Better pellets, more clinkers?

[Firenutz]

I've tried 4 brands of pellets through my older Mt. Vernon this year. I've noticed that the less ash and dirty burning, the more the klinkers build up. Is this normal? I had some Pennington nature's heat which made mounds of ash in a day but no clinkers and average heat output. Then I tried Instant heats and they burned a little nicer but had more clinkers. Now I have the Lignetics and they have virtually no ash and burn nice and hot. I hadn't cleaned it for 3 days thinking the little bit of ash was impressive. That was until I noticed the flames licking the front glass and the top of the firebox. It was giving off great heat but when I shut it down I noticed the burnpot was half full of klinker! Is this a no win situation or am I stuck vacuuming this thing every day no matter how much I spend on pellets?

 

[pellet0708]

Have noticed the same thing. The hotter burning pellets (spruce point) which were superior in heat to 4 other brands left a lot of hard clinkers in the burn pot but was worth the extra heat. Ran out and am burning a very low ash pellet now but not a lot of heat so have to run the stove much longer or on a higher setting. I think the intense heat creates the clinkers.

 

[Xena]

My experience with the higher end hardwood pellets has been entirely different.
Lignetics, Barefoot, Cleanfire, Omalley - a lot less ash than other bands I've
tried, more heat, and zero clinkers.

 

[krooser]

Some folks say that pellets with bark are responsible for the clinkers. I had klinkers with a couple hardwood pellets I used last year but virtually none with pine/spruce/etc.

 

[56 chevtruck]

every stove different. i have used 2 brands mainly. even though eastern embers is a good pellet which is softwood, i get clinkers or burn pot buildup on high heat. lignetics no clinkers or buildup. if we continue to get lignetics here in eastern canada i will continue to use them.