I'm having pretty much the same experience as everyone else here. The pellets are small and broken up, with lots of fines in the bag. The photo on their website bears no resemblance to what I've got. They seem almost sticky, as others have mentioned. It's almost like they're damp. They are creating abnormal amounts of heavy ash, definitely the worst out of the 6-7 brands I've burned. I've burned four bags so far and my ash pan is almost full (for comparison, I burned maybe 20+ bags of Corinth last season before emptying the ashes). It hasn't been cold enough for me to leave the stove on full time yet so I don't have a good sense of heat output. I hope it's not too bad since I have four tons of these sitting in my garage. These are also the first pellets I've bought that don't have any information at all about grade, ash, fines, etc. Kind of like a no-name generic. I'm going to let the dealer and producer know what I think of these pellets.
Athens Wood Pellets intial review
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I would like some one with Athens pellets to do a moisture check. Here is the test by Mike.
1- 1/2 cup pellets in a glass bowel, no plastic
2- cover with a plate
3- microwave for 45 secs to 1 min
4- remove plate and turn on end, no water should drip. Thanks
1- 1/2 cup pellets in a glass bowel, no plastic
2- cover with a plate
3- microwave for 45 secs to 1 min
4- remove plate and turn on end, no water should drip. Thanks
I did the test. There was no water drip at all. A very little bit of moisture on bottom of the bowl but that was it. What does this mean?? Is this normal or abnormal??
slls said:
That is not really an accurate test. If you want to know what the moisture content of the pellets is, you need to test them in a moisture analyzer(I sell and service them). The moisture analyzer has a scale built in and a lamp that heats the product(pellets) and when complete the analyzer will give you the moisture content of the pellets.
Just a thought. One of more of you folks should
email the MFG a link to this thread so they can see
for themselves how many are unhappy with the
product.
email the MFG a link to this thread so they can see
for themselves how many are unhappy with the
product.
zeta said:
Great idea!!
I just sent out an email with a link to this thread.
Hope they take the time to check out our comments!
Email I sent:
I have just purchased 4 tons from a distributor here in Rumford.
They seem to burn well but leave a heavy and quite honest large
deposit of ash. I am burning them in a Harman P61.
Please see the link below which shows a growing number of dissatisfied customers.
Regards,
Mike
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/24941/
Boy oh boy you guys are bumming me out. I have one ton of the Athens pellets and I plan on mixing them with a better brand of pellets (Energex or Hamer). I hope this works. I'm new to burning pellets but I didn't realize the type of pellets varied so wildly. I'm from Maine and wanted to support a Maine business, but they better get their sh## together or they won't be in business much longer. I'm going to try them but I won't ruin a new stove with crappy pellets. Maybe if enough people return them they'll get the message. On the positive side, oil is dropping like a stone.
We did the microwave moisture test on 3 varieties of pellets, with the following rsults.
Green Team, No Moisture
Pennington, Some Moisture
Athens, Dripping
The Penningtons and the green team were picked up in the last few days where they were stored outside.
The Athens were part of 3 tons that were delivered over a month ago and stored inside immediately.
What does this prove and what are my options?
Green Team, No Moisture
Pennington, Some Moisture
Athens, Dripping
The Penningtons and the green team were picked up in the last few days where they were stored outside.
The Athens were part of 3 tons that were delivered over a month ago and stored inside immediately.
What does this prove and what are my options?
im currently in the process of trying to return a ton, hope i can find my receipt...
after 6 bags my glass was black, getting clickers, 90% more ash compared to green team. i emptied my hopper of these and got about 2lbs of fines w/80lb hopper ext on...
after 6 bags my glass was black, getting clickers, 90% more ash compared to green team. i emptied my hopper of these and got about 2lbs of fines w/80lb hopper ext on...
wak1954 said:
The dripping means higher than normal moisture content, what I suspected reading about the small pieces and pellets come apart easy.
With high moisture they will not burn as efficient as normal pellets, lower heat value. Some model stoves may get jammed augers.
lessoil said:
Reply to 2nd Email:
I will pass this on and read the posting.
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T;
________________________________________
From:
Date: Sun, 26 Oct 2008 12:55:09 -0400
To: <[email protected]>
Subject: RE: Athens Pellet Quality
William,
Compared to the LG pellets out of Canada(light brown) the Athens pellets(dark green??)
leave quite a bit more ash.
I will have to clean the burn pot much more often than with LG. Also, my stove is a bottom feed.
The ash tends to make a dam towards the outside of the burn pot.
There are some folks at Hearth.com that have top feed. In their case, the ash actually snuffed out the fire.
Thanks for the reply and if you have a chance, please read through the posts at the link below.
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/24941/
This will give you an idea of the problems others are having.
There are quite a few people who visit that site. Athens pellets are not being spoken well of at the moment.
Some customers are returning the Athens pellets for a refund and others are not going to buy Athens pellets again unless this changes.
Regards,
Mike
Another update.
Burned a couple more bags from a different ton I purchased at a different time of the Athens. Same results.
Pellets are tacky and don't slide down in the hopper well of my Castille. Never have I had this issue with any pellets I have burned over the years.
Ash content is unacceptable. I have to turn off the stove every morning and before bed and clean thoroughly to ensure 8-10 hours of burning. If I don't do this before bed and in the morning, the ash will prevent a new fire start up. I can fill my whole burn pot with ash in a session.
So the stove isn't feeding correctly, so I have to move the pellets around in the hopper to get them to fall right into the auger shoot, and I have to clean the stove twice a day.
I'm stuck with these pellets, and am not seeing any other brands around for sale that are actually in stock, so I guess I have to just deal with it. Think I paid 260 a ton for them. Outrageous.
I fully believe unless otherwise told, that they bagged up the industrial grade pellets they make and sold them to residential consumers while the demand was high and they could strike while the iron(stove) was hot.
Feel ripped off, but it's my own fault for buying an untested product.
Burned a couple more bags from a different ton I purchased at a different time of the Athens. Same results.
Pellets are tacky and don't slide down in the hopper well of my Castille. Never have I had this issue with any pellets I have burned over the years.
Ash content is unacceptable. I have to turn off the stove every morning and before bed and clean thoroughly to ensure 8-10 hours of burning. If I don't do this before bed and in the morning, the ash will prevent a new fire start up. I can fill my whole burn pot with ash in a session.
So the stove isn't feeding correctly, so I have to move the pellets around in the hopper to get them to fall right into the auger shoot, and I have to clean the stove twice a day.
I'm stuck with these pellets, and am not seeing any other brands around for sale that are actually in stock, so I guess I have to just deal with it. Think I paid 260 a ton for them. Outrageous.
I fully believe unless otherwise told, that they bagged up the industrial grade pellets they make and sold them to residential consumers while the demand was high and they could strike while the iron(stove) was hot.
Feel ripped off, but it's my own fault for buying an untested product.
That is the reason I would not buy new manufacture pellets until they went through a winter. My son-in-law is not going to get the 2 tons he ordered.
Pellet burner since 2005, burned 8-10 different brands. Always slight differences, even between different batches of the same brand. Am trying Athens pellets for the first time, have used 15-20 bags thus far. Initial observations: 1) higher ash content 2) occasional clinker in burnpot 3) many LARGE pellets (1.5") which have twice caused bridging over auger feed tube. All in all, generally satisfied.
Danson shop heater since winter 2005
Napoleon NPI40 insert soon to be installed in other end of the house
Danson shop heater since winter 2005
Napoleon NPI40 insert soon to be installed in other end of the house
wicked thrifty said:
It's funny, first post and their results with the pellets are totally different, other then the dealer's.
Well I hope the two of you continue to enjoy your Athens pellets :smirk:
Agree with "Fire it UP". Have to clean the burn pot morning and night or ash will choke the fire out. Plus have to keep hopper full since they don't slide. A lot of work when I hear others saying they only worry about the ash every three days or so. Plus we are not burning 24/7 yet.
When the Athens mill first started producing, they were only selling industrial grade in bulk. They even admitted they hadn't gotten to the point where they could produce premium pellets for residential appliances. They sold by the truckload to places like the Sappi papermill in Skowhegan. I think they saw the run on pellet sales early and stepped in to fill the void, but had an inferior product.
I am not impressed. I will not buy Athens pellets again, and I would like to support Maine businesses.
I only took these because it looked like it might be the only ones I could get before winter and the dealer told me they were premium low ash (I had ordered Corinth pellets, but the dealer stopped getting shipments of them and didn't know why or when they would get them again)
For what it is worth, the dealer has agreed to take the pellets back and let me buy some Energex pellets instead (I have to pay the difference in price between the two though). I think I will probably do this, but I'll keep one ton of the Athens pellets to hold me over until I get the Energex. If I get the Energex before my remaining Athens ton runs out I'll mix them.
I am not impressed. I will not buy Athens pellets again, and I would like to support Maine businesses.
I only took these because it looked like it might be the only ones I could get before winter and the dealer told me they were premium low ash (I had ordered Corinth pellets, but the dealer stopped getting shipments of them and didn't know why or when they would get them again)
For what it is worth, the dealer has agreed to take the pellets back and let me buy some Energex pellets instead (I have to pay the difference in price between the two though). I think I will probably do this, but I'll keep one ton of the Athens pellets to hold me over until I get the Energex. If I get the Energex before my remaining Athens ton runs out I'll mix them.
Just wanted to keep this issue burning close to the top of the forum.
These pellets are not premium quality.
These pellets are not premium quality.
I have to agree, these pellets are not premium. We have all been had. Next thing is, what to do. I have three tons sitting in my basement that I bought from O'hara Ice. They delivered them to the garage. We then moved them down to the basement and they are all neatly stacked. How would I return them??? I think I willl have to burn them so is it possible to be able to mix them and get better results? Is that a possibility? Will that mess up the stove?? First year of burning pellets here and need advice. Thanks.
I have had some success in mixing the Athens pellets with Green Team. The last time I tried mixing them with Penningtons and the auger got bound up again. I wish you luck. We are all in the same predicament, and looking for a resonable answer.
Had a friend than picked some up in Waterville two weeks ago and they were much better than mine that I purchased in the spring. Maybe they have fixed the problems. Might be all you can get.
I wanted to post an update on my experience with the Athens pellets. I tried a few bags from each of the two tons we purchased and found a pretty big difference in the quality of the pellets from the different tons. Pellets from one of my tons created a lot of ash (as reported by many here) -- a 40 lb bag filling the burn pot with ash twice. But bags from the other ton burned very well and created very low amounts of ash -- burning through 2 40lb bags with little noticeable ash buildup.
Interestingly, both of these tons were bought at the same time from the same dealer - but I have no idea how long one of them might have been sitting around the Athens plant.
When I return home (from sunny San Diego!), I plan on contacting the Athens' folks directly to discuss the matter.
BTW, we've been looking to buy a third ton of pellets from someone here in the Lewiston/Auburn area, but we are finding that almost everyone around here is getting the Athens' pellets. They are definitely hitting the Maine market hard - so I really hope they deal with the QA/QC issues soon.
Interestingly, both of these tons were bought at the same time from the same dealer - but I have no idea how long one of them might have been sitting around the Athens plant.
When I return home (from sunny San Diego!), I plan on contacting the Athens' folks directly to discuss the matter.
BTW, we've been looking to buy a third ton of pellets from someone here in the Lewiston/Auburn area, but we are finding that almost everyone around here is getting the Athens' pellets. They are definitely hitting the Maine market hard - so I really hope they deal with the QA/QC issues soon.
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