Pelleduster?

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Looks pretty neat, would be fun to make. Dunno how much one would actually use it though. You have to dump every bag through there before you put it in the stove. I think if you have that much fines in your pellets, get some different pellets.
 
I saw that on e-bay yesterday. Ingenious.

I dump the whole bag in the hopper. The stove doesn't seem to mind.

I am a newbie to these type of heating appliances.
 
LOL exactly....and that 25 buck is just for the plans! Then you gotta build the thing! Take away my wet/dry vac? Nah...I think that I will stick to what i have been doing and just putting the bag into the copper boiler and then scooping from there!
 
"just putting the bag into the copper boiler and then scooping from there! "

Hey,do you have one of those things too? Ours is an oblong copper hopper thing with handles on both ends and I use it to hold the fines of the pellets after I screen them with my homemade seperator thingy. Ours has been around since I can ever remember and I always wondered what it was ever meant for.Didn't realize it was copper until I went to fix all the holes in it with jb weld so it would hold water.
 
Yea I have a copper boiler just like you described....but mine I bought online this summer new. It is not an antique or anything, real shiney. I looked for an antique one on ebay and found I could buy one for the same money new, I like the look of the copper but not all that old green oxidation. It is about 24 in long and holds just under 2 bags of pellets. Makes the wife happier when I am not home and cuts down on the fines that end up in the hopper.
 
They have made a cyclone separator using a vacuum cleaner. Its not a bad idea at all, cheap to make and would do the job. Charging $25 for the plans to make it is a bit much though, all the information you need, you can get from looking at the picture.
 
Biglumber said:
I saw that on e-bay yesterday. Ingenious.

I dump the whole bag in the hopper. The stove doesn't seem to mind.

I am a newbie to these type of heating appliances.
Click to expand...

Keep an eye/ear on your stove. If you get into some pellets with alot of dust/fines in them, you'll probably start to experience some problems. Increased auger motor noise (like a straining type of sound) will be one of the sounds to listen for. Maybe let your stove run out of pellets once and see what the hopper/auger tube looks like - check for dust/fines buildup, and if there is any, vacuum them out.
 
PelHeat Ltd said:
They have made a cyclone separator using a vacuum cleaner. Its not a bad idea at all, cheap to make and would do the job. Charging $25 for the plans to make it is a bit much though, all the information you need, you can get from looking at the picture.
Click to expand...

Oh, but you seem to be forgetting about their "patentable" air baffle set-up!
[Hearth.com] Pelleduster?
 
I finished making the contraption last night. If you think that the dust will not effect your auger syster or hopper, then all the power to you. The machine WORKS GREAT. Well worth the effort, money and time. To make a statement such as "if you are getting that much dust/fines in your pellets, then just try another...." is a great theoretical statement to just throw out there. I have tried many different kinds - and unless the pellets you are buying is sealed in a clear, see through bag ... no matter what brand of pellets you buy ... there will always be that wonder "box of chocolate" surprise. Thats why i do not buy my pellets by the ton. I have had great bags with excellent, minimal dust/fine; while on another purchase, same brand, same retailer, i have gotten crappy dust laden pellets. So i paid $6 lousy dollars for the plans and instructions, bought a shop vac, which i needed anyways, some pvc piping, and invested 3 hrs of my sunday. - the result is a piece of mind for a $5000.00 investment. YES PEOPLE ... THE CONTRAPTION WORKS. If you would like, i can post picture of the collection bin from the vac. Three guesses as to what you would find in there. Thank you.
 
I just ordered my plans over the weekend for $6.00 on ebay. Guess we will wait and see now. Does anyone have a rough estimate on material cost for this thing. I already own a shop-vac.
 
The cost of material is about 100.00 I can get exact cost for you later. I just finished mine. It works great. The direction is clear over all, with the exception of a couple of steps. Here's a huge tip for you that he does not mention - DO NOT GLUE ANY PARTS UNLESS YOU REALLY HAVE TO. The PVC pieces should fit nice and tight without glue. Why not glue you may ask? SO THAT YOU CAN TAKE IT APART TO CLEAR THE DUST THAT MAY BE TRAPPED. I only only glued one single piece - the very bottom piece. Good luck.
 
Thanks for the pointers....I will digging through the garage for scrap PVC pieces. It is amazing the crap I have collected for only being 29.
 
I built one a few weeks ago. It does do a good job. I had the 2" pipe but the other fittings and the 3" pipe cost me about $25 at the local hardware store. They didn't have the quad floor drain in stock so I replaced that with a 2 to 4 reducer. Also, I couldn't find that dust vent contraption the instructions call for locally so I made my own by cutting the center ring out of the bottom of a 5 gallon bucket and made a sliding cover out of 1/4" luan.

The vac part works well but getting the pellets to feed out of the bucket and into the funnel at a consistent rate is a bit of a pain. (I'm surprised at how easily they clog even large holes.) I'd like to build a hopper with sloped sides to replace the bucket when I can find the time. Still, this is all MUCH easier than the sifting I've been doing. I've already noticed a big difference in the amount of dust I'm getting on the woodwork around the stove since I'm now cleaning all the pellets rather than just the bottom of each bag.
 
I got those plans on ebay from a seller name

(broken link removed to http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&item=170195705174&_trksid=p3984.cWON.m313.lVI)

When i went to buy supplies, I found that the HomeDepot has very limited pieces. They also sold the pipes in 10 foot long sections, so you would have to buy the whole length. So I scurried out of that trap and went across the street to Lowes. Lowes had ALL THE PARTS i needed; and thet sell pipes in 5 foot lengths. The air baffle thing is no secret. Its a 1.5 dia,
45 degree bend inside the 2" section of the top wye, the bend is turned away from the air upward airflow preventing the dust from blowing back out through the quad drain. This "air baffle" is one key. The other important key is that there is also another 4" x 4" x 2" wye at the bottom. Inside the 2" element of the wye is another series of 1.5" 45deg and 1.5" 90deg pieces which is turned upward towards the wall of the main 4" pvc and at a slight upward angle to create a cyclonic air flow up the entire length of the tube. This cyclonic ait flow is what seperates the dust/fines from the pellets - the dust/fines are sucked up, while the heavier good pellets fall down into your collection bin.

This thing works. Who ever devised this thing has better get it patented. OR I WILL.
 
I just don't see the need for it? Mine eats the stuff right up and burns it so why bother. Same goes for corn. I can see it there though as there is so much of it and even then the fines just burn up. Dumping bags of pellets in is just so much easier than bothering with the sifting which I only did because corn was under $100 / ton until this year. Even then all I have ever done was use a frame of 1/8" screen and just slide it down that off the tail of my pickup with a big snow shovel. Never had any jammming problems with fines of any sort myself, just dust I didn't want to deal with using the corn. I don't mean to rain on anyone's parade here but I wouldn't want folks reading this who are new to it all feel that they have to go do all this stuff in order to satisfactorily operate a pellet stove.
 
Driz said:
I just don't see the need for it? Mine eats the stuff right up and burns it so why bother. Same goes for corn. I can see it there though as there is so much of it and even then the fines just burn up. Dumping bags of pellets in is just so much easier than bothering with the sifting which I only did because corn was under $100 / ton until this year. Even then all I have ever done was use a frame of 1/8" screen and just slide it down that off the tail of my pickup with a big snow shovel. Never had any jammming problems with fines of any sort myself, just dust I didn't want to deal with using the corn. I don't mean to rain on anyone's parade here but I wouldn't want folks reading this who are new to it all feel that they have to go do all this stuff in order to satisfactorily operate a pellet stove.
Click to expand...

I can agree with you driz...with the Quad I have....every 3 weeks or so I let the hopper run dry.....and I vacuum what "little" there is of fines at the bottom of the auger path and hopper....and I tell ya...there is very very little if any when I do that. and I dont sift my pellets at all much if any. The fines I let burn right up as well.
 
I go one step farther even. Recently I made the discovery that it is easier to slice the bottom of the bag than the top. I just hang the thing arse end down half way over the edge of the hopper then slice it along the bottom from end to end. For me at least it makes for less flying dust to deal with and the bag seems to dump smoother.. I just love to dump and run for a change. With corn you about have to clean it at least partially every few days. Its great to just let her rip for a change with pellets. There is something to be said for convenience.
 
Driz said:
I go one step farther even. Recently I made the discovery that it is easier to slice the bottom of the bag than the top. I just hang the thing arse end down half way over the edge of the hopper then slice it along the bottom from end to end. For me at least it makes for less flying dust to deal with and the bag seems to dump smoother.. I just love to dump and run for a change. With corn you about have to clean it at least partially every few days. Its great to just let her rip for a change with pellets. There is something to be said for convenience.
Click to expand...


Good for you Driz. Good luck to you.
 
Might have to build one of those dusters. Looks like it should do a good job.
Right now I dump the pellets from the bag into 2 plastic buckets out in the back yard and that gets some of the dust off of them.
It is a big help if there is a breeze to help move the dust away. I don't seem to get a lot of dust in the house but I do vac out the hopper from time to time. Not a lot of dust there either.
Still might get the plans for the duster though.
 
If you do build one of these things, do not glue any pieces unless you absolutely have to. I only glue 2 pieces together. The rest of the pieces fit nice and tight. Not glueing them will allow me to take them apart for cleaning. I love this thing so much. This weekend I'm going pimp this bad boy out. HAHAHAHA. ... "Pimp My Pellest Duster". Gonna add more see through windows and add lights for special effects. My 1 year old, 4 year old and 8 year old love the thing. Some people here says they don't need it. Any stove that is not a a top fed (pellets drop down from the top), like my Harman XXV, which is bottom fed (pellets fed by auger) will eventually have its feed system be jambed with fines. 100% Guaranteed!!!
 
Tristan said:
Any stove that is not a a top fed (pellets drop down from the top), like my Harman XXV, which is bottom fed (pellets fed by auger) will eventually have its feed system be jambed with fines. 100% Guaranteed!!!
Click to expand...



Thats exactly right. I have a top fed Quad.....fines are never a problem for me....no build up at all.
 
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