Heating Element Upgrade Options??? Original isn't cutting it....

Tenpoint5 · April 19, 2009, 02:58:29 PM

Aleck, Welcome Aboard.

Give Brian a call he will get you hooked up. They have Awesome customer service.

aleck · April 19, 2009, 04:21:16 PM

Quote from: Tenpoint5 on April 19, 2009, 02:58:29 PM
Aleck, Welcome Aboard.

Give Brian a call he will get you hooked up. They have Awesome customer service.

thank you, I will call them next week. After posting, I offloaded some meat to a grill, which I can keep at about 220 F. Bradley with only one brisket left went up to 200 F in 20 minutes. So, looks like the amount of the meat makes a big difference. But I will still talk to customer support, want to make sure I am doing everything right.

smokinmerce · April 26, 2009, 03:49:01 PM

hello all

a newbie here but upon reading the threads in this forum i have to pose a question
rather than add more heat is it possible to add some isulation to stop the heat loss?

sounds like time and temperature go hand in hand :)

smokinmerce · April 26, 2009, 03:50:08 PM

insulation that is

Habanero Smoker · April 27, 2009, 03:01:01 AM

Hi Smokinmerce;

Welcome to the forum.

The Bradley is well insulated, and once it gets to the temperature you want to smoke/cook at; it does a great job of retaining heat. Even when the cabinet temperature at 250°F the outside is barely warm; unless you have the OBS that is in direct sunlight. With the black surface and direct sunlight, the outside gets very hot, even when not in use. :)

The reason why most are adding additional heat, is to speed up recovery time. With only 500 watts, when you first load your food, and every time you open the door there is a great amount of heat lost. With such a small heating element, it takes awhile for the cabinet to get back up to your set temperature. Additional heat will speed up the recovery. Also the sooner you get to your smoking/cooking temperature; the more consistent your smokes should be.

oldsmoker · May 01, 2009, 04:02:49 PM

Thought i saw a heater modification on a obs this week. Cant seem to find it any more.Looki like something i might want want to try.Please need help.Thanks everybody.

FLBentRider · May 01, 2009, 04:47:41 PM

When I put 4 pork butts ~30lbs in my OBS, I don't expect it to get back to ~210F for a few hours.

Mr Walleye · May 01, 2009, 05:04:17 PM

Quote from: OldSMOKER on May 01, 2009, 04:02:49 PM
Thought i saw a heater modification on a obs this week. Cant seem to find it any more.Looki like something i might want want to try.Please need help.Thanks everybody.

OldSmoker

It's on the 5th page of this thread....
http://forum.bradleysmoker.com/index.php?topic=8987.0

Mike

kiyotei · May 08, 2009, 03:02:52 PM

the more meat you pack in the OBS the longer it takes to heat up. The guy who loaded 2 shoulders and a brisket, that's a lot of meat to smoke in one shot and would take a very long time. For that type of smoking, I would move the meat to an oven after a few hours of smoking it. OR, you could add the meat gradually, putting in the toughest cut first, wait an hour load the second piece etc.

aft53 · June 04, 2009, 04:03:50 PM

Hey Mr. Walleye:

I have studied your modification and am preparing to do it this weekend. I have a question. In adding the second heating element, the smoker now will be putting out 1000 watts. Is all the wiring and the plugs in the back capable of handling the added load?

Mr Walleye · June 04, 2009, 05:07:45 PM

Quote from: aft53 on June 04, 2009, 04:03:50 PM
Hey Mr. Walleye:

I have studied your modification and am preparing to do it this weekend. I have a question. In adding the second heating element, the smoker now will be putting out 1000 watts. Is all the wiring and the plugs in the back capable of handling the added load?

Hi Aft53

The existing wiring in the Bradley is approximately 18 gauge and not adequate to handle both elements. This is why you want to run new wire for the additional element right back to the plug in the back of the tower. You also want to make sure you are running a PID or similar controller.

Let me know if you have any other questions. Habs posted the write up over on the recipe site as well. Here's the link.

http://www.susanminor.org/forums/showthread.php?p=910#post910

Mike

jha1223 · June 04, 2009, 05:15:31 PM

Newbie myself but a thought or two did occur while reading this thread:

You said you've smoked with the vent opened and closed - do you mean partially open or full open? In my short experience (and something i read on this great site) you may have to adjust the vent as you are smoking. I.E., when you are first smoking with a full load, the vent needs to be a little more open to let some of the moisture out. With my smoker fully loaded, i still didn't open it more than 3/4 of the way. As the time passes and the meat temperatures rise, you can slowly close the vent down (not all the way!). I have had success without ever going below 1/4 open. If all that moisture from the meat stays trapped in the smoker, all of that energy you are creating with the smoking plate and the heating element have to work to raise the temperature of the water to evaporate it.

The "dead spot" on the temp slide I'll admit kind of sucks, but if it's there, then it could explain an issue.

Are you letting it get up to temp before you load it? Is the product you are putting in at room temp? I take the meat I am going to smoke out and put it on the counter, plug in the Bradley, and when the Bradley is ready, the meat is as well.

If I repeated anyone, I apologize. It's because I got all of this great info here :D

Good luck and I hope you get this straightened out. I would have never imagined I could put out darn near competition quality products with such ease. The Bradley makes that possible.

aft53 · June 05, 2009, 09:46:33 AM

Thanks for the quick response Mr. Walleye. Why do I need to run a PID controller with the modification? I am planning on using the 14 Ga. wire for the second element. I was also concerned about the plug at the back that you attache the wires to and the power cords that plug into it, the smoke generator and from the smoke generator to the outlet. Are they rated high enough? How many amps is the combined unit pulling?

Habanero Smoker · June 05, 2009, 02:01:34 PM

I have done this modification, and the cabinet can overheat and become unsafe in a short period of time if you don't have a PID or other third party temperature control devise. For example my cabinet got up to 300°F in a little over 15 minutes and was climbing fast. The Bradleys have a high temperature fuse (switch) that will cut the power to the original element when the temperature goes over 320°F, but the second element isn't connected to that fuse; so if it over heats the original element will be cut off of power, but the second element will continue to heat the cabinet.

The power cords in the back are more then adequate. I'm running mine with a 10 amp fuse, and haven't had any problems.

Mr Walleye · June 05, 2009, 06:38:35 PM

Aft53

Habs has it nailed down for you. The only thing I'll add is with the 2 elements (500 watts each for a total of 1000 watts) will draw approximately 8.33 amps. As Habs indicated the plug on the back of the tower is fine. The wiring and electronics in both the DBS and OBS were not designed with this load in mind which is another reason for running a controller such as a PID. With double the heating elements the tower is capable of attaining temperatures that it wasn't designed for without proper controls in place to prevent it.

Hope that helps.

Mike