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[darita]

Back around Xmas, I got a Flash Fire igniter to replace a burnt out old style igniter.  At the same time, I had Dennis Ogg update my 5 year old MAK to the new software.
When I first started using the new combo, I noticed that there were much larger variances in Set Temps, as opposed to Grill Temp.  Dennis said it had something to do with how the new PB displays the temps and all was OK, so I went forward.  On my first overnighter, I had a flame out in the middle of the cook, with pellets overflowing the fire pot.  I cleaned everything out and restarted and had a few other flame outs, just trying to get the temps up to the 225 to 250 range.  Since then, I've had several flame outs in various different circumstances.
I called Dennis several times and he told me to try this and try that, but nothing seemed to work.  Finally, last week, at the start of  a brisket overnighter, I went to start the MAK 2 and it went straight to flame out, without giving any smoke.  I opened things up and watched the fire pot after trying to start again and no flame, no heat, no nothing...just pellets.
Dennis is now sending me another Flash Fire, but I'm afraid the the issue has something to do with the new PB software and Flash Fire.  Something doesn't seem right.  With the old set up, this MAK was as dependable as it could be.  It was my go-to cooker.  Now, I can't trust it to do anything.

[Bentley]

Maybe a bad flash fire unit, let us know how the new one performes!

[darita]

Maybe a bad flash fire unit, let us know how the new one performes!

Hi Bentley.  I hope it's that simple.

[Jimsbarbecue]

Do not worry the folks at MAK want it fixed too. We updated both of ours and they work good. You will be happy when it works properly

[darita]

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.

[elenis]

I have always had wonderful interacting with Mak when I have needed support. A story of a dumb mistake I made is when I first got my flash fire I got it installed and tested and was super impressed with how fast it hit temp, but I only ran it long enough to hit temp then let it go through cool down. I thought it would be all ready for my next cook. I went to do an actual cook and kept getting flame outs and I couldn't figure out what was going, in my case it turned out i plugged in the cable for the igniter and auger in the wrong spots. So during start up the auger would turn and the igniter would light, but after it went past that point it just turned on the igniter rather then feeding pellets from the auger. I couldn't figure out for the life of me what was going on. The first step they had me check was that I hadn't put the fan in backwards and it was during that call I figured out the dumb thing I had done and it worked fine. The firmware upgrade on mine really helped with the winter cooks when I had issues with it struggling to hit 140 fast enough instead of it just looking for the the temp to climb enough that it knows it is lit.

[Canadian John]

I have always had wonderful interacting with Mak when I have needed support. A story of a dumb mistake I made is when I first got my flash fire I got it installed and tested and was super impressed with how fast it hit temp, but I only ran it long enough to hit temp then let it go through cool down. I thought it would be all ready for my next cook. I went to do an actual cook and kept getting flame outs and I couldn't figure out what was going, in my case it turned out i plugged in the cable for the igniter and auger in the wrong spots. So during start up the auger would turn and the igniter would light, but after it went past that point it just turned on the igniter rather then feeding pellets from the auger. I couldn't figure out for the life of me what was going on. The first step they had me check was that I hadn't put the fan in backwards and it was during that call I figured out the dumb thing I had done and it worked fine. The firmware upgrade on mine really helped with the winter cooks when I had issues with it struggling to hit 140 fast enough instead of it just looking for the the temp to climb enough that it knows it is lit.

It's easy to inter mix connectors. You aren't the first. It simply reinforces marking the connectors, noting the wire colors, or taking a photo..I opt for marking the connectors.

[darita]

OK...got a new controller and Flash Fire from MAK.  Once installed, everything tested out good.  First rib cook, I incrementally went from smoke, up to 300*, just to test.  Everything went great, with only 5* variance from set temps.
Gotta say, Bob at MAK, really does stand behind his smokers and wants to make sure that everyone is happy with their MAKs.  I asked for nothing...he offered everything.  I'm a happy smoker again!

[Canadian John]

 
 That is very good news. Now on with cooking.