After burning American Wood Fibers my stove is burning dirty

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MommyOf4

MommyOf4

Feeling the Heat
Oct 4, 2012
361
Southern MD
After burning American Wood Fiber pellets, every other pellet EXCEPT Somersets are burning dirty. My glass and the inside of the stove is completely black within a few hours. I've cleaned out the ENTIRE stove and venting a couple of times already. The Somersets are $6.99 a bag. I've previously burned Hamer's and Power Pellets without any issues, but now they are burning dirty as well.
 
If pellets that were burning clean are now burning dirty, first place to look is performing a thorough cleaning.
 
All stoves get dirty... It's part of the combustion process, some get 'dirty' faster than others and some pellets produce more ash than others. Usually black ash/deposits signal that the combustion air is insufficient for some reason and I'm not there to see what that cause is.
 
I guess I am not quite sure what you are saying. Are you saying that the AWF somehow gummed up your stove? Or are you saying that compared to AWF, everything else except for the Somersets burn dirty? I can tell you that after burning 6 super hot and super clean bags of AWF, I burned 1 single bag of the TraeHeat crap pellets I had been burning all winter, and they dirtied the stove right up. The AWF just burn so much cleaner, the other stuff is just ridiculously dirty in comparison!
 
whitetailscout said:
I guess I am not quite sure what you are saying. Are you saying that the AWF somehow gummed up your stove? Or are you saying that compared to AWF, everything else except for the Somersets burn dirty? I can tell you that after burning 6 super hot and super clean bags of AWF, I burned 1 single bag of the TraeHeat crap pellets I had been burning all winter, and they dirtied the stove right up. The AWF just burn so much cleaner, the other stuff is just ridiculously dirty in comparison!
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It somehow gummed up my stove. I don't think I'll be buying the AMF's ever again. I have to pull out the cleaning rod at least twice a day.
 
Wow, it's really interesting to hear the mixed feedback on these pellets. 10 bags in, and in couldn't be happier with these pellets. I could go probably 2+ weeks without cleaning, and the minimal soot on the glass wiped right off without any scrubbing. I wonder if this is a case of AWF producing out of a couple different plants, with some better than others. I see some really great feedback on here, and some really bad feedback, it's like there are 2 totally different pellets out there with the AWF name on them... Can you post the SKU # on yours? I wonder if they have different SKUs, and someone might be able to look into it.
 
You need to adjust your a/f ratio to compensate for the change in pellets, something you need to do, something I cannot do 899 miles away.
 
whitetailscout said:
Wow, it's really interesting to hear the mixed feedback on these pellets. 10 bags in, and in couldn't be happier with these pellets. I could go probably 2+ weeks without cleaning, and the minimal soot on the glass wiped right off without any scrubbing. I wonder if this is a case of AWF producing out of a couple different plants, with some better than others. I see some really great feedback on here, and some really bad feedback, it's like there are 2 totally different pellets out there with the AWF name on them... Can you post the SKU # on yours? I wonder if they have different SKUs, and someone might be able to look into it.
Click to expand...
I'm with you. I love these AWF pellets. Mine burn clean and hot. I have also burn barefoot, which is a great pellet but I like these AWF pellets better. I would also be interested to see if there are different pellets out there with the same name. Here is a picture of mine.


[Hearth.com] After burning American Wood Fibers my stove is burning dirty[Hearth.com] After burning American Wood Fibers my stove is burning dirty
 
whitetailscout said:
Wow, it's really interesting to hear the mixed feedback on these pellets. 10 bags in, and in couldn't be happier with these pellets. I could go probably 2+ weeks without cleaning, and the minimal soot on the glass wiped right off without any scrubbing. I wonder if this is a case of AWF producing out of a couple different plants, with some better than others. I see some really great feedback on here, and some really bad feedback, it's like there are 2 totally different pellets out there with the AWF name on them... Can you post the SKU # on yours? I wonder if they have different SKUs, and someone might be able to look into it.
Click to expand...

I don't have any more bags. I'm dealing with the aftermath of burning those.
 
These pine pelleta are the dirtiest nastiest blackest pellets ive ever burned. The only thing they have going for them is heat and no clinkers. Im with you these awfs turned my exchanger tubes black and greasy and I cant get it off. Im willing to trade these disgusting pellets for green supremes or nations choice but have no takers
 
MommyOf4 said:
After burning American Wood Fiber pellets, every other pellet EXCEPT Somersets are burning dirty. My glass and the inside of the stove is completely black within a few hours. I've cleaned out the ENTIRE stove and venting a couple of times already. The Somersets are $6.99 a bag. I've previously burned Hamer's and Power Pellets without any issues, but now they are burning dirty as well.
Click to expand...
I know you've said you cleaned the stove thoroughly, but what else could it be? Nothing's changed except you've burned some dirty pellets for your setup, and now even your good pellets are burning dirty, right?

The only thing it can be is that there are places in the stove that aren't part of your cleaning routine that are still dirty. This is a situation where you should do the Leaf Blower Trick, to be sure the stove is clean.
 
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SidecarFlip said:
You need to adjust your a/f ratio to compensate for the change in pellets, something you need to do, something I cannot do 899 miles away.
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I don't recall asking you to do anything...

Adjusting a/f ratio has already been adjusted and still the same outcome.
 
chken said:
I know you've said you cleaned the stove thoroughly, but what else could it be? Nothing's changed except you've burned some dirty pellets for your setup, and now even your good pellets are burning dirty, right?

The only thing it can be is that there are places in the stove that aren't part of your cleaning routine that are still dirty. This is a situation where you should do the Leaf Blower Trick, to be sure the stove is clean.
Click to expand...

The leaf blower trick has been done. Do you think there could be something hardened somewhere?
 
There seems to be a wide range of opinions on these pellets. I for one couldn't be happier maybe the top 2-3 pellets I have ever ran through my stove.
 
Flammam said:
There seems to be a wide range of opinions on these pellets. I for one couldn't be happier maybe the top 2-3 pellets I have ever ran through my stove.
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Do you have a problem with them sliding down in your hopper?
 
Nope they run right to the bottom. I can load almost 3 bags in and it will burn probably 2 3/4 bags just like any other pellet in that stove.
 
My glass is pretty much spotless after a full ton of the AWF white pine pellets. Just plain old fly ash in the stove. Nothing black or 'greasy'.
 
There are a couple of different versions of the AWF pellets. One is the "Ultra"- Pure White Pine and a Super Premium with .25% ash and 8700 BTU. In my stove these burn cleaner than Okanagan Douglas Fir ( about the same ash but less deposits on the burn pot) which had been my top pellet previously. The other is reported to be a Hard wood pellet and there have been complaints mentioned here in the forum about those. This is the first complaint I've heard of the White pine if that is what the OP has.

I can only base my comments on my own experience with the White PIne AWF, having never burned the others. Based on how the Pure White Pines burn in my stove and assuming that is what the OP has ( that seems unclear), I'd say there is something else wrong with the stove, be that setup for burning these pellets or clogged passages some[lace, clogged vent. But in my own personally experience as burned in my Harman P61a these are one of, if not the cleanest, pellets I've used yet . And especially so for a pellet that doesn't rob you blind in cost. With that said, I'm in SE Ma. If there is another plant someplace in another location supplying other parts of the country I have no idea. And also no idea if they would be producing a different pellet than here if so.
 
MommyOf4 said:
The leaf blower trick has been done. Do you think there could be something hardened somewhere?
Click to expand...
Dunno, but if everything is clean, then I'd retune the draft.
 
LordmetalZ28 said:
These pine pelleta are the dirtiest nastiest blackest pellets ive ever burned. The only thing they have going for them is heat and no clinkers. Im with you these awfs turned my exchanger tubes black and greasy and I cant get it off. Im willing to trade these disgusting pellets for green supremes or nations choice but have no takers
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how many bags do you have to trade .. I have Timber Heats and last years NEWPs and am also in the HV if you are interested, I love the AWFs
 
lagger said:
how many bags do you have to ade .. I have Timber Heats and last years NEWPs and am also in the HV if you are interested, I love the AWFs
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I think I have a deal with someone which responded first so out of fairness Ill let you kno if the deal falls thru then we can trade
 
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