L,
I have the 1150 but am working thru the same issue. I swapped the controller out for the new firmware revision and now have a great smoker but the high temp for searing doesn't work any more. The highest I can get to is 375ish after about 45 minutes. I bought a set of the GrillGrate grills and the temp gets close to 500 degrees so their advertising is honest. GrillGrate's that is, they claim that their product increases the grilling temp 100-150 degrees.. I believe it...
I talked with PitBoss about this temperature problem and they sent out my 3rd controller. I have not installed it yet but plan to shortly, I will let you know if I get any results..
Phil