Massive Clinker After 4 Hours

[BadDad320]

Never had a problem this bad and am looking for suggestions..... After about 4 hours of burning BRAND X on high I get a total massive red glowing clinker that fills the burn pot totally and causes new pellets to pile up in an extreme manner..... I stab this thing with a fork and it stays together (usually) and lift it out of the burn pot..... When it cools it looks like melted black droplets of glass.... This does not happen with other brands I have like Barefoot that produces a nice fine powdery ash..... What's up ..... crappy pellets????? They burn hot and have practically no fines..... Any way to minimize these super clinkers???

 

[Lousyweather]

sure is.......dont buy those crappy pellets! Anserwed your own question......the barefoots dont do it these do....in the same stove, same settings.....the only variable being the pellets

 

[krooser]

Cinkers often result from bark being used in the pellets...

 

[Lousyweather]

Cinkers often result from bark being used in the pellets...

ok, fine......use bark?=crappy pellets

 

[littlesmokey]

Sounds like you have a contaminate in the pellets. Salt will cause the crustiness and other "earth" type materials, Krooser, Dirty bark will do the same thing, but all pellets have some bark, there has to be a lot and it usually is dirty. Empty your hopper and refill with another bag and try the same ones you have. If the second bag is bad, call your supplier and ask how they want you to handle the return. If you just swithch, you may lose the cost of the current pellets. Even in the best brands, something goes wrong once in awhile. I had a ton of Eurekas a few years back, over half were fine and then I hit a bag wihere the average length was an inch and a half. I pulled the bag out of the hopper and reloaded from another bag, and all was fine. Machinery must have had a senior moment.

 

[Fsappo]

Would help to know brand X

 

[jtakeman]

The old saying every stove burns pellets differently applies. Also batch to batch variations may get different mixes of fiber or fillers. I would say the batch you have may have issues with a high chloride level. Chlorides are usually the cause for clinkers. Bark in a mix will give you a dirty burn and may have chloride issue's as well. The hotter you burn said pellet the worse the issue gets. Clinkers form under the higher heat conditions. I have burned pellets on low to medium settings and had very minor clinker issues. Run the stove on high and there would be a rock in the burnpot. Suffered through with multiple daily scrapings. A reason for my multifuel purchase, Stove cleans the burnpot for me now.

Someone told me its no biggie to TWEAK the burn to get ride of the dirty issue caused by bark. But very hard to rid the burn of a clinker problem. Unless you have a Multifuel stove.

I would be calling the dealer that sold you them and see if you can exchange them. I am hoping it was not my brand X that's causing you the issue.

Hope everything gets straightened out for you. Not fun to have issues when its cold.

 

[BadDad320]

Brand X is Treecycle..... I have been in contact and they are very nice.... We exchanged two tons for a different batch run but the issue remains.... I hate running back and forth in a little ford ranger to exchange one half ton at a time only to have no change in clinkerage...... Its the labour of the exchange that equally sucks at this point... Anyone else having this issue with this brand??? Again, Treecycle has been very nice.......

 

[BDPVT]

A clinker is created when minerals in the ash actually begin to melt and fuse together in the burn pot . Pellet stoves operate near the combustion temperatures that are required to melt ash. Chlorides lower the melting point. Once the ash begins to melt it may obstruct the air holes of the incoming air and affect the proper mix of air and fuel. Excess ash will build up in the burn pot due to the stoves inability to adequately burn the fuel. Conditions of combustion effect the composition and amount of residue ash- higher burn temps will reduce ash yield. You may be able to adjust your stove's air to fuel ratio and get a better burn, but pellets with higher chloride content will greatly increase the likelihood of clinker formation. Unfortunately, it seems like the quality of your pellets is the problem.

 

[namz111]

I cant speak for treecycle but i did talk to mike the plant manager there' it seems that we have figured out that all the older stoves where built to burn softwood pellets not hardwood' treecycle is hardwood, nothing you can do will make them burn in your stove. You will have to return them and buy another brand........I was also told that treecycle will be redoing there pellets for next year in hopes that they can be used in other stoves.....harman does not have a problem burning these pellets infact treecycle has a harman stove in there office buring there pellets without a problem. I am burning them in my harman advance with out a problem no clinkers at all. It is good to see that treecycle is standing behind there product and will refund these buyers who cant burn them in there pellet stoves.

 

[littlesmokey]

I cant speak for treecycle but i did talk to mike the plant manager there' it seems that we have figured out that all the older stoves where built to burn softwood pellets not hardwood' treecycle is hardwood, nothing you can do will make them burn in your stove. You will have to return them and buy another brand........I was also told that treecycle will be redoing there pellets for next year in hopes that they can be used in other stoves.....harman does not have a problem burning these pellets infact treecycle has a harman stove in there office buring there pellets without a problem. I am burning them in my harman advance with out a problem no clinkers at all. It is good to see that treecycle is standing behind there product and will refund these buyers who cant burn them in there pellet stoves.

Namz, that is a bogus response. Older stoves are no different than new ones in burning wood pellets. They need to be adjusted and they need to have the air controlled more carefully, but that's like saying old wood stoves were made to burn pine, that's why harwoods like oak and maple don't burn in them.

If that is the factory line, return the pellets, get a refund, and take them of your list to try.

Can you imagine Exxon saying, old cars can't burn our gas, because we made it for new cars????? That's the dumbest factory response I have heard on this forum.

 

[HEMI]

littlesmokey........to funny

 

[Sinbad]

Softwood will probably do the trick, but you still have a problem. Softwood is hotter therefore tends not to clinker as much.

 

[imacman]

....... that is a bogus response. Older stoves are no different than new ones in burning wood pellets.......

I agree with littlesmokey...that's a bunch of crap. A poor attempt at making an excuse for their pellet.

 

[DannMarr]

I'm using Tree cycle in my 7 year old Quadrafire insert and it burns fine. My friend bought a new Harman PC 45 and uses Barefoot without a problem. I gave him bag of Tree cycle and he returned half the bag. He said it left clinkers and the fire would die out.
So the year of the stove is not the issue but it's the right combination of settings for different pellets.

 

[namz111]

littlesmokey, you may not like my answer but that came right from the quadrafire rep... and they burn fine in some stove not in others? ...so is it really the pellet? If it was a bad pellet would not all stoves have the problem? quote "Can you imagine Exxon saying, old cars can’t burn our gas, because we made it for new cars????? That’s the dumbest factory response I have heard on this forum".... yes it does happen i happen to have a classic car that did not run on anything but sunoco 94... but this is not a car forum so i wont go into detail.

 

[littlesmokey]

littlesmokey, you may not like my answer but that came right from the quadrafire rep... and they burn fine in some stove not in others? ...so is it really the pellet? If it was a bad pellet would not all stoves have the problem? quote "Can you imagine Exxon saying, old cars can’t burn our gas, because we made it for new cars????? That’s the dumbest factory response I have heard on this forum".... yes it does happen i happen to have a classic car that did not run on anything but sunoco 94... but this is not a car forum so i wont go into detail.

I don't know if this is worse. A pellet maker covering his @^#^#$ or a stove maker doing it. I do not think that is the company line. There are too many good stoves that are older burning HW pellets that dispute this non-logic. Ask that Quad-rep to step up and check out this forum and defend himself. I have a stove almost 20 years old working in Wyoming that out performs most stoves and might even be able to burn sawdust, haven't tried, but I do know it works great on about 15 different brands of pellets.

The statement sounds like a sales pitch to get you or someone to buy a new stove.

Oh, by the way, I had a 1973 Volvo that wouldn't run on premium gas, we had to use race fuel, but that was not the run of the mill production car. My sedan of the same vintage ran fine.

 

[namz111]

So you still didnt answer why others are not having an issue with these pellets? My thought was/is that if its a bad pellet its bad in any stove that burns them not just some stoves. Also just a side note i am not connected with treecycle or any stove maker in any way. I am just saying i as many others are burning these pellets without an issue and i am not claiming to be or want others to think i am an expert because that is not the case. I am also not here to get into a pissing match with anyone just pointing out what i see.

 

[MainePellethead]

In this particular batch of pellets I agree .... they are bad. BUT.....this issue has been hashed out over and over for the last several years.

NOT all cheaper pellets are bad. I have burned cheap and I have burned top end....some were good and some were bad. Never had a problem burning anything in my Quad.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

So you still didnt answer why others are not having an issue with these pellets? My thought was/is that if its a bad pellet its bad in any stove that burns them not just some stoves. Also just a side note i am not connected with treecycle or any stove maker in any way. I am just saying i as many others are burning these pellets without an issue and i am not claiming to be or want others to think i am an expert because that is not the case. I am also not here to get into a pissing match with anyone just pointing out what i see.

First you have understand that if you try to burn pellets that produce three times the amount of ash that your stove is designed to burn, the end result will be a mess and likely clinkers.

Been there, done that.

Now if the pellet claims to be premium and it produces more ash than 0.999999+ % by weight then as far as I'm concerned that pellet is both bad and not ready for burning in a stove that is designed for premium pellets.

So if other stoves are designed to burn standard pellets as well and the pellets claim to be premium and the ash content exceeds 0.999999+ but is less than 3% by weight the pellets are likely to burn in those stoves because the pellets are standard or better, however the pellets are still bad because they aren't what they claim to be.

Now even if the ash content is within specifications it is still possible for the pellets to have other issues that prevent them from burning correctly in all stoves.

You can carry on this game untill you get to utility grade pellets.

You need first to understand that not all stoves are the same and not all pellets are the same.

 

[jtakeman]

You need first to understand that not all stoves are the same and not all pellets are the same.

How true my friend. Amen!

The reasoning for my pellet review. A visual on the ash variance, And heat difference is surprising to some. One brand actually was not in the premium range with the excessive ash amount it left behind. Right at 1%. Main reason I sample pellets before the large purchase. I only trust my stove to be the judge and jury of my winter supply. What works for Moe may not work for Larry. (Or Curly and Shemp too! But sydney liked them.)

 

[namz111]

I could not agree more thats the point i was trying to get across, however i guess i did not do a good job of it my bad.. every stove burns different so it does not always mean the pellet is at fault. its just a fact. I think the part that should not be missed here is that I truly believe treecycle is trying to make things right with those who are having problems, and that i think speaks volumes for the company.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

..... I truly believe treecycle is trying to make things right with those who are having problems, and that i think speaks volumes for the company.

I'm certain that while treecycle may in fact be trying to make thinks right, other members here with at least one from your state would beg to differ and quite vociferously I might add.

You need to further understand that no one likes to be told one thing when the opposite is in fact the case, all hand waving and making things correct will come off as CYA. When the material amounts involve require trucks and strong backs to even do an exchange folks have been known to get rather agitated. Heck, I've even known for the strong backs to get angrier than the person who needs the exchange done. At least in the case here he was trying out some.

If the OP has a means to adjust the air intake and a clean exhaust system he may be able to compensate to some degree, if like me the stove requires a fully open air intake he could be up the proverbial creek without a paddle. Please note the weasel words as I haven't bothered to ask the OP about his stove or exhaust system nor have I downloaded a manual for it.

 

[Elad]

P68 Harmon - I had same clinker problem (till this week) using Starlight pellets out of IN. They responded with this:
I have sent your information on to our plant manager/owner to see what their thoughts are. Typically when we see any clinker forming like yours it is because the silica content is too high. This can happen when a loader operator tries to scrape the ground to hard to load our “hog” (the initial grinding device) before it goes into the hammer mill to reduce the overall sizing to fiber length that can then be dried.

Menards sells Indent Energy Premium hardwood and I have no clinkers at all with them. Get em fast as sale end on Christmas ($3.94/bag)

 

[begreen]

Amen. Excessive clinker production is due to too much non-combustible content. It has little to do with the stove and is different from unburnt fuel which would be a result of too little air or excessive feed rate.