I give up

[jabe999]

Scooter solved my problem! I had clogged vents in the lid of my grill. My grill got to 480 degrees. No up and down of the temperature. Just a steady climb. My sear grates were about 625. Certainly hot enough for steaks. Thanks Scooter.
Suggestion to MAK customer support. Have the customer send pictures or have them check their vents.

 

[mcschlotz]

Woohoo!!!! So glad to hear you got your MAK smokin'. Great Job Scooter!

 

[TentHunter]

Scooter solved my problem! I had clogged vents in the lid of my grill.

Yep, makes sense now, and it's great to know you can get back to enjoying your MAK!

My friend Jason (who bought my first 1 Star) had the exact same temperature issues with his MAK, BUT he was also getting smoke coming out of the hopper, and some back burn, which was a HUGE clue to what was wrong.

I told him to check the vents and to also call MAK. The first thing they told him was to check the vents. Lo and behold, the vents in his 1 Star were almost completely clogged. Once he got his vents unclogged, the MAK was back to running like a champ.


I keep a plastic scraper on hand to scrape the vents out periodically and take the wind baffle off at least once a year for a thorough cleaning.

 

[Salmonsmoker]

Good to hear jabe999! Scooter, you get three "atta boys" for this!

 

[scooter]

Awesome!! You're welcome J.B.
Like Tent said, just keep some sort of port cleaning tool handy and stay on top of keeping all of them clean (Not just the vents in the cooking chamber) and you'll never have that issue again.

 

[wolverines]

Awesome. It Just goes to show how awesome the people on this forum and the eagerness to help one another on here is!

Now lets see some pics of your cooks!!