Anyone else having bad luck with Cleanfire Hardwood blend?

[stevenlmas]

Hi All,

I've burned a full skid (1.3 ton) of Cleanfire hardwood blend in my St. Croix Hastings and I've never had such a dirty stove. After about 1/3 ton I opened the air intake up almost all the way and that helped a little (fewer unburned pellets, finer ash), but my stove is still filthy, along with the side of my house where the chimney vents. This is my fourth season burning pellets and I've never had these kinds of issues before. I used to have to empty the ash pan once a week (2x if I was running on 3 or 4 when it got real cold), and I field stripped and cleaned the stove once a week. With the cleanfires I'm emptying twice a week and I let the stove cool and vacuum the ash on the window and back every Wednesday and do a full field strip and vac on Saturdays. The side of my house has a 3 foot ring of ash either side of the chimney now (never had a problem with staining on the house before). My stove is now giving me a hard time starting and it takes 2-5 tries to get it lit after cleaning. I'm guessing the vacuum switch is all munged up. I've also got a growing chunk of creosote on the burn pot that is getting harder and harder to scrape down or chip off every week.

I run my stove 24x7, usually at 2, except for when I shut down for a cleaning. Previously I burned straight hardwood (3-4 tons a year) and ran a dozen bags of softwood at the end of last year as I'd run out of hardwood and it was still chilly at the end of April. I have my stove professionally serviced by Royal Fireside in Uxbridge, MA every year as well.

I've got 2.6 tons of these things left, I'm afraid I'm going to ruin my stove if I keep burning them. Reviews from last year were pretty good, so I went with them this year, but I think the Quality Control at the plant must be slipping, or they're getting materials from dirtier sources.

I'd appreciate any thoughts or suggestions.

Thanks,
Steve

 

[jtakeman]

Cleanfire's started out as Hassle and Hugh's. But They are now NEWP or were last I knew. You could contact wp.com and complain to them. Hopefully they make it good for you.

 

[stevenlmas]

I contacted my retailer (woodpellets.com) and asked them to pass it up the chain, but I'll try NEWP as well. Thanks.

 

[jdege]

I am 10 bags into my first ton and find them cleaner and hotter than Green Spreme (otherwise known as NWP). Still need to try more brands as this is my first season but to date the Harman takes them in and gives off all the heat I dial up

 

[DAKSY]

I am 5 bags into my second ton & my daughter is 26 bags
into HER second ton & I see no difference from the CFHWs
that I've burned for the last 4 years. The daughter's P43 is
a 24/7 burner & I clean it COMPLETELY every three weeks.
I've only had to clean the P61A once, other than the glass,
scraping the burnpot every other bag & the heat exchanger
weekly...

 

[stevenlmas]

As I feared, my stove appears to be malfunctioning now... My shaker pot is no longer shaking out any ash, and the burn pot is getting backed up with pellets. I woke up the last two mornings to find a fire in my ash pan and a pile of pellets backing up into the chute. My shaker plate is not gummed up, so I tihnk it's no longer shaking ash down to the pan.

This is the wrong week to have four days of required offsite meetings...

Argh.

 

[jxnsdad]

That sounds like your ash traps are clogged up, you need to take it apart and bang the heck out of the back panel of the stove inside the firebox and look at all the ash that will fall into the ash traps. Also use a coat hanger to poke up in them and knock stuff loose.

 

[Cleog]

We have been burning pellets for several years now and just switched to cleanfire. Bought 3ton. What a mistake. There is so much ash in the bag, I am cleaning out the fire twice a day. Its even getting clogged up with that much cleaning.
I'm now trying to sift out the ash and I'm totally amazed how much ash is in each bag.

 

[Harman Lover 007]

Ahhh...a newbie's first post on a year old thread..... Ash is in the stove. What you are referring to in the bag are called fines and many brands have that problem.