Frozen Pellets

[rschuerholz]

I just bought 30 bags of Omalley pellets from a reputable dealer here in MD (Courtland Hearth/ Hardware). While unloading the pellets at my house I found that several bags, maybe 8-10 had hard chucks of pellets inside. It felt like the pellets were frozen together, it has been in the mid 20's- 30's here for the past few weeks. Is this bad? or can I just store these bags inside and let them thaw/ dry until use. I usually store my pellets in the garage.

 

[curtthegreat]

I would have to believe, that there is some moisture in the bags or pellets for them to freeze. I would bring a bag or two inside to thaw out and see what they look like. If they crumble, I would take them back.

 

[Doublea88]

Picked up some pellets during the storm on sat.. Some moisture got into a few bags and they blew up?? Saved what i could. I would try and open asap and put them into a dry storage bin. If any moisture got in you're going to know!!

 

[poconoman]

Yep, pellets are like a SPONGE. They expand to kingdom come.

 

[Sinbad]

I just bought 30 bags of Omalley pellets from a reputable dealer here in MD (Courtland Hearth/ Hardware). While unloading the pellets at my house I found that several bags, maybe 8-10 had hard chucks of pellets inside. It felt like the pellets were frozen together, it has been in the mid 20's- 30's here for the past few weeks. Is this bad? or can I just store these bags inside and let them thaw/ dry until use. I usually store my pellets in the garage.

I would bring those bags back, you can not dry them and use them they are now sawdust. They got wet some how and are no longer good, if you try to use them it will only jam your auger.

 

[tinkabranc]

Was the open pallet left outside?

I agree with the others, I would take em back too.
If you got ice chunks in the bags, too much moisture got in.

 

[imacman]

Was the open pallet left outside?

I agree with the others, I would take em back too.
If you got ice chunks in the bags, too much moisture got in.

Ditto what Sinbad & Tink said...take 'em back.

My Rockies have been outdoors in 0-10 °F weather, but covered in a shed. I brought in 4 bags to try, and the pellets move around like it's summertime.

 

[rickwa]

TAKE THEM BACK!! pellets dont freeze together and will cause your stove fits if you try to use them.

 

[Doocrew]

I had a couple bags of LG's that did that last year. It would have cost me more to return them than to just salvage what I could of them. Separate the clump from the rest of the pellets and you should be OK. Obviously, if you can return them you should.

 

[Souzafone]

They may be hard due to the fact they expand when they get wet. That's one way to tell a bad bag, when it's rock hard.