How to deal with damp pellets

[The Toasted One]

Bought 6 tons at the local Home Depot which is a 2 year supply for me. 24 bags got water damage on one of the corners so about 10% of the bag has swollen, damp pellets in one of the corners but I'm sure the rest of the bag also picked up moisture. The service manager at HD was great and refunded me for the 24 without having to lug them back and just told be to use them as mulch or in the compost bin. I just see that as a waste and I want to see if they can be salvaged but not sure if it's worth it.

I can keep them as is and let them sit in my dry, cool basement for 18 months but not sure if just taking the moisture out will make them viable again. Also can dry them out in a big pan that sits on the stove and feed them in with some good material. (I'm retired and yes, I have nothing else better to do). A third option is use them as kitty litter.

Maybe someone here has been in the same situation?

 

[Pete Zahria]

Usually those wet pellets turn into puff nuggets.
Don't even think about them.
I get those bags, and have learned there is collateral damage.
I just cut the bag where the wet stuff is, and let it come out on the garage floor.
Then I put the loose good ones in a big WM trash totter on wheels.
I figure if you get half a bag of good ones,
don't worry about the 3 or 4 pounds or whatever of good ones you trash.
If you get out of it with 10 bags of good ones... what a bonus!

Dan

 

[Dataman]

I had some that way and just fed them in the hopper and they worked fine. Harmon XXV. It eats anything. I would open the bag up and let them vent day before at least. What is your stove?

 

[bholler]

Wet pellets are trash. I have been called to clean out stoves because of it many times

 

[The Toasted One]

Usually those wet pellets turn into puff nuggets.
Don't even think about them.
I get those bags, and have learned there is collateral damage.
I just cut the bag where the wet stuff is, and let it come out on the garage floor.
Then I put the loose good ones in a big WM trash totter on wheels.
I figure if you get half a bag of good ones,
don't worry about the 3 or 4 pounds or whatever of good ones you trash.
If you get out of it with 10 bags of good ones... what a bonus!

Dan

Yea, They are looking like cheese doodles. I'll be separating them from the good part of the bag and will probably wind up losing 3 bags total
Thanks

 

[The Toasted One]

Wet pellets are trash. I have been called to clean out stoves because of it many times

I'd never put them in wet. Just wondered if they would dry out and be worth it after 18 months sitting in a dry area.
I'll probably cut out the wet parts and scrap it and let the "good" part sit till next year, then use it

 

[MarkF48]

What I can't salvage goes to mulch for the Blueberry bushes.
My pellet dealer has been good about replacing bags that were damaged when delivered and found to be wet.

 

[Washed-Up]

As said above, get what good ones you can…when similar has happened to me, I take the puffers grind them up and spread it on my lawn, it helps hold moisture and works well

 

[SciGuy]

Bought 6 tons at the local Home Depot which is a 2 year supply for me. 24 bags got water damage on one of the corners so about 10% of the bag has swollen, damp pellets in one of the corners but I'm sure the rest of the bag also picked up moisture. The service manager at HD was great and refunded me for the 24 without having to lug them back and just told be to use them as mulch or in the compost bin. I just see that as a waste and I want to see if they can be salvaged but not sure if it's worth it.

I can keep them as is and let them sit in my dry, cool basement for 18 months but not sure if just taking the moisture out will make them viable again. Also can dry them out in a big pan that sits on the stove and feed them in with some good material. (I'm retired and yes, I have nothing else better to do). A third option is use them as kitty litter.

Maybe someone here has been in the same situation?

Water will move by capillary action from the wet pellets to the dry pellets if they are allowed to live in the same bag. As others have said, I'd immediately dump the moist portion of the bags out. I'd also prioritize burning the saved pellets from the opened bags first as they are more likely to pick up additional moisture from the environment and degrade quicker. IIRC pellets out of the mill are less than 10% water content while wood left out in the open will take moisture from the air and stabilize are a higher percentage depending on the local environment where it is stored. A cool basement will maintain a high relative humidity and moisten pellets over time if the bags are not completely sealed.

YMMV,

Hugh

 

[zrock]

just toss em... once they are wet they are garbage.... Toss em out in your yard and after about a week they will break down and disappear

 

[johneh]

kitty litter

 

[tlc1976]

just toss em... once they are wet they are garbage.... Toss em out in your yard and after about a week they will break down and disappear

I had a hole in a bag last fall and left a trail from the barn to the house. Still there.

But I use them to dry up oil spills. Doesn’t make sense that even a new bag of pellets which is an engineered fuel, is cheaper than a bag of oil dry.

 

[shtrdave]

I would take them and dump through some fine chicken wire to filter out the fine dust and broken down pellets and burn up the ones you filtered out.

 

[hockeypuck]

great for covering grass seed when you have to seed the bare areas.