Pellet Ash question

[pakrazee]

Hi All,

Newbie here with a question about the pellet ash that forms as your burning. I installed a new Englander 25-PDVC and have burned 2 bags so far over the course of a few weeks, just turning it on for a few hours in the AM to get rid of the chill in the house cause its been hot during the day. My question is the ash seems to clump together on the burn pot. It is burned all the way thru, just in a clump.

The first bag of pellets came from Agway, and the second bag was Nature's heat by Pennington. I read the reviews about Penningtons after I bought a ton, so I figured I would use up the ton of Natures' Heat first while its not super cold out. I dont believe this happened from the Agway pellets, but its been weeks because of the weather.

Any way is it normal for the ash to clump together?

 

[rap69ri]

Is the clump hard or powdery?

When running on lower settings the fuel feed rate and the low burn air need to be adjusted to burn different brand pellets cleanly. Calling Englander can help you get your settings set properly for low setting burns.

 

[90durham]

Seeing the same thing with my Enviro but only with the one brand of pellets I have, the other burns like a torch and leaves nothing.
From what I have seen I get liner buildup with the one brand no matter how long it burns and may have to do with unburnt fuel on shutdown as we are only running in the evening.

 

[nailed_nailer]

Hard saying not seeing it. But, what it sounds like to me is what is called a clinker. Or the beginning of the formation of the clinker.

A clinker is what forms on the burn pot liner during a normal burn. On my Enviro I clean it off every time I clean the stove. Usually about every 3 days when running 24/7. This is considered normal and is part of the "joys" of heating by pellet.

I use a 5 in 1 tool (any hardware store) to chip and scrape the burn pot liner clean. It only takes a minute. Usually a few cleaving blows with the tool will break it free and then it scrapes clean. On my liner I chip/scrape the front, back, and bottom of the inside. Making sure the air holes are all cleaned out.

There is some thoughts out there that hardwood pellets have less clinker formation. I haven't noticed a difference. The clinker forms no matter what I burn.

Good Luck,

---Nailer---

 

[pakrazee]

yes, they are clinkers. I called Englander tech support and they had me increase the airflow. It seems a little better but I am still getting clinkers. I really think its the pellets......

 

[lecomte38]

I am getting the same thing out of my Harman insert burning Barefoot prem pellets. These "clinkers" are clumps about 3/4" thick and 1-3" in diameter. They eventually get pushed up and out of the burn pot with the bottom feed auger. If you touch them they disintegrate (completely burned material). Would adjusting the feed rate cure this?

 

[pakrazee]

I am getting the same thing out of my Harman insert burning Barefoot prem pellets. These "clinkers" are clumps about 3/4" thick and 1-3" in diameter. They eventually get pushed up and out of the burn pot with the bottom feed auger. If you touch them they disintegrate (completely burned material). Would adjusting the feed rate cure this?

I'm not sure about the feed rate, but adding more air seemed to help a little

 

[crausch]

Here is a snippet from the WD Pellet website. They mention that varying minerals in the pellets can cause the clinkering.

Trace minerals in pellet raw materials vary not only from region to region, but even in close by growing areas. Some trace minerals promote clinkering, the formation of clumps of fused ash that can block air inlets in the burn pot. A fuel's tendency to form clinkers in a stove cannot be predicted by laboratory analysis both because of variations in the raw materials and the different burning conditions that affect the process. Clinkering can increase routine maintenance, but professional recommendations for matching available fuels to stove design can minimize the problem.

BTW, their site is a very informative resource.