Good Idea Aldersmoke. It occurs to me that maybe replacing the water pan with a heavy enameled cast iron one, similarly preheated, might also do the trick.
Should help. I know that there is a difference whether I use "first run" water (whatever temp it is when I just turn the faucet on, which right now is friggin' cold) vs. "hot as I can get from my water heater" hot.
Thanks Ragnar. I think the element in mine is 800 W; the one that toasts the biskettes is 500. Unfortunately I am a wood guy and dangerous around electricity or plumbing. Is the installation difficult?
Geoff, you have a different model than I do, so it may well be different. Dunno. What I know is that on mine, the element looks like this:
The roll mark has info on the element itself. It's not terribly clear in the photo, but it reads "QRT 120V 500W 15 03". Not sure what the QRT stands for, but the rest means it's a 120V element (like most of the electricity in your house supplies, unless Canada is different), 500 Watts, and was manufactured in March of 2015.
I'll say that in no uncertain terms, I am NOT a licensed electrician, that this modification WILL void any warranty, and I make no claim or guarantee that it is safe, meaning that if ANYONE does this, it is solely at their own risk. In other words, "I'm not a professional, but I stayed at a Holiday Inn once. Hold my beer... y'all watch this!"
This modification HAS been done before, and there is guidance on how to do it elsewhere online. I am NOT using the standard control, which I am not sure what it's rating is - instead, I am using one that IS rated at 1500 W output. I did run the concept by an electrical engineer at work, and he felt OK with it.
With all of that said, it appears to be a fairly simple deal. The reflector that holds the original element can be carefully drilled on either side with a 9/16 hole to hold the second element. Wiring in parallel provides the same current to both parts (like a string of Christmas lights that stay lit if one bulb goes out). Wiring in serial requires twice the load/splits the current to each part (like a string of Christmas lights that go out if one bulb goes out). I'll wire them parallel, which needs a small piece of 14 gauge high-temp wire with a size 10 ring terminal at each end for each end of the elements. SHOULD take about an hour, which means I have planned on 4 hours, a couple of beers, and a whole supply of curse words. If I do the upgrade, I'll document the process.