temp fluctuation and low temps

[LudoTheGreat]

Just bought my BTDS108P. First time using it and temps are all over the place, in accurate, and now super low.

Started off yesterday just fine. Did a short 3 hour test run and seasoning. I noticed right away that the digital readout on the device was about 25F higher than what my trusted probe that I have been using for over a year. Not a big deal, I can adjust for that.

The next issue I ran into was that the device would get up to temp and then drop about 12F. Then slowly go back up over the coarse of 10-15 minutes. Again, able to adjust for that a bit to make sure it stays within the temp range I wanted.

Now today, I put on a couple of pork butts and about 4 hours in I stop my smoke and the digital read out is 50F off and will not get any hotter. I bumped the heat temp up to 300 and the digitial will not go above 250F. When I check the actual temp with my probe it says it's at about 200F and will not get any higher. My butts have stalled out at 150F and been sitting there for the past 3 hours because of this.

Is there anything I can do to troubleshoot these issues?

[cathouse willy]

What you're describing here is normal for the stock bradley. The cabinet heater is 500 watts, low power so the recovery time can be slow. the temp swings are also normal and the 150f stall is well documented here. the bradley is a low and slow machine. Depending on how big the butts are the stall can last for seemingly endless hours.Patience. If they HAVE to be done sooner you can transfer them to a hotter kitchen oven. Hope this helps

[Wildcat]

Have patience. That stall is what will make your meat perfect. Also, don't bump the temp up. 200 to 225f cabinet temp is plenty. When the meat temp gets to 175, try the fork test. The meat will be ready to pull somewhere around 175 to 200. Depends on how slow you cooked it.

[LudoTheGreat]

Thanks for the replies. I was able to wait it out and the butts seem to have come out alright. The fat could have rendered down a bit more, but not bad for my first run ever. It just took WAY longer than expected and with the "trouble" along the way it was easy to get discouraged and expect a lot less, so I am satisfied.

Couple more questions for you guys. Is 15.5 hours typical for 6lbs of meat? My test run was just two small pork butts. One was just under 3lbs and the other just over 3lbs. I was expecting 8 to 10 and was surprised by the additional 5. Granted there was probably an extra hour added in there because of my fussing with the unit.

Also, is it OK to run the smoker heater without any pucks on it? I found that with the smoker running it added a good amount of additional heat, even when there was no pucks on it to produce smoke.

[KyNola]

The 15.5 hours is not all that unusual and yes, you can run the smoke generator without pucks.  It will aid in heating the tower.  In your earlier post you mentioned the temp swings from the target temp. Also normal.  The heating element is either full on or off.  It will run the temperature up 15-20 degrees above the target and then shut off, allowing the temp to fall 10-15 degrees below the target.  It will continue to do this until the meat comes up to temp and then the temp swings will lessen.  One final thought, cold meat acts as a heat sink absorbing all of the heat your Bradley can produce.  That is the main factor as to why your Bradley won't come up to the target initially.

[LudoTheGreat]

That makes sense. Thanks for the reply.

Looks like I will be looking into getting a PID and upgrading the element. Any suggestions on either? Looks like the 900w finned elements are the easiest option, but is there any benefit of going with the dual element instead? I will have to search the forums a bit for PID suggestions.

EDIT: Is it going to cause any harm to keep the cook temp maxed out? In order to get the 225F max temp I was able to I had to max out the cook temp and keep the puck burner on the entire time.

[Rodsmachineshop]

I did the 2 elements worked great but elements dont last long think its  because since so close together , changing to the tempco 900 element instead since more durable also installing a fan on my bradley and modified the back of my smoker so it heat even from bottom to top . when figure out how to put pics on will post some also if going to pid get the RTD Pt100 Temperature Sensor Thermocouple since is designed for air temp i tried the other coupler and wouldn't read temp fast enough . i am going to leave the stock Bradley element in my smoker and add the tempco one then have a switch to turn the bradley element off or one for a back up element , for the back i took a large heavy made baking pan and cut back open and pop riveted on back and used oven insulation for back since better and holds heated better . probe is http://www.ebay.com/itm/281581039687?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT  and this pid is the best i liked out of the 2 i tried . plus there a like a hour video on utube  on how to set it . http://www.ebay.com/itm/271550985674?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

[Rodsmachineshop]

can some one tell me how to post picture hit insert image and all it dose is put the letters img on post ? thanks

[LudoTheGreat]

can some one tell me how to post picture hit insert image and all it dose is put the letters img on post ? thanks

Looks like you can not upload them here, just link them. So you will need to upload the picture to a hosting site, like http://www.imgur.com. Then copy the "BBCode (message boards & forums)" link they give and paste it in your reply (notice it the link will already have the proper "IMG" tags, make sure you copy it all).

Thanks for all the info. Do you have a link to the tempco 900 element as well?

[Rodsmachineshop]

i posted the sites on ebay for you already in a post here the video on setting pid on youtube http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=ta4-snr+controller&FORM=HDRSC3#view=detail&mid=42BF9286DDD5BEB650F642BF9286DDD5BEB650F6

[Rodsmachineshop]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/281581039687?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT  probe ebay

[michsmoker]

For the element try zoro tools they seem to have the best price. For a PID I like  my auber dual probe.

[LudoTheGreat]

This is the model number I see everyone saying is a 900w element, but Zoro and others show it as 1200w. Is this the one everyone tends to use?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/TEMPCO-CSF00131-Heater-120V-12-In-L-1200-Deg-F-/221572140896?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3396ba8f60

[michsmoker]

http://forum.bradleysmoker.com/index.php?topic=31078 in this post has how different people mounted it and in a post somewhere in here is which model no. For the heater.

[Rodsmachineshop]

did mod to back of smoker so fan would not interfere with anything and circulate air better .  and kept element from being so close to back of smoke .