1 star temp issues

[mikeharold]

I've discovered a temp issue with my 1 star. Last time I did chicken i smoked it for an hour and it reached smoke temp. Then I have it go to 350 until done and it wouldn't reach 350 and we finished it in the oven.  Ok, maybe it needs a good cleaning. Give it a cleaning, dump the fire pot, etc...

Went to do pizza and set it to high and wouldn't get above 400. Now I'm scratching my head.

Get up this morning at 4 to put on a pork butt and set it to 225. It never reached the set temp. WTF?! It stops at 220. Set the temp to 230.....and it bumps to 225, but won't reach 230  . Been running at 225 without issue, just won't reach the set temps I put in.

I'm going to call MAK tomorrow if I have the time and talk to them and see what's up. Seems like a controller issue, but wondering if anyone has had a similar issue.

[sschorr]

Assuming you also cleaned the internal thermocouple, then calling MAK seems the best course.

[RPing]

Did you ever find a fix for your problem?

I have/had similar issues with my 1 star. It would routinely not reach temp or drop significantly and not recover when I put food on. I noticed that the lid seemed to be misaligned to one side (side of the lid was flush with the base of the cooker if you were looking at it from the front while it is supposed to overhang on both sides by about 3/4"). I took the lid off, cleaned the inside of it thoroughly to maximize airflow and also aligned the lid properly. Things seem to be a little better now, but I still have issues when putting food on and recovery. I honestly think it is just a factor of how small the cooker is and how much meat is put on.

I echo your frustration with the thermometer always sitting 5-10 degrees below the setpoint. I've come to live with it, but it bothers me every time I look at the pellet boss.

I still wonder if I should send it back for a firmware upgrade.