Crappy pellets out of Corinth Maine?

[smaxell1]

I just got 4 tons of pellets out of Corinth Wood Pellets for my new stove (Glo-boy 120). The thing had run fine on random bags of pellets for almost a month from different suppliers. (Of course I was only running it late nights when it was cold). I have tried to run longer burns lately since it has become quite cold here, and three times I have had a large clinker mass build up to the point where it backed pellets up to the auger!! The clinkers clogged all of the air vents in the burn pot. I really don't want to have my stove burn back into the hopper, but the dealer says that is nearly impossible. I guess I get a little concerned when the drop chute is GLOWING red with burning pellets. Not that I particularly love my house, but I would prefer not to burn it down with us in it. I guess the best question is, is anyone else having problems with the Corinth pellets? It seemed to work well before, but I never did extensive testing at higher burn settings when I got the stove.

Thanks from a new pellet stove owner... love it... but wish it worked a little better...

----scott

 

[krooser]

Last year was my first with a pellet stove.

From my experience the only thing that causes pellet build-up in my stove is a dirty stove. CLEAN YOUR STOVE! I mean REALLY CLEAN IT! This season I've been burning just at night... and one setting one or two. And I'm getting pellet back-up.

I'll be cleaning my stove today with my new leaf blower.'

 

[Jester]

Last year was my first with a pellet stove.

From my experience th only thing that causes pellet build-up in my stove is a dirty stove. CLEAN YOUR STOVE! I mean REALLY CLEAN IT! This season I've been buring just at night... and one setting one or two. And I'm getting pellet back-up.

I'll be cleaning my stove today with my new leaf blower.'

I gotta ask. Im a little punch silly from working last night, leaf blower?
Sorry, if its sarcasm it was wasted on me for sure, if it was serious, can you go into details on that one?

 

[mkmh]

I grabbed 2 tons of Corinth pellets over the summer and i've been burning them over the last couple weeks. So far I have probably gone through 5 bags with excellent results. You never know what is going to happen from batch to batch, but so these are among the cleanest burning pellets I have ever tried. I agree with the other poster that you should consider doing a full scale end of season type cleaning just to make sure you are starting off in "tip top" shape

 

[Maineiac]

I bought 5 tons last year and I am working on the last 1/2 ton now. I got a much tougher buildup in the burnpot with my batch. So tough that I bent the useless Harman tool and now use a large flathead screwdriver with a little persuasion from a hammer. The two previous years I burned two different brands of Canadian pellets and was able to scrape the burnpot clean rather easily with the Harman tool. I am still waiting for this year's 5 tons of Corinth pellets.

 

[cdodge04]

I just bought 2 tons of Corinth pellets from Aubuchon hardware yesterday. I'll find out how well they work this weekend when I get my pellet stove fired up...will post back my results.

 

[smaxell1]

I grabbed 2 tons of Corinth pellets over the summer and i've been burning them over the last couple weeks. So far I have probably gone through 5 bags with excellent results. You never know what is going to happen from batch to batch, but so these are among the cleanest burning pellets I have ever tried. I agree with the other poster that you should consider doing a full scale end of season type cleaning just to make sure you are starting off in "tip top" shape

I would imagine the stove was fairly clean, since I took it out of the crate a month ago brandy new. I will give it a thorough cleaning anyway, but like I said - the pellets I was using before these did not cause this problem. I understand you could get different pellets from batch to batch tho.
Would the clinker look and feel like a mass of sand? The clinkers that I could break up were like dirt. Hopefully I don't have four tons of junk and can figure out a way to get this working.

---scott

 

[schmeg]

I'm new also and am from central Maine and I have a Glowboy stove (insert) and I also get a build-up in the burnpot that looks like loosly compacted ash and it backs up onto the feed ramp after 40-60 lbs of pellets (Ashland pellets marketed as Eastern Pellets). I'm not sure what a clinker looks like, feels like, or smells like, but I think Firestarter is not experiencing clinkers, but an issue with the stove that I am also. At this point I'm all ears.

 

[krooser]

Last year was my first with a pellet stove.

From my experience th only thing that causes pellet build-up in my stove is a dirty stove. CLEAN YOUR STOVE! I mean REALLY CLEAN IT! This season I've been buring just at night... and one setting one or two. And I'm getting pellet back-up.

I'll be cleaning my stove today with my new leaf blower.'

I gotta ask. Im a little punch silly from working last night, leaf blower?
Sorry, if its sarcasm it was wasted on me for sure, if it was serious, can you go into details on that one?

you buy an ELECTRIC leaf blower (I paid $29.00 for mine from True Value). Go to the hardware store and buy a plumbing adaptor that allows you to hook up the blowers vacuum side to the end of your flue pipe.

Dump your ash box, hook up the vacuum side of the leaf blower to the end of the flue pipe and turn it on... it sucks virtually every ash out of every nook and cranny including those really hard to reach.

I had the same problem last year after just two months of use... lazy flame, pellet build-up, etc. I cleaned my stove as best as I could... still worked poorly. I called out the service guy and he cleaned it in 5 minutes without disassembling anything... just used the leafblower. A 200 mph wind does wonders...

Made a believer outta me...

 

[smaxell1]

I'm new also and am from central Maine and I have a Glowboy stove (insert) and I also get a build-up in the burnpot that looks like loosly compacted ash and it backs up onto the feed ramp after 40-60 lbs of pellets (Ashland pellets marketed as Eastern Pellets). I'm not sure what a clinker looks like, feels like, or smells like, but I think Firestarter is not experiencing clinkers, but an issue with the stove that I am also. At this point I'm all ears.

Oh, definitely experiencing clinkers. They are a solid mass, some more solid than others, and definitely not ash like. What happens is that these are building up and clogging the vents on the burn pot, so eventually the air flow can't even blow ash out of it. Once that happens, the stove is totally out of whack as far as airflow goes. I clean the stove on a daily basis right now, since I am only running in the evening and on colder days. And the two backups that I have had resulted in pellets backing totally up the chute almost to the auger that feeds them. Never had the backups with the other pellets I have used (Lignetics, Comfy Cozy, Athens). The lignetics pellets were phenomenal, give me four tons of those. The frustrating thing about it is that it never happens when I am right there. Once, I let the stove run overnight. The other time I was at work and my wife was home. I never seem to get a serious problem when I am right there to see what is happening. If I can only run the thing while I am right there, I might as well just use oil, since I am not going to save much money.

---scott

 

[schmeg]

What I'm getting in the pot is soft. 2 swipes with a screwdriver and its out. Nothing hard.

 

[SNAPMAN61]

My experience with the Corinth pellets is the complete opposite.While waiting for my order from Corinth, I burned bags of Athens pellets. The pellets in every bag were broken up and they created a heavy,dark ash.I also burned some Natures Heat with much better results.But I have to say, IMO,the Corinth pellets that I received are excellent. Uniform in size,very little fines in each bag,and a much more intense flame.I also have noticed there is much less build-up on my glass and much less ash build-up.
So far I must say that they were worth the wait

 

[mkmh]

I would imagine the stove was fairly clean, since I took it out of the crate a month ago brandy new. I will give it a thorough cleaning anyway, but like I said - the pellets I was using before these did not cause this problem. I understand you could get different pellets from batch to batch tho.
Would the clinker look and feel like a mass of sand? The clinkers that I could break up were like dirt. Hopefully I don't have four tons of junk and can figure out a way to get this working.

---scott

Ok, I would agree then. Do you have a damper control on your air intake? I'm wondering if maybe the stove isn't getting enough air, and that is contributing to the clinker formation. I have found that with my stove I sometimes have to adjust the air from different types of pellets. This is particularly important when the stove is operating on the lower settings.
Looking at the exhaust coming out can be pretty telling. Just last week I noticed black smoke coming out of the exhaust when the stove was on low. I then tweaked the air intake (gave it more air), waited 5 minutes, then went back outside to check the exhaust. Sure enough, no more black smoke at all, and a much cleaner burn in the burnpot.
Hope this helps.

 

[akakii]

My experience with the batch of Corinth pellets that I had last year is that they were by far the best brand I've had yet. The pellets were uniform in size, very few fines, very low ash, and no clinkers whatsoever. They burned hot and very clean. If I could have gotten some a month ago when I was stocking up, that's what I would have bought instead of the Athens pellets I ended up with. I assume that pellets can very from batch to batch, so I don't know if you got some bad ones or if it's something going on with your stove.

 

[smaxell1]

I would imagine the stove was fairly clean, since I took it out of the crate a month ago brandy new. I will give it a thorough cleaning anyway, but like I said - the pellets I was using before these did not cause this problem. I understand you could get different pellets from batch to batch tho.
Would the clinker look and feel like a mass of sand? The clinkers that I could break up were like dirt. Hopefully I don't have four tons of junk and can figure out a way to get this working.

---scott

Ok, I would agree then. Do you have a damper control on your air intake? I'm wondering if maybe the stove isn't getting enough air, and that is contributing to the clinker formation. I have found that with my stove I sometimes have to adjust the air from different types of pellets. This is particularly important when the stove is operating on the lower settings.
Looking at the exhaust coming out can be pretty telling. Just last week I noticed black smoke coming out of the exhaust when the stove was on low. I then tweaked the air intake (gave it more air), waited 5 minutes, then went back outside to check the exhaust. Sure enough, no more black smoke at all, and a much cleaner burn in the burnpot.
Hope this helps.

Yeah, there is a damper control. I am running it about 3/4 open which ALMOST lifts a nearly completely burned pellet off the bottom of the burn pot. What I had been doing to adjust the damper for the air intake was open it until burning pellets started "popcorning" out of the burn pot, then backing it down just a bit. I assume this should be about right, maximize the airflow without blowing partially burned pellets out. The lower settings on the stove are definitely the most touchy, and I have had to adjust the stove a few times when I run it on those.

*sigh*

I dunno... gonna have to keep tinkering with it.

 

[mkmh]

Bummer. It really sounds like you are doing all the right stuff. Do you have any support from the manufacturer? I would think you'd want to get them on the phone and see if maybe there are some "fine tune" adjustments. You should probably also buy a differet brand of pellets and see if you get better results. I doubt that is the problem, but it is an inexpensive thing to rule out.
I wonder if we can find any happy globoy owners on the forum?

 

[dupjay21]

I too am new to the pellet stove scene. I have 3 tons of corinth pellets and have not had a problem after 8 bags. Most of my burning is at night and stove is off every day. I have noticed a fair amount of ash (dust like) on the sides of my burn pot, that would be my only quam. But seeing as this is the only type of pellets that i have burned, i am not sure how the others fair. I do know that my pellets were made back on 9-11-07. Maybe nowadays the demand is so high that the quality of Corinth pellets has gone down? Just a thought..

Jason

 

[jenrn54]

I just got 4 tons of pellets out of Corinth Wood Pellets for my new stove (Glo-boy 120). The thing had run fine on random bags of pellets for almost a month from different suppliers. (Of course I was only running it late nights when it was cold). I have tried to run longer burns lately since it has become quite cold here, and three times I have had a large clinker mass build up to the point where it backed pellets up to the auger!! The clinkers clogged all of the air vents in the burn pot. I really don't want to have my stove burn back into the hopper, but the dealer says that is nearly impossible. I guess I get a little concerned when the drop chute is GLOWING red with burning pellets. Not that I particularly love my house, but I would prefer not to burn it down with us in it. I guess the best question is, is anyone else having problems with the Corinth pellets? It seemed to work well before, but I never did extensive testing at higher burn settings when I got the stove.

Thanks from a new pellet stove owner... love it... but wish it worked a little better...

----scott

Seems I am having the same problem with Corinth pellets. I bought 2 ton 2 weeks ago, assured they were hardwood. During the night my stove did not ignite pellets--burn pot overflowing with unburned pellets in the morning. The ash and clinkers clogged all the air vents in burn pot. I have email Corinth with this issue and have not heard back from them yet. I have a friend who has a Big E and loves these pellets. Maybe I can sell her mine!!

 

[Photodude55]

I just got 3 tons of pellets from Granville Stone ( Corinth) , I have had no problem until this morning. The stove shut down in the middle of the night and i cannot restart it. It is a Glo Boy 120. I have cleaned it and there are no back ups. the auger light blinks as usual but is not dropping pellets. i have tried to adjust the fine tuner with no luck. Granville has yet to return my call. Getting very frustrated.

 

[jenrn54]

I just got 3 tons of pellets from Granville Stone ( Corinth) , I have had no problem until this morning. The stove shut down in the middle of the night and i cannot restart it. It is a Glo Boy 120. I have cleaned it and there are no back ups. the auger light blinks as usual but is not dropping pellets. i have tried to adjust the fine tuner with no luck. Granville has yet to return my call. Getting very frustrated.

The exact same thing happened to me. I got large amount of ash and huge clinkers in my burn pot, thus not getting enough air to ignite. I complained directly to the Corinth Co. The CEO is stopping by today to drop off a few bags of their "new product" for me to try. If I like them and they burn well, they will swap out the 2 ton I have for the newer ones.

 

[smaxell1]

I just got 3 tons of pellets from Granville Stone ( Corinth) , I have had no problem until this morning. The stove shut down in the middle of the night and i cannot restart it. It is a Glo Boy 120. I have cleaned it and there are no back ups. the auger light blinks as usual but is not dropping pellets. i have tried to adjust the fine tuner with no luck. Granville has yet to return my call. Getting very frustrated.

Messing with the fine adjustment is not going to help if you are jammed. Sounds like you have a pellet jam in the auger, try dropping the side panel and using the small chute that came with the stove and empty the hopper. With the hopper empty, also try to start the stove and make sure the auger is actually turning. Then take a good shop vac to the bottom of the auger and give that a serious vacuum. You can also take of the panel inside the stove that is over the burn pot where the pellets drop (only three small screws), and vacuum the auger from that side too. While you are in there doing that, the two square holes that are on each side of the drop chute are ash traps - might as well hit those with the vacuum too. I have the technical manual to the Glow-boy 120 if you want it. I e-mailed Dansons and they sent it to me. I would recommend having the technical manual for the stove anyway - it shows a lot of the inner workings, and how to replace auger parts, etc if you needed to. It also has a parts list with replacement parts prices - never know when that may come in handy.

I have the Glow Boy, and I bought four tons of Corinth Pellets from Granville and they are crappy. Very high in ash and clinker problems. OTH, I have talked so Granville several times and they seem helpful, but I haven't had any major problems with the stove.

 

[MainePellethead]

I just got 3 tons of pellets from Granville Stone ( Corinth) , I have had no problem until this morning. The stove shut down in the middle of the night and i cannot restart it. It is a Glo Boy 120. I have cleaned it and there are no back ups. the auger light blinks as usual but is not dropping pellets. i have tried to adjust the fine tuner with no luck. Granville has yet to return my call. Getting very frustrated.

Messing with the fine adjustment is not going to help if you are jammed. Sounds like you have a pellet jam in the auger, try dropping the side panel and using the small chute that came with the stove and empty the hopper. With the hopper empty, also try to start the stove and make sure the auger is actually turning. Then take a good shop vac to the bottom of the auger and give that a serious vacuum. You can also take of the panel inside the stove that is over the burn pot where the pellets drop (only three small screws), and vacuum the auger from that side too. While you are in there doing that, the two square holes that are on each side of the drop chute are ash traps - might as well hit those with the vacuum too. I have the technical manual to the Glow-boy 120 if you want it. I e-mailed Dansons and they sent it to me. I would recommend having the technical manual for the stove anyway - it shows a lot of the inner workings, and how to replace auger parts, etc if you needed to. It also has a parts list with replacement parts prices - never know when that may come in handy.

I have the Glow Boy, and I bought four tons of Corinth Pellets from Granville and they are crappy. Very high in ash and clinker problems. OTH, I have talked so Granville several times and they seem helpful, but I haven't had any major problems with the stove.

Um...I'll gladly take them off your hands for....lets say.... 125 a ton? Ok ok....150 lol

 

[Dwsmls]

A few months ago i bought 2 tons of corinth hardwood pellets one of the first bags i dumped in i thought i saw a piece of corn but dismissed it as seeing things, tonight while dumping in i found a half kernal of corn in the hopper as well as several pellets that had visible corn in them. I know i am new to this but i'm pretty sure that 100% premium wood means just that. The pellets seem to be burning fine in my P38. Anyone else seeing corn? Is this normal ?

 

[sydney1963]

Seriously? Corn?

 

[cdodge04]

The two tons that I bought are different. One ton of pellets are in brown bags with red lettering, the other ton is in a blue colored bag. I've only been burning the brown bags so far and they are very ashy and create large clinkers. I usually clean my burn pot once before I leave for work in the morning, then clean it right when I get home, for good measure I clean it again right before bed. When I clean it in the morning and when I get home from work its pretty full. I have my air adjusted to 9 and have tested my air intake by completely taking it off the back of the stove to ensure that it's working properly. These pellets just seem ashy.

What color bags are the pellets coming in that you guys are burning? Just wondering if there is a difference between the blue and brown bags...