Should I be sparating fines?

Most Quads have the oversized corkscrew feed auger and fines won't feed up at all leaving a mess in the hopper if the fuel is fine laden. So sift before putting in stove or having to suck the hopper frequently to prevent feed issues.

Most manuals say not to dump fines into your stove. It will clog up auger systems, stove dirtier, burn dirtier and makes your venting system / flue, dirtier. From day one when I started burning pellets, I always cleaned my pellets before burning. So I can't say if that is true, that it will clog up auger. But it make sense about keeping a cleaner burn and cleaner stove inside. What I can tell you is, it will keep your venting system cleaner. They tell you to clean your venting system after every ton burnt. I did this when new to burning, but every time I checked it to clean, there was nothing in it. So I check & clean it about 1/2 way thru burn season. Even then, I would have no problem burning the whole season and not worried about cleaning it at all the whole season.

It will not plug the auger since Quad uses a hollow screw auger,,but you could get bridging issues in drop chute that can cause nuisance shutdowns, or even a hopper fire,cause fines do find their way there. As long as you vacuum bottom of hopper periodically, and watch drop chute, you should be ok. I would make sure you have a vac hose right there when dumping into hopper to keep the dust out of your house. I am a clean freak, so I clean my pellets and my corn. I also have a hose handy when dumping into hopper. If you don't think there is any dust, just dump into hopper when the sun is shining near by.lol kap

I prefer to screen my pellets to avoid auger problems and keep down the dust in the house... If you screen, you also catch bags that have been exposed to moisture which could add a whole lot of mess to your hopper and auger system.

I made a pellet cleaner with pvc pipe and a shop vac. I use a Kanburn cleaner mover for my corn.

Never had issues with fines in my sante fe before...I only vacuum augur once a season.

Lot depends on the pellets, and or corn.

We just dump them in. Ours is a multi fuel so maybe that the difference

The AE is a multi-fuel also.

To each there own

I have and Englander stove. I've been running it for the past 9 years. In those 9 years I've never screened or vacuumed the pellets I put in it. Once I fire it up for the season. It's running 24/7 except when I shut it down for cleaning. Never had any indication of an auger fire or hopper fire. Maybe because I have 2 augers running.

sweets said:

never vacuumed the auger, its a myth

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quads with the open cork screw design auger have a very hard time bringing up fines from the hopper and can eventually just start churning fines and not feeding in enough pellets (as others have already stated), if you have a brand that is pretty much anything other than a quad then chances are you do not have this issue that is specific to quads such as the OP said he has.

I have never had a stove not feed fuel due to fines. And I have gone all season without cleaning bottom of hopper. On occasion. lol

I've been out to them before and other techs from my shop have too, get some one who never cleans it for multiple years and dumps the whole bag in and shakes it for every last pellet to come out along with all the fines at the bottom of the bag. I wish everyone i went out to service would clean there stove a minimum of once a year lol, but seriously i've been out to places where ppl hadn't done anything to the stove but add pellets and scrape the burn pot and thats it for over four years.

edit: also they do feed it just restricts the feeding amount generally causing bad starts and trouble running on low and such.

I too have serviced stoves that just made me sick they were so dirty around electronics and fans. I have pulled ashpans and behind it was stuffed with corn! Surprised the stove could even breath!

SteveA said:

This is my first year with a stove, I had one co worker who told me he spends a little effort to prevent fines from going into the stove claiming they can jam the auger. I've also seen some of the vac powered contraptions to separating fines. Is this overkill or something that should really be done?

I've only cleaned the stove once, I plan to make a habit to do it when the hopper is mostly empty, so I can vac out fines in there. And yah they are definately in there. If it matters, I have a QF calssic bay insert, and have been burning cheapo big box pellets, Heat'rs and Stove Chow.

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I have a CB1200i and have never done anything but dump pellets in right out of the bag. I can see the fines come down the feed chute as the light and fly around as soon as the come down, usually as the hopper nears empty. I do vac them out at the end of the year. Never had an issue in four years.

14 years and I've never 'screened' fines. Not a single auger jam.

In my old St Croix York I had (2) auger jams from fines in Vermonts. I have not had any jams in my Integra with any brand. I think it varies by stove and the amount of fines in the pellets. I let my hopper run empty on Saturday or Sunday morning during the winter when I burn a lot of pellets and vacuum out the fines in the hopper when I do my weekly cleaning. I have never prescreened and pellets but I do dump from the bags into a big wooden chest by the insert and scoop out of the chest into the stove with a grain scoop. The chest hold (4) bags. Quite a lot of fines accumulate in the bottom of the chest and I vac that out once in a while. That probably keeps a lot of them out of the stove.

dhall28 said:

quads with the open cork screw design auger have a very hard time bringing up fines from the hopper and can eventually just start churning fines and not feeding in enough pellets (as others have already stated), if you have a brand that is pretty much anything other than a quad then chances are you do not have this issue that is specific to quads such as the OP said he has.

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I have a Quadrafire Mt Vernon AE and it handles the fines without any problem. When it reaches the end of a hopper load, you can see a trickle of fines coming down with the pellets that are being fed. I have used brands that had excessive fines like lignetics and they fed properly.
My only issue with fines is the dust that settles on everything in the house. This year I'm burning LG Granules and I am pleased with the fact that they are essentially dust free.

Harvey Schneider said:

I have a Quadrafire Mt Vernon AE and it handles the fines without any problem. When it reaches the end of a hopper load, you can see a trickle of fines coming down with the pellets that are being fed. I have used brands that had excessive fines like lignetics and they fed properly.
My only issue with fines is the dust that settles on everything in the house. This year I'm burning LG Granules and I am pleased with the fact that they are essentially dust free.

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I will admit that it is not a super common issue (especially among those who even take decent care of their hopper and pellets), but it is an issue that my stove shop has personally experienced more than once. It is not the very first thing we go after for sure with feed issues, but it can happen in some cases.

I am new to pellets and so when Lowes delivered 2 tons of Timber Heat in August and pierced a bag and left a trail of sawdust down the driveway I paniced and bought a pellet \ corn cleaner off ebay, seems the Timber Heats are not all that bad but I still clean a bag nearly nightly to keep a fresh supply handy, a friend I lent a few bags of NEWPs to last season repaid me with some Natures Own hardwood.. very small pieces, lots of ash and to the point much more in the way of fines were removed with the cleaner including a large amount of small pellet fragments, I could probably sift and burn the fragments as I have a Lopi AGP but for now they sit in the catch bucket awaiting their eventual fate. . as far as I am concerned if using the cleaner saves me a little maint and repairs it is worth it

I burn everything in the bag. fines simply make a little 'flash' show of light sometimes as the ignite quick falling in.

i've never had a clogging issue.

Here is my Rube Goldberg pellet shaker, in pour in 1/3 bag at a time and shake then dump. Repeat....

Made from scrap luan plywood, expanded metal and some old pieces of 1x3

I have an Austroflamm Intehra Gen1 and never ONCE had to worry about fines. Ran all year last season without a problem.