Amigo pro .. Getting it hot

I'm enjoying a wonderful summer of smoking this year thanks to the Amigo pro + extra stacker that I got for my birthday in spring. I've had a few problems getting it up much above 200-210 F. It hasn't spoilt any of the food .. I just keep cooking until it's ready (no rush when you BBQ). But it is using a lot of coal (admittedly supermarket-cheap briquettes). I'm going to try a couple of things out that I've read on the forum (calibrating the thermometer & coconut briquettes).

One specific question I have is about the base of the Amigo. It seems to me that the water bucket sits so low, it's almost on the coals. I imagine this must restrict airflow, and it doesn't give me much capacity for adding additional fuel (I have to feed new coals through the door one by one and they then just stack up around the front) .

Last weekend I moved the water trough up one level which was a lot easier but did mean less shelf available to cook on. I'll be dropping it down again for a big cook next weekend. Just wondering if other Amigo have found this and what you do about it. Would a Frontier base fit and be easier to use?

Cheers in advance.

I have a cheapo copy of an Amigo that suffers from the same problem. I found using sand in the water bowl instead helps the temps get up. I use a foil tray of water on top of the sand to keep everything moist.

The lack of bottom vents does make it tricky to control the temperatures though.