Thanks for the reply. Mine finally overheated tonight after about 40 minutes (running in a closed, but unheated garage). The smoker beeps at me and display just reads "Over Temp". I'm going to call Cookshack again tomorrow if I have time.
Concerning hotspots... I saw a video where a guy used some of the pillsbury-type rolls of biscuits. He put them in his new smoker for a half hour... then looked at the done-ness of them to identify the hot spots. Way simpler than trial and error!
You can see the video here if you want:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AX3ZEjXhvTs