Pellet Fan
Pit Talk -- Comments and Questions Regarding These Pellet Pits => MAK => Topic started by: Michael_NW on November 24, 2017, 02:28:57 AM
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So . . . I was smoking the Thanksgiving turkey, yesterday, and was about half way through the cook when I noticed a lot of billowing smoke coming from the unit. By the time I got to the door to see what was up there was a combustion explosion that I could see and hear through the window. Though I knew that meant shutting down grill, letting it cool, removing the turkey, cleaning the pit, and being late for dinner, I did it anyway cuz I just didn't want to finish the bird in the oven. I had remembered posts from the previous forum that this was caused by a flame-out, followed by the auger pouring pellets into the fire pot during which time the igniter was turned on, followed by the explosion as the super-heated pellets finally caught fire.
About an hour later, being spooked from the previous flame-out, I was checking the grill again and noticed the temp had dropped to below 200 from 325. This time, I didn't bother trying to restart, I just shut down the grill and finished the turkey in the oven. The turkey, btw, came out great, considering all the trouble with the cook.
The truly frustrating thing is that I have had this grill for over a year and a half and have never had a flame-out in that time. I always clean my grill every time before I use it. I'll be checking out the grill in the morning to see if I can figure it out. The only thing different about this cook is the type of pellet I used; the brand is the same, just a different 'flavor'. It was a little breezy but nothing I haven't cooked in before.
Just curious if anyone else has experienced a flame-out that seemingly came out of nowhere and what you may have determined to be the cause. Thanks in advance for any input!
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Never had it happen. All I can think of is a dirty thermostat probe and or fire pot full of ash.
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Never had it happen. All I can think of is a dirty thermostat probe and or fire pot full of ash.
Thanks for your input. Both are cleaned prior to every cook. I use a brillo pad on the probe and keep it shiny. I'm going to dig into it today and cook a second turkey to have around for sandwiches. I'll post how it goes . . .
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were you running web control by chance? i had the same thing happen twice on my two star while using web control on busy holiday.. mite not be what caused it but have never had it happen while web control is off. we need an app that doesnt have to go back and forth through maks server. just my thoughts.. good luck..
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Thanks, all, for your input. I did the usual cleaning I do before each cook and smoked a turkey with no problems, yesterday; the usual, flawless, MAK performance. It did have me a bit rattled, though, from the problems on Thanksgiving day, so I was checking the grill temp constantly on my Tappecue. It came out wonderfully flavorful and juicy.
fryfour, I do not run web control, but that's a good suggestion. Knowing how easily my human faults can mess things up, I try to keep my cooks simple and clean. That way, it keeps any troubleshooting relatively simple, as well.
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Did the problem cook happen on a windy day?
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I am glad to hear that your Thanksgiving turkey cooked flawlessly. I had to replace my igniter one time as it went bad, however, it was still under warranty. I did eventually replace it with the new MAK igniter and it has worked great. So my suggestion would be to call MAK and see if they could explain why the flameouts.
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Did the problem cook happen on a windy day?
No, it didn't. There was a breeze, but certainly nothing that could influence the fire pot . . . I've smoked in worse at lower temps and never had any trouble. When I clean the fire pot each time, there is usually only a small amount of ash, maybe an inch or two, from the previous cook. But I never let it go; I know, from reading, how important it is to keep it clean.
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Michael---call Dennis Ogg, the Service master @ MAK. He can help you out. His phone # is 503-623-1234. Hes in the office 8AM-5PM, Monday-Friday.
Thank you! I will do that.
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Contacted Dennis Ogg, this afternoon, and we talked about it, though since it's not recurring is kinda hard to diagnose. He was great and wants me to contact him should it happen again.
I'm going to chock this one up to the lingering after-effects of the solar eclipse.
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I bought a new 2 Star in March. Had 2 back to back flameouts during a single cook about a month or two into ownership. Like you, I was confused as everything was as it should be, thoroughly cleaned. It was the only time that ever happened...and my MAK has been picture perfect ever since it had that lil hiccup...and I have cooked a TON since then. Sounds like your thinking the same way I did...just let it go :)
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Yup, I'm letting it go, though the flameout spooked me. Since Thanksgiving I've smoked another 15 lb turkey and just did a 16 lb packer brisket with no issues at all. In fact, this brisket felt like a turning point for me. I've done 3 total and wasn't happy at all with any of them, but this one made me feel like I landed on my feet for once. I could of cooked it slightly longer to render just a bit more fat in the point, other than that it was a great cook.
I love this smoker!
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Yup, I'm letting it go, though the flameout spooked me. Since Thanksgiving I've smoked another 15 lb turkey and just did a 16 lb packer brisket with no issues at all. In fact, this brisket felt like a turning point for me. I've done 3 total and wasn't happy at all with any of them, but this one made me feel like I landed on my feet for once. I could of cooked it slightly longer to render just a bit more fat in the point, other than that it was a great cook.
I love this smoker!
No pics of your latest brisket?? :’(
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Yup, I'm letting it go, though the flameout spooked me. Since Thanksgiving I've smoked another 15 lb turkey and just did a 16 lb packer brisket with no issues at all. In fact, this brisket felt like a turning point for me. I've done 3 total and wasn't happy at all with any of them, but this one made me feel like I landed on my feet for once. I could of cooked it slightly longer to render just a bit more fat in the point, other than that it was a great cook.
I love this smoker!
No pics of your latest brisket?? :’(
I know, I'm awful at taking pics!!! I get so caught up in the cook that I forget! My wife just shakes her head and smiles. I'm doing two pork butts this weekend . . . I'll TRY to remember to take pics!
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Yup, I'm letting it go, though the flameout spooked me. Since Thanksgiving I've smoked another 15 lb turkey and just did a 16 lb packer brisket with no issues at all. In fact, this brisket felt like a turning point for me. I've done 3 total and wasn't happy at all with any of them, but this one made me feel like I landed on my feet for once. I could of cooked it slightly longer to render just a bit more fat in the point, other than that it was a great cook.
I love this smoker!
No pics of your latest brisket?? :’(
I know, I'm awful at taking pics!!! I get so caught up in the cook that I forget! My wife just shakes her head and smiles. I'm doing two pork butts this weekend . . . I'll TRY to remember to take pics!
:)
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Ok, rwalters, :-[ you've shamed me into posting this pic of the brisket about 6 hours in. It went another 2 hours before it had the color I wanted and I wrapped it in butcher paper. This is the only one I took before I got consumed with the cook. As I said, it turned out waaaay better than my previous 3 attempts.
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Oh man!! The strong-armed shaming tactic worked!!! Fantastic looking brisket :)
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I enjoy taking pictures of the food and cakes I make and yes my wife just laughs at me and tells me to sit down so we can eat. :cool:
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Oh man!! The strong-armed shaming tactic worked!!! Fantastic looking brisket :)
And it tastes wonderful! Even re-heated 4 days later, I'm wondering to myself . . . "I wonder what the poor people are having for dinner?" :P
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Oh man!! The strong-armed shaming tactic worked!!! Fantastic looking brisket :)
And it tastes wonderful! Even re-heated 4 days later, I'm wondering to myself . . . "I wonder what the poor people are having for dinner?" :P
LOL! I often think the same thing. Even our mess ups are a notch up from what the “average joe†is consuming. It’s a rough life, but somebody’s gotta do it :)
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Well, I guess it was my turn. Put 5# of jerky on the smoker today. Flame out! Good thing I had the Memphis started up so I moved the jerky racks to it. Need to probably clean the fire pot on the MAK and give it another try. I need it tomorrow along with the Memphis for the big jerky cook, and I need it for the side chamber to smoke cheese too.
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Well, I guess it was my turn. Put 5# of jerky on the smoker today. Flame out! Good thing I had the Memphis started up so I moved the jerky racks to it. Need to probably clean the fire pot on the MAK and give it another try. I need it tomorrow along with the Memphis for the big jerky cook, and I need it for the side chamber to smoke cheese too.
Hmmm, how long have you owned your MAK, and is this your 1st flame out? It’s kind of weird hearing this, as MAK’s are just known to work.
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Well, I guess it was my turn. Put 5# of jerky on the smoker today. Flame out! Good thing I had the Memphis started up so I moved the jerky racks to it. Need to probably clean the fire pot on the MAK and give it another try. I need it tomorrow along with the Memphis for the big jerky cook, and I need it for the side chamber to smoke cheese too.
Hmmm, how long have you owned your MAK, and is this your 1st flame out? It’s kind of weird hearing this, as MAK’s are just known to work.
6+ years I think...controller is only a few months old as is ceramic igniter
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Well, I guess it was my turn. Put 5# of jerky on the smoker today. Flame out! Good thing I had the Memphis started up so I moved the jerky racks to it. Need to probably clean the fire pot on the MAK and give it another try. I need it tomorrow along with the Memphis for the big jerky cook, and I need it for the side chamber to smoke cheese too.
Hmmm, how long have you owned your MAK, and is this your 1st flame out? It’s kind of weird hearing this, as MAK’s are just known to work.
6+ years I think...controller is only a few months old as is ceramic igniter
Other then the flameout, safe to assume you’ve had trouble free operation in the 6+ years?
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I've had a few issues, but I have had issues with my Memphis and Traeger too. Nothing critical. Any time you have electronics and moving parts something is bound to not work at some point.
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Well, I guess it was my turn. Put 5# of jerky on the smoker today. Flame out! Good thing I had the Memphis started up so I moved the jerky racks to it. Need to probably clean the fire pot on the MAK and give it another try. I need it tomorrow along with the Memphis for the big jerky cook, and I need it for the side chamber to smoke cheese too.
Wow, sorry to hear that. I just cleaned the fire pot in prep for tomorrows pork butt and there were several inches of ash from my 14-hour brisket cook from Sunday. Cleaning that thing every time really does make a difference.
It's cool that you had a backup, and such a strong backup, as well!
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cleaned out fire pot in the morning and had another flame out when the grill was set on smoke mode. turned it back on and set it to 200 and it didnt flame out again. side chamber couldnt get above 50 degrees and took forever to smoke cheese
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cleaned out fire pot in the morning and had another flame out when the grill was set on smoke mode. turned it back on and set it to 200 and it didnt flame out again. side chamber couldnt get above 50 degrees and took forever to smoke cheese
That sucks with all the jerky your planning to make.
Is your old controller still good? If so, might be worth a try to see if that helps.
:2cents: :2cents:
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the LED display on the old controller doesnt work as the sun ruined the crystals
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Michael---call Dennis Ogg, the Service master @ MAK. He can help you out. His phone # is 503-623-1234. Hes in the office 8AM-5PM, Monday-Friday.
Bar-B-Lew, you might want to give Dennis a call. Those guys know their stuff. When I had talked with him he wanted me to call him back if ti happened again so we could run through some diagnostics with me at the smoker. That might be helpful to you.
Does it seem like the chamber isn't coming up to temp? So maybe the auger isn't turning like it should?
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i started the smoker at 250 degrees and then turned it down to smoke and shortly thereafter it flamed out. i believe this is the same thing that happened the day before too
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i started the smoker at 250 degrees and then turned it down to smoke and shortly thereafter it flamed out. i believe this is the same thing that happened the day before too
That was the exact scenario last winter when I had my 1 and only flameout to date. Had the Pellet Boss set to a temp higher then ‘smoke’ and then went to back the temp down to ‘smoke’. I’ve done it many times, but for some reason it seemed to have problems that one time. Not sure if it was a lack of pellets being fed, or to many (smother the fire). I can’t remember...lol.
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i started the smoker at 250 degrees and then turned it down to smoke and shortly thereafter it flamed out. i believe this is the same thing that happened the day before too
I see, so it's like the Pellet Boss is possibly waiting too long between auger turns because it's trying to drop the temp in the pit. So then the fire smolders due to lack of pellets and then gets smothered when the auger feed picks up again. That would seem to be something with which the folks at MAK would be familiar. I would still call them and ask them; it couldn't hurt.