Lee Energy Pellets : Hopper Fire Hazard ?

Ok, I;m asking the question again, have pellet fines known to cause hopper fires? I think your just over reacting, the stove would not get approvals if it was a concern?

hyfire said:

Ok, I;m asking the question again, have pellet fines known to cause hopper fires? I think your just over reacting, the stove would not get approvals if it was a concern?

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I don't see how they could on a Quad. First they would have to burn up the chute where there is a snap disk to shut the stove down on overheat. Then they would have to burn down the auger, where there is a second snap disk that shuts the entire system down. The fines would burn very quickly and run out of additional fines needed to sustain the fire once the auger was shut down by either of the snap disks. Anything's possible but this would be a stretch.

Pelleting In NJ said:

I am over-reacting, but burning down my house for a $4 bag of pellets does not seem like a good gamble.

I have never before seen flames inside the drop-tube........a few more inches and the pellets at the top of the auger could ignite......not comfortable with that.

And when I cleaned out all the pellets in the hopper, there was plenty of wood-dust/fines in the auger up-tube, and the bottom of the hopper...a flame would have a nice path into the bottom of the hopper.

As far as snap-disc switches for overtemp safety : do you really want to see if the auger fire and/or hopper fire stops if the snap-disc trips??????

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What kind of stove are you talking about? You don't show it in your signature. We all deal with fines one way or the other. I sift them out, as I've shown while others just dump the bag into the hopper. The snap disks are there for a reason and trigger at 250 degrees, well below sustained combustion levels. If you saw a flash fire up the tube and feel that strongly about it then perhaps your best course of action is to list the stove on craigslist and ease your tension. I don't want to sit up all night worrying about whether your house burned down. Of course, I'm being sarcastic! Sit back, have another beer, and watch the fire. All is well.

Pelleting In NJ said:

It's an Ecoteck Elena stove. Over the three years of use I have probably poured 16000 pounds of pellets into the hopper, and have never worried about fines. I put 80 pounds of Lee Energy pellets into the stove and I see a continuous flame inside the pellet drop tube, about 2 to 3 inches up into the tube. I have no worries about hopper fires with my normal pellet brands I have used (Presto-Log, Stove Chow, C&C Smith).

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Maybe it's time to build my sifter then!

pell it said:

My ash pan is half full after three days burning Lee pellets and the ash pan is quite large!!

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This is after only ten bags of Lee Energy pellets!! Crazy ash

Ash is the worst I've seen!!, even more than North American's

tjnamtiw said:

Sure looks like Matterhorn!

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Not the Matterhorn I know. Unless some sort of weird angle. Can't see the east face.

Never heard back from a email sent to them, told how bad there pellet's sucked!

Vacuum assist cleaner/sifter for sale on ebay, item #331067435941. $34.95

Fines are not a problem with mine it's the horrendous ash even after burning a day, my stove will be choked up in a week, I did not want to do am major clean until end of season

Pelleting In NJ said:

My exhaust temperature was about 280F with the Lee. With decent pellets (Presto-Log or Lignetics/Stove Chow) is about 340F.

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Wow, you're losing a LOT OF HEAT up that stack! My temperature using a contact pyrometer RIGHT AT the output of the combustion blower is 160 degrees! My guess is you're using an infrared detector and taking a reading on the nice shiny pipe. At least I hope so! That's way too hot. What kind of stove do you have?

Lee Energy is the worst.

Weird thing about the ash it is the lightest ash i've ever seen, problem is it wont pack down like heavy ash like burning FSU

bonesy said:

Vacuum assist cleaner/sifter for sale on ebay, item #331067435941. $34.95

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Have you tried this? I DIYed a sifter from plans here but this one is very compact and would be worth the $35.... if it works well on pellets.

BrotherBart said:

Alabama.

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looks like the Alabama hills (foreground) in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. The State of Alabama does have many mountains some get snow throughout the winter.

Lake Girl said:

Have you tried this? I DIYed a sifter from plans here but this one is very compact and would be worth the $35.... if it works well on pellets.

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I did not try it because I have yet to have any issues with fines in my BigE but it does seem to be worth it. One time I could've used it is when I get a bag that's been wet, I could sift out the sawdust and save the good pellets. Ended up creating my own "sifter" by drilling holes in the lid of a 5 gallon bucket and shaking the pellets inside upside down.

I'm in the same boat as you. We picked up about 30 bags of the Lee pellets from HD about two weeks ago, and they're the worst of all that I've burned this year. Far more creosote buildup than I've ever seen on any other product, and the ash is terrible, too. If it weren't still so far from steady 60d weather, I'd just throw the last five bags out and consider it a lesson learned.

ETA: Here's the stuff I'm talking about, for those of you who don't know what it looks like. Having some pellets on a cold day is better than having none and freezing, but this stuff is just awful.

I'M WAITING TO FIND SOMETHING ELSE SO I CAN RETURN THE 40 OR SO BAG'S I HAVE LEFT

I just finished a ton of that cat litter. Got lucky and got the last 24 bags from TSC . No more to be had that I know of. I emailed lee energy never got response. Hell of a way to do business .

Glad my BigE eats those Lee Energys right up with no problem

My 25pdvc eats them too. I clean 3 x more than normal

THEY BURN OK, NO CLINKERS JUST ASH UP THE ASS