NewbieTex

[jimmymac40]

Jim, here, in Dallas, Texas. Own a Luhr-Jensen Little Chief Electric Smoker - top load. Haven't used it for years, but back in the late 80's, early 90's I smoked a lot of Salmon which I caught on several trips to British Columbia. Also smoked Pecans.

"Dusted" this smoker off last week to smoke some more Salmon. Although I was successful, and there was some smoke at the beginning, the process took much longer, and only a few of the chips turned black in each panful. There were never any ashes in the pan. Temperature in the smoker was about 165°. Can the heating element go partially bad? Do I need to replace it?

 

[dougmays]

Welcome Jim!

Heating elements can go bad as well as have hot and cold spots. My first smoker was a little electric brinkman and there were sections that would burn chips better then others.

Do you have a chip box on yours or a open heating element you place chips onto?

 

[jimmymac40]

Thank you! My smoker is an aluminum box, 2' x 12" x12". Chips are put in a pan, which is placed in the smoker on top of the circular heating element.

 

[gary s]

Hello and welcome to SMF, I'm a stick burner not familiar with electric, but good luck

Gary S

 

[jimmymac40]

Thanks! I've been away from smoking too long. Glass I found this forum!

 

[GaryHibbert]

Hey Jim

Welcome to the Smoking  forum.   You’ll find great , friendly people here, all more than willing to answer any question you may have.  Just ask and you’ll get about 10 different answers—all right.  LOL.   Don’t forget to post qviews.

Gary

 

[dougmays]

Thank you! My smoker is an aluminum box, 2' x 12" x12". Chips are put in a pan, which is placed in the smoker on top of the circular heating element.

One thing you could try is put a few chips in each corner of the chip box and light it up and see which ones burn quickest/first and you migthb e able to pin point if certain parts of the elements aren't heating up properly