any one know the maximum length extension cord you can use without lengthing cooking time in a smokette 2?
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I don't know how long but make shure its a heavy gauge cord.
THANKS AGAIN RICK,DO YOU USE A CORD/ AND DOESIT CHANGE YOUR COOKING TEMP?GOT MY SMOKER FOR CHRISTMAS AND I HAVE ALOT OF QUESTIONS BEAR WITH ME!!!!IM HEADED DOWN TO SC THIS WEEKEND TO SWANSEA TO PICK UP A BULLDOG...SMALL WORLD 
We have had some long threads on this,and I think the feeling was that the gauge should be at least the same as your house wiring.
Customer service could probably give the answer.
Customer service could probably give the answer.
I did use a ext.cord it was about 12 ft.but one of those orange heavy gauge cord and it worked fine. Now I cook by meat temp. not time.Where are you driving from?
The drop in power is a function of both lenght and size. Within reason, the larger the cord the farther you can go without significant loss. My suggestion, Go to Wally World or Sams, Get a 50 or 100 ft cord the highest rating. It won't be the cheapest, but it will be the one less likely to cause a fire or power drop.
Look at the cord- it will tell you how many amps the cord can handle. watts/voltage=amps. I think the smokette is 500 watts so that is a little over 4 amps. However, I would go with a cord that is rated for at least 10 amps.
Pete
Pete
I use a 25' 14ga. cord bought at sears. It has a light in the end to tell me if the cord has power or not. Cost me about a buck a foot. Dosnt seem to take away from the heat at all.
THANKS FOR ALL THE FEED BACK,THIS IS THE MOST HELP I EVER GOTTEN FROM ANY FORUM,THANKS AGAIN........
RICKY IM DRIVING FROM NJ. 
RICKY IM DRIVING FROM NJ.
Hi TBone,
I use a 100ft cord similar to SmokinBubba's and the Oven Thermometer in my Smokette actually reads 225 when I set it to 225! I've been using it with this cord for every smoke so far.
I originally bought this cord for running a battery charger, but the overriding concern for me would be safety. You don't want to have a fire so be careful. I'd buy a cord that's at least a little better than what I need just to be safe.
Good luck!
I use a 100ft cord similar to SmokinBubba's and the Oven Thermometer in my Smokette actually reads 225 when I set it to 225! I've been using it with this cord for every smoke so far.
I originally bought this cord for running a battery charger, but the overriding concern for me would be safety. You don't want to have a fire so be careful. I'd buy a cord that's at least a little better than what I need just to be safe.
Good luck!
I've been gone for some time. But, I'm back and smokin some ribs as we speak.
Anyhow,,,,I have seen this topic so many times. "psilvers" hit it on the head. Volts/amps = watts. The cookshack smoker uses about 4 watts.
I know, we look at it and say, "GEE HONEY it's a heating element, I'm sure Honey it's got to be using the same amount of power that the neighbors welder uses"!! The typical home fryer uses about 1500-1800 watts. A microwave about 1500 watts. Smokette = 4 watts. Sure we don't put extension cords on our microwaves or fyers but don't be too alarmed about a 25'-14 gauge extension cords that will handle 1800 watts. A 12 gauge contractor type is even better and you could really stretch it out.
CHECK THIS OUT. Go to Sears or Radio Shack and buy a cheap electrical tester. They are not that much. Plug your cord in and go to the end where you want to plug in your smoker. Put the tester on AC volts or it may have one of these on tester ~ and if it reads 115 or more your in good shape. That means you don't have a voltage drop. If it reads 220 or more then you're plugged into the neighbors welder and you better quit stealing his electricity plus it'll cook your meat in a "flash".
E-mail me if you have questions. I just love to have fun and share knowledge. I'm fairly knew to the smoking thing so I lean on people for their knowledge of stuff
Iowa Man
Anyhow,,,,I have seen this topic so many times. "psilvers" hit it on the head. Volts/amps = watts. The cookshack smoker uses about 4 watts.
I know, we look at it and say, "GEE HONEY it's a heating element, I'm sure Honey it's got to be using the same amount of power that the neighbors welder uses"!! The typical home fryer uses about 1500-1800 watts. A microwave about 1500 watts. Smokette = 4 watts. Sure we don't put extension cords on our microwaves or fyers but don't be too alarmed about a 25'-14 gauge extension cords that will handle 1800 watts. A 12 gauge contractor type is even better and you could really stretch it out.
CHECK THIS OUT. Go to Sears or Radio Shack and buy a cheap electrical tester. They are not that much. Plug your cord in and go to the end where you want to plug in your smoker. Put the tester on AC volts or it may have one of these on tester ~ and if it reads 115 or more your in good shape. That means you don't have a voltage drop. If it reads 220 or more then you're plugged into the neighbors welder and you better quit stealing his electricity plus it'll cook your meat in a "flash".E-mail me if you have questions. I just love to have fun and share knowledge. I'm fairly knew to the smoking thing so I lean on people for their knowledge of stuff
Iowa Man
I read my reply after I posted. I meant the smokette uses 4AMPS and 500 WATTS.Sorry
Iowa Man
Iowa Man,
FYI you can edit your posts after it is submitted by using the paper and pencil icon.
FYI you can edit your posts after it is submitted by using the paper and pencil icon.
To measure voltage drop from an extension cord, you should really measure voltage at the outlet first. Will be around 110-120VAC. Call this V1. Then plug the extension cord into the outlet, plug the smoker into the extension cord with a triple tap (so you have an additional outlet at the smoker end of the cord). Make sure the smoker heater is on. Then measure the voltage at one of the other outlets of the triple tap. Call this V2.
Subtract the second measurement from the first. That's the drop across the cord. (Drop = V1-V2). It'll generally be in proportion to the number of amps drawn by the appliance (call this A).
You can then get really fancy by calculating the amount of power dissipated by the extension cord - it's approximately (V1-V2)*A in watts for relatively small drops. For example, if this is 10 watts, the entire cord is going to put out as much heat as a big xmas tree bulb.
This number is also the approximate reduction in power of the smoker. So, if this is 10 watts, the smoker is running at 490 watts, which shouldn't make a huge difference.
The most important thing is to measure the voltage at the smoker end while the smoker is hooked up and turned on.
Subtract the second measurement from the first. That's the drop across the cord. (Drop = V1-V2). It'll generally be in proportion to the number of amps drawn by the appliance (call this A).
You can then get really fancy by calculating the amount of power dissipated by the extension cord - it's approximately (V1-V2)*A in watts for relatively small drops. For example, if this is 10 watts, the entire cord is going to put out as much heat as a big xmas tree bulb.
This number is also the approximate reduction in power of the smoker. So, if this is 10 watts, the smoker is running at 490 watts, which shouldn't make a huge difference.
The most important thing is to measure the voltage at the smoker end while the smoker is hooked up and turned on.
Knowing that Power=Amp*Voltage and also Power=Resistance*Amps^2, I installed a 10x step-up transformer at my outdoor outlet and a 10x step-down transformer at my cookshack location. I use 22 ga telephone wire as my extention cord. The votage drop is minimal and I can cook ribs in 6 hours. I love the cookshack!
Sort of a miniature highline, huh? Of course you have to find telephone cord with 1200 V insulation rating...