Does size really matter? (Pellets)

[LIpelletpig]

Here is my fustration.....The topic is not intended to be perverted...I have been using Energex pellets for the last year the ones made here in the USA in Pennsylvania. These are strictly hardwood. I am burning them in my Harman Accentra Insert which really has no problem burning anything, but the bags I've been opening have had many larger size pellets. As in the picture I had a pellet almost up to the 3" mark. In my standard that is way to big to be PFI certified. There are a few 2" here and there and most are at the 1.5" length and less. I have not had any bridges in the hopper as of yet, but I have had alot of clunks which I would assume are the pellets being broken by the auger.

Here are my questions and concerns____ Could this lead to damaging the feed motor or the auger tube? Is the heat output any different with pellet size? I find my flame is smaller buring these pellets. I was thinking about contacting the manufacturer and complaining about the issue but probably know where that will get me! Does anyone have the same issue on the size of the pellets depending on the brand?

 

[Doocrew]

I can't wait to see the responses to this one.

Seriously, larger pellets have never bothered my stove.

 

[gbreda]

I have the exact same thing with Greene Team. I too have had 3" and over lengths. 1.5"-2" are common enough to push the limits of Premium standard.

My Harmon has had no problems so far. I also try an pick out the longer ones and break em up. Overall, pretty good heat from them though.

Here is a thread I started on that exact subject. It goes over alot.

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/45349/

edit: nice save on the subject line: LMAO at first glance :cheese:

 

[ablejoy]

I burned 1 ton of walmart pellets they were like yours never had a problem.

 

[jtakeman]

When I first read the title, I thought I was in the wrong forum! :lol:

Are those pellets Juniata's?

I remember chating with macman about the PFI standard for lenght. As long as the longer pellet quanity is below 2%. It is still in spec. (2% of 40lbs is about .8lbs of long ones)

Most pellet brands don't seem to have any issue with lenght. But I have seen Michigan's with well over 2 inches. Not a problem in my stove.

Not sure if your Harman will have any long term ill effects from them. I will leave that to the Harman experts!

Probably a good idea to call Energex. They should know if there is an issue.

Good luck!

 

[gbreda]

When I first read the title, I thought I was in the wrong forum! :lol:

Are those pellets Juniata's?

call 900-too-long

 

[LIpelletpig]

Not to be confused this is the bag for the pellets.

 

[gbreda]

The only thing that you can really do is go through a whole bag of pellets, remove all that are over 1.5" and see if the weight is more than .8 of 1 lb as that would be over the PFI standard.

Regarding the lower flame, it should not be the pellet length, my P68 flame is plenty high (almost to the heat exhange at times) when it calls for high heat. Are you sure that the burn pot is clean of all carbon buildup and that ALL the air holes are open? This could effect flame height. Also the pellets themselves could be the culprit (even a bad run that you may have recieved). I have no experience with Energex, but the Greene Teams are hardwood also.

 

[LIpelletpig]

I tried 10 or 12 bags of greene team and I really liked them. They also ran on the larger size as well. I wouldn't hesitate to buy a ton or two of Green Team for next year..problem is I am out of room with the Barefoots I just got.

 

[tjnamtiw]

I had one auger feed tube bridge in my Sante Fe because of a long pellet. The entire auger was filled and stalled out the motor. Luckily it didn't burn it out. Hasn't happened again.

 

[schmeg]

I had 4 ton of Northeast that way last year. Most were over 1.5 inches. A lot were over 2. Plugged my auger constantly. Depends on the stove.

 

[mainegeek]

Last year I burned mostly Energex out of Canada. I found many large pellets but the stove didn't seem to care. This year my current supply of Energrex all seems to be uniform between 1/2" and 3/4". I have not found a larger pellet (yet). Perhaps the US plant has not been completely tweaked? In any case, my stove doesn't seem to care... I've yet to have a pellet jam (**knocking on wood**)

 

[chrisasst]

you just saved me some time. I also am burning energex and the otherday I had a 3" pellet. The longest pellet I have seen in my 3 years of burning...

 

[Meneillys]

New England Wood Pellet also had this issue. We had 9 tons come back to us the dealer because of stoves jamming up with the pellets. NEWP took the complaint seriously and added more knives to there pellet mills to keep the size down. The manufactures can't fix a problem they don't know about. The pellets we got back were within PFI standards but it only takes one lone pellet to jam a stove. I burned them up in my Quad and that chews them up nicely loud but nice.

 

[investor7952]

I also have a Harman insert. I have also had 3 plus inch pellets from stove chow. I have 1 ton from 1/2 inch to 1 1/2 inches and I have a 2nd ton same manf. with sizes from 1 inch to 3 1/2 inches. I have burned 17 bags of the long pellets and other then a clunk sound every once in a while I have had no issues. Keep in mind it take no effort at all to break these big pellets so I feel they are breaking in the hopper without any problems at all.
I also started to mic corn in with my hardwood pellets on these colder nights here in northern nj. I was told the corn burns hotter but i still have yet to see a big difference.

 

[Nicholas440]

I dont know if those real long pellets will hurt anything, I had 5 tons of Sommerset pellets last season, and they looked like yours. I always had to break up the real long ones, and even then I could hear them being broken by my auger on my Quad Castile insert. It used to bother me when I constantly heard those loud banging sounds but my installer said that was just pellets being broken by the auger due to how long they are.

This season I have 5 tons of White Lightning hardwood pellets, and so far Ive used about 12 bags, and Im really impressed with the length of the pellets, they are all uniform, and the majority of them are 1/4 inch to 1/2 inch, and I have yet to see any over 1/2 inch long. This is really good for my stove, I never hear any banging sounds now from pellets being crunched up. These short ones perform very well they burn hot, and very little ash is left.


In all the 5 tons that I burned last year I never had any serious issues from pellets being too long but I do notice how much quieter my stove runs now. I dont think the longer pellets hurt anything unless they get really jammed in the auger tube.

 

[margomonk]

I find that I get more heat from the smaller pellets (no specific variety) simply because they feed faster, but I havent had any problems burning the longer ones.

 

[krooser]

I find that I get more heat from the smaller pellets (no specific variety) simply because they feed faster, but I havent had any problems burning the longer ones.

I guess you'd get more pellets in the burn pot the smaller they are... more fuel should equal more heat.

 

[jtakeman]

I find that I get more heat from the smaller pellets (no specific variety) simply because they feed faster, but I havent had any problems burning the longer ones.

I guess you'd get more pellets in the burn pot the smaller they are... more fuel should equal more heat.

I agree, seems to be the rule. On another note, The longer pellets stall's the auger motor some. So you get even less than a standard pellet feed amount.

 

[tjnamtiw]

Had my second feed chute jam last night from too long a pellet. Looking up the chute with a mirror, you could see the long pellet across the opening and everything backed up behind it. This was on the Sante Fe.

 

[sydney1963]

For the most part you don't want your chute jammed, so go with the medium sized. Everything in moderation. LOL

 

[begreen]

Too long pellets can bridge the auger feed. This causes a blockage and no heat. Premium pellets are rarely over 1.25" long and usually under an inch for this reason. The super long pellets sound like standard grade. They are ok for commercial systems, but not so good for some auger fed home units.

 

[tjnamtiw]

These pellets are from Rockwood, Ga and are definitely not standard grade. The ash content is almost non existent. After burning for two days, there is maybe 1/4 cup of ash in the pot or less. It never even comes up to the holes in the angled part of the pot. It just seems that they didn't have good control on the length for this batch. We'll see when I get to the next one.