Smoker heating element bad?

[agconn910]

I have the model 3  I am having issues with the smokers heating element not coming on  I was smoking two pork roast Saturday I have a diy pid  my smoker was taking a long time to heat up the element was powered on but box Temp was not  rising kept catching the wood on fire it got to 204 box Temp and the the pid was trying to keep the element on but the element was not on yes I plugged the smoker into the ac  outlet directly with same results I have replaced the box temperature sensor and the temperature control I had about 20 lbs of pork roast in the smoker I'm not sure what is wrong after about ten minutes element starts to work but not for long any help would be appreciated thank you I also ramped up the temp to 140 for ten minutes before going to 235 it has done this before that is why I replaced the control knob and box temperature sensor

• Tweet
• 

[old sarge]

4 year old smoker?  Might need a new element. In the dark, does the element heat up with a uniform color when set to max temp (no PID) or are there darker cooler spots on the element?

[agconn910]

I'll check it out tonight and get back to you ty for the help

[old sarge]

You are welcome.  Here is another way to test.

http://www.appliance411.com/faq/test-element.shtml

[agconn910]

sorry  I didn't get to check it last night  just checked    it gets orange color but not as bright as I think it should  there is a spot as you look from the front on the left side down from the bend about 3" down that is not as bright as the rest of the element it's about 2-3" long    I am thinking it's bad ??   we have electric  stand alone floor heaters at work and the elements on them are a lot brighter than my smoker element  and thanks for your help  old sarge

[old sarge]

You are welcome.