Ya really did not have to remove anything but the controller itself, but I'm glad you traced it down. On my Traeger I get a better smoke mode leaving the lid up at least 8-10 minutes after seeing smoke. Played with p settings some, but p2 seems to work well here in norcal. Grill is not in direct sun. I know some folks in this heatwave have had problems with that.
Hoping for a good report!