My stove finally met its match

[heat seeker]

I'm finally finishing up this ton of Easy Heat pellets. They are, IMO, quite nasty. I've put over 15 tons of pellets through this stove, and never had these conditions.

1) They claim 100% wood on the bag - but is wood bluish-green and rubbery?



2) This same color deposits left on burn pot -



Loads of black nasty deposits that don't resemble any ash I've every seen:



Also, the burn pot and rake have noticeable etching since I started these pellets, and the glass gets filthy very quickly.

The clincher is the auger jam this morning. I've never had a problem feeding pellets before, no matter how many fines, but these pellets jammed the auger tight. Took me about two hours to clean the mess up.
I have a few bags left - they are going in the trash. I'll burn oil before I use these again!

 

[SidecarFlip]

Pellets make good floor dry btw.

 

[bbfarm]

Looks like plastic. It's pretty hard to jam an afton bay

 

[Bioburner]

Someone loose their lunch box?

 

[SidecarFlip]

Maybe the pellet mill is recycling plastic bottles too?

 

[Bioburner]

I know of some cities that have sites that store their trees that have been chipped and sites collect other junk. They are grinding nice ash trees in MN because of Emerald Ash Borer

 

[Dr.Faustus]

i had a few pellets this year so far that had those particles in the pellets too! they were in my stash of green supremes. kind of hard to see until burnt but definitely some green particles mixed in with the wood.
When i saw them i just chuckled and said ah so thats why they call em green supremes.

this was for maybe about 5 bags out of many many tons.

 

[heat seeker]

Or maybe the wood was from a - get ready - rubber tree!

I neglected to mention these pellets didn't give as much heat as any others I've had. I could live with that, but not the damage to the stove (eroding the burn pot and ash rake) and the jam.

Yeah, bbfarm, this is the first jam I've ever had. And it was a bear to clear. (No offense, Smokey.)

 

[SidecarFlip]

I know of some cities that have sites that store their trees that have been chipped and sites collect other junk. They are grinding nice ash trees in MN because of Emerald Ash Borer

Thats already been through here. Most everyone died, lots are still standing, sort of like burned out houses in Detroit left over from the 60's riots....

We have exactly 2 alive in our 70 odd acres and the only reason they lived is because the wife and I spent big bucks on specific pesticides recommended by the County Extension Agent and Michigan State.

Can't pelletize them (or bot supposed to anyway) because it can spread the insect. I chipped quite a few for the flower beds and the set aside myself. I probably chip (from storm damage alone) 20 yards every year. I have a large pile out front of saw logs and chips for free. Great way to get rid of unwanted wood.

 

[ScotL]

Nothing will live through pelletizing. 70,000 psi at 200F would be hard on any living organism. Not to mention the grinding and drying process before the pelletizing.
The pacific northwest in Canada is pelletizing huge amounts of beetle-kill for export. But, they're also using a lot of it for lumber. Blue Denim they call it.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

Or maybe the wood was from a - get ready - rubber tree!

I neglected to mention these pellets didn't give as much heat as any others I've had. I could live with that, but not the damage to the stove (eroding the burn pot and ash rake) and the jam.

Yeah, bbfarm, this is the first jam I've ever had. And it was a bear to clear. (No offense, Smokey.)

Well I see you enjoyed cleaning out the jam. Wait until you get a piece of corrugated cardboard wrapped around an auger.

 

[bbfarm]

The only jam we had was the first year thanks to my stupidity. When I shut the stove down for the season i did not know the make sure the auger was totally empty and left pellets in there to bloat. Not fun

 

[heat seeker]

Well I see you enjoyed cleaning out the jam. Wait until you get a piece of corrugated cardboard wrapped around an auger.

I'll be happy to wait a looong time. I never just pour a bag in, for three reasons. One, it's a bit heavy for me to manage safely; two, it creates a lot of dust; three, I look over the pellets as I pour them from the scoop. I keep looking for some car keys or winning lottery tickets, but so far, nothing.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

I got close to 30 ton through mine before the motor gave out, the last straw was a piece of corrugated cardboard that got wrapped around the auger and stripped the gears before I noticed it. I couldn't even get the stove apart to work on it wrong time for a busted arm.

 

[heat seeker]

I was pleasantly surprised that my gearbox didn't strip. There was a huge amount of pressure on the auger. I emptied the hopper and grabbed the auger shaft with ViseGrips, and couldn't get the auger shaft to budge at all. There was enough reverse torque to run the motor backwards a few turns, which I observed at the start of the troubleshooting process. That little motor and all that reduction gearing creates a ton of torque! Once I cleared the jam at the upper end of the auger (of course, I started at the wrong end!), everything seems fine in augerland.

 

[thegirlfromgaleairy]

The only jam we had was the first year thanks to my stupidity. When I shut the stove down for the season i did not know the make sure the auger was totally empty and left pellets in there to bloat. Not fun

Thanks for that timely input! I will take note (first season user).
M