Maine's Choice Premium Pellets - odd ash and "white" film in stove?

[steveg_nh]

These pellets are made by Geneva Wood Fuels, but have slightly lower specs than their "super premium" 100% hardwood pellets, of which I have 3 tons in the garage. My local TSC had the Maine's Choice, but I didn't know what they were till I got them home. I thought Geneva was Geneva. Well, no way.

Before I had the Maine's Choice version, I burned a couple of bags of the super premium hardwood pellets. HOT fire, and not a lot of ash. Now that I'm trying to get through the Maine's Choice, I think they are pretty bad. They just don't feel that hot, I feel like there's a lot of ash buildup (it chunks and cakes on my agitator), and they are leaving a white film in the stove. What's the white film signify? Moisture? The flame looks good, and I plan to measure the draft soon.

Whatever this white film is, it does wipe right off. I also feel like I'm having to clean the stove much more than I did when I burned the 20 bags of Blazers I had earlier.

Any thoughts?

 

[Peterfield]

Let us know. I have two tons of that pellet brand from Lowes and just put in a test bag before reading your post.

 

[steveg_nh]

I'm on about a 1/2 ton now. I just feel like the ask is really building up. Could be a moisture issue.

 

[Peterfield]

For what it's worth, the Geneva bagged Maine's Choice is burning cleaner than the Fireside Ultras so far. The flame looks "crisper" and more efficient, the color more whitish yellow than yellow and the ash so far is building up less on the burn pot than the FSU's. The ash that is present is fluffier. I think I'll throw one more bag in to see if the trend continues before switching back to FSU's and finishing them off.

 

[steveg_nh]

That's really interesting...

 

[notch]

What ever you burn following Blazers will be disappointing. Guessing the white film is just fine ash that will come off with the brush attachment on the vacuum. Get more Blazers if you can.

 

[steveg_nh]

I was surprised with the Blazers, they were good. And from Home Depot! I should have bought more. But the MC seems inferior to the Geneva Super Premium. But the white does come right off.

 

[Peterfield]

This morning I checked the burn pot and there is ash on each side but none in the middle. The ash that is there is fluffy and light so it could be that the fan is blowing some of it off the burn pot. There is a light powered coating on some of the glass, but FSU's did that also. The Maine's Choice pellets are definitely longer and harder to the touch and there were no fines/sawdust in the bag at all, whereas the FSU bags did have some and the pellets could be broken up easily between my fingers. From the volume in the hopper this morning it appears that there are more pellets than when I have used FSU's but I haven't really measured that yet. The flame is interesting in that it is almost whitish, very active and there is a hint of blue flame at the base, almost like the blue flame you sometimes see when around a campfire using really dry wood. Not sure what that means but with FSU's the flame was yellower and slower, although I wouldn't go so far as to say lazy.

 

[Peterfield]

What ever you burn following Blazers will be disappointing. Guessing the white film is just fine ash that will come off with the brush attachment on the vacuum. Get more Blazers if you can.

I am on the lookout for Blazers and if I run across some I'll pick up a few bags to try.

 

[steveg_nh]

The Blazers were HOT! I really liked them. When I bought them, I was still learning about pellets. Had I know, I would have bought 2 tons fro HD on the spot! $4.98 a bag.

 

[Waterworker123]

I bought 4 tons of Maine choice and I have no regrets. Heats my 24 x48 ranch with no problem at all. I really don't understand why people are so hung up on the ash issue. It's a wood product and it burns. Every pellet has ash. That's just my opinion. Stay warm everyone. I sure am

 

[Peterfield]

I bought 4 tons of Maine choice and I have no regrets. Heats my 24 x48 ranch with no problem at all. I really don't understand why people are so hung up on the ash issue. It's a wood product and it burns. Every pellet has ash. That's just my opinion. Stay warm everyone. I sure am

I feel the same way. My Jotul wood stove, which I liked a lot, had to be emptied every two days so any pellet gets me way more time between clean outs than that.

 

[steveg_nh]

Maybe it's just that they seemed to burn very differently than the Blazers and the other Genevas.

 

[chken]

These pellets are made by Geneva Wood Fuels, but have slightly lower specs than their "super premium" 100% hardwood pellets, of which I have 3 tons in the garage. My local TSC had the Maine's Choice, but I didn't know what they were till I got them home. I thought Geneva was Geneva. Well, no way.

Before I had the Maine's Choice version, I burned a couple of bags of the super premium hardwood pellets. HOT fire, and not a lot of ash. Now that I'm trying to get through the Maine's Choice, I think they are pretty bad. They just don't feel that hot, I feel like there's a lot of ash buildup (it chunks and cakes on my agitator), and they are leaving a white film in the stove. What's the white film signify? Moisture? The flame looks good, and I plan to measure the draft soon.

Whatever this white film is, it does wipe right off. I also feel like I'm having to clean the stove much more than I did when I burned the 20 bags of Blazers I had earlier.

Any thoughts?

Generally white or gray dust is a good sign. Indicative of a hot burn. Black is generally a bad sign, indicative of a poor burn. Just be aware that you're burning different wood species and they have other elements like salts in them giving different results. If you're burning a new pallet of pellets, you could try your manometer and see if you need to tweak your air.

 

[steveg_nh]

Thanks.