Pellets sticking to hopper

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I've had the same problem with my Harman P-38....pellets bridge in the hopper above the auger and the stove shuts off due to lack of pellets entering the burn pot. I would stir the pellets in the hopper and would then hear them drop into the auger. Certain pellets are more succeptable than others.

I had major issues with Kentucky Kernal's a few years back. Never had a problem with Somersets.

Also, never had an issue with Harman Insert with bridging , only my P-38.
 
GrahamInVa said:
DexterDay said:
Im not seeing it. The pellets are feeding. All units do this to some degree. The bridging ...... Maybe? I never liked my Englander design. It has 4 sides. All on the same angle. Makes for even pressure from all angles. Which could very likely stop the flow of pellets (although it has not). My Quad has 3 angles. Front and both sides. Back is flat. Which leaves enough room for pellets to drop straight down into the augers path. When my Quad shuts down. It has about a handful of pellets left in the bottom. But the last 10-15 lbs seem to look like yours until it runs out. But it "runs out" not dies out.

I think more waxing or polishing. Or call Englander. With many stoves in the field. They have dealt with this before. Thats a lot of pellets. Hours worth of pellets. Good luck. I really like the looks of that stove. Looks very similar to my Quad.

How big is the hopper (50-60 lbs)??
Click to expand...

Yea, I think your right. They are just not sliding down fast enough. I checked last night and they are not too long (green label ligs). I am going to tape the seams and try a little more "waxing".

The hopper holds 45 lbs.

That's funny about the vibrating cell phone but I bet it worked. It doesn't take much for them to slide.
Click to expand...

GrahamInVa,
I have the same model as you, and have seen the same problem. After the flame out, when you restart your stove, how long does it take for the pellets to start sliding down the drop tube into the pot? If it is indeed a bridge, there should be several minutes that go by before anything falls into the pot or nothing at all, as the auger feed tube should be empty. If the pellet start immediately, it sounds like its a sticking issue on the side walls of the hopper. There may be a brief time when there is a void in the feed slot, but then slowly, gravity releases more pellets, but not enough to keep the burn going. The void/s then stops the flame, causing your flame out.

I use a product called MO-Deck http://www.mowtownusa.com/171.html . Well, I know it’s not designed for the stove, but dries completely and does not leave a film. It does have a nasty smell to it when you first apply it (also highly flammable), but went away after it dried. You still get a wall affect of pellets "poor hopper design" but the wall of pellets feed/slide right into the auger feed opening without sticking to the sides and getting hung up.
 
My eye sight may not be the best, but in GrahamInVa's photo it sure looks like a lot of long pellets to me.

Isn't that his problem? Shouldn't he try another brand (hopefully one with better pellet length) to see what happens?
 
smalltown said:
My eye sight may not be the best, but in GrahamInVa's photo it sure looks like alot of long pellets to me.

Isn't that his problem? Shouldn't he try another brand (hopefully one with better pellet length) to see what happens?
Click to expand...

I agree with you that I see some long(ish) pellets in the hopper. But I am new and have only opened 4 bags so who knows....
 
You will find that pellets can vary in quality,length, etc from pallet to pallet and even bag to bag in some instances.
 
When it shuts down.... How long after you re-start it, do pellets start to drop?? This comment was stated above and they may be on to something.

If the stove shut itself down. Then the auger should not ne primed. It may not be fully empty, but for the most part. Not enough pellets to sustain fire. If there is a regular amount of pellets dropping at start io. Then bridging is not the problem. Seems to me, that there is no visual on the auger itself. If I can only see pellets (some may have slid down after the stove shut down/not dismissing bridging pellets) then I am partially led to believe that the stove may have shut down for other reasons.

I know that the 10-CPM and 25-EP have an angled single auger. But it is a Screw and Cylinder style and they do a very good job of busting longer pellets. My Quad has a Spring and only shut down 3 or 4 times with 2"-3"+ pellets (this was more than a ton of them) thats pretty good for a system that is very weak and can be flexed quite a bit.

So a couple bags of pellets that dont seem to exceed 2", with a solid style auger, does not seem like it should pose a problem.

My suggestion is to dump in a bag of Somersets (very short and consistent pellet/normally all under 3/4") this will tell you if its Long Pellets that is shutting the stove down. Or if its the pellets not feeding down the hopper, or if its the pellets having equal forces push from each side (acting as a brake of sorts), or possibly another problem all together..



I would put in your shortest pellet (if any are consistently shorter than Somersets) after giving it another polish/wax job. That would eliminate one cause.
 
I took some fine grit sand paper and lightly sanded the interior walls of the hopper then sprayed a light coat of silcone based lubricant and wiped it off. Reapply every so often. Problem solved.
 
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DexterDay said:
When it shuts down.... How long after you re-start it, do pellets start to drop?? This comment was stated above and they may be on to something.

If the stove shut itself down. Then the auger should not ne primed. It may not be fully empty, but for the most part. Not enough pellets to sustain fire. If there is a regular amount of pellets dropping at start io. Then bridging is not the problem. Seems to me, that there is no visual on the auger itself. If I can only see pellets (some may have slid down after the stove shut down/not dismissing bridging pellets) then I am partially led to believe that the stove may have shut down for other reasons.

I know that the 10-CPM and 25-EP have an angled single auger. But it is a Screw and Cylinder style and they do a very good job of busting longer pellets. My Quad has a Spring and only shut down 3 or 4 times with 2"-3"+ pellets (this was more than a ton of them) thats pretty good for a system that is very weak and can be flexed quite a bit.

So a couple bags of pellets that dont seem to exceed 2", with a solid style auger, does not seem like it should pose a problem.

My suggestion is to dump in a bag of Somersets (very short and consistent pellet/normally all under 3/4") this will tell you if its Long Pellets that is shutting the stove down. Or if its the pellets not feeding down the hopper, or if its the pellets having equal forces push from each side (acting as a brake of sorts), or possibly another problem all together..


I would put in your shortest pellet (if any are consistently shorter than Somersets) after giving it another polish/wax job. That would eliminate one cause.
Click to expand...



On the restart, the pellets start dropping after the auger turns a couple times. Not long... and there are some pellets in the auger but its not full.

I cleaned the hopper out again tonight and taped the seams and wiped some furniture polish on the sides. I don't feel pellet length is the issue. (see pic) I could not find any over 1". As for the sumersets, that is what I had in the first time it shut down. Second time was Green Label Liqs.

I need to be here when it does it so I can see and hear what is going on. That's my next step.


654efe49.jpg
 
Those pellets are NOT the cause of your problem....they are fine.

If the tape and furniture polish doesn't help any, I guess it just means keeping the hopper as full as you can, and pushing the pellets toward the middle every once in a while ( I do this also).
 
I figured out what the issue is. Once the hopper has about 15lbs left the auger isn't dropping as many pellets as it should. About every 2-3 auger turn it will drop a few. But mostly the auger turns and nothing falls. This gets worse and worse as the hopper gets lower. Eventually it detects a large drop in heat and shuts down.

Its a little better since I sanded the hopper walls and applied some furniture polish.

But it looks like I have to start pushing the pellets toward the middle every so often.
 
That's not too bad....just fill the hopper each day, and you probably won't have to push them around more than once or twice a day.
 
Hello! Let me wade in here ...

I have a Regency GF55, and (sadly) I am currently burning "Nation's Choice" pellets. I got spoiled with the Lignetics last year, and I am on a learning curve this year.

In the past week or so, I have awakened to a cold house, or the natural gas forced air heater (NGFAH) running at a low temp. What I have noted, is that the hopper is feeding from the center, and the sides are not "falling in" to fill the depleted area. Combine this with the fact that the pellets do not want to burn well (everything I try to get more than a 3" flame is failing), we (the dealer that sold/installed the stove, Tractor Supply, and I) have concluded there is a higher than normal moisture content in the pellets, and the pellets tend to be bonding together, causing the pellets inability to fall into the depleted area of the hopper.

Generally, my fix in this situation is to shove my hand into the hopper and "agitate" the pellets into place ... looking to replace these pellets ASAHP!
 
i had the same problem with my harman p43....still about 20 bls in the hopper..
put tape and furniture polish to it...
should be good to go now....
 

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My Stove does the same, plus the Hopper will not actually take 2 bags anyway. So maybe 50lbs before intervention, flip the lid, move the pellets and off it goes.

But I wanted it to burn for 2 days without intervention.
 
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