My older 2 star works fine, but if the controller needs replacing, with a Fireboard pellet drive, is anyone making wiring adapters like discussed in the videos above? (That is the worst run-on sentence.}
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I am obviously missing something. If the Pelletboss remains available why would adapter pigtails be needed? -
yakima for people switching to the Fireboard but would potentially switch back if someone were to buy MAK and restore support to the pelletboss. So they aren't cutting any wires, just using pigtails with adapters from the OEM MAK parts to the Fireboard (other than the thermocouple which must change)
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ItsAllGoneToTheDogs Thanks for putting this together!
I have a Mak 1 Star #394 with the new igniter from MaK
I just rejoined Amazing Ribs. Was surprised to see Mak Grills close.Comment
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I have a MAK 2 star in SS. Early this year I bought their new touchscreen Pellet Boss. After getting it set up with some help from Dennis at MAK, the touchscreen has worked flawlessly. I love it. Connects to my phone instantly and never loses the connection. Huge improvement over the old Pellet Boss.
I was sorry to see MAK go. They were producing wonderfully sturdy and beautiful grills made in the USA. Their customer service was very responsive. Not sure what happened to them. Their sales volume seemed to be good. Many of their grills were backordered as they couldn't produce as many as they had buyers for. And they were not cheap.Comment
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By not having app capability, do you mean that the new Pellet Boss will not connect to MAK app on my phone? That would be unfortunate but not all that bad for me. I also use Thermaworks temp probes with very good WIFI and RF connections to a remote. If the new Pellet Boss stopped working on grill, that would be a bummer and force me to go to Fireboard or somewhere else to control the grill. -
briano52 the company is out of business, so yes at some point the prepaid contract ends and all wifi features cease. Manual features will be fine, but the current firmware is highly unstable for some folks and they are seeing swings of 50+ degrees or other gremlins. Fingers crossed yours continues to do what ya tell it
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Thank you dogs for that explanation. When I got my new touchscreen, I had the wild temp swings. I talked to Dennis at MAK, he had me roll back the latest firmware to an earlier version. That worked and now the touchscreen maintains good temp control. Currently, I have no complaints or problems with the touchscreen. I just hope it stays that way.
I have 7 cookers on my patios, so I am not dependent on the MAK. I use it most often for really long cooks like a big pork shoulder.
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Thermocouple test is a success.
In between packing the old house I ran the new unit. It's just slightly longer than the OEM (IMO this could be a good thing getting a little higher than the bottom grate).
It generally runs within .5F of my Fireboard ambient probe. It also reads a little faster than the OEM probe.
Now of course there were issues. I first fired it up and both the MAK and the Fireboard were reading 80ish ambient. But as soon as the grill ignited the MAK temp started going the wrong way. OK, polarity is probably reversed... so I look around and of course I have no electric tape, its at the new house... but I do have my minifit jr crimp kit, so I figured I'd just cut the wires and make a fitting in the middle of the wire... well that didn't work with my shaky hands after stabbing myself a few times I just wrapped the wires around the plug wires and hoped for the best.
Well, it worked so I'll report to the company that the polarity was wrong and get an order link up. I'll be buying a few up front because they will be cheapest on the initial order, but say a year from now you will still be able to get one, the price will just be higher after we get through the initial bulk order phase.
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*EDIT* OEM stock is now gone unless we find someone willing to make a $20K+ bulk purchase
If you have a MAK with the new flashfire ignitor that does not work or is tripping the GFCI please join the MAK Pellet Grills Survivors group immediately (or PM me) as one of our members was able to secure 70 ignitors from the OEM manufacturer. We are prioritizing people with broken ignitors first please.
A week from now he will be selling the remaining ignitors to all users. The price is like 53 bucks.
Once his units are sold, a member of a different BBQ group has found a verified replacement ignitor that works, but you have to connect the connector yourself and the price is quite a bit higher due to tarrifs amd such... but I will add the sorce to the parts list soon.Last edited by ItsAllGoneToTheDogs; September 13, 2026, 10:55 AM.Comment
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A major update, one of the FB members was able to hijack the MAK signal and get wifi controls/features working for when MAKs server inevitably goes down...
"(Posting from my wife’s account since I don’t use Facebook. Apologies in advance if my replies are a bit delayed!)
UPDATE - I created a docker image and shared some code and instructions on GitHub. https://github.com/bawilson2/mak-controller
Check it out and see if it works for you!
With MAK closing down, I didn’t want to lose the ability to monitor my grill over Wi-Fi once the external servers inevitably go dark.
I spent some time reverse-engineering the communication protocol. The messaging is straightforward, and I now have a local instance running reliably on my home network without relying on MAK’s cloud backend.
Before I invest time into cleaning up the repository, packaging everything cleanly, and writing setup guides, I wanted to gauge interest here to see if this is worth sharing.
Right now, I have it running as a lightweight Docker container (ideal for a Raspberry Pi, NAS, or home server).
If you'd be interested in running a self-hosted instance to keep your grill's network functionality alive, drop a comment below and let me know what hardware or platform you’d realistically run it on (e.g., Docker, Home Assistant, a Raspberry Pi, or a standard Windows/Mac machine).
That will help me see what the technical baseline looks like and decide the best way to package and document it for the group."
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I quit using MAK’s WiFi/app 2-3 years ago. It was too unreliable when they started shifting to the app versus the website and I got sick of it disconnecting and my grill dropping back to smoke mode. With you having the code though now, I might play around with it over the winter. I’d probably run it on a Pi I have lying around and never used for much if it’s up to date enough to run it. -
I would like to give it a try. I have a space Windows laptop I could dedicate to. It would be at or above my competence level.
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Thermocouples are now available for order https://tscsensors.com/products/repl...ith-mak-grillsComment
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I got a sold out flagComment
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Thanks for sharing our product link. I’m with INNOVACERA and wanted to add a few details for owners considering this replacement.
The configuration verified for use in a MAK 2 Star General is 120V, 230W, with 900mm (35.4-inch) leads.
You can now find the product details and order through our new online store:
INNOVACERA ceramic igniter — product details and ordering
Please select the configuration above and compare the mounting dimensions and connector with your existing igniter before ordering, especially if your grill has an older or modified ignition assembly. If you’re unsure, feel free to share photos—we can help compare the specifications.
We’re an independent supplier, not affiliated with MAK Grills. Happy to answer questions about our igniter here.
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