# **UPDATE** Pellets not sliding well in hopper - My fix w/pics



## Shortstuff (Oct 13, 2008)

I have had a little trouble with this in that I have to open the hopper and push the pellets towards the auger side once in a while.  They tend to hang up a bit throughout the day so I decided to try the fix that others have mentioned here.

First, I emptied the hopper and taped over the auger opening, then vacuumed it out.  I then took a scotch pad and sanded all the inside surfaces of the hopper making it smoother, then vacuumed again and wiped several times with naptha (lighter fluid). I then put metal tape over the rivets/screws/seams (not the vertical sides) and I applied a good coat of silicon, rubbing it well into the metal with a final dry wipe.  It sure felt much slippery-er.

I won't know for a couple of days if this helps with the "flow" of pellets to the auger, but I'll know in a few days and make a post.

Steve

Here are a couple of before pics:


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## Shortstuff (Oct 13, 2008)

Here are a couple of after pics:


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## roadrat (Oct 13, 2008)

Looks real good , I may have to do this to my stove. let us know how it works out.


bill


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## Panhandler (Oct 13, 2008)

Is the temp rating of the tape 250 degrees? That's the type I saw at Lowes.


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## tonyd (Oct 13, 2008)

Did you start at the bottom and shingle the tape to the top?  That will help keep the edges of the tape from rolling up . Looks like a good job. I wish I could get into my Castile insert like that. I can get in up to my forearm and barely touch the auger. I use a mirror and tools, and stuff, to clean out around the auger. Good Job


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## thekid_1 (Oct 14, 2008)

Nice job!

I am going to try the dry teflon spray. I picked up a can at Lowes a while back and will give it a try in the future.


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## Shortstuff (Oct 14, 2008)

> Is the temp rating of the tape 250 degrees? That’s the type I saw at Lowes.



I'm really not sure what the temperature rating of the tape is, I've had that tape for many years and have used it to wrap the exhaust of my skid steer which held up just fine for a long time.  I know that the walls of my hopper get hot, but definately not near 250° or much greater than 100°.

Yes, I did put the tape on the lower portions first, then overlapped them with the upper layers (like shingles).  I should know in a few days if it helped at all, but it certainly can't hurt.

Thanks for the compliments.

Steve


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## MainePellethead (Oct 14, 2008)

Shortstuff said:
			
		

> > Is the temp rating of the tape 250 degrees? That’s the type I saw at Lowes.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Is that an aluminum tape?  

I use a large amount of Aluminum tape at work.  I am a Thermal Sprayer...I spray a wear resistant coating on many different parts and different configurations on the part itself for jet engines.  I use  an aluminum tape to tape off various surfaces that are coated with different coatings than I spray so it needs protection etc.  Our tape is rated for much higher than 250 degrees.  I liquify a powder of various coatings  using helium, argon, oxygen in   what I call an oversized welding booth type of set up run with a computer oscillation set up. Most of our booths are robotic and CNC programmed but mine is manual set up on the oscillation. Couldnt tell if that was what I use......but I know ours is rated for much higher heat. 

But.....the hopper doesnt rise in temp much at all on the Castile.  Good job on the taping!


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## woodsman23 (Oct 14, 2008)

One would think that the people that make the stoves would take into account that the dam pellets need to advance to the auger. Why would this happen? Bad engineering,mmmm..


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## 07castile (Oct 15, 2008)

I also had trouble with pellets dropping toward the auger in my new quadrafire castille. Tried the dry silicone as the dealer suggested and that didn't work. Someone on this site told me to sand the inside of entire hopper and so far much better, but I think I'll tape the inside like yours to cover the rivets/screws sticking up.  Agree very poor design by quadrafire.


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## woodsman23 (Oct 15, 2008)

Inside the st croix there are no rivets all welded and sanded smooth, at least the afton bay model. They must know before they design these things that 1st and formost is pellet flow to the auger uninterupted.............................................. geez


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## MSmith66 (Oct 17, 2008)

Try a very cheap and easy solution:  Clean out your hopper with a shop vac and rub *waxed paper *all over the sides , top , bottom of your hopper and your pellets will slide on thier own.   IT WORKS.


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## Valhalla (Oct 17, 2008)

Shortstuff said:
			
		

> Here are a couple of after pics:



Well done! It is disappointing that the stove manufacturer makes a gravity feed hopper that has such high friction and for a critical function of the stove. 

I would periodically recheck the tape when reloading for any signs of adhesive or material shrinkage, etc.

Good job.


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## bdcbean (Oct 17, 2008)

It's a trade off you get, but there is little point in a large capacity hopper if you have to move the pellets by hand once it gets half full.

I was thinking of a hopper system that would change in shape. When you loaded it up it would get wider and as the pellets were feed the sides would slope up. Easier said than done ofcourse..

Changing the wall angles even a small amount can drastically decrease the amount of fuel they can hold and thats probably why you will find most are on the extreme and need to be made slippery to work all the time.


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## Shortstuff (Oct 18, 2008)

**UPDATE**

Just a quick post to say that after performing the above I filled the hopper to the brim and let it empty without touching anything which took a few days and it never had any problem at all supplying all the pellets needed to cover and supply the auger.

When I first got the stove, it did shutdown because the pellets wouldn't feed the complete hopper, so this fix really made a difference.  I won't have to worry about the stove shutting down when we're not home or through the night because the pellets got hung up in the hopper.

Steve


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## tinkabranc (Oct 18, 2008)

Glad to hear your solution worked out.
Happy burning!


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## Topspeed (Oct 27, 2008)

msmith66 said:
			
		

> Try a very cheap and easy solution:  Clean out your hopper with a shop vac and rub *waxed paper *all over the sides , top , bottom of your hopper and your pellets will slide on thier own.   IT WORKS.



Tried the wax paper trick, it DOES work. Thanks.


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## cbuck2229 (Nov 2, 2008)

Thanks for all the information---I am going crazy---my pellet stove is not dropping all the pellets.  The hopper is not moving all the pellets to the auger.  It causes a funnel in the middle and not dropping pellets down.  The flame goes out and when I check it is still 3/4 full with an empty hole down the middle so the auger thinks its empty.  I called the company and they said to spray silicone on and wipe off.  It did not make a bit of difference.  HELP
Thanks


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## Jester (Nov 2, 2008)

cindi said:
			
		

> Thanks for all the information---I am going crazy---my pellet stove is not dropping all the pellets.  The hopper is not moving all the pellets to the auger.  It causes a funnel in the middle and not dropping pellets down.  The flame goes out and when I check it is still 3/4 full with an empty hole down the middle so the auger thinks its empty.  I called the company and they said to spray silicone on and wipe off.  It did not make a bit of difference.  HELP
> Thanks



What kind of stove do you have, and what were the pellets?  Were the pellets all small, or damp?


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## cbuck2229 (Nov 2, 2008)

Its a NESCO, I guess the other name is Corn Flame.  The pellets I am using are:  Premium Hardwood Pellets.  I am going to try and load a picture of what it is doing.
The pellets are normal size and dry.
Thanks
Cindi


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## imacman (Nov 2, 2008)

cindi said:
			
		

> Its a NESCO, I guess the other name is Corn Flame.  The pellets I am using are:  Premium Hardwood Pellets.  I am going to try and load a picture of what it is doing.
> The pellets are normal size and dry.
> Thanks
> Cindi



Cindi,

Am I understanding you correctly that you have a corn stove?


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## cbuck2229 (Nov 2, 2008)

When I purchased it, they said it was a "corn or wood" pellet stove.


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## imacman (Nov 3, 2008)

cindi said:
			
		

> When I purchased it, they said it was a "corn or wood" pellet stove.



I tried looking at a web page from the company that you said made your stove (Corn Flame), and I did NOT see anything that mentioned being able to burn pellets in their stove.  Did you look through your owners manual to see if they mention it?

If not, I would contact the manufacturer and see what they say.  If they say no, then you have a problem caused by the person who sold it to you.


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## deuce (Jan 11, 2009)

Shortstuff said:
			
		

> I have had a little trouble with this in that I have to open the hopper and push the pellets towards the auger side once in a while.  They tend to hang up a bit throughout the day so I decided to try the fix that others have mentioned here.
> 
> First, I emptied the hopper and taped over the auger opening, then vacuumed it out.  I then took a scotch pad and sanded all the inside surfaces of the hopper making it smoother, then vacuumed again and wiped several times with naptha (lighter fluid). I then put metal tape over the rivets/screws/seams (not the vertical sides) and I applied a good coat of silicon, rubbing it well into the metal with a final dry wipe.  It sure felt much slippery-er.
> 
> ...



Shortstuff:

I have the same problem in a Lennox Winslow PI-40 pellet stove insert.

It seems that curious minds think alike because I thought of some of the same solutions that have been presented in this forum.

Using aluminum tape on problem areas, impregnating the hopper surface with a slippery substance (e.g., silicone, graphite, or teflon), or dropping a couple of "dryer balls" into the hopper are some of the ideas that I considered.

So far, I only experimented with dropping one, two, or three "dryer balls" into the hopper. These "balls" are plastic spheres with spikes and are used in clothes dryers to expedite the drying process. They are large enough to preclude jamming the auger and as the auger moves the balls ride on top of the auger and "tickle" the pellets  initiating movement that "encourages" the pellets to move down the hopper. Unfortunately, this idea doesn't work well with the PI-40 due to the hopper geometry and the configuration of the balls. I think that if the balls were larger and heavier, it will work. However, using off-the-shelf dryer balls may work in a different stove. Thus, I'm just putting the idea out there, hoping that if someone tries it in a different stove that it may work and we would get some feedback on the feasibility of this idea. The beauty of it is that if it works anyone can do it and does not require careful taping, sanding, or application of lubricant or coating.

My next step is to use aluminum tape in strategic locations inside the hopper. I'll keep everyone posted if it works on the Lennox PI-40 insert.

Thanks for the insights.

Very Respectfully,

deuce


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## Shortstuff (Jan 11, 2009)

Thanks for adding your input!  It looks like you're well on the way to solving the problem and we'll be curious to see how it works out for you.

Happy Heating!

Steve


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## donbryce (Jan 11, 2009)

I'm experiencing a similar hopper feed issue with my Englander 25-PDVC. I thought of trying PAM or similar cooking spray on the insides of the hopper. Has anyone tried this? I know it works great to make wiping bugs off your car hood/bumper easier in summer. Might give off an interesting smell too as the pellets burn...mmmmmm, what's cookin'?.....


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## deuce (Jan 14, 2009)

Shortstuff:
I painstakingly used aluminum tape to tape the seams, rivets, and key surfaces of my Lennox PI-40 stove and even rubbed waxed paper to decrease the coefficient of friction throughout the hopper. Unfortunately, my efforts were not successful as the pellets still hang up. I may need to pursue a more proactive approach to solve the pellet hanging issue. More to follow…

VR

deuce


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## imacman (Jan 14, 2009)

I don't think I'd use PAM, as the oily residue will cause the pellet dust to stick IMO.

I use the aluminum tape over the rivets, but on the sheet metal I use 000 steel wool, and then Pledge or Behold spray furniture polish.....smooth and slippery...works well for me.


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## sydney1963 (Jan 14, 2009)

When mine stick, I find it is only a cup of pellets or 2.  I would think for most of the time you would have filled up the hopper again before it gets that close to empty.  I have never had my stove go out because of it.


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## TomPajak (Jan 14, 2009)

woodsman23 said:
			
		

> One would think that the people that make the stoves would take into account that the dam pellets need to advance to the auger. Why would this happen? Bad engineering,mmmm..



You'd also think they'd design a hopper that could tell you when your pellets were low and could hold 2 bags..not 1 3/4..IMO..


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