For the last few days, I have been prowling the internet looking for info on household voltage. What I have gleaned is that it fluctuates for a variety of reasons but generally does no damage to the item plugged in. I suppose when you see a plate that states 110 vac, or 115 vac or 120 vac, the manufacturer is rating either the lowest, the average or the highest voltage that the appliance will require for reliable operation. I have also learned that delivered voltage to a home can vary as well depending upon load.
I suspect, from what I have read, that this variance can impact the desired set temperature. In dealing with a heating appliance with a simple mechanical rheostat (thermostat?) that regulates the voltage through increasing or decreasing resistance, one cannot or should not expect rock solid stability. Consequently, the temperature will fluctuate as the element heats up and cools down to maintain a desired temperature within a certain tolerance and based upon the voltage reaching the unit.
Can a mechanical (or even a digital) thermostat or rheostat be defective or out of spec? Sure it can. Is the defect done deliberately? No, it is not. Sometimes stuff just happens. Maybe just a bad component, not evident until it is put into use. Frustrating yes, but correctable.
On the issue of looking at the Cookshack: Before I purchased the 066, I did read about problems with the temperature, even though it was digital and supposed to be dead on accurate. It had affected a few of the smokers, and was traced to defective boards. Not all the boards, just a few. It was corrected. And I was able to get one of the used units that had been repaired at a nice discount. Does the temperature fluctuate? Yes it does. A couple of degrees up and down. So it is not perfect, even considering the premium price. And I would NOT do it again. The food that I get from my smoker is not superior to that from the model 3 I gave as a gift. I wish it was but it is not. I cannot even fool myself into believing that it does a better job.
I bought a model 3 to give as a gift after much research. There were, at the time, only a couple of complaints regarding the units, same with the SmokinTex units. In the end, the SI unit won out. It is working very well, and the results are "good eats", to borrow from a TV show. Had the the SI units been as problematic as the MES units, there would have been no gift of a smoker.
The absolute bottom line is to do research, to buy what one wants, with the features one wants, and to know that being made by the hand of man, it may not be perfect.
I am not an electrical engineer. I do know on/off.
Well, being Sunday, that wraps up my sermon.
