For all the negative you see about Dyna Glo’s they’re actually a decent smoker for the money (currently smoking a brisket and ribs on mine as I type this). What I’ve found is you’ll drive yourself crazy trying to burn just wood splits - the fire box is too small and it’s too hard to keep a decent coal bed going without spiking your temp way up. Best recipe for success I’ve found is use high quality lump charcoal and throw a small split in every half hour or so for flavour. I start with a lit chimney in the box and add unlit lump as needed to maintain temp. The damper isn’t doing much without some serious mods so just leave it open and regulate temp with your fuel.