Why won't my hopper hold an entire bag?

I supposedly have a 40lbs hopper, but it seems like I always have about 5lbs of pellets in the bottom of the bag after I fill the hopper (after letting it run out completely). Do other's with the 55-SHP-10 have this problem?

Perhaps my pellets are just less dense (pennington)?

I'm not familiar with your stove, but just a heads up, from reading posts on here for quite some time, I never empty a complete bag into the hopper. I always leave the last five pounds in the bag and sift the remaining to get rid of the fines (saw dust). The fines can lead to auger problems over a period of time, so this can help prevent this. Nonetheless, if you're hopper is supposed to hold 40lbs, it may be a rough estimate, my Harmon is supposed to hold 65lbs, and I would think it's about 5-10lbs off as well!

It varies on the density / size of the pellets. As mileage may vary on various brands, as Fireside which is small pellets mine will take the whole bag, Sommerset's, larger pellets, only about 3/4 of a bag... But in the long run I don't let the hopper get empty, so it don't really matter anyways.

Makes sense. Most have said Pennington's pellets are on the longer side, so they probably just don't mesh together inside the hopper as tightly (lots of air space).

I have the 55SHP10, too. I don't get a full bag in there, never did. Like most everyone else said, you really don't want to toss a full bag in there anyway - you want to sift that last portion so you don't get excess finesdust down in your auger tube.

My BIG E owners manual say it will hold 120 lbs , and that is what it holds.

Because it is actually a 37 lbs hopper.
Think it is an industry standard.

actually i can get a whole bag of some brands in my 25-pdvc and other brands i cannot , pellets are weighted by weight and that they also must be of a volume of "x" cubic ft(i forget how many CF) they may excede the CF and still only weigh 40 lbs , hence the difference. the hopper was engineered to accept 40 lbs based on the average CF in the industry. it also had to be engineered to fit within the confines of the stove's cabinet and still have enough slope to be functional.

My hopper is a 40 lb. hopper and I can get 37.64 lbs. of pellets in it Having a hopper extension fabricated by a local fabricator...hoping to get 64.38 lbs. in that puppy lol

But how many cubic feet is that? And how many BTU will you get out of a full hopper?

For me its not a BTU thing.....its a matter of going longer lengths in between filling it....lol....but I think you know that already lol

I was thinking of having an hopper extension fabricated also, as it would be pretty easy for a metal shop to do... but then after I though about it I don't think the expense would be justified. Because I end up cleaning the ash, etc, twice a day and so it not really that much harder to put pellets in it twice a day, ;-)

I guess it would be more for if I am away overnight...I wouldnt leave the hopper extension on all the time.....but when I needed it. A local shop here is pretty reasonable. I'll wash it in muriatric acid after so the stove paint will adhere nicely.

Same issue here. Hopper won't hold a bag.

Peace

Guess nobody read my post on this thread.
Umm all 40 lbs hoppers are actually 37 lbs.
Is a conspiracy with the pellet bag manufacturers and the vacumm cleaner companies oh and the stove manufacturers.

Hey SparkyDog I read it, and was waiting for maybe an official reply to your comment...hmmmm, so maybe it is a conspiracy...