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..

 

[rickwai]

The old style feeder had a compartment that was closed off from the auger that the fines would build up in over time. It would typically take years to get enough stuff in there to cause an issue. It would basically get so full and compacted that it would stall the auger motor because the slide plate arm could not move.
On the new style feeder that is all open to the auger. Basically just a little shelf. The only real purpose for the door is to have access to the slide plate and arm. Nothing can build up enough to cause an issue. Once fines build up a little they just fall into the auger. Its just an open cavity, pellets fall down into the auger on the far side, the auger is in the middle and the slide plate arm is on the close side.
We pull the door off once a year and give it a quick vac and take a peek in there to make sure all looks good. There is no increase in performance by cleaning that out. 2 hours after you do it it will look the same.

 

[Tonyray]

The old style feeder had a compartment that was closed off from the auger that the fines would build up in over time. It would typically take years to get enough stuff in there to cause an issue. It would basically get so full and compacted that it would stall the auger motor because the slide plate arm could not move.
On the new style feeder that is all open to the auger. Basically just a little shelf. The only real purpose for the door is to have access to the slide plate and arm. Nothing can build up enough to cause an issue. Once fines build up a little they just fall into the auger. Its just an open cavity, pellets fall down into the auger on the far side, the auger is in the middle and the slide plate arm is on the close side.
We pull the door off once a year and give it a quick vac and take a peek in there to make sure all looks good. There is no increase in performance by cleaning that out. 2 hours after you do it it will look the same.

wow... thank you for that explanation..
now it all makes sense...
I did know that there was a different design back in the day but did not know why it was changed..
my P61A has a manuf date of 2012.. has the hole or shelf u described....
so cleaning or vacuuming it out every few weeks is futile....thanks again.

 

[wjharriott]

wow... thank you for that explanation..
now it all makes sense...
I did know that there was a different design back in the day but did not know why it was changed..
my P61A has a manuf date of 2012.. has the hole or shelf u described....
so cleaning or vacuuming it out every few weeks is futile....thanks again.

Does anyone know if it is beneficial to screen the pellets

 

[wjharriott]

Does anyone know if it is beneficial to screen the pellets before putting into the stove?

 

[johneh]

A few years ago some people here designed and built units to
remove the dust from bags of pellets. They seemed to work.
My stove eats whatever dust gets into the hopper and has for 22 years
Do a search maybe you can find the old posts

 

[bogieb]

Probably depends on the stove. Mine are fine without screening and I've run some pretty nasty pellets thru them.

 

[Ricks]

I don’t screen my pellets to remove fines. But my stove prefers high quality pellets, so I don’t have a lot of fines to start with.