fines box and pellets.

[Tonyray]

harman P61A... anyone know why the fines box can fill up more with pellets than sawdust?
have noticed over time i am getting more and more pellets in that area..
slide plate closes all the way so not sure why... am sure the slide plate prob chomps off the pellets since they are smaller
size than what is in the hopper.... does appear to happen more with softwoods than when I burn barefoot or hamer hots hardwoods.

 

[shtrdave]

I have the same thing at times, and I have used the same pellets for the last 8-9 years. Sometimes there is dust other times more pellets. I have wondered why this happens also but the stove runs fine, so I guess it doesn't matter to me, but I still wonder why.

 

[Tonyray]

agree.. only difference i exp is softwoods are more an issue than hardwoods.. get minimal pellets in fine box with hardwoods.

 

[shtrdave]

I have never been able to find soft woods to try.

 

[bogieb]

IDK. My P61a fills full of fines in a heartbeat it seems like. My P43 barely gets any fines even when running the same pellets as the bigger stove. However, the P61a will burn a mix of sawdust (from broken bags) and pellets just like it was only pellets so I really don't worry about it or clean it out in advance of the usual cleaning.

I've been running softies (Cleanfire 8800) in the P43 for a couple of weeks and I just cleaned it yesterday. When I took the cover off and looked, there were no fines. I can guarantee that the P61a will be totally full when I clean it today (it is running a mostly HW blend).

On the flip side, the P61a really doesn't get much of anything in the igniter area, while I have to clean that space out weekly on the P43, regardless of the pellet that is being run thru - the lazy-ish flame reminds me if I forget.

 

[shtrdave]

On the flip side, the P61a really doesn't get much of anything in the igniter area, while I have to clean that space out weekly on the P43, regardless of the pellet that is being run thru - the lazy-ish flame reminds me if I forget.

I usually clean under the pot when I do the monthly clean, ash pan full, there really isn't what I wold say a lot in there but I can reach in with my finger and pull most of it out just inside that little ledge. I have not really seen lazy or poor flame until this year when I had asked and ended up blowing out the intake part of the stove and back to normal. So that will be a normal yearly part to clean for me from now on.

 

[Tonyray]

the one spot that very rarely get's mentioned when talking cleaning is the heat exchanger...
what a difference in heat output i get when I pull all the ash residue from it..
I use one of those balled up scrunchy pads with the vacuum right under to catch all the dust..