Has anyone buy O'Malleys pellets and notice how crappie and dirty they burn Lowes and Tractor Supply sells them
O'Malleys Pellets
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Never heard of them but I don't much care about the brand anymore. Only thing I use pellets for is to keep the corn klinkers from forming.
tbear853
Feeling the Heat
I used to use Hammer's Hot Ones out of West Virginia (Ripley, WVa. I think). They're not poop, they are the best I've used. Premium hardwood pellets, now sold here through my co-op. For a time, they were relabeled as Statesman, but now they are labeled as Hardwood Heat. I know some here like Lignetics, but in my stove, they were junk, but I am sure they burn great if one chooses to adjust the stove to them.
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I like Hamers. My Englander loves them. Very little ash, good heat and a clean glass on the door. They are from Elkins, W.Va.
During the shoulder season when I'm running straight pellets and no corn, The Somersets and Michigan Hardwood pellets do the job. Once I start mixing in corn, don't really matter anymore. Having said that I have 3 ton plus of the Michigan Hardwood in the barn which is enough for 3 years. They keep very well in the barn too.
tbear853
Feeling the Heat
Right on both counts you are. I added a "m" in the name and Ripley is the home of a different company's product (not pellets) I've used.
tbear853
Feeling the Heat
Are they in a white bag with blue lettering, no other colors, labeled as simply "Hardwood Pellets"? I was thinking of trying a few bags?
Always keep in mind that, the more a sack of pellets is handled, the more fines and crumbly pellets you get. That happens beginning at the extruder and carries through to the retailer. One reason why I buy them in skid only quantity. Individual sacks that have been handled numerous times, from the extrusion line to the packaging line to a retailer who handles the again and maybe multiple times to you and the sacks will have fines and crumbly pellets from all that jostling.
Every sack of any brand will have some fines in it, fact of the very pelletizing process. Bottom line is. the less the sacks are handled, the better the product inside will be. I always shy away from displays of pellets at any retailer, I know there will be fins and crumbly pellets inside.
Every sack of any brand will have some fines in it, fact of the very pelletizing process. Bottom line is. the less the sacks are handled, the better the product inside will be. I always shy away from displays of pellets at any retailer, I know there will be fins and crumbly pellets inside.
Tonyray
Minister of Fire
Burned them few yrs ago. They left the hardest speedbumps known to man in my burnpot.. very ashy.. never again. I burn softies now anyways..
Tonyray
Minister of Fire
Not sure what the water soak means. I just use a gasket scraper to remove the bumps. Just extra hard with certain pellets. I burn good softwoods so no longer a problem..
tbear853
Feeling the Heat
OK, that explains something I was wondering about. When I replaced the OEM burn pot that had some warpage and bad cracks both in the burn put surface and along the front weld seem, it had deposits unlike I ever had to clean before. Thick heavy rock like build up, took a cold chisel and hammer to remove. It only did that the last few seasons, when the crack along the front weld seam was letting valuable combustion air to be drawn not through the fire pot and fuel. It is doing hugely better now, I just can't get over it.
Instead of chiseling and hammering on it (that is what causes the welds to fail and the pot to crack (I know been there did that and had to TIG a crack in mine because mine is 304 stainless), that physical removal of hard carbon deposits usually results, eventually in busting the pot up, so..
Best and least intrusive way to remove them is a soak in a bucket of hot water, something I do now every time I clean the unit (which will be this afternoon btw). I'll have the central furnace assume the heat load for an hour or so while the stove is shut down for cleaning and the pot will be soaking the entire time in a pail of hot water, followed by some putty knife work to remove the stubborn deposits though, most will come loose in the hot water. I always have some stubborn ones that need a little persuasion. After it's cleaned, I'll use a coarse Scotchbrite pad and scrub it inside and then dry it on a paper towel prior to putting it back in and firing the stove back up Today's cleanout will not only be the visible fly as, but behind the cleanouts and the exhaust plenum as well. I use a length old 3/4" garden hose stuck in the shop vac end and shoved in the plenum to suck up any fly as inside and then I'll pull the outside cleanout and dump that as well. I tend to take a rake handle and bang on the outside venting to drop any soot 'hangers' in the pipe, out the bottom.
Put a large crack in my burn pot by banging on the hard carbon before I figured out that soaking in hot water loosened them up. No where in any manual or online is that stated. One of those 'figure it out yourself' things.
Tonyray
Minister of Fire
Hope mine never gets to where i have to remove it..i see so far that steering away from hardwood and using good softies keeps any real hard stuff from forming..6 yrs now since the O'malleys speedbumps.
The Harman burnpot is incorporated into the weldment. There's not a removable plate like some other stoves so it's not possible to soak it in warm water without a huge amount of work. It is however easy to check the air holes with the use of a mechanic's mirror and they are easy to clean out with a small allen key, hook scribe or bent wire. Removing the whole weldment is a fairly major operation involving a new and spendy gasket, and messing with unhooking igniter wires. A properly sharpened and bent mechanic's pry bar easily chips off even the hardest carbon speed bump quite quickly with a bit of elbow grease.
That just reinforces why I never want one. Too expensive to begin withy, too complex in operation and too difficult to properly maintain. I have no desire to be digging around in a burn pot / combustion plate when I can take the entire assembly out in 30 seconds, toss in a bucket of warm water while I clean the rest of the firebox and then pop out the carbon and scotchbrite the pot, dry it with a paper towel (same one as I clean the view window with), pop it back in, load in some fuel, add a dab of starter Gel and it's good to go for another week.
Harman is a handsome stove, I'll give them that but the price is crazy high and the complexity is over the top too. In the end my 1200 buck not so handsome black box does exactly the same thing (produce heat) with a lot less outlay and much less electronic wizardry to ultimately fail and cost more money.... and I can combust ANY biomass fuel in mine and do. I don't believe a Harman can but then it might as I'm not familiar with the fuel parameters, only the issues I read on this forum.
...and there are a ton of issues posted on here....
You don't see many issues on here with what I have because there basically isn't any except for lack of cleaning and periodic maintenance.
I sure as heck don't need to impress anyone with a fancy biomass stove, with gold plated trim and ceramic inserts, not a yuppie, just a dirt farmer that's cheap when it comes to supplemental heat.
Harman is a handsome stove, I'll give them that but the price is crazy high and the complexity is over the top too. In the end my 1200 buck not so handsome black box does exactly the same thing (produce heat) with a lot less outlay and much less electronic wizardry to ultimately fail and cost more money.... and I can combust ANY biomass fuel in mine and do. I don't believe a Harman can but then it might as I'm not familiar with the fuel parameters, only the issues I read on this forum.
...and there are a ton of issues posted on here....
You don't see many issues on here with what I have because there basically isn't any except for lack of cleaning and periodic maintenance.
I sure as heck don't need to impress anyone with a fancy biomass stove, with gold plated trim and ceramic inserts, not a yuppie, just a dirt farmer that's cheap when it comes to supplemental heat.
That just reinforces why I never want one. Too expensive to begin withy, too complex in operation and too difficult to properly maintain. I have no desire to be digging around in a burn pot / combustion plate when I can take the entire assembly out in 30 seconds, toss in a bucket of warm water while I clean the rest of the firebox and then pop out the carbon and scotchbrite the pot, dry it with a paper towel (same one as I clean the view window with), pop it back in, load in some fuel, add a dab of starter Gel and it's good to go for another week.
Harman is a handsome stove, I'll give them that but the price is crazy high and the complexity is over the top too. In the end my 1200 buck not so handsome black box does exactly the same thing (produce heat) with a lot less outlay and much less electronic wizardry to ultimately fail and cost more money.... and I can combust ANY biomass fuel in mine and do. I don't believe a Harman can but then it might as I'm not familiar with the fuel parameters, only the issues I read on this forum.
...and there are a ton of issues posted on here....
You don't see many issues on here with what I have because there basically isn't any except for lack of cleaning and periodic maintenance.
I sure as heck don't need to impress anyone with a fancy biomass stove, with gold plated trim and ceramic inserts, not a yuppie, just a dirt farmer that's cheap when it comes to supplemental heat.
My slightly used P-43 only cost $600 and I can clean the burn pot while the fire is still burning so it's not too big of an inconvenience
As long as you're happy all is good.Hugh
i burn both La Crete and canwick pellets... the canwick are a good hot burning hardwood pellet. I use these when the local shops are out of the La Crete... The La crete burns much hotter and is really consistent in its cut sizes 1/4" . With these i actually burn less pellets as i actually have to run the unit on 1-2 instad of 2-3 with the canwick... Once i find a good pellet i stick with it as over the last few years our dealers have been all over the place with brands and quality or i should say lack of.. Now the best and cheapest place to get them is Canadian Tire its just to bad they don't offer a discount for skid pricing
minux
Member
That just reinforces why I never want one. Too expensive to begin withy, too complex in operation and too difficult to properly maintain. I have no desire to be digging around in a burn pot / combustion plate when I can take the entire assembly out in 30 seconds, toss in a bucket of warm water while I clean the rest of the firebox and then pop out the carbon and scotchbrite the pot, dry it with a paper towel (same one as I clean the view window with), pop it back in, load in some fuel, add a dab of starter Gel and it's good to go for another week.
Harman is a handsome stove, I'll give them that but the price is crazy high and the complexity is over the top too. In the end my 1200 buck not so handsome black box does exactly the same thing (produce heat) with a lot less outlay and much less electronic wizardry to ultimately fail and cost more money.... and I can combust ANY biomass fuel in mine and do. I don't believe a Harman can but then it might as I'm not familiar with the fuel parameters, only the issues I read on this forum.
...and there are a ton of issues posted on here....
You don't see many issues on here with what I have because there basically isn't any except for lack of cleaning and periodic maintenance.
I sure as heck don't need to impress anyone with a fancy biomass stove, with gold plated trim and ceramic inserts, not a yuppie, just a dirt farmer that's cheap when it comes to supplemental heat.
I do the same with Simple Green and a sponge: take off, spray with Simple Green, then wipe with a wet sponge. Takes off all carbon. Works wonders on my Mercury Carbine wheels, too
I agree about Harmans. 99% of the time, the "wizardy," as you indicate, never works as intended, especially if someone is using the stove for more than a room heater. Harmans are good stoves, but three times what they should sell for. I have one, BTW
For a pellet stove, my two drivers are BTUs and hopper size.
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