clumping ash

  • Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.

    We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.

    We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil.
Status
Not open for further replies.

forya

Member
Feb 18, 2010
269
Bucks County Pa
I've asked this question before, but nothing ever worked.
I have a Harman Accentra Insert and my ash that used to be nice and fluffy. now the ash almost solidifies and turns into clumps that resemble used kitty litter clumps.
Is it possible that my feed is too low. I usually leave it at 3. or could it be an airflow issue. I have checked all the seals and they are all good.
 
How does the flame look? You could be slightly lean on the burn, Try 3 1/2 or 4 on the feed. I wouldn't go any higher than that. It might turn rich on you and start to leave black on the glass.
 
The Glass looks good now, I will try that
 
The flame looks great, nice and pointy, maybe a little low, because we are running around thermostat setting now
 
What brand pellets????

I had this happen with a pellet sold out of HD. Winter warmth. Mixed another brand 50/50 or just switched brands and it went away.

It was scarry cause it woudl coat the burnpot and the new pellets would flow over the clumps. Tap it with anythign and it breaks up and scrapes out easy but short of tapping it the clumps woudln;t leave the burn pot.

Rick
 
Right now I am using Hamer's Hot Ones from Wva, but it did the same thing with those crappy Press-to-logs at the end of last season, with a full cleaning in between, so It is not a cleaning issue.
 
Trickyrick said:
What brand pellets????

I had this happen with a pellet sold out of HD. Winter warmth. Mixed another brand 50/50 or just switched brands and it went away.

It was scarry cause it woudl coat the burnpot and the new pellets would flow over the clumps. Tap it with anythign and it breaks up and scrapes out easy but short of tapping it the clumps woudln;t leave the burn pot.

Rick

We are almost possitive Hamer is the maker of Winter Warms. FYI

https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/57913/
 
forya said:
Right now I am using Hamer's Hot Ones from Wva, but it did the same thing with those crappy Press-to-logs at the end of last season, with a full cleaning in between, so It is not a cleaning issue.

Pres-to-logs is a Lignetics product and they are using Lignin as the binder. Hamer might be using Lignin too? (I am pretty darned sure but can't say 100% sure!)

It might be the binder doing this? As Rick said try another pellet like Greene Teams from Lowes or Barefoots.They use a very small amount of vegi oil to bind theres.
 
My limited experience says clinkers come from lower quality pellets...... Try a few bags of some other brand to be sure.....
 
I really don't think what I'm describing is clinkers, It is like the entire line of ash at the front of the burn pot were wet and solidified, like a cat that peed on clumping kitty litter
 
forya said:
.....it did the same thing with those crappy Press-to-logs at the end of last season, with a full cleaning in between, so It is not a cleaning issue.

Are you sure? Did you burn the Pres-to-Logs for a decent amount of time before the problem showed-up?

Can you describe your "full cleaning" procedure?
 
IMG_3298.jpg


this is a picture, these were all two clumps that broke while fishing them out of my ashpan
 
I had the dealer do my spring cleaning it came free with the install (1st one only) and I burned a full ton of press to logs, I'm not sure when it started clumping exactly, but it was during the Press-to-logs ton. The 1st ton I burned last year was Lignetics hardwoods(green bag) and there was no clumping with those. I have 5 tons of the Hamer's so I hope that they are not bad
 
I've NEVER seen ash that dark color before. Jay thought it might be a lean burn...... looking at that it looks like a very rich burn (lack of burn air), IMO.

Did you watch the dealer while they did the cleaning?? You would expect a dealer to know how to clean a stove correctly & completely, but based on things I read on here that dealers do, anything is possible.

EDIT:

Let me add that the fact that you stated that the problem started "during the Press-to-logs ton" and not as soon as you started burning them leads me to believe that they burned fine in the beginning....is that correct?
 
Sure does look too dark. Darn close to a clinker too! Clinker = chlorides in the mix(AKA salt). Well if you up the feed it will get worse for sure.

Hamers has 2 plants Elkins and Mt Hope. What do you have?
 
They are from Elkins. what is the fix for a rich burn?
 
More air or less fuel.

As long as your absolutely sure the stove is running properly. Rich burn is also lack of air=Dirty stove. Thats what imacman is saying. Are you 100% sure the stove is squeaky clean?
 
No, maybe the guys that did the spring clean didn't do a very good job. I am doing my part, at least what the small manual, and the service guys told me to do. 2x per ton I clean the ash pan vac the entire burn pot and fire bow, scrape the burnpot and heat exchangers, and brush the 2 exhaust ports until clean, It looks almost new when I am done.
 
Have the ash traps that are behind the heat exchangers been cleaned with a brush & vacuumed out? Has the combustion blower ever been removed & cleaned completely? Has the vent pipe been brushed and vacuumed out?

All of these have been shown on P. 28-32 of the owners manual.

They also state on the troubleshooting page:

"PARTIALLY BURNED PELLETS
1. Feed rate too high.
2. Poor air to fuel mixture. (Check burn pot cleanout
cover and air intake).
3. Burn pot or heat exchanger tubes may need to
be cleaned.
4. Combination of all the above."


As many on the forum will tell you, 80% of all stove burning problems come from a poorly maintained (dirty) stove.
 
I also noticed in another thread, You had to mess with the door seals to get an active flame. Any air leaks will disrupt the the burn as the air isn't drawn threw the burnpot.

Check the seals with a dollar bill. If it slips threw you need to adjust or change the door seals.
 
Just a heads up, I do a front end cleaning every sat morning, including a tear down and scrape out of heat exchangers and brush out from the front side. In the DEEP winter that is every 10 bags. then a full cleanout including pulling the stove out and cleaning the combustion fan every other week (20 bags) and a clean out of the entire exhaust vent with a brush, drill and vacuume about every 4th week so 40 bags +/-. I suspected the same thing Dirty stove when I got the same clumping and the darker ash, So I upped the cleaning and did everything to eliminate the issue and in the end I could turn the problem on and off only with a change in pellets.

If you can make a problem go away with one change and then make it come back again then you have found the issue. Now that being said could the real issue be not enough air to burn THOSE pellets correctly? YES. But if you are sure the stove is clean and to me that means clean it yourself and you can go finad other pellets that do work then what you have is a stove that can not draft enough to burn THIS pellet.

Is that great no and you never know perhaps I could call my dealer and he might change the draft settings on the board to give me a wider range of pellets to use but I have Hardwood heats and lignetics this year that work. Last year I had Okies, instantheat, greenteam and 5 or 6 others I tested with 2 bags to make decisions...

If this turns out to be pellets I would try a mix of 50/50 to see if that makes it go away.... 4 tons is a lot of pellets to swallow and I'm sure there is an expense to return even if you are buying another brand from the same supplier.
 
forya,

I don't have a Harmon so your cleaning needs may be different than mine. But......

What you describe as a cleaning in Post #18 that you do 2-3X per ton is what I do about every 3-5 bags in the burning season.

It is what I consider weekly maintenance.

Weekly (or 3-5 bags) Takes about 10 minutes.
Scrape the heat exchanges.
Vacuum out the entire burn pot, liner, and firebox.
Dump the ash pan.
Vacuum out the ash traps on the sides of the fire box with a 8"x 1/2" tube attached to my vacuum. This gets back behind the firewall all the way to the damper.
Scrape the burn pot liner clean.
Scrub the glass clean.
Vacuum the dog hair off the back of the stove (convection air input)

Deep Clean (after every ton) About an hour or so.
All of the above plus,
Pull both convection blower and combustion blower.
Scrape, scratch,wipe, vacuum the entire exhaust path from the damper to the chimney cap. (I use a 3" round brush to clean the vent pipe)
Clean both blowers with vacuum and compressed air. Motor and impeller sides.
Vacuum out inside of stove. (area behind the hopper where the blowers are)
I use spray carburetor cleaner on the combustion blower blades and shroud as well as a small brush to really clean the blades (Be careful not to bend a blade)
I use spray electronics cleaner on the convection blower squirrel cage.
More compressed air to dry it all out
Oil the convection blower (3 in 1 Blue can)
Replace/re-use the gaskets
Reassemble.

Not sure if it is a cleaning problem with your stove or a fuel (pellet brand) problem. But, it sounds like you need to clean it more often.

A clean stove is a happy (and warm) pellet burner.
---Nailer---
 
I know this may be just a review of what you are doing but better to ask and know vs wonder.

Are you pulling the heat exchanger pannels out and cleaning then and behind them? They get very very dirty with fly ash especially on the left side.

Are you pulling the door under the burnpot and cleaning out that space where air vents up through through the pot?

Nothing crawled in the OAK? I found a small hornet nest in mine as I was getting it ready for the season last month.

If you have eliminated everything else then you should go out and get 2 bags of pellets that you are SURE are another brand and try that. If it goes away youknow what it is. If it doesn't you should get your service guy in to see if the combustion fan is performing correctly, you never know I have seen other motors that still turn but have a leg or a winding go bad and need replacing. Tossing out ideas in this but they are just thories that need to be tested.
 
Every 2-3 bags I do remove the heat exchange plates and scrape them with the triangle end of the tool they provided, and vacuum and brush the heat exchanges. I also brush the 2 exhaust pipes. I haven't been pulling the stove out and cleaning the liner that goes up the chimney, as I don't have a brush/handle long enough to go the 22' that I would need. plus the opening seems real small to get a 4" brush in. I have never serviced the combustion motor, and I don't think they did when they came out to do the spring cleaning. I will try the dollar bill test on the door seal, but it looks like it will be hard due to the design of the cast iron door. Is there a place that I can get a full manual for this as mine that came with it is only 10 pages with no instructions on any of the motors/fans or even a detailed picture of the back of the unit?
 
Status
Not open for further replies.