On the first use, I started a chimney of lump hardwood charcoal, the paint immediately burned off the bottom of the firebox. (See picture) Yes, I had the grate installed correctly. My guess is the gaps are too wide for this type of charcoal and it fell through. By the end of this use, the grate itself was warped. My plan is to reinforce the grate with better steel and close the gaps. I might even repaint the firebox.

As others have noted, there are serious gaps in this unit that lets the smoke out all over the place. The back of the smoker is the biggest issue. My plan is to work on sealing as many of these gaps as I can.

Lastly, the temperature gauge does not have degrees. You are left to guess what the temperature of smoke chamber is. This is not a good way to smoke! My plan is to modify the smoker to take a better quality gauge.

Once I have all these modifications done, I hope this will be a good entry level smoker.