Fireside Ultra fines

[Melissa220]

I bought 5 bags Fireside Ultra At HD at $3.94 a bag thinking I would give them a try. I just loaded one bag into my hopper and am tempted to return the other 4 bags. Here is a picture of what was in the bottom of the bag....and this was after I had already thrown away enough that would have finished filling the glass.

 

[mralias]

That's quite a fine..... Just add water and umbrella and you have yourself a cocktail. Did if feel like all five bags were like that?

 

[Melissa220]

I'm not really sure how to tell. But I don't like the way they burn either. The pellets are hopping all over the place in the burn pot and some are even flying out. That's it. The remaining 4 bags are loaded in the car and now see if HD will exchange for MWP.

 

[Millsk]

I used these all last year with great results. If I were you I'd give them another go.

 

[jtakeman]

Unfortunately fines are measured by weight not volume. You would need to weight it to see if its considered out of spec. What size glass is that(in ounces)?

 

[Millsk]

Looks like a shot glass. 1 oz.

 

[IHATEPROPANE]

I'm not really sure how to tell. But I don't like the way they burn either. The pellets are hopping all over the place in the burn pot and some are even flying out. That's it. The remaining 4 bags are loaded in the car and now see if HD will exchange for MWP.

Too bad....that's a good example of why we try before we buy....FU are my third best box store pellet. After Somerset and Greene Team....sorry you had a bad experience.....

 

[will711]

I'm not really sure how to tell. But I don't like the way they burn either. The pellets are hopping all over the place in the burn pot and some are even flying out. That's it. The remaining 4 bags are loaded in the car and now see if HD will exchange for MWP.

I'd burn'em you got a Harman they burn whatever you put in the hopper not picky. One bag is not a true test and probably more trouble than it's worth to return, just my 2 cents.

 

[Bigjim13]

I'd burn'em you got a Harman they burn whatever you put in the hopper not picky. One bag is not a true test and probably more trouble than it's worth to return, just my 2 cents.

I was thinking the same thing. A shot glass if fines doesn't seem out of line to me. I would toss those into the burnout and go full that glass with bourbon! I have 4 tons of Ultras in the garage and a Harman that chews through whatever I feed it.

It's also possible that you grabbed a bag that had been handled a lot or dropped, I would guess that would create more fines at the bottom if the bag... Who knows!

 

[Melissa220]

Looks like a shot glass. 1 oz.

The glass holds 4 ounces and it was 2/3 full. Excluding fines I had thrown away.

 

[Melissa220]

Too bad....that's a good example of why we try before we buy....FU are my third best box store pellet. After Somerset and Greene Team....sorry you had a bad experience.....

Unfortunately, we don't get Somerset's here and the Greene Teams are $279/ton.

 

[midfielder]

My $0.02 - I have a bit over half a ton of FU's (love writing that ) from a batch I got as shoulder pellets from HD last spring. They vary some from bag to bag, some a lot of fines, some hardly any, almost all pretty dusty, neither of which I'm crazy about. They're hot enough, for sure - pretty high softwood content I'd say from the smell. They are also real short and feed fast because of that. My burn pot can clinker from them if they over feed, but I can set the fuel trim back and get them to burn well - the flame characteristics are good. They also work well mixed with a modest hardwood or blend which, if longer pellets, also slows the feed down and keeps them from jumping out of the pot too much. Overall, the btus seem high enough (better than a lot of the midrange shoulders I've tried) that I'm not sorry I bought them - can work with them and decent for the money (they were cheap!)

 

[Melissa220]

So, it's the shortness of the pellet that causes it to 'popcorn'?

 

[Melissa220]

What size glass is that(in ounces)?

4 oz glass.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

So, it's the shortness of the pellet that causes it to 'popcorn'?

The air flow is able to lift the pellets pieces that are pop corning. The pellet piece isn't dense enough to stay in the pot given the combustion air flow you have..

Fines for a premium pellet are not supposed to exceed one half of one percent by weight of the product at the plant gate. Fines increase en-route to you and every time the pellets are handled.

A four ounce glass holds four ounces of liquid water, the fines are less dense than water so a full four oz glass will contain less than 4 oz of fines.

 

[Melissa220]

My $0.02 - I have a bit over half a ton of FU's (love writing that ) from a batch I got as shoulder pellets from HD last spring. They vary some from bag to bag, some a lot of fines, some hardly any, almost all pretty dusty, neither of which I'm crazy about. They're hot enough, for sure - pretty high softwood content I'd say from the smell. They are also real short and feed fast because of that. My burn pot can clinker from them if they over feed, but I can set the fuel trim back and get them to burn well - the flame characteristics are good. They also work well mixed with a modest hardwood or blend which, if longer pellets, also slows the feed down and keeps them from jumping out of the pot too much. Overall, the btus seem high enough (better than a lot of the midrange shoulders I've tried) that I'm not sorry I bought them - can work with them and decent for the money (they were cheap!)

Some good suggestions there. Thank you.

 

[Harman Lover 007]

Some good suggestions there. Thank you.

Melissa,
Don't get too stressed out just yet, there's plenty of time for that. I burned a ton and a half of the Firesides last year with good results. For the money spent you will be just fine and as you know...your Harman will burn anything. Good explanation by Smokey on the "popcorning".

 

[gbreda]

Dont be too concerned. I tried several bags this year. First bag had alot of fines, but the rest were not bad and they burned well enough for me to try and find more. But there are none left in this area. Your Harman should not be bothered by the occasional high amount of fines.

First year OCD....I remember that well. Now I just dump the bag in and let the stove do its thing.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

OCD is that like hoarding pellets ?

 

[gbreda]

OCD is that like hoarding pellets ?

Never said I got over that version of OCD

 

[Melissa220]

Dont be too concerned. I tried several bags this year. First bag had alot of fines, but the rest were not bad and they burned well enough for me to try and find more. But there are none left in this area. Your Harman should not be bothered by the occasional high amount of fines.

First year OCD....I remember that well. Now I just dump the bag in and let the stove do its thing.

I'm working on that OCD thing.... not too sure how that's going yet!

 

[Melissa220]

Melissa,
Don't get too stressed out just yet, there's plenty of time for that.

So....am I supposed to be reassured by that?

 

[subsailor]

Now I just dump the bag in and let the stove do its thing.

X2

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

X2

+1