My father in law bought my a Smoke Hollow 36" Gas Smoker. I recently just did a smoke with some ribs to test it out. Previously I had a Dyno-Glo that my Uncle commandeered and I use to have no issues with.

The issue with the smoker is I can't keep a steady temp from 225-250. It will continuously jump 10-20 degrees below or above. I have played with the gas valve, the temperature gauge, and the dampers with no success on keeping a steady temperature. I installed the lavarock gaskets to try and help the air seeping out the doors as well. I am also using a thermoworks smoke thermometer on the top rack to gauge temp. I also used a small cast iron pan to use as a chip holder, as many have suggested on here to help from flare-ups. But when using the cast iron, I never received any smoke. The pan and chunks were both hot but never got any smoke from them until I used the one that came with the smoker.

Here are some pics of the dampers and temp (https://imgur.com/a/H2Qku3x). If anyone has this smoker or any tips on adequately keeping temp with a propane tank or any mods that may help salvage my frustration with this smoker. Also, any suggestions on the cast iron heating up the chunks to smoke would be awesome.