Pellet Burning Issue

[thibs53]

Good morning,

Got a question this morning. I have several customers purchasing Corinth pellets, one has a one year old Quadrafire Mnt. Vernon stove, all have burned several types of Pellets with no issues. Started to burn the Corinth Softwood Pellets, in the blue bag, and it clogged and shut the systems down almost immediately, cleaned and retried, same outcome. Had dealer come out and check stove, points towards problem with pellets. However, I burn the same pellet, bought off the same truck, in a Harman Accentra stove and have no issues other than a large amount of ash which looks more solid than the white light ash that I have noticed from other pellets? I also have other customers purhasing pellets that run different manufactured stoves that are not having issues that I am aware of. My gut feeling is that the stove is good and there is something different about the pellet that will cause some stoves to burn out of control?
In reference to the Corinth pellet, I have noticed a significant color change from the current pellets in comparison to the pellets that came in the tan and red bags. The blue bag pellets are much darker throughout as if it is a different wood or a pellet with much more bark? Can anyone tell me more about pellets and how they are made, does the time of year the tree was cut do anything to the wood, is there a way to tell the bark content? Anything you can add will certainly be appreciated as I try to learn more about this volatile business.

 

[crausch]

One place you might want to visit is the Pellet Fuel Institute (PFI) at (broken link removed to http://www.pelletheat.org/2/index/index.html)

If the pellet bags say "Premium" on them and sport the PFI logo, then the pellets should not contain bark. Pellets can differ in many ways. The wood used can be Hardwood, or Softwood, or a mixture of both. Usually the type of wood is designated on the bag. Wood used to make pellets can vary due to wood type, region of the harvest, manufacturing process, storage and handling, etc. Pellets can vary within the same brand from batch to batch, maufacturing plant locations, and sometimes even bag to bag. Some pellets can create a considerable amount of ash compared to others. Your Harman is a bottom feed stove which is capable of handling larger ash content pellets much better then many top feed system. This can sometimes come at a cost of lower efficiency though.
A big factor is going to be their stove settings (air/fuel ratio), and their type or style of burn pot and whether it has any mechanism to remove ash buildup.

 

[ORiley]

Brief hijack here; the author mentions the ash color being very light colored. My Avalon (burning Dejnos hardwood) produces a very dark gray, nearly black ash. Am I burning too rich or is this a result of the pellet composition?

 

[Stevekng]

The blue corinth bags might be hardwood pellets. I just picked up a ton of these and they smell different than the tan bagged pellets I have been using. The tan bagged smell like pinewood and the blue bagged smell like the inside of a freshly cut maple tree.
It could be that corinth is putting hardwood and softwood in the same bags. But I was told, where I picked up the pellets that the softwood pellets are still in the tan bags. They could be mistaken.

 

[crausch]

ORiley:

My Avalon (burning Dejnos hardwood) produces a very dark gray, nearly black ash. Am I burning too rich or is this a result of the pellet composition?

Not sure if you have tried this or not, but can you clean your glass and then adjust your settings to increase your combustion air slightly? Then see what your glass looks like after burning. Also, how much time does it take before your glass starts getting dirty after you have cleaned it?