having trouble getting up to tempature

i just got excel 20 and i am having trouble gettin my temp above 200. i have tried just filling water pan halfway and have poured a full charcoal chimney into smoker. i have even placed 2 chimneys and still no better. all vent were wide open and i used good charcoal. can anyone help me? i cant seem to find out how to calabrate lid thermometer

Hi and welcome to the forum dbaskin.

You are able to calibrate the lid thermometer, remove it from the lid,
then using a small spanner to hold the nut on the back of the dial,
then turn the actual dial. With the probe in boiling water, it should
be set to 212 deg F.

You may also want to use more charcoal, until you get your temps dialed in and are more familiar with the smoker.

There will also be a difference in temp readings from the lid to the actual temp at the grill (which is where it counts).

Hope this helps.