Voltage to Heating ELement

[Hendrkeg]

New to the forum just now.  I have a question about the voltage to the Smoker Element.  Attaching the element directly to the outlet causes it to glow red.  Attaching the element using both long and short cords also makes it glow read.  But when the Element is attached through the Smoke Generator, the element doesn't heat up.  Generator makes smoke but no heat in the box.  Great of all I want to do is smoke cheese! 

Voltage into the Generator is 125V but coming out of the generator to the element in the tower is only 98V?  Anyone have any advice?
Hendrkeg

[cathouse willy]

In order to be of any help we need to know the model of your smoker.

[Habanero Smoker]

Hi Hendrkeg;

Welcome to the forum.

As Cathouse Willy mentioned we need to know the model, also how long you have had the smoker.

[Hendrkeg]

Sorry...of course!  Just goes to prove how much of a newb I am. 

It's a Bradley Original 4 Rack electric smoker, 31". (That's straight from the website....can you tell?).

It's about 3 years old.

[pettyfan4343]

To smoke cheese, you need to have no heat source within the smoker its self.
Bradley sells a cold smoker attachment that will aloow the  pucks to smoke without heating the cabinet. Do a google search for Bradley cold smoker attachement. If you handy, you might be able to rig something up with out purchasing the attachment.

Even the smoke generator will create enough heat to melt you cheese.

I know some people use a pellet tube  and pellets to cold smoke The problem i found was the airflow usually wasn't good enough and they pellets went out.

[cathouse willy]

you've isolated the problem to the smoke gen box, check the fuse at the back panel of the smoke gen, run the oven heat controller thru it's full range a few times, make sure all the plugs are seated fully, the loose plug syndrome has fooled lots of us.

[TedEbear]

I know some people use a pellet tube  and pellets to cold smoke The problem i found was the airflow usually wasn't good enough and they pellets went out.

For the pellet tube, leave the smoke generator attached but do not turn it on.  This will let enough airflow inside the tower to keep the pellets smoking. 

Also, when you first light the pellet tube, stand it upright, squirt a bit of charcoal lighter on the top, light it and wait around 10 minutes for it to sufficiently start burning.  After that, blow out any flame and lay it across the lip of the water bowl at the front edge.  The 12" tube will then smoke for 4 hours.  I've been doing it that way for years without any problem. 

[Habanero Smoker]

Cathouse Willy have given good advice.

When you have everything hooked up through the generator, does the element produce any heat? It could also be the temperature controller. There have been posts where they stopped functioning properly. You may have to call Bradley for support and possible replacement of that part.

If the bisquette burner is functioning properly you can still can cold smoke smoke your cheese. As Pettyfan4343 mention you can detached the generator from the cabinet and either build or purchase a cold smoke attachment. There are several plans on this forum on how to build you own cold smoker attachment. If you want to smoke some cheese this weekend, you can place ice inside the smoker to help keep the temperature down. When you place ice in the smoker make sure the ice is in a leak proof container. When cold smoking I like to keep the cabinet around 65°F to 75°F.

[Hendrkeg]

Thanks all! 

I've used the unit to cold smoke cheese successfully.  Love a good slab of smoked Gouda for grilled cheese and bacon sandwiches on the panini! 

Looks like a call to Bradley Tech Support Monday morning.  I'll have to trouble shoot the temperature controller also. What gets me is that regardless of the setting on the Temp Controller the voltage leaving the generator never varies and never exceeds ~90V.  I've heard good things about the tech support for Bradley.  Thanks for all the advice.
G

[Edward176]

Hello Hendrkeg and welcome to the forum.

[Habanero Smoker]

Please let us know what the problem is, and if it was resolved.