Smokette tripping my gfci

The element will bend down much easier than the metal protector will bend up.

I've had to do it on mine after a "cleaning accident".

Probably somebody with a better "electrical head" could answer this better or correct me. But, I don't think that the element touching anything will pass current, and thereby short, unless it is damaged.

I'm not an expert, but I have researched this a little. I have a couple items in my trailer that will trip a gfci. One being an electric roaster. The electric elements in our smokers are similar to those, in the roasters and also any electric oven type element. They consist of an electrical resistance wire that actually carries the electrical current, surrounded by ceramic as an insulator, which is then encased in the outer metal jacket that we see get red as it heats. There can be minute cracks in the ceramic insulatiion that can allow very tiny amounts of current leakage from the inner wire to the outer casing. This can be so small that it doesn't affect the operation of the element, nor is it necesarily a safety issue. These miniscule "electrical leaks" will however trip a gfci receptacle. This is what gfci's are designed to do, detect shorts. Only problem is, they can detect some that might not be a problem.
I have had a brand new electric warmer trip a gfci before. Yet it works fine on a normal grounded outlet.

I would recommend talking to CS team. I'm sure I have seen posts before on this. Don't know if this helps, but it's the only 2 cents I have.

Bend the element "SLIGHTLY" so it doesn't touch anything else.

Grounding issues cause the problems with GFCI.

Try that, test it and let us know if it works.

Thanks for the replies, folks. I was worried about trying to bend the element as I didn't know how easily it could be damaged. Of course, I tried last night when the gfci tripped and proceeded to burn my finger as the element had stayed on long enough to get pretty hot.

The gfci stayed on all night and the butts are now at 180. I'll give some gentle bending a shot after everything is cooled down.

Tried a "coke brine" on these butts, so it will be interesting to see how they turn out.

quote:

Originally posted by bradtri:
... Of course, I tried last night when the gfci tripped and proceeded to burn my finger as the element had stayed on long enough to get pretty hot.

...

Okay, I'm going to have to add this to the Lessons Learned thread. Sorry, hope you didn't burn yourself, that's why it's always good to call CS; I'm sure they would have said something.

IF you're getting GFCI trips and your element is grounding out on the box, you can bend them slightly so they do not touch. BUT make sure the element isn't hot before you touch it.

Your experience WILL help the next guy

You might consider replacing your GFCI. I've heard they are like circuit breakers.. the more they trip the worse they get.. That is not to say there might not be something else wrong. However, I'd think that it is not the element housing touching the woodbox. The housing is, as I remember electrically connected to the smoker itself. There should be no contact between the nichrome wire element and the element housing or a short would occur and would be a definite dead short causing either the circuit breaker or the gfci to trip. If you have a continuity checker I think you could verify that. However.. there are always howevers, if the contact occurs only when the element heats up, the continuity checker wouldn't tell you anything.

Have you called Cookshack and asked for Tony?

I agree with what Hayman said about your heating element. While not a problem on a regular outlet, a minute crack in the ceramic insulation will cause nuisance tripping on a GFI. Give me a call (800) 423-0698 and I will get you a replacement element out. This should solve the problem.

Bill

Bill,
Thanks for the note on this thread and I will be giving you a call soon!!

thanks,
bp

Just a note to say thanks to CS for shipping the new element. Truly outstanding service for a company to be monitoring a forum and to volunteer up the replacement part!!!

Compare/contrast to my experience with KitchenAid, who claim to have outstanding service. I layed down more than $400 for a 600 series stand mixer. Shortly after the one year warranty expired, the motor began a tremendous whining noise. On first call to KA, they promised me a new replacement mixer. On a followup call a couple weeks later after not hearing anything, they reneged and claimed that they couldn't do anything for me. After escalating to a manager, I did get an agreement that they would at least send me a refurbished model, which hopefully be better than what I currently have. Of course, I haven't seen the replacement mixer yet, either ......

Did you replace the element yourself? How hard was it?