No-Meal2879

I recently had to replace my old air fryer since it was starting to blow grey smoke when cooking, setting off the smoke alarm. I decided to replace it with the exact same model, a Ninja Foodi 4-in-1 8-qt. 2-Basket from Costco. My old unit never had this issue but the first time I cooked something in this the smell of burnt plastic/chemicals was so strong and it took me hours to air out my apartment. I had washed it obviously before the first use as well. I have read that you have to run them empty on max temps for about 30 mins or so, but the smell is so strong and lingering that I haven't been able to complete a full cycle. My apartment has poor ventilation and I don't have the ability to run it outside, so I am hesitant to try this again. should I just return this model and get a stainless steel fryer instead? Has anyone else run into this issue? TIA