I use a half sheet baking pan and a wire cooling rack in it makes it easy to get on and off the grill and catches the grease in the pan making it available for other uses. normally cook it around 375° and time varies depending on how thick the slices are and how crispy I want it.
I have noticed on my 340 tempertures suddenly start climbing way above the set temperature then sometimes it drops back and sometimes it has to be manually adjusted by changing temperture then setting it back to the original setting. durnig the summer it won't hold temperature which should not...
Not having seen the drawings, but suspect there should be a cable going from the controller to each of the components, if all the cables are plugged into the right locations then you have a faulty controller board I would reseat all the cables and try again before wanting a new controller board.
the norm for electronics is once it cooks in for a few months it will continue to work for years, short of unforsee events. rare for an electic motor to fail short of abuse. You might break a shear pin between the motor and auger but that is the job of shear pins, should be able to find a...