Mak 1S General - Lots of smoke out of pellet hopper?

kirkk

New member
Got my 1-Star General last November and love it but have a question about smoke exiting the cooking chamber. I've noticed that when I'm cooking a lot of smoke comes out the pellet hopper lid and the sides of the cooking chamber lid while very little to none comes out the vents on the back of the unit.

The food seems to come out fine so I'm not real worried about it but I'm just wondering if this is normal.

Thanks!
Kirk
 

TentHunter

Moderator
This was just asked by someone else a few weeks ago: Smoke from the pellet hopper

In a nutshell, clean your vents!

If you're getting smoke out of the hopper (and no smoke from the vents) it's back pressure caused from build-up in the vents.

If you have the wind screen in the back of the cook chamber, you'll need to take that out first. I keep a plastic scraper on hand for this task and clean them out every few months.
 

kirkk

New member
Thank you for the reply. I actually cleaned the vents just before this cook and it did this even on the very first cook so I don't think it's dirty vents but I'll clean them really good again before the next cook and see if it happens again.

Thanks!
Kirk
 

TentHunter

Moderator
Thank you for the reply. I actually cleaned the vents just before this cook and it did this even on the very first cook so I don't think it's dirty vents but I'll clean them really good again before the next cook and see if it happens again.

Thanks!
Kirk

Did you remove the wind/downdraft baffle covering the vents from the inside back (if you have one - not everyone does)? If not, then there could be blockage that you're not seeing.

In this pic you can see the wind/downdraft baffle along the back held in by four bolts/nuts.
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If this doesn't fix it for you, give MAK a call! Smoke coming out of the hopper and sides, but not the vents is not normal.
 
Last edited:

mrbbq

New member
Smoke from pellet hopper

Got my 1-Star General last November and love it but have a question about smoke exiting the cooking chamber. I've noticed that when I'm cooking a lot of smoke comes out the pellet hopper lid and the sides of the cooking chamber lid while very little to none comes out the vents on the back of the unit.

The food seems to come out fine so I'm not real worried about it but I'm just wondering if this is normal.

Thanks!
Kirk

Kirk---like Tenthunter said, clean your vents. BUT ALSO...empty your firepot. What is happening is that the ash level has brought the fire up to the level of the auger tube, so when you shut off your grill, or switch to smoke, it travels up the channel of least resistance, which means it will come up the auger tube to exit through the pellet hopper.
If it's an ash build up situation, then you might want to switch brands/variety of pellets. Some brands generate more ash than others.

Also--its a good idea to regularly empty your firepot, especially after a long-term cook. I empty mine every 4-6 uses. But always start with a clean firepot if i am going to smoke something. Hope this helps.
 
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