Pellet Sifter Dilemma

[EastMtn]

I was looking for something that would transfer and clean my wood pellets. Almost a month after paying for a cornvac I still hadn't received it nor a reply to my emails inquiries to the company.

I ended up building my own. I had been to HD so many times and spent so much money that an associate gave me a 10% discount "for my tenacity" as he put it.

After 2 exhausting days of trial and error and more than a 12 pack (I was very close to consulting Johnny Walker) I got it to pick up my test bucket of pellets mixed with fines separate the fines and transfer the pellets to another sealed bucket. Not even 2 minutes later I get an email from Cornvac apologizing for their computer malfunctions and asking me if I still want their transfer device.

Theirs cost $65. I spent close to $200 in screw ups and liquid therapy(Beer). Should I keep mine or realize my victory, break it all down, get roughly $100 back in HD returns and go with the Cornvac? My wife says take the stuff back. My caveman instincts tell me to beat my chest and keep my kill. Either way I still have to clean the garage.
Thumbnails below. Click to view spoils.

 

[imacman]

I know this is a little late, but there has been a vacuum sifter design that works perfectly, on the forum since Sept. of 2008. Did you not do a search of the forum?

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/i-made-my-own-pellet-vac-for-less-than-20-00-video.21107/

Posts #14-19 gives you the "meat" of the design.

IMO, use the stuff you already have and build the one in the link.....yours is upside down/backward, hence the problems you had getting it to work right. Then, return anything you didn't need.

Report back w/ pics.

 

[EastMtn]

I know this is a little late, but there has been a vacuum sifter design that works perfectly, on the forum since Sept. of 2008. Did you not do a search of the forum?

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/i-made-my-own-pellet-vac-for-less-than-20-00-video.21107/

Posts #14-19 gives you the "meat" of the design.

IMO, use the stuff you already have and build the one in the link.....yours is upside down/backward, hence the problems you had getting it to work right. Then, return anything you didn't need.

Report back w/ pics.

I did see the ones in the forum but they only accomplished half of what I wanted. Mine works really well now. Upside down and backwards on purpose. There's a 1/4" in screen tube inside the 4" that allows me to suck in pellets without varying the vacuum via air holes. The fines are separated and sucked out while the pellets move through the inner tube to the destination bucket. I can clean and transfer pellets in excess of 50ft now without having to lift a bag. I just open the bag where it sits and suck out the pellets. Got it from John Abbot of iburncorn.com. It just cost a lot of time and money to make. I tried to make a horizontal version and realized that gravity was my friend so went with 22 deg elbow instead.

 

[Lousyweather]

I dunno.....why sift? If a pellet has SO many fines that I feel I need to clean them before dumping them in my stove, I'd be shopping for a new pellet.....Im so lazy I don't even like to dump a bag in the stove....cant imagine sifting each bag first......

 

[hoverfly]

I dunno.....why sift? If a pellet has SO many fines that I feel I need to clean them before dumping them in my stove, I'd be shopping for a new pellet.....Im so lazy I don't even like to dump a bag in the stove....cant imagine sifting each bag first......

The sweet equity is minimal with the right set up. But having a bottom fed pellet stove removes that issue.

 

[Don2222]

I did see the ones in the forum but they only accomplished half of what I wanted. Mine works really well now. Upside down and backwards on purpose. There's a 1/4" in screen tube inside the 4" that allows me to suck in pellets without varying the vacuum via air holes. The fines are separated and sucked out while the pellets move through the inner tube to the destination bucket. I can clean and transfer pellets in excess of 50ft now without having to lift a bag. I just open the bag where it sits and suck out the pellets. Got it from John Abbot of iburncorn.com. It just cost a lot of time and money to make. I tried to make a horizontal version and realized that gravity was my friend so went with 22 deg elbow instead.

View attachment 105703View attachment 105704

Nice, I like your system much better than the other hand made ones! Instead of transferring them into another bucket can you blow them right into the stove hopper? That would be the BEST!

 

[smoke show]

http://forum.iburncorn.com/wiki/index.php/Kan-burn

it is a very effective transfer device.

 

[EastMtn]

I dunno.....why sift? If a pellet has SO many fines that I feel I need to clean them before dumping them in my stove, I'd be shopping for a new pellet.

Like Hoverfly said, the amount of labor involved is minimal. Also, we've got approximately 4 choices in NM. I bought 3 out of the 4 choices available and I'm waiting for the 4th to be available so I can try it out as well. Lignetics is considered to be the highest quality and consistency at $6.39 a bag. Pellets are used here but aren't normally considered the more economical choice.
NM's NG prices are $8.95 vs NY $12.86, VA $12.36, WA $10.90 per MCF
Propane NM $2.00, NY $2.93, OH $2.43, WA $2.89 per gallon
Heating Oil NM not sold, NY $4.28, VA $3.82, OH $3.65 Per the U.S. Energy Info Admin site.
Assuming 80% efficiency for an equal playing field when your paying NY $40 per million BTU for propane vs $18.94 for pellets and $38.54 #2 oil, its understandable to have a large stove market. But at NM prices $23.54 propane vs $18.94 pellets, the margin begins to blur once you add in true efficiency ratings, delivery charges and availability.

That's why the selection of stoves and pellets are so limited. Ecoteck was the latest to try its hand in NM but I heard from a stove retailer that the distributer pulled out this year. It wasn't worth their time. But again, I digress.
A marginal cost time benefit analysis should be used to determine if something is truly worth someones time. I'm not anal enough to do that kind of study so I fudge it with a perceived analysis. For me that time could be better spent running or perfecting my alcohol absorption rate.
Hey Lousy I like your style though, keep it simple keep it burning.

 

[Lousyweather]

Like Hoverfly said, the amount of labor involved is minimal. Also, we've got approximately 4 choices in NM. I bought 3 out of the 4 choices available and I'm waiting for the 4th to be available so I can try it out as well. Lignetics is considered to be the highest quality and consistency at $6.39 a bag. Pellets are used here but aren't normally considered the more economical choice.
NM's NG prices are $8.95 vs NY $12.86, VA $12.36, WA $10.90 per MCF
Propane NM $2.00, NY $2.93, OH $2.43, WA $2.89 per gallon
Heating Oil NM not sold, NY $4.28, VA $3.82, OH $3.65 Per the U.S. Energy Info Admin site.
Assuming 80% efficiency for an equal playing field when your paying NY $40 per million BTU for propane vs $18.94 for pellets and $38.54 #2 oil, its understandable to have a large stove market. But at NM prices $23.54 propane vs $18.94 pellets, the margin begins to blur once you add in true efficiency ratings, delivery charges and availability.

That's why the selection of stoves and pellets are so limited. Ecoteck was the latest to try its hand in NM but I heard from a stove retailer that the distributer pulled out this year. It wasn't worth their time. But again, I digress.
A marginal cost time benefit analysis should be used to determine if something is truly worth someones time. I'm not anal enough to do that kind of study so I fudge it with a perceived analysis. For me that time could be better spent running or perfecting my alcohol absorption rate.
Hey Lousy I like your style though, keep it simple keep it burning.

agree completely....I guess what I was getting at was that where we are, there are so many choices of pellets, that we can afford to buy the ones with less fines rather than bother with a pellet with a lot of fines.....even with the fines, certain stoves still do ok with the fines........Im so lazy that I even hate bring the bags up from the cellar, cant imagine having to open and vac each bag....lol...scroo dat.

 

[Don2222]

agree completely....I guess what I was getting at was that where we are, there are so many choices of pellets, that we can afford to buy the ones with less fines rather than bother with a pellet with a lot of fines.....even with the fines, certain stoves still do ok with the fines........Im so lazy that I even hate bring the bags up from the cellar, cant imagine having to open and vac each bag....lol...scroo dat.

It also depends on how well the stove can handle burning the fines. The top feed Avalon Astoria seemed ok with fines as with the bottom feed Harmans with their fine box that works like a pressure relief valve if their are alot of fines. However I worked on a Breckwell Golden Eagle that kept jamming with fines and a Magnum Baby CountrySide that had trouble when the bag had alot of fines in it. The one other factor is how dry or humid is the area the stove is located. If the stove is in a damp basement or in another case I have seen, the stove was located on an old pine wooden floor above a dirt crawl space! Every spring the fines on the versa grate hardened like cement and had to be chipped out! I did not recommend a stove with a versa grate in that location and told the customer it was not worth paying $500 ever year for the service it needed to keep it going!

 

[Lousyweather]

excessive fines can also cause ratholing in the bin, which can cause issues, but generally ya don't see that unless the homeowner is trying to save money by putting wet pellets in the bin........which also makes us service guys happy- easy fix.....easy money.....

 

[EastMtn]

Nice, I like your system much better than the other hand made ones! Instead of transferring them into another bucket can you blow them right into the stove hopper? That would be the BEST!

I haven't seen good results for blowing directly into the hopper because the terminal end has to be sealed. That may be my next brainstorm. It was really easy to clean out the hopper and auger of the remaining pellets I didn't burn. 30 seconds to remove approx 20lbs.

 

[Don2222]

I haven't seen good results for blowing directly into the hopper because the terminal end has to be sealed. That may be my next brainstorm. It was really easy to clean out the hopper and auger of the remaining pellets I didn't burn. 30 seconds to remove approx 20lbs.

I have customers that cannot lift a 40 lb bag of pellets. Therefore if that type of system could feed the pellets into the hopper, look nice and be easy to use, it would be helpful to some of my .

 

[Eatonpcat]

If I couldn't lift a bag of pellets, I would use a heat source other than pellets!

 

[EastMtn]

I have customers that cannot lift a 40 lb bag of pellets. Therefore if that type of system could feed the pellets into the hopper, look nice and be easy to use, it would be helpful to some of my .

I remembered that there is a cornvac mobile unit that will transfer directly into a hopper. It's very expensive in my opinion, $500, but doesn't require a sealed system to move the pellets.

http://cornvac.com/

 

[Don2222]

I remembered that there is a cornvac mobile unit that will transfer directly into a hopper. It's very expensive in my opinion, $500, but doesn't require a sealed system to move the pellets.

Would this remove the fines?

http://cornvac.com/

 

[EastMtn]

Yes. it will also remove fines.

 

[Don2222]

Yes. it will also remove fines.

So if you mount this unit on the wall above the stove, then open the hopper, the cleaned pellets would fall directly in there? Just run a hose from the unit into the bag of pellets.

Mounting on the wall may require a special shelf with brackets and a big cut out in the shelf for the venting?

Or maybe mounting the unit up high on the back of something that looks like a 2 wheeler for moving.
Then just wheel the unit up to the side of the stove and blow the pellets in! Cool!

 

[EastMtn]

So if you mount this unit on the wall above the stove, then open the hopper, the cleaned pellets would fall directly in there? Just run a hose from the unit into the bag of pellets.

Mounting on the wall may require a special shelf with brackets and a big cut out in the shelf for the venting?

Or maybe mounting the unit up high on the back of something that looks like a 2 wheeler for moving.
Then just wheel the unit up to the side of the stove and blow the pellets in! Cool!

Yep. You could mount it on the wall or wheeled unit like you say. I like the wheeled unit idea more. A shopvac is still needed to pull out the fines but it no longer has to be 5hp minimum. 3.5hp would do just fine. The Cornvac company posted this on http://forum.iburncorn.com/viewtopic.php?t=3930&sid=3f99d5f2896e1ee816ac3619f83ad28d:

When you get your corn into the basement, why not drop the corn directly into your hopper? We have many customers that place the Mobile Cornvac right on top of their 14 bushel hopper and fill it up as needed. Obviously everyones setup is different, but if you do have a furnace with hopper, that is an ideal application for the Mobile Unit.


Just to clear up the Mobile unit pictured above.....

The mobile unit shown above is VERY different from our cleaner alone and the kanburn. the mobile unit provides a continuous flow of corn that does NOT need a sealed container ANYWHERE. The vacuum is maintained in the unit itself. There is an electric motor on the side that rotates a set of blades that maintain the vacuum, while rotating the corn to fall out the bottom.

Our cleaner alone ($6

is the product that could be compared to the kanburn. Both of them need a sealed container and work on the same principle.

Thanks,
Cornvac Systems

 

[stoveguy2esw]

ive been goofing around with an idea for a hopper storage and dispenser with a fines removing feature for a couple months now. thinking about the crowd who may have an elderly family member using a stove that cannot handle the bags requiring one to come over constantly and feed the stove granted a scoop and a plastic tub would work but its unsightly to have a couple totes laying around with pellets in them. so my thought was a large enough hopper (say 5-6 bags with a feed system into a dispenser which is easier to handle, figured might as well design in a fines removal system as well. just about got it nailed on paper but haven't had the time to fab one up yet