Will it Fit? Compatibility of the FireBoard Pellet Drive with Z Grills

“Will the FireBoard Pellet Drive fit my “X Brand” smoker/grill?”

This is a common question for those considering retrofitting their smoker with the Pellet Drive. FireBoard has performed extensive testing on the main 3-4 brands of pellet smokers and found the Pellet Drive to be compatible with them in most situations. However, there are many brands and models of smokers that we aren’t even aware of, much less able to evaluate for compatibility with the Pellet Drive. That said, testing continues, even after the initial announcement and shipment of the Pellet Drive!

One of the latest models to find its way to the FireBoard HQ is a small Z Grills pellet smoker. This unit is smaller than many pellet grills on the market. But, it provided a great opportunity to get inside the workings of another brand and see if the Pellet Drive is compatible.

The tell-tale sign of compatibility is the use of 2 pin Molex (white/clear) connectors on the inside of the smoker for the power, fan(s), auger and igniter. If your particular smoker has these internal connections, then, it will generally be 100% compatible with the FireBoard Pellet Drive. If your smoker doesn’t have the Molex connectors, then compatibility is uncertain and you would have to do some other diagnostics to determine this. If your smoker uses an eternal power brick (wall wart), compatibility is unlikely.

It was previously determined through a quick search on the specific Z Grills model that the controller does use the Molex connectors. So, it was quite certain that at least the electronics would be compatible. Upon opening up the unit, it was determined that the wiring install would be relatively simple, with just a cut of the internal temperature probe wires as the only destructive part of that step. The other wires were plenty long enough. A medium sized hole was required to be cut into the body of this particular smoker in order to accommodate the wiring harness. Outside that, the most challenging part was installing the ground wire from the circuit board on the Pellet Drive.

This process was documented in the above video. And this Z Grills model certainly doesn’t reflect all of the models in the Z Grills line. In fact, it might actually be a bit of an outlier in the pellet grill universe. But, with a bit of ingenuity, the FireBoard Pellet Drive found its way onto this smoker and functioned perfectly! What an awesome opportunity to turn this would-be forgotten smoker into a FireBoard controlled and monitored cooking machine!

Stay tuned to our social, email and web channels for the latest information and thanks for taking interest in the FireBoard story!