Ken, I have a #2 analog and I later added an external Auber, making it a #2 wifi. When it was just an analog, my wood would always come out as ash until I added the chip screen AND a single layer of foil under the chip screen. Then I got consistent charcoal. When I added the Auber, I started doing a ramp up to 150* for 30 minutes, then on to the cook temp. The wood was coming out almost completely unburned, just a little darker than when it went in. I removed the foil and the chip screen and now I get charcoal again.
My guess is that you can do the ramp to fix the wood turning to ash, or add foil and chip screen.