Ash in burnpot on restarts - good or bad?

[drewmo]

I've always tried to scrape out the burnpot in my Harman P43 before every refire. I switch to manual once the fire gets going, so the igniter does not cycle. Last week, on a few starts, only the left side would catch and eventually the pellets would push the flame into the ash pan if I didn't keep a close eye on it. Talked it over with a friend and he said he never scrapes his pot before refires. I've gone to this method now and see that the pellets ignite more quickly (for the most part) and all the pellets catch. Would the ash in the burnpot have something to do with this? Is there some insulative property the ash brings to the equation?

 

[alternativeheat]

I've always tried to scrape out the burnpot in my Harman P43 before every refire. I switch to manual once the fire gets going, so the igniter does not cycle. Last week, on a few starts, only the left side would catch and eventually the pellets would push the flame into the ash pan if I didn't keep a close eye on it. Talked it over with a friend and he said he never scrapes his pot before refires. I've gone to this method now and see that the pellets ignite more quickly (for the most part) and all the pellets catch. Would the ash in the burnpot have something to do with this? Is there some insulative property the ash brings to the equation?

I notice when I don't scrape the pot on the P61 before refire it starts sooner with less pellets on the pot, at least generally speaking. I suppose that depends on how much of a mess it is to begin with when the stove shuts down. I imagine if it was really messy and ready for scraping, that could be problematic. I am one to scrape fairly often with ashy pellets though. But this stove has only ever mis fired once and that time it was due for cleaning and it had a lot of ash in the igniter compartment.

 

[drewmo]

I notice when I don't scrape the pot on the P61 before refire it starts sooner with less pellets on the pot, at least generally speaking. .

Interesting. I'll have to go through the manual again, but I think it says to scrape between fires. But at this point, I think I'll continue on this path. I did a full clean, including vacuuming of the igniter chamber, yesterday, so the pot got a good scraping then.

 

[alternativeheat]

Interesting. I'll have to go through the manual again, but I think it says to scrape between fires. But at this point, I think I'll continue on this path. I did a full clean, including vacuuming of the igniter chamber, yesterday, so the pot got a good scraping then.

Don't misunderstand, I do scrape just not always. And say, overnight, if the stove is in room temp auto and the stove shuts down, then I'm not getting up to scrape the pot. It's always relit fine.

 

[TStark]

I suspect the char in the burnpot has a much lower moisture content then raw pelleys, so it will help light up a good burn

 

[alternativeheat]

I suspect the char in the burnpot has a much lower moisture content then raw pelleys, so it will help light up a good burn

It's as good a theory as any. I haven't really thought about it much, it's just an observation. Another thought is the pot is probably much warmer in my case when I don't scrape, because when I don't scrape it's a case of the stove cycling on and off fairly often. When I do scrape with the fire out it's likely been out quite a while. Another could be that scraping drops ash on the igniter. All random thoughts though, no proof of anything ! lol

 

[Peterfield]

Do it both ways and have not noticed any difference. I will typically scrape the burn pot but works either way.

 

[Marina1327]

For me it's bad...I make sure every time I start up the stove the burn pot is completely empty. I do notice a difference in the cheat river pellets which I still have about 3 bags of I am trying to use up...they fill up the firebox with thick white smoke and take awhile to ignite as compared to the green supreme which ignite with little to no smoke. I am about to purchase a third brand of pellet tomorrow to try out...have to see what lowes has in stock.

 

[tiger]

I suspect the char in the burnpot has a much lower moisture content then raw pelleys, so it will help light up a good burn

Interesting observation. In another topic, I had a recent "catastrophic non-ignition" in my Accentra and now have a service call scheduled, but the thing starts fine every time except right after I clean it including the burnpot. I thought the forum admonitions about keeping the stove so clean inside you could assemble microchips in there was to be adhered to without fail. Now you have me thinking (never a good thing). You'll have me trying out Room Mode next... sheesh.

 

[bogieb]

I scrape in the morning and again when I get home from work. Since both stove have been on Room/auto since September, obviously they start up just fine without a scraped pot.

Ash can help facilitate the burn. you can demonstrate with a cube of sugar - to light it on fire with just a match. Then take the same (or a new) cube coat it with ash, and light it up. world of difference just from there being ash around. Whether the same is true for pellets, I can't say though.