10 bags in this season, burn pot issues

[moey]

put a magnet on it if its part of your burn pot you will know

 

[Doug Doty]

I am new to all this but lucky I guess cause I get nothing in my burn pot a ash vac metal hose end, wont remove with just a whisk, I hit it all light and quick and I am down to nothing, 15 seconds of scratching around. I have used a gasket scraper but find it un-needed. All of it is loose, and I sight through all my holes and I am back together before the combustion blower even cycles off. Now the reality is I can do very little to control air fuel with only a intake damper that is .4 to .5" W.C. effective and I feel like my stove is factory set to be over blown and maybe lean ?? Could this be a waste of heat but making my every other day cleaning easy. ???

 

[Deromax]

I got such black, thin material peeling off the deflector, just below the heat exchanger. I though it was some factory paint or coating peeling off when the stove was new, but after several burns it keeps on producing the stuff.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

Here is mine...

View attachment 146339
I'm not to worried about it, but the circled area had me concerned a bit initially. And not really visible in that shot but on the side I am getting a pretty widespread solid buildup that I can't chip with the screwdriver. How do you clean it?

View attachment 146338

And here is the outside. Its pretty apparent the metal (or some kind of coating) is flaking off. This looked like raw steel to me prior, not painted or anything I could tell. It looked fine until after I cranked it up to 9 overnight the first time, then the next day when I cleaned a few large chunks came off the outside. Paper thin blackish wafer, that later crumbled sitting on the bricks.

Do burn pots wear out? And is there a better way of cleaning them? I have heard people say they soak them, but in what I have no idea.

Yes burn pots wear out due to heat induced stress and the corrosives in the burning fuel.

Some of what you are seeing is the salt (various chlorides) and other impurities in the wood fiber of your pellets, sometimes with a bit of carbon.

You soak them in water or a solution of dish soap and water.

A brass bore brush of appropriate caliber for the holes makes a good device for getting the crud out of the holes and slots, a scraper and the water does wonders for the rest of the pot.

A little elbow action will do the trick as well.

ETA: Yet another reason to clean your stove well, prolonging the life of the burn pot.

 

[Mark_ms]

Nice to see you back Smokey..

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

Nice to see you back Smokey..

Hi Mark_ms,

I can't say too much about that except thanks.

Wait until it is about two or three tons into the season when we start the dirty stove syndrome rush.

I've been here but try to limit my screen time.

It tends to make the dry eye issue worse.

 

[Mark_ms]

Wait until it is about two or three tons into the season when we start the dirty stove syndrome rush.

Ain't that the truth....

 

[OhioBurner©]

Thanks smokey? How long does one let it soak? I suppose I could fire up the woodstove and let the pellet stove go idle for a while. As its been above freezing this week I'm only running one.

My buildup is not around the holes so I'm not too concerned. Its on the front side of the pot above the holes actually. Probably 1/8-3/16" thick at its thickest point.

My stove still isnt burning at its best. With daily cleanings its doing ok but it needs the daily cleaning and even in 24hrs the lower holes are pretty much completely covered with hard buildup. The first few weeks I was cleaning every other day and never had hard crunchy stuff I had to scrape like this, just some nice loose ash mostly.

 

[mepellet]

My buildup is not around the holes so I'm not too concerned. Its on the front side of the pot above the holes actually.
.
.
.... even in 24hrs the lower holes are pretty much completely covered with hard buildup.

I'm confused.
So is the buildup covering the holes or not?

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

Let the pot soak as long as you need, it will depend upon what is in your particular load of crud, the soaking is to loosen it up and to dissolve the salts (chlorides). Your guess is as good as mine I put mine in to soak as soon as I can get it out of the stove, I do everything else and save the burn pot till last. Oh I only do the weekly clean thing, this week it will be a LBT assisted one with ash pan emptying after all I have roasted about 52 bags since September 15.

 

[LordmetalZ28]

My burn pot has a rope gasket on it. Soaking dosent sound like a good idea unless gasket is to be replaced also

 

[OhioBurner©]

I'm confused.
So is the buildup covering the holes or not?

Sorry, I see how that is confusing! I get crud in the bottom I have to clean daily, but (and referring to my earlier pic) I can scrape that out with a putty knife easily and occasionally need to jab with a flat screwdriver. However the buildup I cannot seem to scrap off is on the front side, above the row of holes across the front. I think my problem is the angle, its hard to dig into without the screwdriver just slipping over.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

My burn pot has a rope gasket on it. Soaking dosent sound like a good idea unless gasket is to be replaced also

I also have a rope gasket, a dense one that can be removed (not cemented on) for some reason I do not think water will hurt that gasket but you do the cleaning your way.