I went to use my PBC for the first time in quite a while today. Since there were some spider webs and such in the barrel I decided to clean it out. There was just a little buildup of grease around the edges of the barrel and a few ashes. I used a plastic scraper and then turned it over to let the stuff fall out. I hit the middle of the bottom of the barrel with my hand and a piece of metal fell out of the bottom.
I was pretty shocked since the bottom didn't look that bad and I always have kept the barrel covered with the PBC cover and dumped out the ashes after each cook. This cooker also sits under a covered carport with a concrete floor. I have also used the ash catcher inside the barrel ever since they first came out.
This is an older model that is powder coated that I bought used about 3 or 4 years ago from the original owner who had owned it for about a year. It still looked pretty much like new when I bought it.
I called and ordered a new barrel and lid. Just wanted to give you guys that own this older model a heads up to check yours out periodically. Here are a couple of pics.