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MAK burnback - seeking advice to avoid

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    MAK burnback - seeking advice to avoid

    So yesterday I had my second burnback experience on my MAK 2-star. (Which I've owned for 8 years and used happily hundreds of times, so this is an anomaly - but still one I'd like to avoid.)

    The first time (almost 4 years ago), I went to bed after using it and didn't discover until the next day, by which time it had burned through most of a hopper full of pellets, burned off the powder coat inside hopper (I was able to repaint with can from MAK), and damaged the controller beyond repair (I paid to replace it).

    This time I was luckier - I noticed smoke coming out of the (very full) hopper just a few mins after shutdown...so I was able to empty the hopper (pellets were warm at the bottom), turned the grill back on and set to high temp to force all remaining pellets into the fire pot - figured that was best way to get any smoldering pellets out of the auger tube. The pellets I pulled out of the hopper don't smell great but everything else seems to be intact.

    Once it had cooled, I emptied the fire pot and vacuumed out ash throughout. I had allowed quite a bit of ash to accumulate generally since last time, but had emptied the fire pot pretty recently and it wasn't super full.

    So what caused and what to do differently next time..? I was running at 400 as I do frequently...last time this happened, MAK's advice to prevent in future was to leave the lid open during cool down, so I've been doing that ever since, including this time. It was very windy last night, so I wonder if that could have blown the fire toward the augur tube enough for those pellets to catch??

    Would be grateful for anyone's experience and suggestions. I'll also try asking MAK again in case their advice has evolved - last time they said I was the first customer ever to report a hopper fire.

    #2
    Following…I’ve been fortunate enough to not experience this and hope it stays that way. Most of the pellet grills I’ve had have utilized the more traditional auger hopper design like this too and the only thing I’ve ever really seen is some charred pellets in the auger cleaning a pooper out following a higher temp cook. I had seen MAK’s advice about running with the lid open during the shutdown cycle, so have followed that, but rarely did on my other pellet grills because a Traeger and CampChef lid would often blow shut on me anyway.

    I am curious what very windy is? Did you see what speeds were? I could definitely see if winds were up in the 30-40 MPH range stoking any ember not extinguished.

    The only other tip coming to mind that I’ve seen over the years is after high temp cooks to turn down the temp and run a while before shutting down. So, like 200 or smoke. Then if any pellets in the auger were smoldering after a hotter fire, you might get them pushed into the pot and burnt away. If you are running on high, you might need to step down a couple times to get there or leave the lid open for a few minutes after setting to 200, then closing and running 30 mins before finally running the shutdown.

    Comment


    • ItsAllGoneToTheDogs
      ItsAllGoneToTheDogs commented
      Editing a comment
      das85 I'm assuming you upgraded to the new flame zone, but if not maybe that's why they recommended lid open I dunno. That's definitely a question for MAK since your specific setup may be wildly different than what newer owners have. I don't want to give you bad advice.

    • glitchy
      glitchy commented
      Editing a comment
      ItsAllGoneToTheDogs MAK told das85 that and I saw them post it somewhere else too, maybe the MAK FB group. Asking about it in case they’ve changed that recommendation? I know you’ve talked to them a lot recently.
      Last edited by glitchy; February 12, 2022, 11:24 PM.

    • ItsAllGoneToTheDogs
      ItsAllGoneToTheDogs commented
      Editing a comment
      glitchy I thought it used to say in the owners manual, but it doesn't say either way now. Typically between uses I empty the hopper and ramp up to grill mode and use the remaining pellets in the auger for a quick grate burn off, with lid shut, until themp starts dropping then I press the shut down button and let it do its thing. If I'm going to cover the grill after doing this, I do open the lid after it shuts down to expedite cool down.

    #3
    All the burn back issues I've seen on the 2 stars, regardless of year (side vents or back vents) were due to a: dirty vents (to include those going to and out of the smoker box) b: dirty fire pot c: unlevel grill or a combination of the 3.

    Supposedly once someone installed their fan backwards as well, but that's not a problem of the grill design.

    I've only had the issue once and it was a previous cook having absolutely loaded the firepot with a massive bed of ash. I forget what brand pellets it was. I do know in my old location the grill was leveled skewed toward the hopper and I had to put some roof tiles under the wheels to help grease flow better to the other side. But I haven't had issues with anything since moving my grill to a more level location on my deck.

    Comment


    • das85
      das85 commented
      Editing a comment
      Good point to clean out my vents. Usually when those are dirty, I struggle to get to 400 at all - but will take a look in daylight tomorrow. I've had grill in same location for years and think it's level but that's a really interesting one - will check that out too. Thank you!

      If firmware update would add pellet dump at the end then that sounds worth a try. Will see if MAK suggest that too. We think the recent issues have been with new controllers not new firmware right?

    • ItsAllGoneToTheDogs
      ItsAllGoneToTheDogs commented
      Editing a comment
      das85 there was a issue with the new controller with built in wifi, but they figured it out. The new firmware also smokes at higher temps, gets to temps faster, and handles lowering temps much better than the older firmwares in my opinion anyway.

    #4
    glitchy ItsAllGoneToTheDogs I will definitely let you both know when I hear back from MAK, and will check explicitly on both opening lid during shut down (has their advice changed) and firmware (ie is new ending pellet dump meant to prevent this).

    To the q above yes I upgraded to new flame zone in 2019; I already loved my cooker before that, but the upgrade has been incredible. (I had not yet upgraded though at the time of my previous burn back experience.)

    And thanks again for all of your help!

    Comment


      #5
      Updating here...top recommendation from MAK was update the firmware. They are sending the update thingy...immediately which is a very nice improvement from last time I considered updating.

      I asked about lid open/closed during shutdown; response was if this is happening with lid open, then try closing it instead (fair enough).

      So now looking forward to the firmware update! Esp given the comments above on other improvements. Given this was already a once-every-four-years event will be hard to know whether it is making a difference from this perspective (unless it happens again soon), but fingers crossed.

      Thanks again glitchy and ItsAllGoneToTheDogs

      Comment


      • ItsAllGoneToTheDogs
        ItsAllGoneToTheDogs commented
        Editing a comment
        the new firmware does some really crazy stuff for the MAK, I'm not 100% sure it's all intentional. But, you should have extremely fast startup and time to temp even grill temp! As long as the auger was already loaded. If you're like me and run the auger empty between uses it actually takes a bit longer to get going now, nothing horrible, it's like 10-15 minutes. It also smokes very good at much higher temps. Hope to see soon if you have the same experience and others and myself have with it.

      • das85
        das85 commented
        Editing a comment
        Thanks ItsAllGoneToTheDogs I do not run the hopper empty between uses and do frequently use it on weeknights so quick startup will be great!

        I also frequently run at 400 and 275 so more smoke at those temps sounds great too..

      • glitchy
        glitchy commented
        Editing a comment
        I never empty the hopper, but I have a covered patio…so I really don’t have to worry about rain, just humidity. To me, the logic of leaving the lid opened made sense as fire tends to burn towards the most oxygen. Maybe someone like CaptainMike can help us out there if MAK hasn’t completely made up their mind. I will say I see repeatedly from other owners to check vents first any time I see a mention of burn back.
        Last edited by glitchy; February 17, 2022, 01:08 AM.

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