Hamers.....Way too much ash to handle in my 25-PDV!!!!!

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jjones139

jjones139

Feeling the Heat
Dec 9, 2013
283
Orange County, NY
When I scored a ton of Hamers Hot Ones at my local Lowe's I was extremely happy, especially upon reading all the reviews. However, I am getting so much ash that it has become the DEATH of me. Although they burn extremely HOT, I simply can't stand the substantial amount of ash. Prior to Hamers I was burning Prestos, which I would take over these Hamers any day. If someone may have a suggestion to lessen the ash buildup on the burn plate I am all ears to listen. If not, I WILL NOT burn the remaining 45 bags and go back to my reliable Prestos......I'm scratching my dam head on this, especially because so many on this site love their Hamers.
 
jjones139 said:
When I scored a ton of Hamers Hot Ones at my local Lowe's I was extremely happy, especially upon reading all the reviews. However, I am getting so much ash that it has become the DEATH of me. Although they burn extremely HOT, I simply can't stand the substantial amount of ash. Prior to Hamers I was burning Prestos, which I would take over these Hamers any day. If someone may have a suggestion to lessen the ash buildup on the burn plate I am all ears to listen. If not, I WILL NOT burn the remaining 45 bags and go back to my reliable Prestos......I'm scratching my dam head on this, especially because so many on this site love their Hamers.
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Sorry to hear you're having issues with the Hamer's. Have not tried them myself. I don't think there is much that can be done to reduce the ash produced by the pellets. It may be a PIA, but I would take them back to where I bought them. How much were they?
I too have burned the prest o's, and thought they were pretty descent. Liking the chow's much better tho(more heat)
 
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jjones139 said:
When I scored a ton of Hamers Hot Ones at my local Lowe's I was extremely happy, especially upon reading all the reviews. However, I am getting so much ash that it has become the DEATH of me. Although they burn extremely HOT, I simply can't stand the substantial amount of ash. Prior to Hamers I was burning Prestos, which I would take over these Hamers any day. If someone may have a suggestion to lessen the ash buildup on the burn plate I am all ears to listen. If not, I WILL NOT burn the remaining 45 bags and go back to my reliable Prestos......I'm scratching my dam head on this, especially because so many on this site love their Hamers.
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My suggestion is to send them my way so I can confirm your displeasure.
You should have no issue reselling them...
 
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WoodPorn said:
My suggestion is to send them my way so I can confirm your displeasure.
You should have no issue reselling them...
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I don't think I will be doing any reselling of them simply because I have called five different places and all five places have absolutely no pellets in stock and they went on to say that they do not know when they will be getting more! I'm going to start mixing them in my hopper with the presto logs that I have. Heck, I guess it could be worse by them not giving off any heat and also giving heavy ash. I will take the good rather than the bad. I can live with the ash, but I would be very upset if they were not hot.
 
jjones139 said:
I don't think I will be doing any reselling of them simply because I have called five different places and all five places have absolutely no pellets in stock and they went on to say that they do not know when they will be getting more! I'm going to start mixing them in my hopper with the presto logs that I have. Heck, I guess it could be worse by them not giving off any heat and also giving heavy ash. I will take the good rather than the bad. I can live with the ash, but I would be very upset if they were not hot.
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I usually like Hammers but after going through half of a pallet in my current batch my PB105 is acting up and I can't get a clean burn. I'm not ready to say the pellets are the problem cause I haven't checked the boiler out. But they burned great for a few days and last night when I got home I was dumping a lot of partially burned pellets into the ashpan. Changed my feed (lowered), scraped the pot and had a nice flame but found a pile of partially burned again this morning. Almost seems like there is too much moisture in the pellet but I will know more tonight when I do a good cleaning and fire things up again.
 
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You know what? I was elated to see them for Sale @ Lowe's in PA. And at $230/ton I jumped on two tons with out blinking an eye. I too am getting a great deal of ash in my P68, more than I've ever seen with the many Hamer's I've burned over the last few years in fact these are the ashiest pellets I've ever burned. So what's the diff? The Hamer's I've burned in the past were labeld as "Ultra Premium Grade" with an ash contect > .5% ... the Hamer's from Lowes are labeled as "Premium Grade" with an ash content of >1.0%. I've seen some other folks posting that they've spoke with people in the industry and have talked to Hamer directly, all are proclaimng that these are the same Hamer pellets that they've always been. The difference between what I'm burning now and the Hamer's I've burned in the past is profound! There is no way these pellets are the Hamer's of old. I can't complain about the heat they're throwing and the P68 is dealing with the mounds of ash but, I'm not enthusiastically satisfied with them. Next year it's 5 tons of Turman right out of the shoot!
 
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gengle said:
You know what? I was elated to see them for Sale @ Lowe's in PA. And at $230/ton I jumped on two tons with out blinking an eye. I too am getting a great deal of ash in my P68, more than I've ever seen with the many Hamer's I've burned over the last few years in fact these are the ashiest pellets I've ever burned. So what's the diff? The Hamer's I've burned in the past were labeld as "Ultra Premium Grade" with an ash contect > .5% ... the Hamer's from Lowes are labeled as "Premium Grade" with an ash content of >1.0%. I've seen some other folks posting that they've spoke with people in the industry and have talked to Hamer directly, all are proclaimng that these are the same Hamer pellets that they've always been. The difference between what I'm burning now and the Hamer's I've burned in the past is profound! There is no way these pellets are the Hamer's of old. I can't complain about the heat they're throwing and the P68 is dealing with the mounds of ash but, I'm not enthusiastically satisfied with them. Next year it's 5 tons of Turman right out of the shoot!
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I won't be returning or selling those Hamers anytime soon since apparently we have a pellet shortage in our area. I'm just little annoyed because of the great reviews I've read about Hamers. HOT is great, but lots of ASH sucks!!! Oh well, I'm gonna mix them with my Prestos, which I truly like!!! I have a ton of Prestos and a ton of HOT ASHY Hamers to burn and hope that gets me to warmer weather!!
 
jjones139 said:
When I scored a ton of Hamers Hot Ones at my local Lowe's I was extremely happy, especially upon reading all the reviews. However, I am getting so much ash that it has become the DEATH of me. Although they burn extremely HOT, I simply can't stand the substantial amount of ash. Prior to Hamers I was burning Prestos, which I would take over these Hamers any day. If someone may have a suggestion to lessen the ash buildup on the burn plate I am all ears to listen. If not, I WILL NOT burn the remaining 45 bags and go back to my reliable Prestos......I'm scratching my dam head on this, especially because so many on this site love their Hamers.
Click to expand...

You could try bumping your LBA up some to try and help eject some of that ash our of your burnpot.
 
I`m not surprised. Inconsistency is a common denominator with wood pellets. It`s a throw of the dice at times and brand the name alone doesn`t always mean what it once was.
I loved Dry Creek pellets but they don`t seem to be what they were 4-5 yrs ago. The same with Lignetics.
I`m also finding difference within the 4 tons of LogiK-E one that I am burning this year.
It`s got to be difficult and probably impossible for any pellet maker to obtain the same raw material year in and year out.
I see it as just another reason why pellet stoves aren`t ready for prime time consideration as a main heating system. Way too many variations and inconsistancies from beginning to end.
Certainly not a major issue for most of us on the forums here but for the other uninitiated out there , pellet stoves can be a bigger PIA than a wood stove.
 
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MCPO said:
I`m not surprised. Inconsistency is a common denominator with wood pellets. It`s a throw of the dice at times and brand the name alone doesn`t always mean what it once was.
I loved Dry Creek pellets but they don`t seem to be what they were 4-5 yrs ago. The same with Lignetics.
I`m also finding difference within the 4 tons of LogiK-E one that I am burning this year.
It`s got to be difficult and probably impossible for any pellet maker to obtain the same raw material year in and year out.
I see it as just another reason why pellet stoves aren`t ready for prime time consideration as a main heating system. Way too many variations and inconsistancies from beginning to end.
Certainly not a major issue for most of us on the forums here but for the other uninitiated out there , pellet stoves can be a bigger PIA than a wood stove.
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I agree 100 % with the PIA, LOL!!! I will NEVER own a wood stove because being brought up and raised in a home that had a wood burning furnace and a wood stove I spent every Sunday cutting, splitting and stacking wood. UGH!!!
 
slvrblkk said:
You could try bumping your LBA up some to try and help eject some of that ash our of your burnpot.
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May I ask what you would think I should raise the LBA to? I'm currently using the factory 6, 4, 1. I will try anything to decrease the ash....Thanks :)
 
Maybe 6 or 7 just to try.....you go too much and you're throwing heat out the vent....Might not make a difference but it's something just to try. Last year's Great American pellets were the ashiest I burned in a long time....hated them.....so I know where you are coming from! The Hot Ones burned great for me the other week when I bought 5 bags though.
 
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slvrblkk said:
Maybe 6 or 7 just to try.....you go too much and you're throwing heat out the vent....Might not make a difference but it's something just to try. Last year's Great American pellets were the ashiest I burned in a long time....hated them.....so I know where you are coming from! The Hot Ones burned great for me the other week when I bought 5 bags though.
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Maybe I will try upward increments of 1 and watch. I love the heat given off from the Hamers, but I could definitely do without all the ash!!!!
 
photo.JPG Wow scored that lowes deal to, mine have hardly any ash and are burning very good.... The only thing I see is a bunch of big fines, well chuncks in my bags.
Have to sift these or u are going to get a auger jam.
 
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Fish On said:
View attachment 125866 Wow scored that lowes deal to, mine have hardly any ash and are burning very good.... The only thing I see is a bunch of big fines, well chuncks in my bags.
Have to sift these or u are going to get a auger jam.
Click to expand...

What's up with the chunks? That's kinda odd!! Happy burning....
 
Fish On said:
More like splinters, but the price was killer and my quad loves them
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I grabbed 2 ton at $179 each thanks to my buddies employee discount :)
 
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I was shocked when I purchased THEEEE Somersets from my local Lowes. My O'Malleys produced a cleaner burn. I think the lowes and Home Depots get the pellets that they won't send to the stove shops. They have to run batches that don't make the cut or the raw material wasn't up to snuff. Just my opinion.
 
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tonyd said:
I was shocked when I purchased THEEEE Somersets from my local Lowes. My O'Malleys produced a cleaner burn. I think the lowes and Home Depots get the pellets that they won't send to the stove shops. They have to run batches that don't make the cut or the raw material wasn't up to snuff. Just my opinion.
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I agree with you 100%!!! What you said is true with other items that are sold in the big box stores so why would pellets be any different?? I got lots to think about for NEXT season?????
 
This Hamer's pellet quality is becoming equal to the grassy knoll in conspiracy theories. I called the company and they took a shipment of the wrong bags, even if you look at their website the bag says Premium Grade. It is all the same pellet from the same factory.

http://www.hamerpellet.com/ Call them and ask, they answered all my questions 888-468-6637
 
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Madcodger said:
I think we're simply seeing two "models" of pellets - Ultra Premium and "Premium" - but worlds apart in quality
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previous posts on this forum say that the plant denies there are any differences between the two pellets.
 
mik_kane said:
This Hamer's pellet quality is becoming equal to the grassy knoll in conspiracy theories. I called the company and they took a shipment of the wrong bags, even if you look at their website the bag says Premium Grade. It is all the same pellet from the same factory.

http://www.hamerpellet.com/ Call them and ask, they answered all my questions 888-468-6637
Click to expand...
Same pellet? Perhaps. Same performance? No way, no doubt!
 
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