Wait... did you try different types of pellets though? Some of those cheaper pellets have too much sawdust that just smothers the flame right out. Had a buddy who swore by his smoke tube until he switched to a specific brand of competition pellets and suddenly it ran for 2 solid hours. What brand of pellets were you using in it?

TM-1s are notorious for the needle getting knocked out of whack if you even look at them wrong. Did you try recalibrating against a known true wheel before trashing the whole tool?

Buddy of mine had the exact same experience with clipped heads in his Makita. He was always chasing problems until he just stopped messing with them and now they've been going strong for years. Makes you wonder why people overthink it so much, right?

oh man, I feel this so hard. getting off the beaten path and having it pay off is the best feeling, especially when the official route is miserable. that moment when you realize you've basically found a secret passage is pure gold.

And @laura_allen nailed it with the weather spike thing, I noticed the same jump during a random Tuesday hailstorm and it shot up to almost $8. That EV discount is legit too, I checked my Honda Fit and nope, but anyone with a hybrid or EV should definitely look into it before they start paying full price.