# PelPro PP130 - Beating the Cold



## theRog05 (Jan 27, 2015)

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


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## pageyjim (Jan 27, 2015)

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?


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## Johnny_Fiv3 (Jan 27, 2015)

Easy. A clean, empty shop vac.


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## pageyjim (Jan 27, 2015)

Johnny_Fiv3 said:


> Easy. A clean, empty shop vac.



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


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## theRog05 (Jan 27, 2015)

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).


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## pageyjim (Jan 27, 2015)

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


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## theRog05 (Jan 27, 2015)

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.


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## gfreek (Jan 27, 2015)

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


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## theRog05 (Feb 4, 2015)

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.


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## Mysticenchantment (Feb 4, 2015)

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.


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## theRog05 (Feb 4, 2015)

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.


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## Mysticenchantment (Feb 4, 2015)

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.


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## theRog05 (Feb 5, 2015)

Thanks for the info!


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## theRog05 (Feb 17, 2015)

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?


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## Mysticenchantment (Feb 17, 2015)

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.


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## theRog05 (Feb 17, 2015)

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.


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## Johnny_Fiv3 (Feb 17, 2015)

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


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## theRog05 (Feb 17, 2015)

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


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## Mysticenchantment (Feb 17, 2015)

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


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## theRog05 (Feb 17, 2015)

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.


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## Mysticenchantment (Feb 17, 2015)

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.


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## theRog05 (Feb 18, 2015)

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!


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## Mysticenchantment (Feb 18, 2015)

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.


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## theRog05 (Feb 18, 2015)

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!


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## Mysticenchantment (Feb 18, 2015)

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.


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## theRog05 (Feb 18, 2015)

OK. Thanks for the info. I work by the Lowe's in Henrietta so I'll check and see if they have anything. I have a shop vac that also turns into a blower so maybe I can use that and rig an adapter up. I could probably take the cap off the top and run the vacuum through the entire pipe (attached picture). I'll make sure the stove door is open as well so it does not damage the vacuum switches.

This sure beats unbolting the combustion fan and brushing everything out like I did yesterday.


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## Mysticenchantment (Feb 18, 2015)

That's a lot of pipe.  I'm not sure a shop vac would move enough air, although if you were able to fashion the brush on the end of the hose it could vacuum up the debris as it passes through.

Sadly enough I'm at that particular Lowe's almost weekly.  The staff is all helpful and the place is clean.  The place in Holley is waiting for a shipment of Dry Creek to come in.  I'm going to have to get some.


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## theRog05 (Feb 18, 2015)

Yeah, I'll have to give a few things a try. If going from the top doesn't work I'll take off the pipe from the T and blow it out from there. The only reason I have that much pipe is because of my town codes. Needed to be a certain distance from windows that open. And unfortunately that was the only spot it could go. Higbies in Chili has some American Wood Fiber bags right now but are limiting to 5 bags per person. Do you know if the place in Holley delivers? Might be worth it for me to pay them to deliver some Dry Creek.


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## Jmsich2009 (Dec 3, 2017)

I know this post is pretty old, but I'm curious as i just bought a PelPro PP130 a couple weeks ago and it has stopped working. When i called customer service they said it sounds like a dial control problem and are sending me a new one. What was your stove doing when it was not operating correctly? Mine is flashing a green light on the dial control saying that its ready to start, but no matter what i do it will not feed or fire up. No red or amber lights at all


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## Clean79150 (Dec 27, 2017)

Jmsich2009,

I have the Pelpro pp130 too, and thought I was getting a great product from Tractor Supply since the reviews on their website were all so positive.  This stove has been a disappointment to say the least. Mine worked for a couple of times when I first hooked it up, then it started acting up.  Mine was going into startup mode with the blinking green light, and then once it started and fired up it would then go right into the shutdown mode and go out.  I called PelPro, and after being on hold for about 20 minutes a nice lady listened, and diagnosed the problem as a faulty control knob.  They sent me out a new control knob.  The new control knob got my stove to fire up just fine, but it only runs on the high setting (steady amber light) no matter what the dial control is set on.  It continues to run on high even when in the OFF position.  I have discovered if I unplug it for 10 seconds, and then plug it back in it the stove will go into shutdown mode, but I have to keep an eye on it, and unplug it when the shutdown sequence is finished.  If I don't unplug it, the stove will start back up (knob in OFF position) and burn at the high setting as soon as the shutdown sequence is finished. So, good luck to you, I'm on my second control knob, and it seems that I got another bad one from PelPro.  They obviously have a quality control problem here.  You may want to unplug your stove when your not using it, just in case it gets a mins of it's own like my stove did.  Good Luck, I'm thinking I should have bought a different stove.


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## kkekckbk (Jan 3, 2018)

I also just bought the PP130.. My control knob is also supposedly bad.. They are sending out a new one.. My stove remains in comfort mode no matter where the knob is, even in the OFF position.. So, it keeps starting back up after every shut down. I have to unplug it to keep it off.


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## Shovelbum (Jan 3, 2018)

I suspect the control knob on my PP130 as well. It's nearly impossible to set the actual temp using the knob, the range that it starts up and shuts down is all over the place. One day 2 will still be running at 74 degrees in the house and the next day I'll come home and and it'll 64 degrees and it still hasn't come on yet. It would be nice if there was a digital retrofit replacement for the knob.


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## Ssyko (Jan 3, 2018)

When the MFR sends new one do you have to return the faulty one?


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