Ravelli Roma switch from softwood pellets to softwood/hardwood blend

[Al in CT]

Hello everyone, First post!
I had been burning Cleanfire softwood pellets since I bought the stove in January 2022. I have been very happy with the stove and those pellets.
However, due to supply (Cleanfire is out of stock) and price (softwood is very expensive this year, especially at this time of the season!), I purchased a ton of Fusion Blend pellets (80% hardwood, 20% softwood).
It was a disaster. They would burn nicely at first, but the ash would not blow out of the pot, and built up ash and clinkers overnight (less than 8 hours of operation). It was like a glowing mass of lava in the morning, and there were burning pellets on the side of the pot.
I have a few bags of the old Cleanfire leftover, so I did a major clean and removed all the Blend pellets. The result was a perfect burn. (PS, I did a major clean about a month ago anyway, which showed almost no build up of ash in the exhaust).
So, questions, why did this happen? How can I fix the settings so that the burnt ash can be blown out of the burn pot and get a good burn again? Or is this just a bad batch of pellets?

 

[johneh]

Don't know your stove but on mine, I have to adjust combustion air
between soft a hard pellets. I find I need more air to keep the pot clean on hardwood
Because hard wood pellets seem to burn longer than softwood pellets

 

[Al in CT]

Thank you. I pretty much noticed that the ash just accumulates in the burn pot as well.
What kind of stove do you have? I can't find how to adjust air flow on my Ravelli Roma.

 

[SwineFlue]

Instead of adjusting the air flow, some stoves allow you to adjust the pellet feed rate. For your issue, decreasing the pellet feed will be equivalent to increasing the airflow. Do you have the manual for your stove?
Inside the hopper, look for a lever or rod that can reduce the size of the opening to the auger to decrease the pellet feed rate.