Tested some Hamer's Hot Ones ........CLINKERS!

[imacman]

Well, after being one of the members who always recommended Hamer's due to great reviews I'd seen, I finally had the chance to try some myself....Lowes near me had Hamer's, Curran, SIH, and Presto-Logs. I decided it was time I tried the Hamer's myself, and was looking forward to some great heat and great burning pellets. The production code on the bag was 3/8/2010.

Well, the heat was good. BUT, I had a terrible problem with clinkers. I tried adjusting air settings, but nothing helped. I even tried shutting the stove off last night and cleaning it, and then starting all over again. This morning, I woke to the stove having shut itself off (and remember, my stove is multi-fuel and has a stirrer).

Just to make sure it was the pellets and not the stove, I cleaned the firepot & firebox AGAIN, and loaded it with Barefoots....it has been running along perfectly for 7 hours and not even a HINT of a clinker.

Here's a pic of what I dumped out of the burnpot this morning. Oh, and the bags had MAJOR amounts of fines too. I am officially OFF the Hamer's "bandwagon" and will not be recommending them nor will I buy any more.

 

[chrisf]

I burnt a ton and loved them. I had the same problem with clinkers I opened the the damper more and never had another problem. I guess i was the oppsite of you. I was so impressed with them I usally burn about 1.5 tons for january. I only burnt one ton for the month and it kept my 1st flr at 77 and my up stairs at 70 and we never got above freezing the whole month I am back to my dry creeks and I feel they are junk I did not realize how much I was burning of the dcs.

 

[imacman]

....I had the same problem with clinkers I opened the the damper more and never had another problem......

I run my Barefoots with the burn air set at 2, and no problems. I tried raising the air to 3, and then last night I had it at 4, and you can see the result of that in the above pic. I won't go past 4, as it just sends too much heat through the stove and out the exhaust too quickly.

Maybe my stove just doesn't like them.

 

[Dr.Faustus]

(and remember, my stove is multi-fuel and has a stirrer).

imac,

i was going to ask you about that... i thought the multi fuels with the stirrer in the pot were virtually clinker free?

doesnt the stir rod break those up and keep the burn pot clean? i've never seen one run but a stiirer in the pot is on my 'must-have' list next time im stove shopping.

 

[tsmith]

Well, after being one of the members who always recommended Hamer's due to great reviews I'd seen, I finally had the chance to try some myself....Lowes near me had Hamer's, Curran, SIH, and Presto-Logs. I decided it was time I tried the Hamer's myself, and was looking forward to some great heat and great burning pellets. The production code on the bag was 3/8/2010.

Well, the heat was good. BUT, I had a terrible problem with clinkers. I tried adjusting air settings, but nothing helped. I even tried shutting the stove off last night and cleaning it, and then starting all over again. This morning, I woke to the stove having shut itself off (and remember, my stove is multi-fuel and has a stirrer).

Just to make sure it was the pellets and not the stove, I cleaned the firepot & firebox AGAIN, and loaded it with Barefoots....it has been running along perfectly for 7 hours and not even a HINT of a clinker.

Here's a pic of what I dumped out of the burnpot this morning. Oh, and the bags had MAJOR amounts of fines too. I am officially OFF the Hamer's "bandwagon" and will not be recommending them nor will I buy any more.

That looks just like what i get in my Quad AE. And I too have alot of fines in the bags. I think I am getting Turmans next year.

 

[imacman]

imac,

i was going to ask you about that... i thought the multi fuels with the stirrer in the pot were virtually clinker free?

doesnt the stir rod break those up and keep the burn pot clean? i've never seen one run but a stiirer in the pot is on my 'must-have' list next time im stove shopping.

Actually, the stirrer does not guarantee a "clinker free" stove...it does break them up, as you mentioned. The bigger pieces you see in my pic were most likely much larger before the stirrer got to them.

My guess is that the stove would have run for even less time if it didn't have the stirrer. It had run for 10 hrs. with the Hamer's before it shut off this morning....just too much clinker covering the bottom of the pot, and killed the burn (the stove was on Lo burn)

Update on the Barefoots: been burning since 9 this morning (9 hrs), and not a clinker in sight....and that included me reducing the air back to "2" this morning.

 

[jtakeman]

Pete,

How often does the stirrer turn? Wow can't imagine the stove actually died with them. Maybe finish the ones you have with the stove set to burn corn.

I am looking for some that clinker to see how mine handles them. I have a coworker that has Hamers clinkering his breckwell, But they don't sound as bad as your batch. I'll see if I can locate a batch with that date code. Only pellet that clinkered in my stove was Inferno's.

Maybe contact Hamer an see whats up with these? Doesn't sound good and can't be good for there rep or sales.

 

[imacman]

Pete,

How often does the stirrer turn? Wow can't imagine the stove actually died with them. Maybe finish the ones you have with the stove set to burn corn.......

The 10-cpm stirrer, when set for pellets, turns a VERY small amount....I'd guess it moves about 1/8" each time it cycles, which is every time the auger runs. Yeah, I thought about switching to corn mode, which makes the stirrer move much more each time, but I was just about done w/ the Hamer's and was switching back to the barefoots anyway.

I too, have never had this problem in this stove with anything other than the Infernos. I did have very small clinkers with NEWP's 3 yrs ago, but they were the size of marbles.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

Excessive fines is a sign of poor handling or exposure to a lot of moisture.

What appears to be blue in that clinker could be from a number of chemicals.

 

[imacman]

.....What appears to be blue in that clinker could be from a number of chemicals.

Yep, same thought crossed my mind when I saw that Smokey.

 

[Don2222]

Hello Imacman

Maybe it was a special batch for Lowes? Lowe's always tries to get a bargain on what they but. How much were the Hamer's per bag at Lowes??

 

[imacman]

Hello Imacman

Maybe it was a special batch for Lowes? Lowe's always tries to get a bargain on what they but. How much were the Hamer's per bag at Lowes??

The per bag price was $3.97. The ton price is (was??) $187

 

[iron stove]

Mine are May 2010 production, I also get chimkers and a lot of fines. But they are HOT, and most reasonably priced pellet in my area.

 

[smilejamaica]

well i was going to save my ton for next year but now you got me thinking i should try them now . the only pellet that i ever got a clinker from was the bayou pellets . maybe they wont bother my stove . great now i jinx myself .

 

[mike56]

Huge clinkers, i have to scoop out the burn pot twice a day, really good heat though and still have over a ton left to burn.

 

[The Radiator]

The Hamers I am burning right now do require a burn pot scrape 2-3 times a week as the corners clinker a bit but nothing like imac has. They burn hotter than others I have burnt this season. I normally clean my stove every Saturday but couldn't last weekend. Hamers are the first pellet I have burnt that I didn't even have to push the ash to the ash pan sides in 2 weeks. The Empress FPI really does not have much depth in the ash pan, so it requires frequent cleanings. I purchased the pellets in the spring buy ahead, so they were made awhile ago. Seems like bathes of pellets vary a bit. Maybe they changed the recipe!

 

[imacman]

12 hour update:

Since switching back to the Barefoots, I have NO clinkers.

 

[geek]

i also burned 1 bag a while ago after exchanging brands with a friend, i reported i did not like that bag, clinkers and too much ash......

 

[jtakeman]

i also burned 1 bag a while ago after exchanging brands with a friend, i reported i did not like that bag, clinkers and too much ash......

I forgot about your friends batch. He has reported clinkers in his Themlin too. I could trade him a few bags of something for a couple bags of his. What did you swap him?

 

[EarthStove]

This is funny. Our Earth Stove loves the Hamers but we felt like the heat just was not there like the lignetics or the Stove Chow. I did have some clinkers stuck to the bottom of the burn pot and they were REAL clinkers but nothing to substantial.

 

[geek]

i also burned 1 bag a while ago after exchanging brands with a friend, i reported i did not like that bag, clinkers and too much ash......

I forgot about your friends batch. He has reported clinkers in his Themlin too. I could trade him a few bags of something for a couple bags of his. What did you swap him?

I think i gave him okies or cubex, don't recall now.....

..

 

[geek]

even the okies have been giving me clinkers lately, forming a crust around the bottom of the burn pot.

 

[quickrch]

same here, I get the southern states label hamers and got the clinkers too. I just picked up another 3000 lbs and the bags are different and the pellets look more tan than gray. Not sure what the result will be...

 

[jtakeman]

i also burned 1 bag a while ago after exchanging brands with a friend, i reported i did not like that bag, clinkers and too much ash......

I forgot about your friends batch. He has reported clinkers in his Themlin too. I could trade him a few bags of something for a couple bags of his. What did you swap him?

I think i gave him okies or cubex, don't recall now.....

..

I got your friend to swap 2 bags of Hamers for 2 bags of Turmans. I'll post what batch he has when I get them tomorrow. If he likes the Turmans he's going to swap bag for bag with Hamers. I will get a good long burn from them.

I have another co-worker that has the clinker batch Hamers and we are trading with Stove Chow so he can see how the Chow burns in his Breckwell.

Both say they get hugh clinkers daily and if the don't pull them the stove backs up the auger chute and craps out. I am just curious to see if they will kill my Omega while burning on the winter High/Low stat mode. Haven't had a pellet do that yet! I keep you posted, No ash collection but I will post pictures of clinkers formed.

 

[Tony K]

Being a big fan of Hamer Hot Ones I have never had a clinker with these pellets. I have burned 3 tons out of 5 so far this year with no clinkers and the bags are dated 6/3/09, I have a Breckwell Big E. Clinkers still remain a mystery IMHO as a few years back when I had 4 tons of Energx clinker it was basically stated that it was me running my stove improperly! I have a friend in work who has a Breckwell insert and bought 4 tons of the Hamers this year and I know he has had no clinkers as well, I am not sure on the date on his bags but do know they were bought from the same place. Who knows why pellets clinker for some and not others remains a mystery! when will the clinker mystery be solved... for now I buy what I know does not clinker for me but next year could be a different story!