POP
Here I am.
The issue I believe is caused by GOOD airflow through the burn pot.
I have a Whitfield Advantage 2T and the ash generally falls all around the fire pot and not down into the pan.
The exhaust fan on these stoves pulls all the combustion air up through the grate, and when the airflow is proper, tha ashes will fall outside the pot and or go up through the heat tubes and collect in the baffles.
The grate bars will allow some heavier stuff to fall through, but not that much if things are working right.
The pan is more of a convenience when you clean the stove rather than a place that the ash will normally collect.
Ash also collects on copious quanty behind the fire brick panels on the sides and also behind the main ash baffles.
The cleaning will cause far more airflow through the stove and this causes the ash to blow off and go out and up through the heat exchangers and into the ash traps.
Repairing the fire brick panels can be done using some FIRE CEMENT (available at most hardware stores) Comes in a pint or quart plastic container, is black an easy to work with.
Remove the panel, clean gently with a brush and blow off the dust.
Lay the panel flat and build up the worn areas with the Fire cement.
If need be, you can make a "DAM" to contain the cement while its hardening using some stiff plastic.
Reinforcing the cement/repaired area with a piece of Hardware cloth (coarse screen) will help.
Simply cut a small piece of the hardware cloth and imbed it in the cement.
You will likley need to do the repair in stages and let the cement harden over night.
Dont try to lay over 1/2 inch of cement at a time.
I have repaired the fire brick panels in one of my whitfields and its doing fine.
These panels tend to burn out around the drop tube area.
High burn settings contribute to this.
Clinkering is a result of DIRT and other NON burnables in the fuel that under high heat, melt to form a crude glass like material.
This is normlal with a lot of pellet fuel.
The real high end stuff will not do it, but the cheaper fuels will see it more.
The issue is that many pellet makers use every scrap of stuff that they get to make pellets with, and this includes BARK and other junk.
A certain amount of dirt and other silica containing products gets mixed in with the wood materials and causes the clinker.
My suggestion, Live with it and clean the pot when needed.
Just turn the fuel feed to off, let the fire die down to a glow, open the door and scrape out the clinker, leaving a few coals to rekindle the fire and turn the fuel back on.
I burn nut shells in my Whitfields and clinkers are a way of life. Twice daily I clear the clinker.
This is all a mater of the fuel you are using/brand of pellets
Yank the tube scraper a couple times a day to keep the heat tubes free of fly ash.
I use a long handled putty knife/gasket scraper to clear the clinkers out, this keep you from buring your fingers by using shorter tools.
Pellets stoves are a way of life and a daily/semi daily household chore.
My pellet stove chores start at 5 am, clear the clinker, fill the hopper with shells, Oh did I mention make the coffee.
Before work, check the hopper, clear the clinker one last time.
6:30 PM, get home, fill the hopper, clear the clinker, yank the tube scraper.
11PM fill the hopper one last time before bed.
5am , go again.
Its not a fill and forget thing.
Every week on the Advantage 2T it gets shut down and cleaned out, once a month the baffles come out and the vent gets sucked out with the shop vac.
If the weather is cold and I dont want to let the house cool off, I do a "Hot swap" as I call it.
I let the fire burn off until there are no flames, yank the door open, lift tjhe pot out with a pliers and sit it in a steel bucket.
I scrape the ashes into the ash pan, remove and place them in a steel bucket and take right out and dump them.
A quicky wipe of the window with a rag to remove as much soot and dust as possible, stuff the fire pot back in and rekindle the fire, GO AGAIN.
Normally I allow the stove to cool until COLD before a cleanup.
DONT suck ashes from a warm stove into the vacuum. the results can get interesting if not downright dangerous.
This is how I handle these things, hope this helps
Snowy
