That was weird... I would’ve challenged Bentley to get his big girl panties on and come outside and join me

Yes!  And I would have declined!

There are some things that no amount of head scratching will ever get you there. This was one for me.

I just fired up my MAK in 35.6° temp outside.  I have the flash ignitor in my older model MAK 2.  We will see how long it takes to get to 350°.  I have put some 100% hardwood heating pellets in it after it burns through the small amount of pellets that were left in the hopper.  I want to do a burn off and will take it up to 450° or so for a while.

13 min 9 sec to hit 200°

I just fired up my MAK in 35.6° temp outside.  I have the flash ignitor in my older model MAK 2.  We will see how long it takes to get to 350°.  I have put some 100% hardwood heating pellets in it after it burns through the small amount of pellets that were left in the hopper.  I want to do a burn off and will take it up to 450° or so for a while.

Tuned in!

14 min 57 sec to hit 225°

16 min 22 sec to hit 250°

19 min mark it hit 260° and then started going backwards.  Time to check out the grill.

Weird, no error messages.  Grill coming back up to temp again.

BTW, looks like it only drew 2.8 amps at startup and running about 0.6 amps after ignitor shuts off.  Not sure why you couldn't run two at the same time off of a 20 amp outlet.  Maybe you engineering or electrical guys can enlighten me on that.

25 min 19 sec 300°

I’ve seen dirty vents, including the vents that feed into the cold smoke box, get more than a few MAK owners.

Weird, hit about 295° and then started going backwards again.  Hit 280° and then started to increase.

I also have a brand new controller I installed in the Summer/Fall in order to be able to get the wifi.

I am getting worse startup performance than the guy from Montana who started up his grill in 40°+ colder temps.

The new Funnel Flame Zone seems to make a big difference (you don’t have it, correct?). I have yet to not be at 450° within 25 mins...even at colder ambient temps like you are firing it up in.

I do not have the new flame zone kit.  Not sure I want to drop another $400 on this grill either, but it sure is disappointing watching it drop back in temp.  It is struggling to get over 300° right now.