07 quadrafire castille pellets stay in hopper

[07castile]

Just purchased last years model quadrafire castille 2007 (was new in crate) and the 40lb hopper is not sloped enough (or just poor design) to feed pellets into auger. Refer to picture. The dealer told me to spray dry silcone or add talcom powder. Neither worked. I've also tried 3 different brands of pellets. Unit is level. Is anyone else having issues?

 

[Hogwildz]

Pic didn't load.
Ya sure the hopper is connected/ installed correctly?

 

[BrotherBart]

A frequent problem with pellet stoves. Post over in the Pellet Mill and Corn Crib room and folks will fix ya up.

Some people wax the hopper and some use metal tape to line it. First I would just steel wool it to smooth out the paint in the hopper.

 

[07castile]

Good idea about the metal tape. I will try to install piece of sheet metal to match inside bottom side of hopper to see if that helps. Since the pellets now maybe getting hung up on the screws/rivets sticking up and should probably have been flush. Thanks! (When I retire I'll go to work for Quadrafore R&D;and quality control)

 

[begreen]

After steelwooling, vacuum out the steel filing dust, then use a good carnauba wax and give it a high polish wax job with a couple coats. That will last a season if done well.

 

[Czech]

Call me bad, but have you opened up the hopper feed at all? They typically ship with the feed chute hopper closed all the way, it will still feed some but not a lot and it may be different with different pellets. I can't tell from your picture, but I have the same stove and my hopper looks the same when filled and I haven't had a problem other than some loose pellets hanging up in the semi empty hopper, I do silicone the hopper but not because of problems, just my maint schedule. I guess I'd make sure the feed is open and that the auger is feeding pellets first. Check back and let us know after what you've found.

 

[07castile]

I did adjust the feed arm to 100% open and the pellets feed fine when there are pellets on the left side (left side while facing the front door). The problem is in the middle of the night when the initial pellets feed and burn, the remaining pellets tend to stay on the upper right so the stove stops on no fuel. I guess it only feeds 1/2 bag w/o requiring me to scoop and push the pellets toward the auger.

 

[firewarrior820]

have you given any thought to pop riveting a piece of12" or wider aluimum flashing

 

[Czech]

Start with the wax/polish/graphite/silicone (you choose) before you tape or flash. That will probably do it.

 

[kbjelka]

I know the dvd that came with mine mentioned adjusting the hopper floor angle. The are suppose to ship in their highest capacity but maybe the goofed on yours.

 

[07castile]

Thanks for all the feedback and help. Sanding the inside of the hopper worked great. Now the pellets slide toward the auger much better. Glad to get it working just before the Colorado winter.