Freedom Fuel and Clinkers- what are my options?

[Exmasonite]

So, i have been running my Europa 75 for about 4-5 weeks now. First season with this house, stove, and burning pellets.

Had 5-6 left over bags from the previous owner... forgot what they were but had no problem (white bag w/ green print)

Ended up picking up 2 tons of Freedom Fuel at the HD.

I am getting some TERRIBLE clinkers with these things... after about 4-5 days of burning, there's a baseball sized wad in the burnpot that makes maintaining a coalbed almost impossible... either have to back stove down to lowest level and lose heat or pellets are all but overflowing, regardless of extraction auger setting.

Lesson learned: Always buy a few bags and test out before pulling the trigger on 2 tons... regardless of the price.

So, what do i do now? I have about 1.25 tons left. I know i just need to find another pellet that the europa likes better. If i do, what are the chances i can mix them 50/50 and the clinker problem will go away or will I only decrease the incidence by 50%?

Hope that all makes sense. Thanks in advance.

 

[Pellet-King]

Maybe return 1 ton for a refund, can u adjust your damper for increased air?, my whit rarely get's clinkers, just small amount on the front corners after a weeks burning which comes off easy with my vac hoce, when burning, your burned red hot almost spent pellet's should "dance" around with the air swirling under the burn pot.

 

[Fish On]

white bag green lettering? were they okies if they were the owner was burning a good pellet. have you done a complete cleaning of the whole stove, it does make a big difference.

best thing to do is try and find a few pellets your stove likes you can mix if you want it just a pain.

funny because a lot of people like those freedom pellets

 

[Exmasonite]

Hmmm... wonder how easy it would be to convince HD to do an exchange/refund. Have dropped close to $10K with them this year with new house.


So more air might help the problem? Europa has a programmed electronic air flow setting but find that any time i crank it above the normal "10" (1-20), i get a weird resonance noise no matter what i clean or clamp down.

Stove and exhaust pipe have been cleaned extensively... have been very anal about weekly cleanings with my new appliance. Hope that isn't an issue.


My only other worry is that the ash extraction auger/system is somehow crapping out and haven't realized. Don't really have a reason to believe that... ash production in pan seems ok, no visible problems with auger or mechanism. Just seemed to be the only other thing that could go wrong and predispose stove to clinkers. Any opinions on that? Not sure what to do about that short of getting a stove tech out to troubleshoot. I'd be apt to try some other pellets before going that route.

 

[Pellet-King]

Not familiar with your stove, so it has no damper adjustment on the side for increased combustion air?

 

[Exmasonite]

hehe... i bought a house with a europa 75, the red-headed step child of the pellet stove industry. The one that's been through 4-5 foster homes and just never seems to make nice.

here's the latest incarnation...

http://www.paromax.ca/index.php?lang=en

from what i understand, the owner/inventor has finally taken over control of the production of the machine and hopefully things will go well for him. Decent stove, i can't complain too much but my neophyte status likely colors that opinion.

 

[krooser]

You may have to clean that stove more often to maintain it's efficiency.... many here do a quick clean everyday.

When was the stove last given a complete , I mean COMPLETE cleaning, including the vent system? You know... pull the fans, get the ash out from behind the firebox, manually clean out the exhaust path, etc.

A pellet pile-up is a good indication of poor air flow... IMHO of course.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

That stove is completely adjustable, you likely will need to increase your ash extraction rate if you can't increase the air flow.

Clinkers = ash + heat + time + moisture. Reduce any one of them and clinkers don't stand a chance. Both of the above adjustments work to keep the ash out of the pot and thereby reduce both the time and amount of ash available for the sintering process to operate, the increased air also can drastically change the temperature.

There is a world of difference between Okies if that is what the previous owner was burning and any pellet you are likely to find a a big box. This is even without considering any possible moisture issued caused by improper storage by the big box.

 

[Exmasonite]

Yeah... i've been tinkering with the extraction rate a bunch. On the first bags, i cranked it back down to 1-2 or i couldn't keep a good coal bed. I've gone up as high as 20 (max) with no real improvement. After those first 5-6 bags, i gave it as good a cleaning as i think possible... pretty much completely broke her down and checked everything. From bag 1 with the freedom fuel, i've been having clinker issues. Only thing i have some difficulty increasing is the air flow... anything above 11 and it rattles/resonates something fierce. I've tightened everything down, cleaned the impeller fan REALLY well but it still makes that noise.

Krooser- so you shut the stove down everyday and clean it? I was hoping that was only something i'd have to do weekly.

 

[jtakeman]

Doesn't the Europa have corn mode as well as pellet?

I had issue with a pellet(No I am not saying what brand either! ;-P ) a couple of years back and I ran my stove in multi/corn program. Breezed thru them with no issues. I could go my usual Sunday to Sunday cleaning routine!

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

The pellet fuel Jay found the corn in: https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewreply/694219/

 

[FordMastertech]

I tried a couple of bags of the HD Freedom Fuel and it was messy in my Quad MT Vernon AE Insert, some clinkers but not the worst I have seen in this stove. The heat output was ok they were just a dirty burning pellet. Glad I didn't buy any more than I did. Personally I love soft wood pellets and try to get them when ever possible.

 

[Gweeper64]

That is the one great thing about the Mt Vernon... clinkers aren't really an issue. If any form, they get dumped within a couple of hours and really don't affect things much.

Freedom Fuel did ok for me as well. They weren't the best, but weren't the worst I've tried either.

 

[hossthehermit]

A lot of the corn burners mix some oyster shell in to cut down on clinkers and make them easier to deal with.

 

[Czech]

I clinker every 4-5 days? I'd be happy! Burning corn anyways, I'm used to at least dumping the pot every day.