hamer hot ones, huge clinkers on a 25pdvc any ideas?

[mike56]

just started burning hamers a few days ago (bought 2 tons in aug) getting huge clinkers, didn't have this problem with other pellets, could these pellets be bad? or maybe stove settings? have tried different settings on the lower 3 buttons, low fuel feed 2-6 and low air 3-7, top buttons 2-3, 3-5 have not noticed any difference still getting huge clinkers, stove is kept clean. They do give off good heat, does anyone have any ideas?

 

[epehubb]

I'm having the same issue with Hamers bought in Aug-Sept- Breckwell P23FS. I also have Barefoots and very little clinker buildup with them.

 

[Panhandler]

Been burning since '05. Never had any idea what a clinker was till last season. I read about them on this site, but that was it until last season. Was plagued by them all last year, This year, none. It's all in the pellet raw material from what I know, which can change from season to season.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

clinker = moisture + ash(mineral content and density) + time + temperature

Change any one and it is hard to get a clinker to form.

Moisture due to improper storage and mineral content of the fiber used to make the pellet play a large part in setting the stage for possible clinker formation.

 

[sydsdad]

im in the same boat with my pdvc and hamers,gl ive tried eveything as well..rmw

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

Anything that will help the ash to leave the burn pot reduces the time it has to fuse.

 

[mike56]

I guess i'm not alone, I called PRIMO pellets where i purchased them to voice my concern and was told i'm the first one to tell them about the clinker problem (i think they are lying) I also was given the phone no. of the owner, i called and left a message he still has not returned my call, I am not a happy camper, I purchased these pellets because of the reviews and recommendations from people on this forum. I know it is not the peoples fault, maybe they are and or were a good pellet for you but not for me, i pray i don't get stuck with these ,we are not talking pocket change here i would be out a lot of money! not a good thing right now.

 

[jtakeman]

I have heard good things about primo. Give them a bit. There probably busy.

I sure hope you read the disclaimers in the reviews. I stated several timies to try before you buy. Same goes for what they might replace them with. Get a couple of bags of the Greene Team and the Energex. Try them before you trade the Hamers in. You don't need to get this all over again.

One thing on the Hamers is they are dense as heck. The densest I tested, Plus there sized right for max feed. Try to keep the air up on the stove but back off on the feedrate. With the extra density and ideal size your stuffing lots more fuel into the fire.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

I have heard good things about primo. Give them a bit. There probably busy.

I sure hope you read the disclaimers in the reviews. I stated several timies to try before you buy. Same goes for what they might replace them with. Get a couple of bags of the Greene Team and the Energex. Try them before you trade the Hamers in. You don't need to get this all over again.

One thing on the Hamers is they are dense as heck. The densest I tested, Plus there sized right for max feed. Try to keep the air up on the stove but back off on the feedrate. With the extra density and ideal size your stuffing lots more fuel into the fire.

And if you are doing that you need the air in order to burn the pellets at a rate that allows the stove to remove the ash this is the time part in making a clinker.

 

[86 toy]

I have heard good things about primo. Give them a bit. There probably busy.

I sure hope you read the disclaimers in the reviews. I stated several timies to try before you buy. Same goes for what they might replace them with. Get a couple of bags of the Greene Team and the Energex. Try them before you trade the Hamers in. You don't need to get this all over again.

One thing on the Hamers is they are dense as heck. The densest I tested, Plus there sized right for max feed. Try to keep the air up on the stove but back off on the feedrate. With the extra density and ideal size your stuffing lots more fuel into the fire.

And if you are doing that you need the air in order to burn the pellets at a rate that allows the stove to remove the ash this is the time part in making a clinker.

removing the ash on their own is one thing these stoves don't do well at all thats why i open the door at least 3 times a day and pick out the ash and clinker that blocks up the airflow

 

[mattfloyd1]

I'm buring Hamer's in my Englander too. I've been burning them since end of October ish without any issue; perfect flame tons of heat and no clinkers in the burn pot. Since the weather has become real cold over the past 3 or 4 days I too have had build up in the burn pot. My thought is the cold air that enters from the OAK is creating moisture as it is introduced to the burn pot. I may be way off base but I am running my stove right now with the OAK disconnected for the night to see how things go. My hope is that pulling warmer air from inside the house will eliminate the clinkers It's been running perfect for the past 4 hours as if the OAK was connected. I only notice build up in the burn pot when tempuratures drop below 30 deg. Anyone else already try this and were you successful?

 

[mike56]

you might be on to something about the oak, this is not the first time i tried hamer's, i did try a bag or 2 in sept & oct when it was warmer (i was saving them for when it got really cold boy was i wrong) i didn't have any issues at that time hardly any clinkers now that it is much colder the clinkers are massive, and about TRY BEFORE YOU BUY Were talking hamer's hot ones no issues before, I did my homework before i bought them I could not fine any bad reviews maybe i missed some.

 

[mike56]

you might be on to something about the oak, this is not the first time i tried hamer's, i did try a bag or 2 in sept & oct when it was warmer (i was saving them for when it got really cold boy was i wrong) i didn't have any issues at that time hardly any clinkers now that it is much colder the clinkers are massive, and about TRY BEFORE YOU BUY Were talking hamer's hot ones no issues before, I did my homework before i bought them I could not fine any bad reviews maybe i missed some.

 

[mike56]

sorry double post

 

[mattfloyd1]

Same thing here. Did lots of home work before I bought this year. I wanted to buy a really good, high user rated pellet. So I bought 2 ton of Hamer's and 1.3 ton Okies. So far I'm impressed with the heat of these Hamer's. I'll let you know how things go after tonights burn. I'm not faulting these pellets yet!

 

[Don2222]

Hello

I have one suggestion here.

If the Bag of pellets is being brought in from cold storage and dumped right into the hopper.

Then try this.

Bring in a few bags and put by the stove for a day or so.

Then dump into the hopper. This will prevent any condensation that causes moisture.

Please let us know if this helps.

Also I have an idea on the OAK

Run the OAK into a Metal Trash Can, then into the Stove. This will warm the air.

Please let me know if that helps, I want to try it on my stove also

 

[jtakeman]

and about TRY BEFORE YOU BUY Were talking hamer's hot ones no issues before, I did my homework before i bought them I could not fine any bad reviews maybe i missed some.

I hear of so many that don't its alarming. Sorry your having issues after you did the trial run. Most times this isnt the case.

Keep us posted! Hope all goes well for you.

 

[mattfloyd1]

Thanks Don. I was thinking of wrapping my OAK flex pipe around my exhaust pipe as a sort of pre heater before the air enters the burn pot. just not sure how or if it'll work. I like your re the metal trash can; just not sure it would stay warm enough for the long haul. If this doesn't work I'm going to try bringing a few bags in and set them next to the stove for a couple of days to see if that makes any difference. I'm really intrigued to see if the cold air (below 30 deg) has an affect on the way pellets burn. We shall see!

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

Also a little information about moisture in the air coming in from outdoors via an OAK it was likely it was more moisture laden earlier in the burn season than now, as air gets colder it has great difficulty holding a large amount of water.

There are tables one can consult to find out the amount of water in the air based upon temperature and relative humidity.

 

[mattfloyd1]

Smokey, what are your thoughts about the air temps and clinkers? Do you think there is any relation? For me it's very odd that I've had a really good outcome with the Hamer's up until a few days ago just before the weather got real cold here. Thanks in advance!

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

Smokey, what are your thoughts about the air temps and clinkers? Do you think there is any relation? For me it's very odd that I've had a really good outcome with the Hamer's up until a few days ago just before the weather got real cold here. Thanks in advance!

Well there are four things that need to be present in the right amounts, I stated them earlier in this thread.

The things that really matter for you in this case are the amount of ash you are producing (it has increased because you are burning more fuel to keep warm) the temperature in the burn pot has increased (for the same reasons as the ash). That would be all that would be needed to increase clinker formation, the additional fuel also interferes with your stoves ability to blow some ash out of the pot so some of the ash may even be in the hot zone longer. The longer dwell time can also come about if the stove pushes the new ash up over the old. I haven't played with a pusher stove (horizontal feed).

I'm no stranger to clinkers I was producing pot filling ones twice a day back in 2008. But many years before that I used to have to break some up that were about 5 times the size of my burn pot while heating a large house using coal. I also had the opportunity to help operate a coaled fired steam plant, the boiler was fired by very large amounts of coal.

 

[Don2222]

Hello

Also a little information about moisture in the air coming in from outdoors via an OAK it was likely it was more moisture laden earlier in the burn season than now, as air gets colder it has great difficulty holding a large amount of water.

There are tables one can consult to find out the amount of water in the air based upon temperature and relative humidity.

That is true Smokey and this past fall is when I had a really bad problem with moist air coming in from the OAK.

Avalon's Fix is to cut a square hole in the side of the Intake Air Plenum INSIDE the stove to pull in Warm Dry Air!!

After Blocking up this hole, I found if all the air came from the outside then I would get a buildup of caked ash in the Burn Pot. Avalon will not even discuss this design enhancement except "Do Not Block the Hole!"

So now that I am getting dry air in the winter and I have a 15 Foot OAK there is no problem with caked ash.

With the hole being blocked I DO feel the house warming up faster and staying warmer on a lower heat setting this winter!!

So now we need to come up with a better design than Avalon like the Trash Can Idea or Wrapping the OAK around the Exhaust.

If the OAK pipe came in from outside and went into the bottom of the metal trash can and then another OAK pipe came out near to the top and went into the stove it would work very similar to an Indirect Water Tank on an Oil Boiler and Bingo. All the Tempered OUTSIDE AIR to run our stoves much more efficiently. I can save almost a half a bag per day using a lower heat setting and the house is still warm and cozy. This is a BIG issue !!

 

[forya]

I bought 4 tons of Hamer's this spring, and they are just starting to have Clinkers. I've noticed that when they burn for a long period of time on a higher burn, it builds up a large clump of ash at the top of the ashpan that cannot be pushed off the end into the ashpan. Then the feeder keeps filling the fire, but the combustion holes are blocked by the clump of ash, and the flame will get lazy, further compounding the problem, until I pull the ash clump down. I have turned my feed rate down to 2 on my Harman Accentra insert and it seems to be helping. The high heat seems to be worth it, I tried 3 bags of O'malley's and they burned real fast with a lot of ash and no where near the heat.

 

[mtalea]

sorry for your troubles,my opinion is it is the pellets.I think Hamers are horrible...hope you can resolve your issue

 

[mattfloyd1]

Thanks Don. I was thinking of wrapping my OAK flex pipe around my exhaust pipe as a sort of pre heater before the air enters the burn pot. just not sure how or if it'll work. I like your re the metal trash can; just not sure it would stay warm enough for the long haul. If this doesn't work I'm going to try bringing a few bags in and set them next to the stove for a couple of days to see if that makes any difference. I'm really intrigued to see if the cold air (below 30 deg) has an affect on the way pellets burn. We shall see!

Ok, been burning well over 24 hours now with the OAK disconnected and Hamer pellets from the same pallet. Last night I had the stove set on feed 3 and fan on 4. Everything looked great this morning when I got up and left for work. We turned the stove down for the day on setting 2 feed 3 fan. About 5:30 tonight we cranked the stove back up feed 3 fan 5. NO CLINKERS. I'm starting to think that very cold air has a some affect on how pellets burn, especially now after disconnecting the OAK.