Keeps triping fuse box????

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grendel

Newbie
Original poster
Apr 4, 2012
15
10
Southampton England
Just bought a Brinkmann 810-7080-7 Gourmet Electric Smoker and Grill from the US to use in the UK I have changed the US plug over to a UK 13Amp three pin plug and every time I plug it in the house main fuse keeps turning off. I have tried putting it through an extension lead and plugged straight into the socket but each time the house blow what am I doing wrong?
 
Grendel, morning...  13 amps circuit may be inadequate....  what is the wattage of the element ??  watts / volts = amps .... You may have wired the new plug incorrectly....  US wiring is usually BLACK- hot leg....  WHITE- neutral leg.....  GREEN- ground leg....  I'm not sure about the 50 cycle / 60 cycle difference in current.... Is your household current 110 or 220 volts ??? If it is 220, then you need a different element and different wiring....

Let us know what you determine for all to learn.... Hope this helps...  Thanks, Dave
 
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Dam why didnt i think if that.
Oops.gif


UK is 230V main and US is 120V the smoker is only 115V. So much for buying from the US to make it cheaper. Looks lke i'll be using for cold smoking then untill i find a 230V UK eliment.

Thanks for the help elecricts never was my strong point.
 
Grendel, maybe you can add a stove top element to the smoker.... I would find a small wattage element.... In the US, 230 v elements are wired with a hot wire to each leg and no neutral is used.... usually a BLACK and RED wire....  I do not know anything about UK electricity...  

The reason your circuit tripped .... the wiring inside the smoker, one hot leg from the outlet was connected to the chassis and subsuquently to ground, that is the neutral leg in the US.... 
 
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Ok think i may of sorted it now just bought a converter and a new rewireble US plug to replace the sealed one I cut off.

Must admit i'll have a go with cold smoking cheese in it while i'm waiting for it to become a hot smoker again after i fix the heat eliment.

I feel a bit stupid really since never even thought about different electric currents.
 
Don't feel bad.  As for your cycle rate: 50 or 60 hz, unless your smoker has a timer or clock function, you only have to worry about the voltage differential.  When I was stationed in West Germany, we had to buy voltage converters to use anything we brought over from the states. 
 
If need be, you could get a second element, same wattage, and wire it in series and get the the same effect, just twice as hot........
 
Well had the element checked by an electrical and I’ve well and truly melted the internals. Thankfully Amazon says they will give me a full refund if I return the whole lot to them which I’d rather not do since there are not many other electric smokers available in the UK in my price range. In the mean time I’m asking various heating element companies if they could make me a 1500W 230V element and if it’s not to expensive preserver with the Brinkmann. Otherwise I’ll look into that pressure cooker smoker thing and put it through a transformer plug but that will mean only 4lbs of meat to smoke rather than 50lbs
 
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