Chunks or Chips?

Chunks are all I use. Hickory from CookShack.  I know of no prohibition in using chips.  

The reason I asked is because, after thoroughly cleaning, I seasoned it running 275℉ for four hours with a 2 ounce chunk of pecan in the smoke box. Not much smoke odor around the cooker, after shutdown my 2 ounce chunk of pecan was only slightly burned around one edge.

The wood may have ben green; or moist.  Properly dries/seasoned, you should have ended up with either ash or a small lump of charcoal.  I would fire up the smoker some evening when dark and with the woodbox removed, look at the heating element. It should have a nice bright even glow, no dead spots or extremely bright spots.  Also, here is a link for testing:  http://www.appliance411.com/faq/test-element.shtml

Another thing that can cause that would be an empty oven. If there is no load the oven can get hot so quick that it is like kiln drying the wood. Give Cookshack a call and we can go over some pointers.

Good advice! The oven was indeed empty.  As for OldSarge's recommendation, here in the Arizona desert, at 108℉, it's unlikely my wood chunks would be green or wet!  (It's a dry heat!).  . This evening after dark I will check the heating element for proper operation.

A couple of disposable loaf pans with damp sand can simulate a load and electrotech may have some better ideas.

Based on your suggestions and electrotech's idea, the smoker was loaded with a pan of damp sand, the original pecan chunk and set to 275℉.

At 220℉ the door was opened to a cloud of smoke and revealed a totally satisfactory heating element. It appears that I have a fully functional sausage cooker. //will find out when when the weather drops below (October?) 100℉ in Arizona. 

Sausage can come out well but I've found with my SM066 that the inside environment is pretty moist (CS electrics are pretty well sealed except for the smoke hole and drain hole). You may need to open the door periodically to vent moisture depending on how dry you like your sausage casing. Some discussions can be found by searching here.

Will:  Do you have the manual for your smoker?  This is a link to a copy of your manual:   MN025_SM025_SM045_V._2018.03.19.pdf (cookshack.com) .  The manual says:  " Never place more than 4 ounces of wood in the smoker. 4 ounces is going to be a HEAVY smoke flavor. We recommend starting with 2 ounces for your first cook. From there, you can add or remove wood to meet your taste."  Now for chips or chunks.  I use chunks when I am doing cooks that take over 4 hours, and chips or pellets for when I am doing a quick cook.  Basically, the chunks take longer to burn than the chips.  You are talking about doing sausage.  Most sausage recipes call for a cooking schedule where you are changing temperatures and adding smoke over a period of several hours.  This is usually an hour of low temp cooking without smoke to start the drying process, and then an hour of higher temps. with smoke, followed by several hours at higher temps. without smoke to get to the finished temperature.  When I do sausage, I usually do the first hour with the door slightly open.  I use a bungee cord, or long wood clamp to hold the door in this slightly open position.  Like Jay1924 said, you will want to open the door several times over the course of the cook to dump moisture.  The moisture is from the product you are cooking and not the ambient humidity where you live. 

Thanks for the info, IdahoMike. To answer your question, yes, I have read the manual - it did not address the subject of chips.

My purpose of asking about chips is that, cooking Jerky at 200℉ with hickory chunk (2 oz) in the smoke box I experienced negligible smoke. Yes,  June in Phoenix Arizona EVERYTHING is dry! Chips being smaller with more surface area would probably work better in this case. My question was if CookShack determined any issue with using chips instead of chunks.

Will:  You could always call Cookshack at 1-800-423-0698 and ask.  The people at Cookshack are really good.  I don't know about the SMO20, but the SMO25 and O66 have a preprogramed start up cycle.  The smoker runs on high for 40 minutes or so to get the smoke rolling, and warm up the smoker.  I get a good smoke using chunks and running my O66 at 200 degrees after the start up. 

I agree with idahomike. Chips work but they burn up faster and may need replacement depending on what and how long you are smoking. I've never used chips in my SM066, just because I have a great selection of types of chunks and they work well for me, even with a short smoke like salmon ( 1 - 1.5 hours using alder chunks) at 200F.