Lot's of Ash with Cubex

[John62]

am I the only one getting lot's of ash with Cubex. Te heat is great but I am having to empty the ash pan once a week. I clean the stove every Saturday so it's not a problem but it there is much more ask than with the Lignetics I burned last year. With that said the heat is great. My stove is a XXV. What have you guys seen this season?

 

[tundraSQ]

I also am burning Cubex in a XXV....so it should be apples to apples right?

First ton was pretty decent....ash was low, temps were a bit higher..

Second ton was much worse....but some of it got water damaged , and i just assumed the entire ton my have been slightly bad.

I just started into my third ton, and i am getting alot of ash....and it seems as if i am not getting the pellets 100% burned....I am getting great heat however.

I just tried turning DOWN the pellet feed to a tad under 3 to see if anythign changes....maybe thats the wrong direction???

Short answer....ditto..tons of ash.

 

[chrisasst]

first year burning these... lots of fines, lots of ashes...yes

 

[newf lover]

I'm beginning to think that we can't necessarily trust that a pellet that was great one year will be great the next year. Maybe that's asking too much due to the variation in raw materials the manufacturers deal with. You would think with Cubex you'd be safe because they supposedly get their sawdust from a wood flooring company ( I think). After burning through 3 tons of NEWPs that were very ashy, then burning Turman which have cut the time in half that I have to bother with the stove, I don't want to go back to ashy. I am hoping the Turman's stay consistent and that someone around me carries them. If not, I can deal with ashy and hot, I'll just whine a bit.

 

[summit]

I havent heard any complaints at the shop this year about Cubex, and we sell a truckload a week. Not to say a batch couldn't have gone out that was sub - par, but we haven't seen any come by our way I dont think.

 

[jtakeman]

If not, I can deal with ashy and hot, I'll just whine a bit.

Or just drink a lot of wine as it helps!

I have lots of friends burning the Cubex since my Ultimate test. I haven't heard one peep from them. My ton is just as good as what I tested. But you just never know, all it takes is one batch and the trouble starts.

 

[Meneillys]

I had to decrease the amount of pellets feeding and increase the air flow then everything was good. Before I did that they would build up in the burn pot after a bag. Great heat and the ash is much better than my other pellets.

 

[minnow]

That was my experience with Cubex 3 years ago when I used them. Lots of ash. In fact the most ash of all the brands I have used. I stopped buying the Cubex for that reason and the fact that there are many better pellets that are made here in the USA and better to give my money to them rather than a foreign country.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

I had to decrease the amount of pellets feeding and increase the air flow then everything was good. Before I did that they would build up in the burn pot after a bag. Great heat and the ash is much better than my other pellets.

Which is exactly what I'd expect to have to do with a very dense consistently small pellet.

 

[jtakeman]

I had to decrease the amount of pellets feeding and increase the air flow then everything was good. Before I did that they would build up in the burn pot after a bag. Great heat and the ash is much better than my other pellets.

We have seen this with a few other dense brands. The stoves with feed trim or different burn modes seem to cope better. Also extends the burn length. And I agree great heat with the least amount of ash from a hardwood pellet. Rivals the softwoods. Seems too much fuel smothers the burn and you get clumps/clinkers in the burnpot. Just increasing the air via damper setting isn't always enough to keep this from happening. Incomplete burning of the pellet will make it seem theres much more ash. When its actually just not being burned all the way. The Mt Vernon AE using sunflower setting cured this clinker/access ash issue with Hamers and Okies. Should work for any of the dense brands as well.

So is it the pellet or the stove? Maybe certain stoves just can't handle the max density of these pellets. And its not just Cubex were talking here. Hamers, Okies, Barefoots, Spruce Points and Somersets have all been mentioned.

So if we take some of the ash and hit it with a propane torch, Does the ash smolder and burn? This may be a way to see if there is incomplete burning of the said pellets.

I'm just guessing here and hope to find a way to assist others in tweaking the stove to get the best burn form the dense brands! If we put our heads together, just maybe? I guess we need to get a list of what stoves are having issues with the dense pellets and what does it take to adjust them.

 

[John62]

Gents,

Thanks for the tips. I will adjust the feed rate and see what happens

 

[minnow]

I have been burning Barefoots since giving up the Cubex. And the Barefoots don't have nearly the amount of ash the Cubex had. And I did not change any of the settings on my Harmon Insert. In my experience, the Cubex create almost twice as much ash as the Barefoots.

 

[hooter04]

Jack I have found that there's a few fines in the bottom of the bags,but this is the first I've tried cubex.As far as the ash content,seems to be normal compared to the NEWP.

 

[smilejamaica]

I'm beginning to think that we can't necessarily trust that a pellet that was great one year will be great the next year. Maybe that's asking too much due to the variation in raw materials the manufacturers deal with. You would think with Cubex you'd be safe because they supposedly get their sawdust from a wood flooring company ( I think). After burning through 3 tons of NEWPs that were very ashy, then burning Turman which have cut the time in half that I have to bother with the stove, I don't want to go back to ashy. I am hoping the Turman's stay consistent and that someone around me carries them. If not, I can deal with ashy and hot, I'll just whine a bit.

I think the turmans are just such an underrated pellet . they burn so nice and clean in my stove. maybe they had such a good deal on the cubex cause they had issues with them . they had them on sale the cheapest i ever seen them .

 

[newf lover]

I'm wondering too if some of these companies tried to increase their production so much, quality fell by the wayside. I agree, Turmans are an underrated pellet.

 

[jtakeman]

Ever wonder why Turmans are in a clear bag?

 

[Meneillys]

I have to say as a dealer I don't like this at all. I want something that I know is good and don't have to open every pallet before giving it to a customer to make sure it is good. I have been calling some people and asking any that have been calling to place orders what they think and how the pellets we are selling are and most like the Cubex some don't care and want what ever is cheapest and two Cubex don't like to burn in there stoves. The fines issue is not really there some say there is some in the bags but nothing they worry about. The ash is up from last year though and the only thing I can think is that last year we got 100% oak pellets and this year I know we got more Hard Maple then Oak. Hard Maple would make more ash I think due to the sugars in the wood. We do get our yummy maple syrup from Hard Maple after all. To my customers if you don't like them give us a call and tell us what you do like. We want happy customers that come back.

 

[John62]

So I moved the feed rate on my Harmon XXV from 4 to 3. Bottom line for me was a longer burn time and less ash. Thanks for tip! In my simple mind I figured the stove would take care of this in room temp mode. Anyway live and learn.

 

[Meneillys]

Good to hear that lowering the feed rate helped you out. I know we had to turn it down on every stove that we put the Cubex in so far. The pellets seem slippery compared to other pellets we have burnt. Did it help with the fly ash also?

 

[jtakeman]

I have been burning Barefoots since giving up the Cubex. And the Barefoots don't have nearly the amount of ash the Cubex had. And I did not change any of the settings on my Harmon Insert. In my experience, the Cubex create almost twice as much ash as the Barefoots.

Even the Barefoots are having issues!

https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/66920/

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

Gee those must be really bad pellets, perhaps they are past their expiration dates.

I'll tell ya what I'm going to do, you send them me and I'll properly dispose of them for you.

I have this rather simple made in China stove that I can't fine tune and it is busy happily munching on Cubex.

Dense pellets need more air per volume of fuel delivered. If you can't change the combustion air flow you need to decrease the amount of pellets delivered to the burn pot. Stoves that allow feed rate (not heat rate) to be set (usually a restrictor plate in the hopper) or that allow independent control of both air and auger timings need to be adjusted to properly burn the pellets.

Stoves like mine require that you keep them really clean in order to burn highly dense pellets.

From test results posted elsewhere on the site over the last two years you should be able to get into the ballpark fast.

I'd start with a 10% reduction in feed rate or a 10% increase in combustion air. Just be aware if your room (convection) air blower floats its rates with the heat rate setting it would be better to reduce the fuel feed than increase the combustion air (stops potential over fired shutdowns).

 

[John62]

Yes - for me fly ash is better as well. The pellet is now burning like expected.

 

[jtakeman]

Gee those must be really bad pellets, perhaps they are past their expiration dates.

I'll tell ya what I'm going to do, you send them me and I'll properly dispose of them for you.

I have this rather simple made in China stove that I can't fine tune and it is busy happily munching on Cubex.

Dense pellets need more air per volume of fuel delivered. If you can't change the combustion air flow you need to decrease the amount of pellets delivered to the burn pot. Stoves that allow feed rate (not heat rate) to be set (usually a restrictor plate in the hopper) or that allow independent control of both air and auger timings need to be adjusted to properly burn the pellets.

Stoves like mine require that you keep them really clean in order to burn highly dense pellets.

From test results posted elsewhere on the site over the last two years you should be able to get into the ballpark fast.

I'd start with a 10% reduction in feed rate or a 10% increase in combustion air. Just be aware if your room (convection) air blower floats its rates with the heat rate setting it would be better to reduce the fuel feed than increase the combustion air (stops potential over fired shutdowns).

Been saying this for a bit now. Getting people on board is a bit tough! I guess all your supposed to do is dump them in the hopper and push the go button. I got some cheap Okies last season and just about got some Hamers heading my way. All from the same person. I sure hope he's buying Somersets, Cubex or another dense pellet.

 

[jtakeman]

And now Somersets

https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/66935/