Looking for some tips on this lesser known pellet smoker.

I was gifted this pellet smoker a couple of years ago. When I first got it I figured throw brisket on set the temperature let it do its thing. It seem like the racks got so hot that they were cooking the brisket more so than it should have when compared to my offset. I went a long time without using it again. Went back and used it with some free sausages that I got, they turned out pretty good but a similar situation, I didn't rotate them and they got charred on the side that was touching the racks. Is it normal for the rack to get this hot? Am I doing something wrong with the smoker? I've included a picture that shows the pellet smoker and the control face, it's a small custom company out of Beatrice Nebraska that makes this smoker. I think the controller is outsource from a more popular company though. I cannot verify though, it's hard to find any information on my setup. Thanks in advance for any help, or tips on using a pellet smoker, that you can provide.

A little more context for the controller, there is a small "smoke" potentiometer that allows me to set between 0 and 15 for "smoke power." And then the temperature control is self-explanatory.