Englander 17 VL w/Pellet Basket?

[Rollieman]

(answered my own question below)
Has anyone tried a pellet basket in an Englander 17 VL ------------ I realize it has a small fire box @ 8.5" X 18" although fairly tall @ 12.5" ----- (pellet basket is: 5.5" wide X 15" long X 5" deep).

Thank you !

 

[begreen]

I don't recall any. There are some old threads on this topic, but not with the 17-VL
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/pellet-log-cages.114624/
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/testing-pellet-logs-in-my-insert-with-good-results.160262

 

[Rollieman]

I was able to try the pellet basket in the Englander 17-VL today and it definitely works. This E-Bay purchased basket is made very well out of .090 thick stainless expanded steel and is bolted together with stainless hardware. Good thing is was bolted instead of welded because I didn't take into account for the door opening thus was unable to get the basket in the stove, so I disassembled the sides and shorten it's length by 1" which allowed it to fit. Not easy cutting .090 stainless which required cutoff wheels !
I semi filled the basket, poured some starter gel on the top and left the door cracked for about 10 minutes before closing it completely, at this time the magnetic gage located on upper side of the stove read about 100 degrees, the next 45 minutes was a slow but a consistent climb until it finally roared as shown reaching a temp close to 325 degrees before I throttled down a little. The primary glow in front of the "dog house" was impressive as you can see by the brilliant fire circle at the bottom of the basket. It ran strong for a couple of hours and then slowly ramped down to red embers, it's been 3 hours now and I still can't touch the stove.
So overall very happy it works, it's small stove with a small pellet basket, they ramp up slow but when they get going they GO . Can't report on the re-filling process today, weather's way too warm to keep this thing going, was just curious if works ----------- IT DOES !!