MAK Grills Tech Talk, Hopper Switch for Auger Safety

MAK DADDY

Moderator
The Hopper Switch is a safety device designed to stop the auger whenever the hopper lid is open exposing the auger spinning pellets into the grill. You will see other brands use a screen to pour pellets through and keep hands out. The problem with this is obvious difficulty removing anything from the hopper as well as being a pain to add pellets. The switch works from a magnetic sensor that is installed inside of the fan panel and a magnet attached to the hopper lid. Whenever the hopper lid is opened the Pellet Boss will display “Hopper Open” and the auger will not turn (feed pellets) until closed again.

Tips: Don’t overfill the hopper or pile the pellets high in the middle keeping the lid from closing or the switch will not make contact and give the alert on the screen. During this time the grill will still be operating except for the feeding of pellets so correct the problem by closing the lid all the way ASAP.
If removing the fan panel for maintenance of any kind be sure to unplug the grill first and hold onto the panel when removing the screws so it doesn’t fall and pull the hopper switch wires out of the control board. Once you have the fan panel free you can reach in and disconnect the switch from the back of the control board.
 

Mowat

New member
When did this get implemented. I'm pretty sure my 2 star doesn't have it. But would like to confirm.
 

rwalters

New member
Call me nuts, but one of the first things I did was disconnect the hopper switch from the back of the controller. I just prefer that the auger not stop when I open the lid. I believe it was Bruce (could be mistaken) that told me the reason behind this “auger stop” was to be able to sell MAK’s in Canada... is that correct?
 

MAK DADDY

Moderator
Call me nuts, but one of the first things I did was disconnect the hopper switch from the back of the controller. I just prefer that the auger not stop when I open the lid. I believe it was Bruce (could be mistaken) that told me the reason behind this “auger stop” was to be able to sell MAK’s in Canada... is that correct?

We added this for UL requirements.
 
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