I picked this thing off Woot.com for not too much. It's a great size and feels well built, but it will not keep the temp. The 180⁰F smoke setting goes as high as 315⁰F. It needs to slow down the pellet feed auger, but there are no tuning parameters on this. I'm using Bear Mountain Apple pellets from Academy. They looked as standard as any other pellet.
Any chance someone has dealt with this before I start finding a way to retrofit a different controller?
by Apprehensive_Set_357
3 Comments
Is the smoker actually 315 degrees, or is the temp sensor reporting it incorrectly? If the smoker is not actually as hot as it reads, it may be the sensor that needs replacing.
I have an OG Asmoke, the first-gen AS300 (from their IndieGoGo launch of their first smoker) and have retrofitted a few other models for friends, and the issues are always the same. While they do use the same mass-produced parts as Traeger and Country Smoker, and the engineering/body design is fine (including the ash system, if it’s cleaned properly) their controllers are AWFUL.
I’m almost certain that upgrading the controller and temperature sensor will help. I’d do this sooner, rather than later, because other parts will start to fail due to the cheap controller mismanaging everything else, like causing auger/hopper fires.
I bought one of these and was concerned about the same thing. What it appears to do, is fire up and heat up and burn like a banshee to build some coals at first, and then settle down to your temperature range.
Once I figured out that mine wants to preheat and then cool down, things got a fair bit better. Oh… and they prefer being in the shade, too.
If you find a way to adjust the p-setting that’s mentioned in the manual, let me know!