Had a hopper fire this morning in my Canadian Comfort Ind. pellet stove...the hopper door was closed and it was basically a smoldering mess with an extremely large quantity of smoke. Video here:
The stove had just been cleaned yesterday afternoon and the vents cleaned last week...had just bought 2 bags of pellets from Tractor Supply Co. yesterday and filled the hopper with one of these after yesterdays cleaning...but had previously been using Okanagan Platinum pellets with no problems. The TSC pellets were very dark although I've burned TSC pellets off and on this winter as well. I'm posting a picture of a comparison of the Tractor Supply (left) and Okanagan pellets (right). The burn pot was completely chock full of ash (second photo). I literally had cleaned this stove out less than 24 hours previous.
So my question is, how did this happen? The TSC pellets were stored outside and I'm guessing were possibly damp? The TSC pellets in the photo are pretty dark and were taken from the unopened bag I have left over...although the pellets which didn't burn in the hopper were lighter, maybe the heat from the fire dried them out. But it looks as if they didn't burn so hot and clogged the chute with pellets which smoldered all night down the auger.
Is this a correct diagnosis of the problem? Or could there have been other factors? I am trying to decide what to do about the stove as it did have water poured in it to put the fire out. If it is still working I am not sure I even want to use it, truthfully.
The stove had just been cleaned yesterday afternoon and the vents cleaned last week...had just bought 2 bags of pellets from Tractor Supply Co. yesterday and filled the hopper with one of these after yesterdays cleaning...but had previously been using Okanagan Platinum pellets with no problems. The TSC pellets were very dark although I've burned TSC pellets off and on this winter as well. I'm posting a picture of a comparison of the Tractor Supply (left) and Okanagan pellets (right). The burn pot was completely chock full of ash (second photo). I literally had cleaned this stove out less than 24 hours previous.
So my question is, how did this happen? The TSC pellets were stored outside and I'm guessing were possibly damp? The TSC pellets in the photo are pretty dark and were taken from the unopened bag I have left over...although the pellets which didn't burn in the hopper were lighter, maybe the heat from the fire dried them out. But it looks as if they didn't burn so hot and clogged the chute with pellets which smoldered all night down the auger.
Is this a correct diagnosis of the problem? Or could there have been other factors? I am trying to decide what to do about the stove as it did have water poured in it to put the fire out. If it is still working I am not sure I even want to use it, truthfully.