Pellet fragmentation?/burn issues

[kast]

Hello everyone,

I have a few questions that I wasn't fully able to find the answers to searching the forum. (Sorry if any repeats)

This will be my first winter with my Enviro Mini and when I purchased it I decided I would stalk up with some of the dealers recommend pellets. These pellets are the ones they bring out on service calls to rule out bad pellets that are causing burn issues, so I figured it would be a good place to start.

So one of my questions is what should the consistency of a bag of pellets normally look like? Meaning my pellets (at least the first two bags) are pretty fragmented a lot of small pieces. I attached the picture to see if someone could give me and answer if this is the norm, or not.

I think the small pieces are causing issues when the auger turns and nothing falls in the pot (which I know is normal?) Then it turns and this time only small fragments fall in, or a lot falls in and it sounds like I hit the jackpot on the slots I think this is causing some burn issues, fire going out, trouble dialing in the damper settings and pellets seem to burn unevenly. Pellets will pile up on either the left or right side while the opposite side burns, then the side burning will slowly move across to the other side then I have a full on blaze for 5 minutes then it dies down and starts a new with the pellets piling up on one side.

Again first winter/weeks with the stove some if not all of this might be normal just want a possible confirmation

Thanks!

 

[firewarrior820]

look up the word, GRANULES,and you will find the answer
oh my gosh i just upped my posts

 

[kast]

Thanks for the tip, but search for GRANULES doesn't answer my questions. just talks about different pellets.

 

[Xena]

Don't have the same stove but here's my take.
Unless the fire goes out completely and you have to restart
I wouldn't be too worried. My stove behaves in a similar
fashion any time I used pellets that are cut short like those LG's.
I've had a couple tons of those and all of the pellets seemed
to be shorter than the brands I've been burning the past few years.
Definitely have had to adjust the air intake at times when changing
brands.

 

[kast]

Thanks Zeta that makes me feel better

 

[firewarrior820]

i meant look up on line, GRANULES by definition means small pieces

 

[kast]

Oh got yeah sorry about that, just wanted to know what is the norm on the big to little pieces, and zeta answered that.

 

[krooser]

Not sure but should you have a damper with one of these stoves? I don't and neither do the other friends I know who heat with pellets.

I'm sure someone who knows a lot more than me will answer this but controlling a pellet stove with a damper seems unnecessary...

 

[kast]

I'm new to pellet stoves, but the mini def has a slider for the damper. But I think I finally have it down now on what the flame should look like on most settings, and its running much better now.

 

[krooser]

I've found that when my St. Croix has a persistant lazy flame that it needs a through cleaning.

I had that problem last year and had the service guy come out. He did a good cleaning (with a leaf blower) and all was well. Despite my weekly cleanings with a shop vac there was much soot and ash build-up in too many places that weren't accessible with my regular tools... the leaf blower trick works like a charm.

 

[kast]

how did he use the blower, where on the unit did he use it.

 

[bostonbaked]

how did he use the blower, where on the unit did he use it.

I too would like to know that. Leaf blower sounds like fun :lol:

 

[BIG WATER]

Thanks for the leaf blower tip, kast. I have been suffering from lazy fire , black tips, full burn pot. St. croix exp.

Thought I was cleaning it well enough with the shop vac.

After reading this thread, I took out the fire brick, ran a coat hanger up through the traps and back down through the tubes.

I pulled the combustion blower, coat hanger and bottle brushed the ports both ways.

Put the end of the leaf blower in the combustion port, wrapped a shop towel around the end. Closed all the doors and let if rip for 5 seconds.

I vaccumed out the piles, put it back together. ( mopped and dusted the family room for a couple hours)
Wow !! I finally have that brand new looking flame again.

I think in the spring I'll take it outside and leaf blow it out again.
Thanks for the help

 

[Xena]

I'm sure the leaf blower trick works great, but you
don't have to resort to it and the mess it creates.

Mike from ESW posted a great tip a long time ago that
I've utilized many times and it's works awesome.
Use some duct tape to connect about a foot of narrow
tubing to the end of your shop vac. Stick it in the
ash traps and feed it upward, sideward, and all around in there.
Do the same with it in the recessed ports where the combustion
blower sits.
Tap the back wall of the stove with a large screwdriver
or other similar stout tool. More ash will fall from the
inside walls inside the ash traps. This method works as well and
doesn't create the mess of the leaf blower. Done it this way for a couple
years and never once had lazy flame trouble or any of the problems
mentioned.

 

[gw2kpro]

how did he use the blower, where on the unit did he use it.

Some people have hooked up the intake of a leaf blower to the OUTSIDE of a direct vent install. Can't do that with mine but have heard it cleans everything out real well and no mess in the house.

My mini does the same thing, have used Athens and Penningtons in it so far this year, same result, my flame will go from low to much larger (particularly on the higher settings), sometimes it's very even in dropping pellets, sometimes I get a whole bunch like you described.

 

[krooser]

Not sure but should you have a damper with one of these stoves? I don't and neither do the other friends I know who heat with pellets.

I'm sure someone who knows a lot more than me will answer this but controlling a pellet stove with a damper seems unnecessary...

This is a relatively old post but I just wanted to clarify my statement about dampers... I was commenting about a damper on the vent pipe not on the intake air... most all stoves DO have the intake air damper. Just wanted to get this corrected.....