Soft Pellets?

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Drew1024

New Member
Hearth Supporter
Jan 29, 2008
90
Central NJ
Just received my 5 ton delivery of Lignetics and noticed most of the bags were wet on the outside all the way down to the pallet. Guy said no big deal but after opening up a few bags it seems the pellets are softer than last year. Not wet but crumbly. Last year, if I am not mistaken, if I took a pellet in my hand and tried to break it, it would be kind of tough. Much harder wood. There is a lot more sawdust in these and I am wondering if they could have gotten wet and then dried out and became soft. Any thoughts? Is this possible?
 
From my experience once a pellet gets wet it no longer retains the pellet shape. They swell and return to sawdust. Maybe a bad batch?
 
Sounds like you got it right, got wet in the bag then dried. Pellets should not be soft, but will break if they're long enough to get a grip on them. But then they snap, creating very little sawdust. Large amounts of sawdust is a bad sign. I recently had six tons delivered, and had six bags that got torn open and wet. Because the bags were ripped, the wet pellets were free to expand and fall apart, the pellets that were only a little wet got soft, but they are still junk. The fact that the driver says they are ok leads me to believe you've got a fight ahead of you. Good luck.
 
Drew1024 said:
Just received my 5 ton delivery of Lignetics and noticed most of the bags were wet on the outside all the way down to the pallet. Guy said no big deal but after opening up a few bags it seems the pellets are softer than last year. Not wet but crumbly. Last year, if I am not mistaken, if I took a pellet in my hand and tried to break it, it would be kind of tough. Much harder wood. There is a lot more sawdust in these and I am wondering if they could have gotten wet and then dried out and became soft. Any thoughts? Is this possible?

You just caused me to check on my Lignetics I got back in April. I don't see any difference, they are definitely not soft. I have to agree with the the other 2 posters, you probably have a batch that got wet. Good luck in getting this resolved!
 
Just received my 5 ton delivery of Lignetics and noticed most of the bags were wet on the outside all the way down to the pallet. Guy said no big deal but after opening up a few bags it seems the pellets are softer than last year. Not wet but crumbly. Last year, if I am not mistaken, if I took a pellet in my hand and tried to break it, it would be kind of tough. Much harder wood. There is a lot more sawdust in these and I am wondering if they could have gotten wet and then dried out and became soft. Any thoughts? Is this possible?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I picked up 2 Ton of Lignetics last March (was trying to beat the price wars this year) and found no problems with mine.
 
Yo, Jim.....

when pellets get damp, they swell up somewhat, get larger, with a crumbly finish, and this creates lots of fines....they *might* burn, but the problem with fines is they impede the flow of pellets from the burn pot into the auger....they act as a matrix, stopping the pellets falling due to gravity....

Ive seen epplets stored outside for a long time, if the cover is ripped, they do take on moisture.....I'd get ahold fo the seller, and have them take them back.....thats my take...
 
Drew1024 said:
Just received my 5 ton delivery of Lignetics and noticed most of the bags were wet on the outside all the way down to the pallet. Guy said no big deal but after opening up a few bags it seems the pellets are softer than last year. Not wet but crumbly. Last year, if I am not mistaken, if I took a pellet in my hand and tried to break it, it would be kind of tough. Much harder wood. There is a lot more sawdust in these and I am wondering if they could have gotten wet and then dried out and became soft. Any thoughts? Is this possible?

Can you post some pics?
 
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