ENVIRO M55 ash quality

[mutsuura]

Hi All

Got great responses/suggestions to my question re: M55 trim. Thank you!

Here's a follow up re: ash quality...

I took Kathryn Johnson's suggestion. I used manual mode during day/evening and at night I switched it to Hi/Low-thermostat mode. That did indeed save a lot on pellet consumption! Thx Kathryn for the great suggestion. The stove worked as advertised.

My follow up concerns the quality of the ash. We are first time owners/users of a pellet stove. We are accustomed to wood burning fireplaces/stoves. The latter generally leaves behind a very fine powdery soft ash. I'm puzzled/surprised about the quality of the ash left by the M55. Wondering if this is typical of pellet stoves or if there is an anomaly.

I'm an avid coffee drinker of ALL kinds so I liken the quality of our ash to espresso coffee grind. It's not as fine as Turkish coffee but not as coarse as regular drip coffee grind. The ash is definitely "grainy" in appearance/texture.

I assume this is because of the way the air flows through stove and (perhaps) the nature of pellet fuels. I'm using O'Malley premium hardwood pellets - or so it says on the bag!

Another peculiar thing is that there is the occasional "caking" (for lack of better description) in the ash tray on burn pot edges. By caking, I mean clumping of ashes (stuck together) as opposed to loose. Again I attribute that to the pellets themselves. I hope it's not bonding additives in the pellets.

Can people pls comment?

Thanks

 

[jtakeman]

I'll try to explain some for you.

I own the big sister to the M55 and get the ash clumps on both sides of the burnpot liner. The agitator sweeps the ash out of the burnpot while its still hot and it cools out on the edges. It clumps some when it cools. I wouldn't worry about this unless its really hard clumps. Mine just break up easily. Moist pellets do this to.

All pellets tend to burn a bit differently depending on the fiber quality and ash content of the fiber. The better of them will leave ash like talcum powder. The worst of them leave coarse gritty/grainy ash. I have seen some leave silica pebbles in my testing for the forum. You can check them out with the links below.

Big box brands

Ultimate pellet search

2010 testing

Not all pellets are created equal. What other brands do you have locally?