hamer hot ones, huge clinkers on a 25pdvc any ideas?

Usually the oak helps for a cleaner burn,and at my house oak means no drafts being pulled from elsewhere

mtalea said:

sorry for your troubles,my opinion is it is the pellets.I think Hamers are horrible...hope you can resolve your issue

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??? Wow I never heard that before.

I have about a ton and 1/2 of Hamers bought this past Spring/Summer. I finished off my Lignetics yesterday that I had left over and they burn good and get hot but I get snow drifts of ash in the stove.

Burned 1 bag of Hamer's from yesterday morning until this morning and the heat was much higher and I can't believe the amount of ash I got from one bag. Just a light coating inside the stove. I love Hamer's!

Matt F said:

Matt F said:

Thanks Don. I was thinking of wrapping my OAK flex pipe around my exhaust pipe as a sort of pre heater before the air enters the burn pot. just not sure how or if it'll work. I like your re the metal trash can; just not sure it would stay warm enough for the long haul. If this doesn't work I'm going to try bringing a few bags in and set them next to the stove for a couple of days to see if that makes any difference. I'm really intrigued to see if the cold air (below 30 deg) has an affect on the way pellets burn. We shall see!

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Ok, been burning well over 24 hours now with the OAK disconnected and Hamer pellets from the same pallet. Last night I had the stove set on feed 3 and fan on 4. Everything looked great this morning when I got up and left for work. We turned the stove down for the day on setting 2 feed 3 fan. About 5:30 tonight we cranked the stove back up feed 3 fan 5. NO CLINKERS. I'm starting to think that very cold air has a some affect on how pellets burn, especially now after disconnecting the OAK.

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Temperature change in the fire pot because the cold dense air provides more oxygen (as does the OAK) and thus a hotter fire.

If you can't get the ash out of the pot fast enough it is all that is needed to start the process of making a clinker. It takes four things, changing any of the four can start or stop the process.

I purchased 5 tons of Hamers this year, couldn't find them last year and bought 5 tons the year before. I have never had an issue with Hamers but have with energex & o'malley, also had issues with cheaper pellets but acknowledge you get what you pay for. I have a Big E and if the damper is not adjusted correctly the burnpot will tend to fill up. I cleaned the stove last Friday, have burned 24/7 and have no clinkers, no buildup of ash no nothing. I will always buy Hamer's if available, next choice would be Cubex, Oakies. I get 3 to 5 degrees more out of Hamers's than most of the pellets I have tried. Didn't someone post on here awhile back how to check the pellets for moisture. On the other hand over the years I'd have to say 90% of my burning issues was due to the pellets. I am willing to pay the little extra $$ for a good pellet. When I try different pellets I always buy 10 bags and burn for a week, one bag doesn't tell me anything.

I don't think we will see issues with the damper adjustable stoves. Give them a bit more air to comp the extra density and POOF! No clinkers!

I wonder if the OAK on the Englander was preheated if it would make a diff?

mike56 said:

I guess i'm not alone, I called PRIMO pellets where i purchased them to voice my concern and was told i'm the first one to tell them about the clinker problem (i think they are lying) I also was given the phone no. of the owner, i called and left a message he still has not returned my call, I am not a happy camper, I purchased these pellets because of the reviews and recommendations from people on this forum. I know it is not the peoples fault, maybe they are and or were a good pellet for you but not for me, i pray i don't get stuck with these ,we are not talking pocket change here i would be out a lot of money! not a good thing right now.

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I think we all try to make the effort to tell anyone to try a bag or two of different pellets and see which pellet burns the best in YOUR stove. I have been burning Hammers and Oakies this winter with no klinkers and very small amounts of ash. Best wishes!

j-takeman said:

I don't think we will see issues with the damper adjustable stoves. Give them a bit more air to comp the extra density and POOF! No clinkers!

I wonder if the OAK on the Englander was preheated if it would make a diff?

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I'm kinda thinking the same thing. Gonna try and use the heat from the exhaust pipe and wrap the OAK around it. Hopefully this will do the job. I appreciate the feed back folks

j-takeman said:

I don't think we will see issues with the damper adjustable stoves. Give them a bit more air to comp the extra density and POOF! No clinkers!

I wonder if the OAK on the Englander was preheated if it would make a diff?

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Even low density pellets can produce heavy dense ash, and it is the ash that has to be sent out of the pot to prevent clinkers. Light ash is the ticket with the puffers. I have one of those puppies and no damper.

SmokeyTheBear said:

j-takeman said:

I don't think we will see issues with the damper adjustable stoves. Give them a bit more air to comp the extra density and POOF! No clinkers!

I wonder if the OAK on the Englander was preheated if it would make a diff?

Click to expand...

Even low density pellets can produce heavy dense ash, and it is the ash that has to be sent out of the pot to prevent clinkers. Light ash is the ticket with the puffers. I have one of those puppies and no damper.

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I know to well bear, with some of the stuff I have burned last season. I found some tricks to get buy with them. If you can't play with air reducing trim feed helps. Luckily I have both air(with damper) and fuel trim to play with. Only pellet I had clinker last season was them Inferno's. You should try them someday! Old batch that is!

I think the dense stuff is being smothered by the next fuel charge. It takes some of the air away. This is letting it clinker together. All guess's on my part. But I got some ill stoves burning better for friends. With out changing fuels. One stove(I will not name the brand) I had to install a reastat to control the auger to reduce feed as this stove didn't have air adjustment. You got what the control board had in that feed setting. It was crude, But it worked