We bought a Model 45 quite a few years ago, it was made in 2011. It lives outside on our covered deck, with the cover on. I've been trying to smoke goose pastrami and am having difficulty controlling the temperature. I set it to 160F yesterday, expecting about 4 hours to reach the target of 140F internal. Didn't happen, and the oven temp dropped to the mid 140Fs for no reason, and the internal temp only got to 123F after 6 hours. I ended up trying to increase the oven temp, but it was all over the place. I finally ended up finishing it oven to 140F, but it took until 2:30 in the morning. So, 9 hours instead of 4.
A little while ago I turned it on and set it to 175F (no wood). It overshot to 189F, then dropped to 156F, then back up to 191F, now falling again. Poor temperature consistency.
Is this a controller problem or is just the way the unit functions at lower temperatures? I talked to Bill and he said that they'd be happy to check out the controller if I wanted to send it in. But a new one is $300, and the smoker has been used very occasionally over the years, less than half dozen times per years, and certainly not $300 worth.