Vermont wood pellets Burning Problem?

[02809bristol]

Quick question.
My father and I are first year wood pellet burners. I have been burning LaCrete pellets and my ash pan contains " Baby power type ash"
My father is burning Vermont wood pellets , and went to visit him today . I noticed a pile of what look like un burnt pellets in his ash pile?
Is this normal ?
Never saw that type of ash , almost like they didn't completely burn.??

BTW , we both have identical stoves Harman 52i insert

 

[Polar Bear]

Unburnt pellets are an air issue. How many bags have you burnt? Have you been keeping up to date with your daily/weekly/monthly cleanings? Lack of cleaning results in the fly ash greatly reducing the air and thus giving you a lazy burn which results in unburnt pellets.

 

[SXIPro]

I'll take those Vermonts if he still has issues. Best pellets I've ever burned and I can't find the damn things this year.

 

[02809bristol]

Ended up being a cleaning issue. Thanks for help

 

[bogieb]

Just picked up 4 bags of VWP's to try at A&B Lumber in Concord, NH. A bit pricy at 6.65/bag, but I'm down to almost all Currans (which are chit this year for me), so thought I would try them and see if they are worth looking for next year. Just an FYI - the place has a sign up saying they have a limited supply of pellets - just in case anyone is looking.

Haven't actually burned any yet, but they smelled very nice when I opened a bag to dump in the hopper. These are supposed to be all softwood pellets, from debarked wood, so I'll see how they do. Cleaned the stove, but still have about 1/2-3/4 bag of Maine's Choice still in there (One of my last couple of bags). I'll report back tomorrow or Monday on what I think of them.

 

[bogieb]

So far, so good. Even with the bit of Maine's Choice in there, there is hardly any ash. Very good heat coming out of the stove (burning my fingers in the air stream while trying to take pictures - and the stove is idling). This is the first morning this season that I didn't have to pull down the ash lip off the pot (I am testing in the Harman). I put half a bag of Currans in on top this morning to take comparison pictures later.

 

[bogieb]

Comparison pictures between the VWP's and Currans. The feed rate, room temp, and other conditions were similar. Pictures taken in the morning and the stove runs at temp more prior to when the pictures were taken. Stove was run in manual, so it idled when not calling for heat. Both sets of pictures taken while stove was at idle.

The Vermont Wood Pellets ran for 16 hours and had little ash lip, in fact, I didn't pull out the ash until that evening (28-30 hours). Plus, the ash was light, so the pellets pushed it out toward the lip of the cup.

The Currans, as they have been all season, produced a lot of ash. This is 12 hours worth. What is not evident in the pictures is that the ash is quite heavy, so doesn't get pushed out very well, so the fire ends up deep in the throat of the pellet cup after a few hours. I always have to pull the ashes out in the morning and evening.

Of course as usual, YMMV.

 

[scajjr2]

I picked up a ton of Vermont 3 weeks ago. Comparing to the Greene Team I've been burning most for the season the heat output is about the same (both burn hot) but the Vermont has way less ash and it's lighter in color and density. As the heat output and the price is the same I'm probably gonna get 4 tons of Vermont this summer. Making cleanings a bit easier.

Sam