After removing the outside pipes and cleaning them my friend tells me that something is not right, he's a very handy man that cleans his oil furnace all the times and very handy with everything specially electricity.
The thing is that he tells me that the black ash buildup in the pipes doesn't seem right and he says it may be due to oxygen and combustion not working right.....either the stove has an issue or the pellet has much humidity (even though Allyson at NEWP analysed my pellets and the analysis revealed the humidity to be "within the standards", see an excerpt of the email:
"Moisture and ash tests from your pellet sample
Pellet Sample: 8216
Manufactured: 1st week of August 2008
Moisture: 5.23%
Ash: 0.52%
In accordance with Pellet Fuels Institute standards (www.pelletheat.org), to classify as premium grade the pellets must have an ash content of less than one percent by weight and a moisture content of less than eight percent. The ash test we perform is based on 100% complete combustion. It gives us an absolute reading on ash content as a percentage of weight. If a particular pellet appliance does not burn the fuel completely, one would have a higher percentage by weight of post-combustion residue (a mixture of ash and unburned carbon. The results show no deficiency in the pellet fuel and confirm that it is premium grade by the PFI standards."
....well said BUT when I gave a Warm Front bag to my friend to try on his high-efficient and expensive stove he told me he wouldn't even try this pellet any more, pellets bunched up in the burn pot as well and the heat was not good at all.
Anyways, I bought my 25-PDV in March last year and used it for maybe a month, then started using it again for this winter around October maybe.
For this season I ONLY burned the Warm Front pellet brand.
After cleaning the pipes with a vac last night my burn pot seems to be much better because the pellets are not bunching up as before (pellets getting burned down well), but the ash is black, my handy friend doesn't know about pellet stoves (he knows well about wood stoves) but he says the ash should be kind of more white, he also said that it could be the pellet itself causing it.
So.....if we assume this Warm Front is really the issue for the black ash then it is obvious that the black ash buildup in the pipe is due to the pellet, right?
He said his cousin has a different pellet stove brand (not Englander) and he once saw the pipes which were MUCH cleaner with a bit of white dust/ash, not very black like mine.
I have been cleaning the burn pot DAILY and need to clean the glass DAILY. His friend told him that he cleans the glass ONCE a MONTH....
My stove is installed per the book with at least 3ft. rise and an outside air intake. Now that I cleaned the pipes I really want to try a different pellet brand and come to a conclusion...........
Thoughts are welcome pals.........
..
The thing is that he tells me that the black ash buildup in the pipes doesn't seem right and he says it may be due to oxygen and combustion not working right.....either the stove has an issue or the pellet has much humidity (even though Allyson at NEWP analysed my pellets and the analysis revealed the humidity to be "within the standards", see an excerpt of the email:
"Moisture and ash tests from your pellet sample
Pellet Sample: 8216
Manufactured: 1st week of August 2008
Moisture: 5.23%
Ash: 0.52%
In accordance with Pellet Fuels Institute standards (www.pelletheat.org), to classify as premium grade the pellets must have an ash content of less than one percent by weight and a moisture content of less than eight percent. The ash test we perform is based on 100% complete combustion. It gives us an absolute reading on ash content as a percentage of weight. If a particular pellet appliance does not burn the fuel completely, one would have a higher percentage by weight of post-combustion residue (a mixture of ash and unburned carbon. The results show no deficiency in the pellet fuel and confirm that it is premium grade by the PFI standards."
....well said BUT when I gave a Warm Front bag to my friend to try on his high-efficient and expensive stove he told me he wouldn't even try this pellet any more, pellets bunched up in the burn pot as well and the heat was not good at all.
Anyways, I bought my 25-PDV in March last year and used it for maybe a month, then started using it again for this winter around October maybe.
For this season I ONLY burned the Warm Front pellet brand.
After cleaning the pipes with a vac last night my burn pot seems to be much better because the pellets are not bunching up as before (pellets getting burned down well), but the ash is black, my handy friend doesn't know about pellet stoves (he knows well about wood stoves) but he says the ash should be kind of more white, he also said that it could be the pellet itself causing it.
So.....if we assume this Warm Front is really the issue for the black ash then it is obvious that the black ash buildup in the pipe is due to the pellet, right?
He said his cousin has a different pellet stove brand (not Englander) and he once saw the pipes which were MUCH cleaner with a bit of white dust/ash, not very black like mine.
I have been cleaning the burn pot DAILY and need to clean the glass DAILY. His friend told him that he cleans the glass ONCE a MONTH....
My stove is installed per the book with at least 3ft. rise and an outside air intake. Now that I cleaned the pipes I really want to try a different pellet brand and come to a conclusion...........
Thoughts are welcome pals.........
..
