Carbon build up

Does anyone know what factors affect carbon build up in the burn pot?

Big flame?
Small flame?
Hardwood?
Softwood?
Too much air?
Not enough air?
Fines?
Etc.

I normally only clean and scrape on Satrday morning, usually with very little build up, but sometimes I need to scrape every other day. Once the carbon builds up to a certain level, the feed auger starts to squeal, si O know it needs scraping. It woud be nice to know what makes the difference between 1x/week and 1x/day. Harman accentra

I usually scrap any carbon build up once a day....just before I refill the hopper with pellets. I do it with a flame burning...seems easier to chip off while its hot . It only takes a few seconds to do. I leave chips in the pot and they burn up....just like charcoal. Moisture content in the pellets might also be a factor, salt or whatever else is added to pellets for binding (?) but I'm just guessing at that.

I only have a very thin layer to scrape by doing it daily. If I let it go, as I have in the past, for a couple of days....then I'm knocking off chunks with a hammer and chisel. I usually have a bit more carbon on the left side of the pot.

I burn Fireside Premium in a Harman Advance which gives me a bit more buildup than Penningtons. The Firesides burn hotter.

The brand of pellets will effect it. Using Maeder bros. pellets and Penningtons I chip carbon every 2-3 days. I am now using Stove Chow and have not had any carbon to speak of after 25 bags (25+ days). But the Stove Chow does cake in the burn grate after 8-12 hours and needs to be cleaned twice daily, a 1 minute job.

I've used 4 different brands this season and I get no carbon build up whatsoever.

I seem to get the same carbon buildup with the two brands of pellets I've been able to find in Cincinnati : Somerset & Pennington.

Burning on low seems to cause mine to build more carbon than anything else. It also soots the glass faster. I think that carbon is generally a sign of to little air.

Yeah....my glass around the outer edge seems to get more dirtier quicker on low.

I give the burnpot a good scrape each morning so I have not had any
problems as of yet with the carbon buildup.