Clumping ash

Try opening up your damper. I had this problem last year. One kind of pellets worked great but another kind was clumping. I opened my damper to allow more air and it took care of the problem.

forya said:

I have a newer harman accentra insert. This is my 1st season, and I burned through my 1st ton with no problems (Lignetics Green label hardwood only's).
Now I got a ton of Press-to-logs (made by Lignetics) these are mix hardwood and Conifer. My ash esp. on the left side of my burn pot "sticks together" and forms a clump that I've been knocking down manually. Is this normal? is It the pellets? do I have too much humidity from my air intake?

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if the clumps are hard, and shatter when tapped, that is a function of the pellets - it's from the silica. (they are called 'clinkers')

many plants naturally suck up silica from the soil. depending on what type of tree is used, where it grew, and what part of the tree is pellitized, the silica content will vary

The three 'undesirables' in pellets are:

moisture - this will reduce the amount of heat the pellet puts out (reduction is less than 10% even in the absolute worst case, though, so don't panic)
ash - this is any non-combustible minerals. we don't care what they are. they don't burn, so we don't want them
silica - technically also a non-combustible mineral, but clinkers are an extra nuisance to deal with

some pellet companies list the average values for these 'three amigos', but even if they do, those are _Average values_, and may not be consistent from batch to batch.

My vote is for the clinker theory due to the Presto Logs. I hate ‘em.

forya said:

I'm not sure that they are clinkers. If I let them go they build up on both edges of my burnpot, and hang off sometimes almost to the glass on the door.

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Does this 'clumping ash' crumble when handles?

does it fall apart in to a crumbly dry powder, or does it seem wet?

is the color the same as with regular ash?

forya said:

I'm not sure that they are clinkers. If I let them go they build up on both edges of my burnpot, and hang off sometimes almost to the glass on the door.

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A picture or 2 of these "clumps" would help a lot.

Some ash clumping together may be normal. A variety of things will cause ash to clump together, and it is not something to really worry about. Just scoop out your burn pot once, or twice a day and you should be fine.

I have the same stove....
This is a common thing on the stove...basically get used to it.
I am a bit of a cleaning Nazi when it comes to the stove...I regularly ....2 sometimes more times a day....get in there and scrape the buildup in th eburnpot....it seems to form a massive clhard buildup in the bottom left corner of the burnpot as well as the sides...have 2 different tools ...a cold chisel for the sides....and the silly Harmen tool for the bottom of the pot...if you don't do this i find that the clinkers eventually limit the size of the fire....fire seems smaller and lazier due to its restricted size....
before they begin...this happens with all pellets...hard or soft...even Okies...
The insert seems not to be as hot on the left side as well...just a design flaw i am sure....but one i would like to see resolved by the company.

This is pretty normal on my accentra insert. Always seems to be worse during shoulder season when the stove is not pushing max heat. Check that the four little holes at the bottom of the burn pot are open. The other thing that happens a lot during shoulder season is the buildup of slag in the burn pot. Very hard. When I first started with my stove, I thought it was part of the cast iron.

SparkyDog - I never noticed one side hotter than another, but I just checked with a thermometer, and sure enough, right side is 170, left side is 159

novakm said:

..... - I never noticed one side hotter than another, but I just checked with a thermometer, and sure enough, right side is 170, left side is 159

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And the first convection air exit is on what side in those Harmans?

That will likely be a good part of the reason one side is hotter than the other as the air flow will have a longer time in the heat exchanger on one side than the other.

This problem is very commen on the accentra. I thought it would be the pellets and it's not. I have tried Barefoots, Lignetics, Energex, Greene Team and Country Boy in quanities to really see if it made a difference. I thought it was the pellets but I have given in and clean the pot 2-3 times per day. The other poster made a comment on the heat output on the left side and YES it is lower on the left side. I agree and I always measure temps on the right side or directly in the middle. Hope that helps.

SmokeyTheBear said:

novakm said:

..... - I never noticed one side hotter than another, but I just checked with a thermometer, and sure enough, right side is 170, left side is 159

Click to expand...

And the first convection air exit is on what side in those Harmans?

That will likely be a good part of the reason one side is hotter than the other as the air flow will have a longer time in the heat exchanger on one side than the other.

Click to expand...

Is definitely longer on the left side....you realize that when you clean out the back with the wire brush...goes a little way in on the right...left side swallows the brush...
Also have notice condensation on the left side back...where you stick the brush....mostly when it is really cold out and the house humidifier is working overtime. i don't have an outside air intake....have wondered if that would solve some of these issues? What is the boards take on the left side cold issue?