A Repost about Pellet "fines Phobia"

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Tonyray

Tonyray

Minister of Fire
Dec 11, 2013
3,507
Bucks County,Pa /North of Phila Eagles
Thought this was kinda funny to re-post from last year.

  1. I just empties another bag into the hopper. I stopped short of emptying the entire bag. I sifted the last few pounds with my wife's colander (don't tell her). I wound up with a measuring cup of fines/dust. (again, don't tell her).

    Because I have an insert, and it is SUCH a pleasure to get to the fines box, will I have a problem if the fines box gets packed and I don't clean it for a while? I'm still learning about pellet burning and the insert itself.

    Whadayathink???




  2. ↑
    Whadayathink???
    What do I think????? I'll tell ya.
    I think you are burning some of the best pellets available in one of the finest stoves you can get. The combination of the two is bulletproof and and as a result, your life Steve, well at least your "pellet burning world," is pretty effin good right now. I also think that I cannot wait until the day in MY life when I have time to grab my wife's colander and sift a moderately fined pellet for a stove that won't even appreciate your efforts because fines in a Harman is a non-issue. Take that Harman of yours, stuff her full of Pointes, and know that for both pellets and stoves, you could have done way, way worse. Burn baby, burn.​
 
Never sifted a bag in the seven years I've had my Harman Accentra insert. It digests fines, long pellets and small forest creatures without a hiccup. Fines box gets cleaned yearly, if I remember to that is. Never enough in it to matter. Burn on little Harman, burn on! :)
 
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F4jock said:
Never sifted a bag in the seven years I've had my Harman Accentra insert. It digests fines, long pellets and small forest creatures without a hiccup. Fines box gets cleaned yearly, if I remember to that is. Never enough in it to matter. Burn on little Harman, burn on! :)
Click to expand...
Amen.....
 
F4jock said:
Never sifted a bag in the seven years I've had my Harman Accentra insert. It digests fines, long pellets and small forest creatures without a hiccup. Fines box gets cleaned yearly, if I remember to that is. Never enough in it to matter. Burn on little Harman, burn on! :)
Click to expand...

Like you I just burn it all, I do clean the fines box every ton used, but its a piece of cake on the XXV.
 
I kind of don't understand this talk of fines. They fall into the pot and burn up best I can tell. The ones that corral around the auger entrance in the hopper get vacuumed out if and when I accidentally let it run dry, otherwise I don't worry about them.
 
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F4jock said:
Never sifted a bag in the seven years I've had my Harman Accentra insert. It digests fines, long pellets and small forest creatures without a hiccup. Fines box gets cleaned yearly, if I remember to that is. Never enough in it to matter. Burn on little Harman, burn on! :)
Click to expand...
For people with some other brand stoves it's probably not a phobia. I know my Harman though, I just dump it all in the hopper, let her rip.
 
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This comes up every so often...I've used a colander and regularly use a home made pellet vac. I have a variety of pellet brands..Some more fines and dust than others.. When I dump a bag into the hopper I can see the dust . Vacuuming cuts that dust way down..thus less going into house..
 
WTH is a fines box? My crap just traverses down the auger and drops in the burn put and gets consumed....
 
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I leave the fines in. When they it the burn pot, I am treated to a fireworks show with sparks flying everywhere.
 
Chrisnow86 said:
Why is it the wife's tools from the kitchen always work best with pellet stoves? Haha
Click to expand...
I did the colander thing ONCE last year Only.. the middle of a bag had damp swollen pellets..[looked like Wood filler stuff]
...Unlike the OP, I fessed up to the Mrs..;em
 
Fines and ash with crap pellets clog up my auger so bad that it won't feed. Next winter, this stove will be on part time duty in the basement though.
 
Helga says fines are fine.
 
They burn why throw them out? They go right through the small intestine to the large and finally out the shoot...
 
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Quad MVAE and 20 year old Whitfield Quest. Both think fines are like sprinkles on ice cream - just adds to their pellet treat. Sifting / vacuuming pellets? Can't even imagine it.
 
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Vacuum's are fine for pet hair.....
 
you mean you are supposed to take the pellets out of the bag...................... I just open the hopper and throw the bag in.
 
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F4jock said:
Never sifted a bag in the seven years I've had my Harman Accentra insert. It digests fines, long pellets and small forest creatures without a hiccup. Fines box gets cleaned yearly, if I remember to that is. Never enough in it to matter. Burn on little Harman, burn on! :)
Click to expand...

Good to read this, being an Accentra owner (w/Hamers). Like most internet advice, one gets conflicting input. I was starting to worry that I should be dismantling the stove after every bag.
 
tiger said:
Good to read this, being an Accentra owner (w/Hamers). Like most internet advice, one gets conflicting input. I was starting to worry that I should be dismantling the stove after every bag.
Click to expand...



I have been burning 2 bags of Somersets a day, going on 3rd week no issues. I will shut down this weekend and clean. Harmans are tanks, burn good pellets and they will keep running.
As I like to say "set it and forget it". Why take something so simple and complicate it. Vac pellets, shut down daily and vacuum heck I'll just turn the thermostat back on. Time is money.
 
ironpony said:
I have been burning 2 bags of Somersets a day, going on 3rd week no issues. I will shut down this weekend and clean. Harmans are tanks, burn good pellets and they will keep running.
As I like to say "set it and forget it". Why take something so simple and complicate it. Vac pellets, shut down daily and vacuum heck I'll just turn the thermostat back on. Time is money.
Click to expand...

Amen!
 
I guess my stove is a super-tank then because it's "set it and forget it" and it doesn't even seem to care that I burn HD "economy" pellets. :)

(sorry, I just couldn't resist)
 
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