MAK 2 Flash Fire Help!

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darita

is Blowin Smoke!
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Around Xmas, I got MAK's new Flash Fire Igniter and had my Pellet Boss updated. Every since then, I've had issues with flame out. It had always occurred sometime during the cook, but this last time, it happened during the startup sequence that goes to the Smoke setting. I opened up the cooker so I could see the fire box and saw that everything else seems to be working right, but the igniter never ignites.
I talked to MAK's tech guy several times and he seems just be scratching his head and telling me to try this and try that. I'm so tired of this, as this MAK 2 used to be my go-to cooker for consistency. Now I can't even trust it to fire up.
 
I have read that leaving the lid open, until the pellets light, will help on some grills. I don't think the igniter would cause flame out during a cook. Once things are lit, the igniter turns off. That sounds more like a pellet feed problem, or possibly the pellets.
 
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Also, not sure about the Mak, but my yoder operators manual says, if the igniter doesn't light, you can light it manually with a torch. I know that isn't a long term solution, bt if you want to use it, before the problem get resolved, you might give it a shot.
 
I like using the Smoke setting for the first hour or two. That's a very low temp that tends to go out when manually lit. I've tried that before. On temps 225+ it may work fine.
I'm wondering if anyone else has had this issue.
 
I installed a Flash Fire igniter in my 1-Star close to 2 years ago and haven’t had any problems with it. Sorry to hear you’re having issues. Surprised their tech hasn’t figured it out.
 
Can you go back to the previous version?

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk
 
What I'd like to do is, pull the Flash Fire and Pellet Boss and send them back to MAK to figure out. Something is wrong between the two parts, but it's not consistent, nor is it obvious to me.
 
Not sure this helps, but I have had my 2 Star for almost 1.5 years (it has all the latest and greatest, including the Flash Fire igniter). In that time I did have a struggle with flame outs. It started about 4 months ago and lasted for a couple of months until MAK sent me a new auger motor (this was a guess on MAKs part, something they wanted to rule out). I made three changes and haven’t had a flame out since:

1) Started cleaning my fire pot after every cook.
2) Toss a handful of fresh pellets in the fire pot after cleaning it. This seems to help establish a quick and healthy fire each time at startup.
3) Installed new auger motor.
 
Thanks rwalter, I did check the auger and it was moving properly, far as I could tell. Thing is, I exposed the firebox to see if I was even getting heat and there was none. There were pellets in the box, but no heat to lite them.
This was happening various times during the cook since I got the new stuff, however now it won't even start up as it usually does, on Smoke.
 
darita said:
Thanks rwalter, I did check the auger and it was moving properly, far as I could tell. Thing is, I exposed the firebox to see if I was even getting heat and there was none. There were pellets in the box, but no heat to lite them.
This was happening various times during the cook since I got the new stuff, however now it won't even start up as it usually does, on Smoke.
Click to expand...

I think I misunderstood. If no heat, I’d be asking for a replacement Flash Fire igniter. They have a lifetime warranty. I am assuming you’ve checked, but is it plugged in nice and snug to the controller board? Sounds almost like it has an intermittent short.

Or am I still misunderstanding the issue?
 
rwalters said:
I think I misunderstood. If no heat, I’d be asking for a replacement Flash Fire igniter. They have a lifetime warranty. I am assuming you’ve checked, but is it plugged in nice and snug to the controller board? Sounds almost like it has an intermittent short.

Or am I still misunderstanding the issue?
Click to expand...

rwalters, ya, that's the what's going on. One of my calls to MAK, the Tech guy told me to check the connections, which I did and all looks good. If there's a problem connection, then they'd have to find it with a meter or something. I'm thinking I'll ask for a new FF or like said, just send the PB and the FF back and have them go thru it. Of course, as usually happens, it will work fine at the shop. So maybe I should ask for a new FF first and try it out, if that fails, then I'll send everything back. Thanks for your feedback.
 
darita said:
rwalters, ya, that's the what's going on. One of my calls to MAK, the Tech guy told me to check the connections, which I did and all looks good. If there's a problem connection, then they'd have to find it with a meter or something. I'm thinking I'll ask for a new FF or like said, just send the PB and the FF back and have them go thru it. Of course, as usually happens, it will work fine at the shop. So maybe I should ask for a new FF first and try it out, if that fails, then I'll send everything back. Thanks for your feedback.
Click to expand...


That’s what I’d do... wouldn’t be surprised if it’s nothing more than a faulty FF. I’ll tell you this... when you get this issue resolved you are gonna LOVE the FF igniter!!!
 
Just spoke with Bob at MAK...what a knowledgable guy...anyways, from what he's saying, sometimes the old PB doesn't play right with the new Flash Fire, so he's sending me a new board and FF and that should take care of the issues. I'm no expert for sure, but from the way the grill was operating, it felt like it was more than just the FF itself and was more systemic than that.
Hopefully, all will work out and I'll be a happy MAK owner once again. I have to say, this is why I purchased a MAK to start out with. I read that MAK really stands by their grills and does want to make everyone happy with their smokers. I'll post again, once I get everything in place and tested. Thanks for the replies.
 
Hope this solves your problem. Everyone here says MAK stands firmly behind their products and many go with MAK for that reason alone.

Let us know how the new board and FF work, either way.

Thanks!
 
Nice! I am pretty darn sure you’ll be good to go with those two replacement parts :)
 
Well, got the new board and FF in and it all tested good. Did a kinda weird rib cook today...incrementally increased from smoke, up to 300*, looking for any weirdness in temps. Aside from some initial overshoot after increases, every grill temp settled in either dead on or +/- 5*, which is just like before the issues arose.
Thanks to MAK's support, if no issues arise, I'm a happy smoker again. Gotta say, as others have already said, MAK really does want to have everyone happy with their MAKs and will do what's necessary to make it that way. Thanks MAK and thanks for all your replies here.
 
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