hot rod replacement

sparky

New member
have you ever turned your mak on and dripped the switch. reset the switch and turn your mak on again. same thing. well, you have a blown hot rod. i know this because the first time it happen to me on #336 i called up to mak and talked to bob. he told me to take the side panel off and unplug the hot rod. now turn your mak on and if it works you have a blown hot rod. easy. he also told me how to use my mak w/ a blown hot rod. cool trick. couple days later i am putting in my new hot rod. take the fan off, undo some wires and what not. done, put it back together. works fine. well, to make a long story short. the hot rod went out on #63. call up to mak and talked to bruce. new hot rod in 2 days. from oregon. great customer service. i take the side panel off #63 and see the fan. i see 2 little screws on it. ummm. so i unplug the fan and start wiggling the fan housing around. low and behold the fan on the sheet medal all come off together. how smart is that. no screws. i replaced the hot rod and had her back together in less than 2 minutes. 2 minutes to replace a hot rod. how cool. done. :cool:
 

Big Poppa

Administrator
yeah those rods will bo they go aon all cookers but the one star is easy peasy as you say... the key is to know that it is easy to light manually....
 

bflodan

Member
Same here... BPs tips got me going instantly until my new rod arrived. Very easy to light manually and very easy to replace... The one star sound even easier...
 

Rip

New member
:eek: It's a PITA, but it works in a pinch.

Amen to that, I've been doing mine manually since Christmas day, gotta love loosing your hot rod for two holiday weekends. :( A replacement is on the way, just didn't get here by last Friday.
 

MAK DADDY

Moderator
Great post Sparky, we are continually improving these igniter's along the way as well. Someday they will last forever!
Fire gel works good too, just let the fire get going before turning on the grill.
 

Big Poppa

Administrator
small piece of paper towel soaked in olive ooil with the unit unplugged works too....pellets ssoaken in booze but be careful....
 

Rip

New member
I should get some fire gel and keep it on hand. My method has been:
Run the auger long enough to collect some pellets
Turn off the MAK (to stop the fan)
Squirt the pellets (not to be confused with squirtthecat) with a shot of charcoal lighter fluid
Light with a long handled lighter
Once the pellets are going good, start the MAK back up and life is good.

The biggest PITA of this is taking the parts off to reach the firebox and replacing them...all in all, not too big of deal.

BTW, my replacement hot rod showed up yesterday, yea! Thanks Bob!
 

MAK DADDY

Moderator
Your very welcome Rip!

Out of the almost 900 grills out in the field we replaced 51 igniter's in 2011. Most of these were the older igniter versions so we are continuously improving, my goal is 0 :)

If you do have an issue, don't panic we will always take care of you ASAP!
 

sparky

New member
Out of the almost 900 grills out in the field we replaced 51 igniter's in 2011. don't panic we will always take care of you ASAP!

900 and only 51 igniters went bad. thats fantastic. it comes to .05666666666% thats pretty good. dont panic part. i never do w/ my mak. the ppl up north have excellent customer service as well has BP.
 
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