Has anyone else had to replace the heating element? After five years, the unit began tripping breakers when I plugged it in.
1693781
My unit is almost three years old, but I haven't had that problem. You can purchase replacement parts on Old Smokey's website and in several places they encourage you to call them so that they can help diagnose what's wrong. My guess is it's either the heating element or the control. Both are $23 (each) for replacement parts.
1693782
I think our heat element died after 5 years but frankly we got our money's worth out of it. My husband then bought a bigger better smoker but we eventually ended up buying a 2nd old smokey as it made the best ribs ever.
2253617
Call Masterbuilt customer service for replacement parts for the unit. I think I read somewhere that the newer models have replaceable heating elements. I would call the company just to be safe.
1679714
I am a hvac tech, it should just resume normal operation. I would check your breakers if it's not coming on more than likely you have an issue elsewhere.
33094
I can tell you why this was happening, but the cause can be multifold. The reason the GFCI is tripping is because the circuit is overloaded and getting hot. When it cools down alittle it will reset, but you need to find out how many other things are on this circuit. You will probably need to use a different plug when cleaning. I don't know how many amps this unit pulls when heating, but it is more than this GFCI circuit can handle. I would have an electrician check the GFCI circuit and possibly remove some of the load from that circuit. THE IMPORTANT THING IS STOP USING THIS PLUG RIGHT NOW BECAUSE TRIPPING CAUSES OVERHEATING AND YOU HAVE A DANGER OF A POSSIBLE FIRE WHEN YOU CONTINUALLY RESET THE GFCI BREAKER. THIS IS A SERIOUS PROBLEM. Please have someone test this circuit to see if your steamer is overloading the rating of the circuit.
904585
Your heater is broken. This happened to me as well. I've gone through a lot of steam cleaners, but this had the shortest life span.
978409
My pump works fine, but I started having problems with the heater after a year of use, requiring me to tap on the side or top of the heater to get the contactor(?) to "stick" and the indicator light to stay on. That went on for several months, but now the heater trips the breaker immediately after the pump starts. Unfortunately, my electrician has not yet been able to identify the cause.
1007529
Most complaints were due to the ports failing. The old units had a hardware fuse on each port. If it blew that port would no longer work. The new units they are replacing them with have breakers on each port which reset after everything has been unplugged and the unit sits for 20 minutes or so. I have 2 of the new ones and the breakers to my knowledge have never tripped.
1021458
ditto what KempShire said. I just bought this heater and it did trip the circuit because it is a big draw of power. I just switched the machine to less active plug and no problem. You will love this heater.
1293878
If you have to ask, it is apparent that you hain't either mechanically inclined or familiar with elecftronics. Therefore, it may be to your benefit to take the unit into a certified repair shop as advised in the instruction sheet which came with the heater. Having it professionally repaired might prevent injurry to yourself or some other human bean. You fuggin' numbskull.
1713715
Hi, ours was 10years old when it quit summer of 2013, we had to replace the whole heater. When we put in the new one it has so far worked just great so far. Good Luck. Regards D. McCoy
633100
I have two of these heaters and never noticed that problem. I don't think it is normal, maybe the wire got damaged. I would exchange it just in case.
1177356
Beverly, you didn't state your model or how old the unit, but one common weak link is the on/off switch may be faulty, the second primary failure mode would be the heater coil/thermostat and would generally be cheaper to buy a new one than try and fix. If you have a handyman around he should be able to check out the on/off switch.
1515462
I have had the same problem twice. Once, the plug wasn't fully inserted in the cooker and the other time, the breaker had tripped. Hope this might help.
1600309
The only thing I can think of is incorrect wiring or you have it hooked up to something that is trying to draw more amperage than the unit can handle and it's tripping rather than switching anything on. Perhaps it's a protection circuit? Have you tried hooking it up to something that draws lower power? I had mine wired to a heating pad as a warming pad for a while to start seedlings. Then I wired it into a home made aquarium type heater. I don't get any 'alarms', my unit works perfectly every time. I'd have to see how you wired it and what it's wire to in order to help. Sorry.
1547503
1st did you check to make sure the size of the wire was sufficient to run the heater? I had to replace mine with a thicker wire. Perhaps you need to install a larger breaker.
291231
Hi - I purchased the unit and am very happy with it. I believe you would have to contact an electrician if something goes bad. Note: The unit is powerful and I needed to install a 20 amp circuit breaker & 12 gauge wire (15amp was got good enough) so it was a major project to get it installed but it is well worth it
1095211
I can't answer your question. I believe you would need to have a professional come in and look at the unit. If you are not getting hot water, it sounds like either no power to the heating elements or the elements have gone bad. In either event, a professional could trouble shoot the unit and tell you.