Need help with Model 206 - made in 1986

Oh yeah, I can take pictures of anything you want on the unit if that will help. The front looks a lot like the Cookshack Super Smoker SM050.

Here's a picture of the wiring inside the rear panel.

Toxarch
I don't have info on your model. I can tell you how most machines using two heaters (or windings in motors) achieve dual voltage. The best way I can descibe it is to picture each one of your hands as a heating element. Put your hands out in front of you palms down and curl your middle fingers in so just your thumb and pinky finger are sticking out. Now put your hands together so your thumbs touch. The two hot wires of 240 volts (usually one black and one red) are connected to your pinkies. (your thumbs are connected together) This is called wiring the elements in series. This is how they would be wired for 240 volts.

Now if you keep your thumbs and pinkies the same and this time put one hand on top of the other. The two thumbs are connected together and the pinkies are connected together. Tie the thumbs to EITHER the red or black wire, and tie the pinkies to the neutral wire (usually white). This is called wiring the two elements in parallel.

That is the best I can do without drawing a diagram. It's a silly way to descirbe it but I'm a picture guy.

My best advice - Call Cookshack tomarrow! They will be able to help you.

Also, I have a 205. It has a wiring diagram inside the back cover - on the back of the unit, not the back of the control panel.

hope this helps.

Give me a call (800) 423-0698 here at cookshack and I can email you a wiring diagram for your smoker. You will need to run 220 volts to your oven even though your elements are 110 volts. One element runs off the Black and Nuetral wires and the other runs off the Red and Nuetral. If you wire it strictly 110 volts to your oven, your amp draw will be too high.

Bill
Cookshack Customer Service

Thanks for the responses guys.

Hayman, I did open up the back panel and there is no diagram inside or outside. These heating coils are not run in series. One element is run off the red wire and the other element is run off the black wire. Both share the same wire that is connected to the neutral. That is why I was wondering is it would be OK to put a jumper between the red and the black and then wire it up for 120v. I have a 120v 20 amp breaker plug near where the smoker is going to go.

Bill, I got a pdf of the manual from Stuart this morning. If you can send me a wiring diagram, I would really appreciate it. Would anything in the unit be damaged if I wire it up for 120v? Or would the only thing that happens is the breaker would trip?

Maybe I can find 2 plugs that are out of phase and run two power cords. Then I can test the unit and see if it even still works before I run a new line from the service panel.

just a thought but go down and buy you a cord made for a dryer then you can wire that into the smoker and plug it up where your house washer and dryer go. most of those are 220 anyway. I ran my 220 volt welder like that for years. That way you can test it out.

I have a 220v plug in the back of the garage. I guess it's for an extra dryer. I thought about making a long extension cord to run it off that plug, but the plug is a 220v plug and the smoker needs a 3 wire 220v plug with the neutral. If it were one of the newer dryer plugs, then I would be alright. Haven't opened it up yet to see if it has a neutral in there or not.

I had a thought while driving home earlier. What if I wire it up for 110v, jumper the 2 hot connectors together, and then disconnect one of the elements? That would cut the amperage draw down to a safe level for a 20 amp plug. I am just doing a slow smoke of probably 2 briskets at the most. Do I really need both elements going? Like I said, just a thought.

One element won't get enough heat in a 200 series. It "might" but it wasn't designed to try to heat it with just one element.

OK, so I rewired it temporarily for 110v. The display worked fine, and I set it for 30 minutes. Figured the breaker would trip but it didn't. After 15 minutes, I checked the heating elements... no heat. The relay wasn't kicking on. Hit the oven temp button and it shows 499 degrees. I tried disconnecting the internal thermometer and the lower thermometer (I guess that's what the lower one is) and it made no difference.

Any ideas of what I can check on it? I'd hate to have it almost working and not be able to use it.

It could have a number of problems and no one on this forum I know, have a model from that far back.

Call CS instead of trying to guess or rig something different.

They'll take care of you.