elements are about $25, you're getting close to $4 a year for the use you've gotten out of the existing element.)

Something you might try before replacing the heating element is cleaning off the temp sensor in the back wall of your smoker.  I'm wondering if a build up of seasoning on the temp sensor over the years might cause the sensor reading to be off.  The sensor looks like a dime held to the back wall of the smoker with a couple of tiny bolts.  Some rubbing with a warm damp rag should have it shiny and clean with a little bit of work.

Another thing to consider is the temperature where your smoker is located.  If you're experiencing cold temperatures, like some of us, your smoker may not be able to overcome the impact of the ambient temperature.  When doing over night smokes here in the Sierra Mountains, I have noticed that my smoker temperature is below the set point in the wee hours of the morning.  But, as soon as the sun rises and the temperature starts to increase, the smoker temperature increases pretty significantly.

Would love to hear what you figure out as you work through your issue.  By sharing our experiences we all expand our trouble shooting skills.

[TedEbear]

Check your old element with a multimeter by disconnecting a wire off one end and reading the resistance through the element.  Here's a new element I checked before installing it to replace my original that had completely failed a few years ago.