PelPro PP130 - Beating the Cold

[theRog05]

Morning everyone,

I thought I would post a few of my thoughts today about my stove.

I bought a PelPro PP130 and installed it back in early November (started burning Nov. 22nd). The only issue was that the control knob was defective, so I called PelPro and they sent me one right away. After I installed the knew control knob, the stove has been running great. I expected to supplement my oil heat with the pellet stove, but actually the oil furnace hasn't kicked on once since I started burning pellets! I have about a 2000 sq. ft. house and the heat travels throughout most of it. Some of the rooms further away from the stove are a little chillier, but that's not an issue. Back when I was running just oil heat, my room with the thermostat was always set to 62 degrees. Which means the further rooms were about 56 degrees. With the pellet stove, the room with the thermostat is 76 degrees and the further rooms are 68ish. With the cost of oil versus the cost of pellets, we will have already paid off the stove this year!

My only problem is finding fuel. Since I bought the stove just before the winter season, its hard to find pellets that are in stock. And when I do find them, they are either expensive or not so great of pellets.

Pellets Burned so far:
25 bags - Natures Own
75 bags - Green Supreme

So far, Natures Own is my favorite of the two. At its hottest, my thermostat got to 94. The heat output is really hot. The burn rate is decent but I have to clean the ash out every day. The burn pot has somewhat of a hard ash, but nothing that I couldn't break up easily.

As for the Green Supreme, the only reason I have burned more bags is because that was the only fuel I could find at the time. At its hottest, my thermostat got to 92. Although that is close to the 94 from the Natures Own, the heat is only medium. I can keep my hand right in front of the blower burning the Green Supreme, but with the Natures Own, I can only hold my hand by the blower for a short time. The burn rate seems a little faster than the Natures Own, but then again I only had 25 bags of the Natures Own and the outside temperature wasn't as cold as it is now. The Green Supreme creates lots of ash! I clean my burn pot and ash chambers every day, more so than the Natures Own. I should also mention that the Green Supreme tends to blacken the glass easier than the Natures Own, but that's probably because they don't burn as hot. This really isn't an issue since I clean my glass every day as well.

Anyways, that was my quick wrap up of my first couple months as a pellet stove owner. If any of you have suggestions on pellets to look for in the Rochester, NY area, please feel free to comment. I plan on purchasing a few tons in the spring when the prices are lower. It would be nice if I can find a pellet that creates less ash. I have 3 bags left of the Green Supreme, so later today I will be picking up 10 bags of Barefoot since there is a limit on how much each customer can buy. According to reviews, it seems like barefoot might be a small step up from Green Supreme. Time will tell.

Have a great day everyone. And keep warm!

-theRog

 

[pageyjim]

Glad it's working out so well for you. 94 degrees, holy cow. Just curious do you fill the hopper with 7-8 bags or just a few at a time? Are there any shortcuts if you have a feeding or auger problem with a full hopper?

 

[Johnny_Fiv3]

Easy. A clean, empty shop vac.

 

[pageyjim]

Easy. A clean, empty shop vac.

True I'm just asking because it has a 300 lb hopper. Which of course is advantageous.

 

[theRog05]

Oops. I actually have the PelPro PP130 (Changed Title from PelPro 300 to Pelpro PP130). Well that's embarrassing . I did so much research trying to decide between the two I forgot which one I went with. The PP130 can hold 3 bags. Sometimes I load it up and sometimes I just throw one bag in (depends on if I feel ambitious to take a second trip to the garage ). At first, I thought the auger was jamming up because pellets weren't flowing how they should. But then I found out it wasn't the auger, it was the control knob I needed to replace. Since I replaced the control knob, I have not had any issues with jamming at all.

The PP130 has the ability to add an extended hopper but I don't think it's necessary. I made it a habit to check the hopper a few times a day so if it's low I just fill it up. But like Johnny said, I'm sure a clean shop vac would do the job. When I had to empty mine because I thought it was jammed, I used a dog food scoop and a clean garbage bin (time consuming, but I didn't have a clean shop vac).

 

[pageyjim]

It's just always nice to see someone happy (and warm) with their investment! I find it hard to get good pellets also.

 

[theRog05]

I found one place by me that is reasonably priced and will deliver up to 6 tons for an extra $65 delivery fee. They get some decent pellets in but are usually bought up pretty fast. I'll just have to wait till spring and try to buy a few tons at a good price. Seems like planning/storing is key for a decent deal/brand of pellets.

 

[gfreek]

I get to Rochester about once a week, who has the Barefoot pellets?

 

[theRog05]

gfreek. Sorry I haven't got back to you til now. Haven't been on the site in a while. There is a place called Higbys. They had the Barefoot pellets. They started limiting to 5 bags a person when I picked them up. The next day they didn't have any more. Not sure if they still have any or not.

I would really like to get some good pellets for next year. I have to clean my stove every days because there is so much ash. I have read on here that a lot of people can go a week before cleaning. Does anyone know why this might be? Is it because I burn on low during the day when I'm at work? Possibly my particular stove? So far, the Natures Own are still my favorite. Some of the big box stores have the North American pellets right now. I've heard good an bad things about them. Might at least pick up 20 bags since I'm almost out now.

 

[Mysticenchantment]

I always liked Dry Creek pellets and last season I was getting them 10 bags at a time from Higby's until they ran out. This year I was able to get a ton of Lignetics from the local place. They burn alright but are really ashy, but even with the ash I only clean the thing once a week. Morg's in Pavilion has tons available, but maybe not for long.

 

[theRog05]

That's good to know! Looks like Morg's is only 25 minutes from me. I just bought 20 bags of North American Pellets from Lowe's. So I'll give Morg's a call next week and see if I can grab a ton. Thanks!

As for cleaning your stove, I feel like if I don't clean it every day the ash piles up around the burn pot too much. I still have room for more ash in the bins to the left and right of the burn pot, but the ash build up around it seems to be too much. I do burn on low (I set to 1 from setting Low-1-10-High) when gone during the day. And usually at 5 when I'm home. 10 burns hot but uses a lot of pellets. Any suggestions?

P.S. - I've heard great things about Dry Creek. I hope I can get my hands on some of them before winter ends.

 

[Mysticenchantment]

I'm about 25 minutes from them as well. Also, in Holley there is a store "Big Ash" but I'm not sure if they have Dry Creek. The Agway in Dansville had an abundance of them last year but have been rationing them so far. There's another place in Holley that has them for $6/bag with a 20 bag limit until they get another truck in.

 

[theRog05]

Thanks for the info!

 

[theRog05]

Mystic...When you say you only clean your stove once a week, does that mean you only empty the ashes once a week? I scrape and clean my burn pot daily. Does this seem unusual?

 

[Mysticenchantment]

I empty the ash pan every other week (which so far has been about every other week). Each week I shut it down and clean out the burn pot, but every day or other I will stick the metal thing into the fire, scrape out the dead ashes toward the end, and move the burning pellets around a bit. When I have it shut down I will clean the exchange tubes with a brush and wipe the walls down.... and clean the fins of the exhaust blower. Takes me about 10 minutes.

Each month I take the surround plates out and clean behind them too.

 

[theRog05]

I think my main problem is the quality of pellets. I bought some North American pellets from Lowes and they keep overflowing in my burn pot and leave a ton of clinkers. I shut down my stove every single day and pull out the burn pot and scrape it out. Then I vacuum all of the ashes. I only sometimes scrape down the walls (maybe this is something I need to do more often? So far, I have gone through 2 or so tons of pellets, so another problem might be that I need to clean out my combustion and convection fans and do a nice thorough cleaning. I can't wait for spring to find a good deal on some good pellets and buy a few tons for next winter.

 

[Johnny_Fiv3]

North American pellets are by far some of the WORST out there. All they did was crap up my stove.

 

[theRog05]

I can completely agree with that. I will never buy North American again. I would rather use oil.

 

[Mysticenchantment]

Now I'm using Lignetics pellets. The best I've used are Dry Creek.

 

[theRog05]

I would love to try Dry Creek or Lignetics. Since the Natures Own and Green Supreme I have used Barefoot, American Wood Fiber and North American (awful). Out of the 5 I like the Natures Own the best. It's very difficult to find anyone in the area right now that has anything available. Morg's is out now.

 

[Mysticenchantment]

I'll see if I can find the number for the one in Holley that has Dry Creek. Last I knew he had about 40 tons in stock. I'm down to 15 bags and will need more before long.

 

[theRog05]

So, I did a full cleaning of my pellet stove last night and it definitely improved the way it runs! I ended up scraping and vacuuming everything up, but the biggest problem was the vent! I went out side and opened the bottom of the T pipe and a bunch of ash came out! It was probably restricting flow for the exhaust. This was probably caused by the North American pellets because everything was fine until I started burning them. I also check the T valve every 25 bags or so, so it must have been recent buildup.

I have a few questions I was hoping that some of you might be able to answer for me:

1.) Is there an easy way to clean the horizontal pipe that goes from the stove to outside at the T pipe? I put all of the pipes together with high temp caulk so taking the exhaust pipes off may be difficult. Maybe there is a bendable rod to put up into the T pipe and push it into the horizontal pipe?

2.) When installing the pipes, I ended up using high temp caulk on the part that connects to the stove (combustion fan). I realize now that it is very difficult to remove the combustion fan due to it being "glued" to the pipe with high temp caulk. I have a 4" exhaust pipe so the pipe that connects to the stove is a reducer. I caulked it because it felt like it was a very loose connection. Does anyone else have this issue? Should I have NOT caulked this? And does anyone know how I might be able to easily remove the reducer from the combustion fan outlet?

Thanks!

 

[Mysticenchantment]

I put goop on all the connections too, except the one where it attaches to the stove. That has some silicone tape stuff that I can get off. As far as cleaning the horizontal run, I have a brush attached to a flexible rod that I shove through there a couple times, then I put the leaf blower on it to suck out any leftover crap. Just make sure you're not standing downwind or you'll get plastered with ash, and they taste bad. Really really bad. Oh - and if you do that make sure your door is open first so you don't damage the vacuum switches. BUT... behind my ash pan is a square cover that comes off exposing a direct path to the exhaust so I really have no need to remove the vent from it.

My best guess about getting the collar off the exhaust port would be to yank and tug on it until it feels like your arms will fall off. Then have the Mrs. yank on it for a while.

 

[theRog05]

Do you put new silicone tape around it every time you disconnect the stove? Or is it something you put around the pipe for a tighter fit?

As for the brush and flexible rod, do you fit that through the T and then angle it into the horizontal run or do you take off the T and brush strait in? Any idea where I can purchase a 4" brush and flexible rod (Didn't see anything online at HD. I'm sure I'll be able to find something though) or silicone tape?

Do you blow the leaf blower through the vent? Wouldn't that blow everything right back into stove? I guess I could blow from inside the house once I get the pipe off the back of the stove.

Lastly, if I take the back panels off inside the burn box there is a square section that goes into the exhaust, but that is also where the combustion fan is. I wouldn't want to blow from there because I wouldn't want to break the fan itself.

Sorry for all of the questions. Your answers are very much appreciated!

 

[Mysticenchantment]

I put the bottom of the leaf blower where it sucks in onto the chimney so it is sucking the air through the stove. Something like this video http://youtu.be/D7FYMe_qPLE

I bought the brush and flexible rod from Lowe's in Henrietta but I suspect they keep that stuff out seasonally. Being that you have a 4 inch exhaust, maybe a dryer vent brush would work?

As far as the tape I've not taken it apart yet but I suspect it would need to be replaced. As far as the T, I would run the brush to the top from the bottom then disconnect it from the horizontal run to clean that out.