Originally Posted By Wid

I got the PID controller in a week or so ago and had a chance to use it a couple of times. First time out the smoker temps were all over the place. It was +/-30 degree or better. It was driving me nuts wondering what was going wrong. Needless to say I was not a happy camper first time out.

Today I started the smoker at about noon. Loaded it up with charcoal as usual but instead of pouring the hot coals through out it was placed in one spot right by the fan. I set the target temp at 240 but waited to start the controller till it was around 180 or so. At first it over shot the temp by 5 degree then settled in right at the target temp. There was some fluctuation but it was only +/- 2 degree. To say I was happy about that was an understatement.

Decided to throw on a whole chicken so I upped the temp to 280. Once again it over shot by 5 degrees and settled back down to 280 and only fluctuated the same few degrees.

I can see this being a winner if this is this last time is typical of how well it runs.

I would rather expect this behaviour Wid.
It is not a controlled oven where minor adjustments to electrical flow can be made. The controller needs to blow air into the chamber to increase the burn rate and then upon feedback of hitting a temp, it slows the air flow. That won't reduce the temps right away though. The overburn from the initial air flow takes time for the oxygen to deplete before falling back and the cooker then takes time to cool off.
Based on my experience with the BigEgg, i have overshot temps and it took a minute or two for the temp to start dropping back once i close down the vents. It could take upwards of 5 to 10 minutes to bring temps down from 450F to say 375 or 400 because the Egg holds its temp so well.

I wouldn't expect those PIDs to maintain a perfect oven precision temperature, but at least more accurate than a human having to check the temp and fiddle with dampers every 10 minutes until the unit settles.

"Those who preach the myths of audio are ignorant of truth."