Temp ranges- some work some dont- 225?

[Slimpicker]

BUT THEN THIS..... (note I'm supposed to be at 180)

This BLOWS my chances of doing Deer Jerky on my Traeger DAMMIT!!!!!

 

[Slimpicker]

Set to 325, Traeger reading 311 and my probe across the smoker, 360!!!!

MOVED the probe toward the back... a little past half way back and it's reading IDENTICAL to the Traeger Temp... so the 'front' area is a REAL hot spot... anything coming around that 'heat shield' is 40-50 degrees hotter than the middle temp

 

[AngryCactus]

Set to 325, Traeger reading 311 and my probe across the smoker, 360!!!!

MOVED the probe toward the back... a little past half way back and it's reading IDENTICAL to the Traeger Temp... so the 'front' area is a REAL hot spot... anything coming around that 'heat shield' is 40-50 degrees hotter than the middle temp

I'm staring to think they didn't mark the temps correctly on the face plate. Mine is holding 180 on the Smoke setting. I've noticed all my temps are off to the next temp setting. Has anyone tested this theory?

 

[Puertex]

It's amazing to me how many controllers Traeger is willing to throw at these problems. Being as these grills are basically a servo system, with pellet feed rate controlled by measured temp error between set and actual temperatures. They should simply and continously vary the auger feed rate to maintain set temp. More modern ones add handling sceanerieos like handling door open events better than going full heat etc.
So basically, they should just always just work. The variable here seems to be reliable temperature monitoring, if the thermocouple is biased high or low, or isn't linear, then the actual temps would be wrong, even though the set and displayed temps look to be working normally.
Now that I have the FireBoard2, I have an independent way to monitor actual temperature in the grill. I have found that my Timberline isn't linear. If I set it to 225, actual temps are above 250. But set to 400 and the temps are close. So I now set my Traeger temps to what is needed to hit the fireboard measured temp. I set the grill to 175 to get an actual temp of 190.
So dealing with this non linear temp is now handled.
The Traeger will hold any set temp by its servo loop design, it just takes time to settle in. Direct sun and wind will cause the controller to have to fight more to maintain the set temperature, but it "should" always be working the fire to hold at the set temperature number.

Good points.
This is a very slow and rudimentary control loop and when there are upsets it takes a while to recover.
The nature of what is being controlled is such that it leaves the door open to a variety of reasons that cause system upset.
To improve the system would result in a significantly higher price point for the smoker.
For the user, it is tempting to try to compensate by increasing/decreasing the temp setpoint to force the controller to react faster.
This sometimes causes it to overshoot/undershoot making things worse.
Lately, when there is a temperature upset, I just leave it alone and it always corrects itself over time.
I am going out on a limb to say that in my case (perhaps luckily) these temperature issues have not affected the end result.
I understand how some folks expectations lead them to believe that these smokers should be more stable. Perhaps lack of information or confusing advertising...
The fact that Traeger is so willing to send controllers leads me to believe that 1) they are not costly and 2) the cost is passed to the consumers

 

[John S.]

I calibrate to the FB, then when the FB shows a stable temp I load the grill….