Comfortbilt hopper ran low and had darkened pellets in it?

[LuckyBananaKeys]

This might seem like a non-problem, but I wanted to be safe than sorry. Last night I wasn’t the one topping off the hopper in our Comfortbilt stove, so I’m not sure where it started from but it got low enough this morning that the low temp alarm went off and the stove shut down. I got up, checked it out, and found a bunch of darker pellets at the bottom of the hopper.

(This is them slightly mixed up since I automatically went to push down the stuff stuck up on the sides.)
Now, I don’t think I’ve seen the bottom of the hopper since we installed it at the beginning of this winter so maybe this is completely normal for pellets near the bottom, but my main concern is that there was a bit of a burn out in there. I have had some dusty pellet bags lately and I worry that it might be clogging the auger and let the fire sneak into the hopper. Is this normal, or should I clean it out next time it gets low and do some auger dust removal?

 

[tbear853]

Likely was the wood in the pellets like walnut, etc, or maybe moisture in a bag.

 

[johneh]

What kind of pellets do you use?
Those pellets don't look overheated or chared
just a different colour
As long as your burn pot does not back up
pellets into the pellet chute you are very
unlikely to have a hopper fire
I do not see a problem!
Welcome to the forum

 

[LuckyBananaKeys]

Likely was the wood in the pellets like walnut, etc, or maybe moisture in a bag.

The weird thing is is all the bags are a uniform color, and I’ve never seen any changes. Moisture might explain it, but the last bag that I had that had moisture didn’t change color either. The pellets expanded and turned to dust.

 

[LuckyBananaKeys]

What kind of pellets do you use?
Those pellets don't look overheated or chared
just a different colour
As long as your burn pot does not back up
pellets into the pellet chute you are very
unlikely to have a hopper fire
I do not see a problem!
Welcome to the forum

We’re using Crabbe pellets. I believe they’re mostly softwood and have been a uniform color all through out the last pallet.

I don’t think it backed up, so that’s a big relief, thank you!

And thanks so much! I’ve been a long time lurker but I finally said it was time to make an account.