Ash Cake in the Fire Pot every 24 hours and I have to clear it out.

[Doug Doty]

Here is a picture of my little 24 hour ash brick, I am capable of making one every day with current pellets, much to my disgust. I have some of the ones in my avatar and some from TSC called fiber energy pellets that do the same thing but the FEP's do put out a lot more heat along the way. I have not seen any of the brands here in the midwest that so many of you mention that you like and have low ash. I will be on the prowl all week looking for options as I returned all but a broken 1/2 pallet back the the store they came from. We dry plastic pellets at work and take the moisture out of them before processing through injection molding machines. I think I might take 2 or 3 bags of these in to have them dried down for a test of the moisture theory. Our driers will read dew point on the out flowing air and pull them down to popcorn fart dry for a test. Does this have any merit or a waste of time and I am chasing the wrong thing.

 

[Bioburner]

Probably chasing a dream as pellets are supposed to be around 7% but never know with how some dealers store product. It really makes a difference with burning corn. I made a very simple batch drier and now burn corn with RM in single digits and reduced Harman stove consumption close to 15%. Little water makes a big difference.

 

[Lake Girl]

Give it a try - don't know that I would spend a huge amount of time on it but it would rule out moisture and just leave feedstock and impurities as being responsible.

 

[CladMaster]

I have that from time to time. It's more when the stove is drawing damp air from outside. It's also down to the pellets, I've noticed that some hardwood pellets produce this ash brick and the softwood pellets don't. Some pellets leave a lot of hard carbon which is magnetic, a magnet picks it up.

 

[jss227]

Can you up the burn air a little? My EP would do that over the course of 2 days with fireside ultras. I turned up my burn air a notch and can go two weeks now.

 

[LordmetalZ28]

Doug. You have the 5660 correct. If so im starting to fear these clinkers could be from this bad burn pot design. Im finishing up my last 10 of green supreme then am moving on to fiber eps, omalley and penningtons directly after with easy heats and cheat rivers following. No ash whatsoever falls beneath my burn n pot ever! Im fearing clinkers are a mainstay with this stove

 

[LordmetalZ28]

Also my burn air is wide open has been from day 1. Unless my oak run is starving the unit of air but if this was so I would expect last flame and burn out issues. And there has never been a hiccup ever in 1 ton of burning

 

[LordmetalZ28]

Lazy flame

 

[millerized]

Some pellets leave a lot of hard carbon which is magnetic, a magnet picks it up.

I wonder if someone is grinding old shipping pallets up to make pellets.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

Crap, you have to have enough air flow through the burn pot and the pellet pile to eject the ash and burn the pellets to ash.

I can produce one of these every 8 hours if I want to, you are only part way there. Never tried picking it up with a magnet.

Can you post some pictures of that burn pot when clean. One from the top looking down and one from the bottom looking up. Out of the stove please.

 

[CladMaster]

These pics are from mine, it's the same pot as Doug's. This is my new pot, it's only had 8 hours burn time and started to warp on the back edge.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

I'd make certain that the gasket under the lip of the pot fills its channel and is also slightly outside the lip along the edges and made of dense gasket material, the warp-age will become an issue over time as more of a burn pot bypass will be set up.

That will in general lead to a bad burn as not enough air gets drawn through the burn pot and the pellet pile, resulting in both a bad burn and the ash not getting ejected from the burn pot.

That pot needs proper alignment in and enough downward pressure to seal the gasket.

It is also critical that the receptacle it goes into is level and flat all around.

You were just introduced to one of the three main contributors to the every 8 hour clinker formation with my stove.

I might have additional information that may help but I'll need another picture , yeah I know I'm a PITA and snoopy too .

,

 

[CladMaster]

I might have additional information that may help but I'll need another picture , yeah I know I'm a PITA and snoopy too .

What picture do you require ?

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

The top of the auger flight inside the hopper, I'm patient and can wait for the pellet level to drop if needed.

 

[CladMaster]

The top of the auger flight inside the hopper, I'm patient and can wait for the pellet level to drop if needed.

Ah crap ! I just filled the hopper up too !

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

Ah crap ! I just filled the hopper up too !

Don't worry like I said I'm patient, you also don't have to remove anything if you wait.

All I'm doing is looking for gaps where they shouldn't be.

 

[CladMaster]

Mine is sealed inside the hopper, as is all around the outside of the hopper like below.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

All along all places where there is a seam ... I see some that are missing the red, the lightning makes it difficult to see telltales.

Seams can become a problem during shipping and they need to be gone over looking for telltales (v shaped ash or smoke marks pointing to a air leak location or evidence that room air was sucked into hopper (dust etc.)).

The big one is at where the end of the auger flight mates with the flight cover.

A gap there degrades air flow through the burn pot and pellet pile because the air enters through it instead of below the main event taking place. That combustion blower is a fixed flow device when the stove is burning at a certain feed setting.

 

[CladMaster]

Interesting ..... ! I'll check it all out on mine at the next clean out / service (24 - 36 hours from now).
I have some high temp sealant, so I'll go over it to make sure.

I found it strange that the hopper lid area does not have a gasket.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

Interesting ..... ! I'll check it all out on mine at the next clean out / service (24 - 36 hours from now).
I have some high temp sealant, so I'll go over it to make sure.

I found it strange that the hopper lid area does not have a gasket.

Yes isn't it?

The pellets themselves somewhat perform that function (air flow restriction).

It is a very long boring topic that no one pays attention to until it bites them in places that hurt real bad.

 

[Snowy Rivers]

Usually the Clinker crap is caused by non burnables in the pellets.

Dirt, sand and other crud that finds it's way into the mixture the manufs are using.

With our shells we will get a "Crud brick" every day, and its just the non burnable crap.

A different flavor may be in order.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

Yep (on the nonburnable crap) it is caused by the ash not getting ejected.

Not enough air flow in the right place to do the job.

So what can't get ejected just builds up and makes matters worse, which can eventually lead to a forge in the burn pot that warps the daylights out of them.

Have seen this up close and personnel, have one of the results posted in the thread and had the damaged burn pot replaced under warranty back in early 2009.

Had many contributors to that situation.

 

[LordmetalZ28]

That burn pot that clad master is showing you smokey has no way to drop the ash out of it. be it design or what have you nothing falls thru them holes much if at all.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

That burn pot that clad master is showing you smokey has no way to drop the ash out of it. be it design or what have you nothing falls thru them holes much if at all.

It makes no difference if the ash drops through the holes (in fact it is even better that it doesn't drop through the holes) it needs to exit the pot.

That exit is controlled by the air flow through the pot and pellet pile and the energy imparted by incoming pellets.

The fuel/air mixture is slightly out of balance to handle the situation as it is.

It is either up and over or clinker time cometh.

 

[LordmetalZ28]

It makes no difference if the ash drops through the holes (in fact it is even better that it doesn't drop through the holes) it needs to exit the pot.

That exit is controlled by the air flow through the pot and pellet pile and the energy imparted by incoming pellets.

The fuel/air mixture is slightly out of balance to handle the situation as it is.

It is either up and over or clinker time cometh.

So say air Is wide open the only other thing restricting you air once your gasket is 100% sealed is your burn pot holes assuming your oak is not clogged