Temperature Swing

in my experience, the swings seem to be larger when there is less meat in the smoker. sort of like the meat acts like a heat sink or something...

I have a cookshack model # 105 (bought it used)and I am having the same problem.. I did find a ground wire that was off in the wireing harness, it seemed to be more on target before I re-attached the wire.???
Also should you rinse the inside out with a hose or just wipe it down...???
Chet....

Howdy Chet.

Usually you can just wipe it down.
I foil the top of the wood box and the floor[always poke a drain hole in the foil].

Some buildup can be removed with a plastic windshield scraper[I don't know what they are here ]

I give mine an annual interior cleaning with something like Simple Green,hose it out,oil anything that needs it and go back to cooking.

Perhaps this is coincidence but this topic doesn't make me feel well about the question (see post "Cooler Smoking") I asked about smoking sausage in a Cookshack. In fact, temperature swings like those mentioned seem rough even for barbeque (depending on their duration, of course)

I would never, ever use a soap or cleaner to clean the smoker, Just scrape it or wipe it. Like a cured cast iron pan or dutch oven, you never use a "cleaner" on a cured item like this...IMHO