My Maine's Choice Pellets are not burning completely

[Deesla]

We bought 7 tons of Maine's Choice Pellets this year as we thought they were the up and coming pellet now that Bob Kraft purchased the pellet plant in Maine. They are lousy pellets.

A lot of unburned pellets are coming out of the auger and our P68 has black creosote in the stove. We called the place where we purchased them and they are coming out tomorrow and replacing 2 to 3 pallets of Maine's Choice with New England Wood Pellets. I think pine may be in these pellets. These pellets are not to be confused with Maine's Woods. They are NOT Maine's Woods, but rather Maine's Choice.

However, after reading some of the posts about the Harman stoves with the 5 extra holes, I'm wondering if that could be the problem. I don't see under the serial number when my stove was made, but we purchased it in the summer of 2008. I shut it down and clean it completely every 2-3 days and I had the annual service cleaning done by the dealer.

Can someone enlighten me if I have two issues; one being the pellets which are lousy or is it the auger. I'll check the number of holes in the bean pot this week.
I'll call my dealer tomorrow about the auger, but can someone tell me in simple terms why the extra 5 holes can cause a crack in the auger.
Thanks to everyone on this great forum, especially since I'm not handi man but just wanted to save a buck on propane.

Deesla

 

[smalltown]

Deesla I am burning my way through 3 tons of Maine Choice pellets. They are burning fine for me. More ash than Okanagans for sure, and Maine Choice were $249 a ton in my area a lot less than the Okanagans, but that just means cleaning a little sooner.

 

[Wood Nugget]

I have burned almost a ton of them this year in my lopi leyden and haven't had a problem with them. They do produce a little more ash than barefoot or okanagon, but less than energex and probably way less than new england wood pellets. I would definitely make sure the problem isn't your stove and that you are going to be happy with the new england wood pellets before you accept them as a replacement. Personally, i didn't care for them at all.

 

[imacman]

We bought 7 tons of Maine's Choice Pellets this year as we thought they were the up and coming pellet now that Bob Kraft purchased the pellet plant in Maine. They are lousy pellets.

A lot of unburned pellets are coming out of the auger and our P68 has black creosote in the stove. We called the place where we purchased them and they are coming out tomorrow and replacing 2 to 3 pallets of Maine's Choice with New England Wood Pellets. I think pine may be in these pellets. These pellets are not to be confused with Maine's Woods. They are NOT Maine's Woods, but rather Maine's Choice.

However, after reading some of the posts about the Harman stoves with the 5 extra holes, I'm wondering if that could be the problem. I don't see under the serial number when my stove was made, but we purchased it in the summer of 2008. I shut it down and clean it completely every 2-3 days and I had the annual service cleaning done by the dealer.

Can someone enlighten me if I have two issues; one being the pellets which are lousy or is it the auger. I'll check the number of holes in the bean pot this week.
I'll call my dealer tomorrow about the auger, but can someone tell me in simple terms why the extra 5 holes can cause a crack in the auger.
Thanks to everyone on this great forum, especially since I'm not handi man but just wanted to save a buck on propane.

Deesla

I guess my question to you would be, did the stove start burning this way immediately after switching to the Maine Choice?

What pellets did you burn when you first got the stove? How did it burn then?

Did the poor burning start right after the annual service/cleaning was done by the dealer?

 

[hossthehermit]

The Maine's Choice seem to be the best of the 3 brands I got this year. Not saying much, though,I guess.

 

[nksdad2007]

They are burning fine in my Leyden. A little high in ash but not as bad as the Maine Woods I had last year.

 

[BJN644]

I have burned almost 2 tons in my P43 with no problems, I will definitely buy them again especially if I get the same $225 a ton price I got this year.

Make sure your stove is getting enough air, there is a flapper type valve on the air intake on the back of the stove make sure it's not stuck or full of crap. If you have an OAK make sure that intake is not plugged. And most of all give it a good cleaning especially in the ignitor area were the 2 wing nuts are. What is your feed rate set at?

 

[Lousyweather]

I think it prudent here to give the P68 a good cleaning, and buy 10-15 bags of a quality brand and try that to see if there is a difference. Lots of creosote accumulation, (if it is creosote and not carbon...is it water soluble?), tends to indicate poor combustion, which tends to indicate a dirty stove, lousy pellets, poor air supply (.....Im all outta love....), etc. The P series stoves are very accomodating, dirt-wise, and will continue to burn while filthy, just not very well. Clean the exhaust port, the ESP rpobe, make sure the damper swings freely, make sure air is not otherwise restricted, etc. As a dealer, its difficult and embarrassing to go out, look at a stove that in the customers' opinion isnt burning well, only to find its due to poor housekeeping.

If you purchased your stove in the Summer of 2008, it almost certainly has the 5 holes near the auger.

I think the "5 holes issue" causes more heat down by the auger, due to the introduction of combustion air our of those same 5 holes, which causes degradation of the weakest metal near to point of combustion.....the auger tube.

 

[muss]

Out of 5 brands of pellets , the Maine Choice came in 2nd on burning great. Too bad the plant burnt down. I will never ever go back to Maine pellets from Athens though . Good luck to ya . Muss

 

[rwebs]

I have been using Maine pellets for the last 2 years. I started with 4 tons of pellets from Home Depot, and they were from Georgia, but wanted to use pellets manufactured here to help our own economy. I tried East Corrinth last year and was very unhappy with the first ton, but think they got a little ahead on the learning curve, because the second ton was a lot better. This year I have had 2 tons of the Athens pellets. So far, I think they have a long way to go. They are very dirty, dusty, and don't burn all that well. My burn pot fills and needs to be cleaned at least once a day. My stove, (Breckwell) needs to have the ash cleaned every two days. My next ton will be back to East Corrinth, but in reality, I think the Maine pellets are not as good a product as some I have had from away. Don't know if it is the type of sawdust used, or the technology has not caught up. At any rate, with all the ranting about Maine pellets, I will continue to use them. We're all in this together.

 

[hossthehermit]

I have been using Maine pellets for the last 2 years. I started with 4 tons of pellets from Home Depot, and they were from Georgia, but wanted to use pellets manufactured here to help our own economy. I tried East Corrinth last year and was very unhappy with the first ton, but think they got a little ahead on the learning curve, because the second ton was a lot better. This year I have had 2 tons of the Athens pellets. So far, I think they have a long way to go. They are very dirty, dusty, and don't burn all that well. My burn pot fills and needs to be cleaned at least once a day. My stove, (Breckwell) needs to have the ash cleaned every two days. My next ton will be back to East Corrinth, but in reality, I think the Maine pellets are not as good a product as some I have had from away. Don't know if it is the type of sawdust used, or the technology has not caught up. At any rate, with all the ranting about Maine pellets, I will continue to use them. We're all in this together.

Keep yer stick on the ice, I'm pullin' fer ya. Personally, I prefer the Athens to the Corinth. Hope the Strong mill gets back up, I find them better than either Athens or Corinth, never tried the Ashland ones, would like to. New mill supposed to start up in Unity, Troy, somewhere in that area, wanna try them, too. And I agree, I WILL burn Maine pellets.

 

[Steveo]

That seems odd because my P68 will burn anything. My P68 even burned those crappy Athens pellets. I would give your stove a really good cleaning if you have not already. My stove also has the four holes in the lower part of the burnpot that have not caused any issues on my stove so far. I will say that when I slack on cleanings the stove will not run very good.

 

[slls]

I have been using Maine pellets for the last 2 years. I started with 4 tons of pellets from Home Depot, and they were from Georgia, but wanted to use pellets manufactured here to help our own economy. I tried East Corrinth last year and was very unhappy with the first ton, but think they got a little ahead on the learning curve, because the second ton was a lot better. This year I have had 2 tons of the Athens pellets. So far, I think they have a long way to go. They are very dirty, dusty, and don't burn all that well. My burn pot fills and needs to be cleaned at least once a day. My stove, (Breckwell) needs to have the ash cleaned every two days. My next ton will be back to East Corrinth, but in reality, I think the Maine pellets are not as good a product as some I have had from away. Don't know if it is the type of sawdust used, or the technology has not caught up. At any rate, with all the ranting about Maine pellets, I will continue to use them. We're all in this together.

I have been burning mostly Canadian pellets. I won't support a company putting out a inferior product, what incentive is there to improve.

 

[save$]

I was able to get 6 bags of Maine Choice from Tractor Supply. They burned very well with NO ash build up in my burn pot. I am burning Energex for the second year. Happy with them, but would burn Maine Choice if my dealer could carry them. I stick to the same dealer because he is so dependable and puts them right where I want them in the garage.