Burning Corn or Mixing corn and pellets in a P61 or M55

[firebeevt]

Hi Everyone,

I currently have a St Croix Auburn, I am going to sell it because I would like a easier stove to burn and clean. I was looking at either a Harman P61 or Enviro M55. Has anyone mixed pellets and corn in a P61? any trouble? The Harman dealer has also found a new PC45 left in the area, should I buy it? I am not sure I want the Enviro because I already have the Venting for 3" vent for corn and I don't think I want to invest in 4" venting. Any suggestions would be great!
Matt

 

[ohbix]

information: I am burning a pellet/corn mix in the M55. Kept on the premium pellet setting; no problems. If I did have trouble, then I would use the multifuel setting.

 

[Bioburner]

I heard that using the leaf blower trick weekly on the Auburn keeps the rear passages clean without having to snake them clean.

 

[Tar34]

50/50 corn pellet mix Harman 68 no issues.

 

[Don2222]

The Harman PC-45 has a special corn burn pot and an approx 500 watt Ignitor with air pump to ignite corn. It is a real corn burner.
Also with the wood pellet pot it is a real wood pellet burner too.
Harmans takes 3" pellet venting but I use the Selkirk DT corn/pellet venting that makes it 10% more efficient because it warms and dries the OAK air coming into the burn pot.

 

[Bioburner]

Do you also want-need the extra btus of the P61? As Don states a combined exhaust air intake system helps get extra heat out of the system.

 

[biomass burner]

Hi Everyone,

I currently have a St Croix Auburn, I am going to sell it because I would like a easier stove to burn and clean. I was looking at either a Harman P61 or Enviro M55. Has anyone mixed pellets and corn in a P61? any trouble? The Harman dealer has also found a new PC45 left in the area, should I buy it? I am not sure I want the Enviro because I already have the Venting for 3" vent for corn and I don't think I want to invest in 4" venting. Any suggestions would be great!
Matt

i have a PC45 and i think its a great stove and i blend about 25% corn to Pellets

 

[SidecarFlip]

You might be running straight corn if pellet prices get stupid and corn stays below $4.00/bu/53 which, I think it will.

For my druthers (and I'm basically cheap) you cannot beat a USSC 6041 Multifuel for burning corn or a corn/pellet mix. It's got plenty of output (almost 48K BTU on the factory settings), runs anything including cherry pits, wood pellets, corn, wheat and oilseeds plus it's 1/3 the price of a Harman...

and............ It's stupid simple to clean as well as maintain. I've had mine for over a decade now with minor consumable replacements. Runs like a frigg'in top. and it's very user friendly plus you can custom program it...

I believe I gave 1200 bucks for mine on sale and another 700 for the venting (which happens to be 4" vertical for a 20+ feet run....).

 

[biomass burner]

You might be running straight corn if pellet prices get stupid and corn stays below $4.00/bu/53 which, I think it will.

For my druthers (and I'm basically cheap) you cannot beat a USSC 6041 Multifuel for burning corn or a corn/pellet mix. It's got plenty of output (almost 48K BTU on the factory settings), runs anything including cherry pits, wood pellets, corn, wheat and oilseeds plus it's 1/3 the price of a Harman...

and............ It's stupid simple to clean as well as maintain. I've had mine for over a decade now with minor consumable replacements. Runs like a frigg'in top. and it's very user friendly plus you can custom program it...

I believe I gave 1200 bucks for mine on sale and another 700 for the venting (which happens to be 4" vertical for a 20+ feet run....).

yeah i been thinking of burning more corn if the pellet price gets too high and ill have to figure out how to get to them dip switches as i think there covered. I called the harman teck support and they actually only recommend 25% corn as corn is more corrosive to the stove. i told them its an economic issue as pellets are pricing them self out of business lol that USSC 6041 looks like a good stove for a good price SidecarFlip

 

[Bioburner]

I burn close to 1/2 corn by weight in the PC45 with the Crosslink and works great. I have another PC and have burnt straight corn without issue but does not meet the needs in the shop so is for sale.

 

[biomass burner]

I burn close to 1/2 corn by weight in the PC45 with the Crosslink and works great. I have another PC and have burnt straight corn without issue but does not meet the needs in the shop so is for sale.

hey bioburner do you know what your dip switch settings are for your half and half mix? thanks

 

[SidecarFlip]

I called the harman teck support and they actually only recommend 25% corn as corn is more corrosive to the stove.

I'll take issue with that statement. Corn is only more corrosive if you are lax in maintainance. A byproduct of combusting corn is nitric acid vapor so it's paramount to keep the stove and venting (especially the venting) clean and maintained especially in the off season.

If you run it all year and shut it down in the spring and forgetaboutit until the following fall, when you open the door, you'll be rewarded with a corroded mess that won't work and venting with corrosion holes in the liner.

Having said that, a little common sense and a cleaning regimen, eliminates any undesireable effects from corn burning. I've run pellet only venting (not corn rated) for over 10 years with no issues but like the stove, I keep it clean and end of season it all gets cleaned well, the inside of the stove fogged with Stabil fogging oil and the venting pressure washed out.

Your Harman should be just fine running straight corn or any ratio of corn and pellets you want to run. I believe Bio will agree with that...........

 

[Bioburner]

 

[SidecarFlip]

Looks like 1-2 up, 3-4-5 down 6-7-8 up.......lol

...and a fat finger too.....

 

[Bioburner]

..and a fat finger too.....

Probably from to many carpentry projects. Thanks for the invention of air nailers it don't look like a thumb.

 

[Funnydirt14]

View attachment 156429

Bio, Is that a custom cut-out for the dip switches or did it come that way?. That would come in handy to make changes instead of tearing the whole board apart.

 

[Bioburner]

The cut out is there but just hidden by the plastic overlay. You should be able to feel where it is and with a sharp knife cut it out.

 

[Funnydirt14]

Thanks, Never noticed that on the cover. And I tore the face off the board to change my dip switches. Now if I get a new ESP off comes the tape.

 

[biomass burner]

I'll take issue with that statement. Corn is only more corrosive if you are lax in maintainance. A byproduct of combusting corn is nitric acid vapor so it's paramount to keep the stove and venting (especially the venting) clean and maintained especially in the off season.

If you run it all year and shut it down in the spring and forgetaboutit until the following fall, when you open the door, you'll be rewarded with a corroded mess that won't work and venting with corrosion holes in the liner.

Having said that, a little common sense and a cleaning regimen, eliminates any undesireable effects from corn burning. I've run pellet only venting (not corn rated) for over 10 years with no issues but like the stove, I keep it clean and end of season it all gets cleaned well, the inside of the stove fogged with Stabil fogging oil and the venting pressure washed out.

Your Harman should be just fine running straight corn or any ratio of corn and pellets you want to run. I believe Bio will agree with that...........

yeah you're exactly right. my biggest concern is getting dry enough corn. i have cleaners and such but no dryer lol the elevators around here try and keep it just under 15% moisture and i think a little dryer would be better wouldnt you think? thanks

 

[biomass burner]

View attachment 156429

thanks bio and yeah im gonna expose them switches like you did and it looks like a tooth pic is what you need to switch them? lol

 

[SidecarFlip]

thanks bio and yeah im gonna expose them switches like you did and it looks like a tooth pic is what you need to switch them? lol

Tooth pick, electronic plastic 'diddle stick', or a ball point pen tip.....

 

[biomass burner]

Tooth pick, electronic plastic 'diddle stick', or a ball point pen tip.....

thanks SidecarFlip

 

[SidecarFlip]

yeah you're exactly right. my biggest concern is getting dry enough corn. i have cleaners and such but no dryer lol the elevators around here try and keep it just under 15% moisture and i think a little dryer would be better wouldnt you think? thanks

Dryer can be better...BB dries his down with a homeade outfit, but I burn mine as it comes from the coop delivered and augered into my bulk tanks. I have the coop clean my shelled corn for feeding purposes which removes 99% of the cob pieces and husk parts. Benchmark storage RM is 15%. Ar 15, the corn won't mold in the elevator's tanks and it stays marketable. I roast at the 15% mark withy no issue. That issue would be a bit slower carmelization and possibly a bit more nitric vapor produced. Thats about it so 15 works but lower is better if you want to play with it. I don't have time.

Most of my shelled corn gets consumed by cattle anyway. They don't care about the RM but I care about the non-edible parts.

 

[Bioburner]

I made a very simple dryer and get the corn down below 10%. The Bixby needed to be adjusted down some it burns so much better. Looks like a gas flame most of the time. Reduces the consumption of the mix in the Harman too. When I have the wood stove going in the shop I use it to dry the corn. About five gallons of corn an hour.

 

[SidecarFlip]

With the volatility in pellets, a multifuel is the way to go. It negates the need to 'bite the bullet' on price gouging....

My issue right now is I'm flat out of corn and the frost laws are on so my feed delivery has to wait. Can't do a tri-axle down the road right now.