I couldn't even get a good char on my wood. I did all the suggestions like--bend the element, move the wood towards the front, wood at the edge of the holes, start the smoker hotter until wood starts then bring it down to smoking temp, etc, etc. All this helped, but I still wasn't happy.
Talked to Tony at Cookshack. Ultimately, my wood was just too moist(or green). For a week, I let it set in bins out in the sun vs in the garage in the plastic bags the wood came in. After a week, my wood chunks get, at least, a significant char, but mostly turned to ash.