Clunking Burn Pot - NorthStar CS550

[SplittingLogs]

If you've stumbled upon my other posts, you've probably already figured out that I'm largely incompetent and shouldn't be allowed to run a microwave, much less a corn stove. But it's not stopping me from trying to figure out the quirks of this machine in an attempt to get it working smoothly.

I recently bought a used NorthStar CS550 corn stove and was having problems with the agitator disconnecting until FunFlyer mentioned the set screw. I put everything in place, tightened it up, and now the agitator is stirring perfectly.

This has, however, led to another problem. The agitator, as it's turning, occasionally makes loud, clunking noises. It appears that it gets caught up on large burned chunks (that's what they call clinkers, right?), and due to that pressure, levers the entire burn pot up before loudly dropping it back into place.

I've tried a handful of things to address this. I've mixed in wood pellets (two-to-one corn-to-pellet ratio) and I've opened the damper farther. The corn is fairly dry - I think around 13%. I've also used the scraper to try to mix it up and remove chunks (but I'd prefer to not have to do that multiple times in the middle of the night).

I'm going to pick up some oyster shell to mix in (per the stove's manual) and could probably do a better job of sifting out the fines.

Is there anything else I can/should be doing? The stove is located in the room next to our bedroom, and it's a little jarring to be woken up by multiple loud metallic clunks at 3 am!

Thanks!!

 

[FirepotPete]

If you've stumbled upon my other posts, you've probably already figured out that I'm largely incompetent and shouldn't be allowed to run a microwave, much less a corn stove. But it's not stopping me from trying to figure out the quirks of this machine in an attempt to get it working smoothly.

I recently bought a used NorthStar CS550 corn stove and was having problems with the agitator disconnecting until FunFlyer mentioned the set screw. I put everything in place, tightened it up, and now the agitator is stirring perfectly.

This has, however, led to another problem. The agitator, as it's turning, occasionally makes loud, clunking noises. It appears that it gets caught up on large burned chunks (that's what they call clinkers, right?), and due to that pressure, levers the entire burn pot up before loudly dropping it back into place.

I've tried a handful of things to address this. I've mixed in wood pellets (two-to-one corn-to-pellet ratio) and I've opened the damper farther. The corn is fairly dry - I think around 13%. I've also used the scraper to try to mix it up and remove chunks (but I'd prefer to not have to do that multiple times in the middle of the night).

I'm going to pick up some oyster shell to mix in (per the stove's manual) and could probably do a better job of sifting out the fines.

Is there anything else I can/should be doing? The stove is located in the room next to our bedroom, and it's a little jarring to be woken up by multiple loud metallic clunks at 3 am!

Thanks!!

Yup, them's is clinkers! I don't know your stove but the clinkers are from the starches in the corn, your agitator builds up with them and then starts to make your pot go bump in the night.

Some people have made clips to hold the pot in place. If you go this route just remember that you are then putting more strain on the agitator motor/gearbox and that might cost more to fix than it's worth.

Mixing pellets will help, but IMO not much, unless you go with more pellets than corn, like 75% pellets, 25% corn. Oyster shells seems to be another "cure" that never worked for me. But you should try, they are cheap enough. And if you are near Green Bay, PM me and I'll give you 3/4 of a bag of them I have left over and never use, it would be a favor to me and get them out of the garage!

Also when you shut down to clean you may have to soak your agitator and burn pot to get all the build up off. You may even have to scrape, otherwise you are starting out with crap that will just build up faster and make more noise.

The way I cured this is by running 100% clinker pot with 100% corn. No noise, no agitator motor to burn out, no extra cleaning. I don't know if clinker pots have been made for your stove but you might look into it.

Otherwise you need to go with a lot more pellets mixed in, find your sweet spot ratio with corn/pellet mix and go from there.

Another thing to keep in mind. When burning corn you will go through agitators, the acid from burning the corn eats them up. So if you don't have spare agitators you may want to burn only pellets until you have a spare or two. I was going through 3 per season and they were stainless steel!

 

[SplittingLogs]

Hey Pete! Thanks for your reply! I was actually reading Ask Vic on Packers.com when your message came through. I'd love to live near Green Bay, but I'm on the other side of the state, near the Minnesota border.

Excellent thoughts! Being new to this, I'm not 100% sure what a clinker pot is, or how to get one, but I'm intrigued by the idea. Oddly, it seemed like my stove was working more efficiently and kicking out more heat when it wasn't working properly and the agitator wasn't turning. I ended up with a lot more ash and had to stop and clean it daily, but at least it wasn't giving me PTSD.

Do you know of a good resource for clinker pot information? I've done some digging but haven't come up with much. I'll probably research it more after work.

Thanks again!

 

[FirepotPete]

Hey Pete! Thanks for your reply! I was actually reading Ask Vic on Packers.com when your message came through. I'd love to live near Green Bay, but I'm on the other side of the state, near the Minnesota border.

Excellent thoughts! Being new to this, I'm not 100% sure what a clinker pot is, or how to get one, but I'm intrigued by the idea. Oddly, it seemed like my stove was working more efficiently and kicking out more heat when it wasn't working properly and the agitator wasn't turning. I ended up with a lot more ash and had to stop and clean it daily, but at least it wasn't giving me PTSD.

Do you know of a good resource for clinker pot information? I've done some digging but haven't come up with much. I'll probably research it more after work.

Thanks again!

You'll be border warring with the Queen's fans! You need to scoot over to the cities and grab some of those Packer glasses at MickyD's that were sent by accident!!

If your stove seemed to run good without the agitator going and you are around enough to pull the clinker you can try running clinker style with the pot you have. Depending on the depth of the pot and how much you are feeding the stove will determine on how often you have to pull the clinker. To pull the clinker you will have to make a couple of clinker forks. The fork goes into the pot, you then lift the entire clinker out while the stove is running, put it into a metal bucket, it will be glowing hot, take it outside, put a different fork in the pot. When the clinker that you pulled cools, just tap the clinker that is stuck on the fork until it falls off, then you can reuse the fork.

The forks burn out so you have to make some up. I tried using stainless wire and they burn up as fast or faster than just regular wire you can get. I use just the 3/16" x 4' wire you can get from any hardware store.

I will try and get some pics of mine and post here for you to get an idea, but I know my afternoon and early evening is busy. And I have to post other pics of my cornvac setup on another thread. With the weather cooperating I got a ton of corn yesterday, moved it all out of the truck last night but need to move more to the basement today so I have room in the garage to get another ton tomorrow. Sure beats moving it when the winds of January hit!

 

[Lake Girl]

I was going to suggest the oyster shells but you found the reference in the manual ... Another forum member has purchased a second pot to speed up his cleaning process and just drops the hot one in a bucket of water to soak a bit. With the pot still being warm, the contact with cooler water separates the carbon build-up from the metal pot easier...

 

[FirepotPete]

I was going to suggest the oyster shells but you found the reference in the manual ... Another forum member has purchased a second pot to speed up his cleaning process and just drops the hot one in a bucket of water to soak a bit. With the pot still being warm, the contact with cooler water separates the carbon build-up from the metal pot easier...

Hadn't thought of that, makes sense. Just don't throw it in when it's still red hot.

 

[FirepotPete]

Changed my schedule, so here's a couple of pics of:

Clinker pot on the left with clinker fork in it, original pot for agitator on the right. The clinker pot is tapered to allow air around it and goes down to 1" from the bottom cleanout to allow air on the bottom.

Clinker fork bent to fit in pot.

Clinker fork in clinker pot. Note the handle is long enough to grab with long nose vise grips allowing me to lift the clinker above the pot, tip the loose burning corn back into the pot and put the clinker in a metal ash can for removal. This way I don't have to pause the auger feed or shut the stove down. A lot less ash in the stove because nothing is being stirred so I get better heat from the stove running it this way. And a lot easier to clean.

 

[SplittingLogs]

I was going to suggest the oyster shells but you found the reference in the manual ... Another forum member has purchased a second pot to speed up his cleaning process and just drops the hot one in a bucket of water to soak a bit. With the pot still being warm, the contact with cooler water separates the carbon build-up from the metal pot easier...

That's an interesting idea! Sounds like a fun experiment, if nothing else. Thanks Lake Girl!

 

[SplittingLogs]

Changed my schedule, so here's a couple of pics of:
View attachment 168933
Clinker pot on the left with clinker fork in it, original pot for agitator on the right. The clinker pot is tapered to allow air around it and goes down to 1" from the bottom cleanout to allow air on the bottom.
View attachment 168934
Clinker fork bent to fit in pot.
View attachment 168935
Clinker fork in clinker pot. Note the handle is long enough to grab with long nose vise grips allowing me to lift the clinker above the pot, tip the loose burning corn back into the pot and put the clinker in a metal ash can for removal. This way I don't have to pause the auger feed or shut the stove down. A lot less ash in the stove because nothing is being stirred so I get better heat from the stove running it this way. And a lot easier to clean.

Dude! That is really cool! I think I'm going to try burning a much higher mix of pellets tonight, and then - if that doesn't work - pull out the agitator tomorrow and try it as a clinker pot. Thanks for sharing the pictures! I really like the idea!

And, yes, where I live we are required to pledge allegiance to either the Packers or Vikings on the first day of kindergarten, and then spend the next several years fighting over football until graduation! The worst part is that I'm only a few miles from getting the Eau Claire stations and Packers games. Instead I'm stuck with the Twin Cities channels.

Good Times!

 

[Bioburner]

Wish I could remember exactly how I kept the clinkers from being a PIA in the Countrysides.(seven years in house) My folks still burn straight corn with a cup of oyster shells per bucket. Don't keep much in the pot so the fire consumes the corn without building any mass to stir in the pot. I could go for three plus days with the hopper extension to make for a nice weekend away.

 

[SplittingLogs]

Wish I could remember exactly how I kept the clinkers from being a PIA in the Countrysides.(seven years in house) My folks still burn straight corn with a cup of oyster shells per bucket. Don't keep much in the pot so the fire consumes the corn without building any mass to stir in the pot. I could go for three plus days with the hopper extension to make for a nice weekend away.

Thanks Bioburner! That is one of my minor frustrations with the NorthStar; that it seems to overfeed the fire. It has a 1-10 setting, and I never put it above one. Yet it seems to put more in than is really necessary. Not sure what the deal is with that, but I bet it would dump a bushel in three minutes if I actually set it at 10! I'm picking up oyster shell tomorrow afternoon, so we'll see if that makes a difference. Thanks again!

 

[Bioburner]

need more air then

 

[SplittingLogs]

Just an update - I finally made it out to the feed store last night and bought a sack of oyster shells. It actually seems like that is doing the trick! It still clunks from time to time, but not nearly as often, and not nearly as loud. (Smaller, softer clinkers maybe?) I've also opened the damper further, and am making a more concerted effort to scrape the pot and open up the air holes on a regular basis. I'm still intrigued by the clinker pot strategy and may go that way before too long, but for the moment I'm warm and sleeping at night!! Thanks again to everybody for their insight and advice!!