hopefully this thread isnt too old, I was wondering about yout Excel, I have one too and CANNOT maintain temp with water in the bowl. Have you tried a half full bowl? Mine starts at a perfect 225 once setup, then after an hour or so drops to 160 with all the vents full open, minion method start. I wont go back up unless I leave the top cracked. I have been using it for over a year, probably 20 or more smokes. I am working on finding mods that let me go overnight with a water pan. I can hold temp with a ceramic base in it, but thats not why I bought a vertical water smoker, to eat up a shelf with an extra water tray. Any thoughts would be great, so far I have modded the pan by drilling holes on the perimeter, hoping that more air flow would help.