How to burn wood pellets in 2006 Auburn corn burner

[rickwai]

Temps are starting to drop here, just loaded up 25 bushels of corn in the hopper attached to the house and made sure all the temp sensors are working across the property. Ready as I will ever be.

Anytime it gets under 10 degree's (or 15 with a wind) the ole Auburn is steady at heat setting 4 of 5. 5 just scares me just a bit on how hot she gets. Also does not seem to put out that much more heat at 5 than it does at 4.

We have been in single digits w/ no wind. The Lancaster is on a tstat and set on 3. (100% corn). I have 1600 sqft and hardly ever have to go up to 4. We dont typically get the brutal cold here in central OH. I dont think I have run it on 5 w/ corn.

 

[Rxwoman1961]

welcome to the forums John. You shold go back and check out the entire thread, we are wayyyy past the point at this time. But you post made me smile.

Lol. I thought he was lost and replying to a different thread.
This stove finally producing heat is saving me from having to either stay at a motel or live under my electric blanket.
I retired the summer fan I was using to blow heat around the stove. It doesnt over heat the room now!
Single digits and below zero nights all this week, and we're supposed to see -12 this weekend.
Is it normal to have piles of ash after about 30 or so? Ive already vacuumed it, but it seemed like alot!

 

[Ssyko]

Yeah that’s common.

 

[rickwai]

You will find that different pellets have there own characteristics. The goal is to find the least expensive pellets that burn satisfactory. If there is a TSC near you they run a 25% off on pellets if you are in the neighborhood club in the fall then if you have there credit card you get another 5% off.

 

[SidecarFlip]

Ash production all depends on what the extruder used for feedstock and you have no way of knowing. I pay no attention to the PFI certification on a bag of pellets. To me, all that means is the extruder paid a membership fee so they could the logo.

 

[rickwai]

Yeah, They are all "premium" pellets

 

[john sulllivan]

Lol. I thought he was lost and replying to a different thread.
This stove finally producing heat is saving me from having to either stay at a motel or live under my electric blanket.
I retired the summer fan I was using to blow heat around the stove. It doesnt over heat the room now!
Single digits and below zero nights all this week, and we're supposed to see -12 this weekend.
Is it normal to have piles of ash after about 30 or so? Ive already vacuumed it, but it seemed like alot!

View attachment 274166 View attachment 274167

Sorry about that. thought I was at the beginning. was I wrong. I'm just glad you have your stove up and running. Wow, you got a lot of help and good advice. Ssyko really knows his stuff. good luck and keep warm

 

[Rxwoman1961]

Sorry about that. thought I was at the beginning. was I wrong. I'm just glad you have your stove up and running. Wow, you got a lot of help and good advice. Ssyko really knows his stuff. good luck and keep warm

No need to appologize.
And yes, thanks to the guys on this forum and Ssyko's generosity and patience, I'm staying warm during this below zero spell.

 

[Ssyko]

UPDATE??? stove seam to be working better? or just staying the same? slowing down?

 

[Washed-Up]

We’re ALL wondering how you and the stove are doing

 

[Lordtimothy200]

/waiting with a bowl of popcorn

 

[johneh]

/waiting with a bowl of popcorn

Hope you brought enough for everyone

 

[Rxwoman1961]

UPDATE??? stove seam to be working better? or just staying the same? slowing down?

Hi guys!
It's running beautifully. Nebraska had about 2 weeks of horrible sub-zero weather. Snow and ugly cold ( like much of the nation).
I got stuck in my own driveway and missed work 2 weeks ago. I was unable to leave until my gf from Lincoln came out so she and her hubby could help me.
My water froze once in the wellhouse, and twice inside my lines to washing machine and the sewer going away from washer, so I had a flooded bathroom twice! I had to pour boiling water down to unfreeze it. 20-30 below night time lows will do that.
But I was comfortable, for a change.
Seriously, this stove was the only reason I didnt have to go stay with someone. I had it cooking! No freaking way space heaters gonna' cut it when its that cold.
When its time to shut it down for the year Im going to take the exhaust fan off and see how much more stuff came out of there. I bought a camera that can go up inside. And of course do the leafblower thing to it, etc.

 

[Rxwoman1961]

On the lowest setting right now, as it's been in the 40's and 50's this week.
If I damper it waaay down when I go to bed, by morning it's will be half full in the pot. I still have to use the clinker poker to crunch up the burnt pellets if the damper is partially closed. So should it still be doing that?
I think much of what ever is inside of there, is still back there. For now at least.
I mean, it's still on the souped up exhaust fan, (thank you Ssyko) so if it were clear back in there, I wouldnt have any pellet build up. That's my guess.

 

[Rxwoman1961]

On a different subject. Who has a Bixby?
Anyone? Is there already a Bixby thread on here? Just curious.

 

[SidecarFlip]

On a different subject. Who has a Bixby?
Anyone? Is there already a Bixby thread on here? Just curious.

Rona and Gutatmalan fake eye... Rona uses his and has been for decades. Search Bixby for info. They are seriously obsolete stoves.

You really need to invest in a real quality surge supressor like the Tripp-Lite. They are on Amazon for 35 bucks. Money well spent plus they tell you if the outlet is grounded or not and if the polarity is correct.

 

[Rxwoman1961]

Rona and Gutatmalan fake eye... Rona uses his and has been for decades. Search Bixby for info. They are seriously obsolete stoves.

You really need to invest in a real quality surge supressor like the Tripp-Lite. They are on Amazon for 35 bucks. Money well spent plus they tell you if the outlet is grounded or not and if the polarity is correct.

Ok. Thank you.

 

[Rxwoman1961]

/waiting with a bowl of popcorn

Sorry to disappoint everyone. It's not as interesting if I'm not tearing into it, is it? Lol.

I promise to have all kinds of pics when I take the exhaust fan off again. I'm curious too to find out how much stuff actually burnt out of there and if I can ever go back to the fan it's supposed to use.
Oh yeah, and I had this Saturday night off for a change.

I've been thinking about a corn stove in the basement, and the possibility of buying cheap corn ( dry, very very DRY !) in bulk.
Ssyko, how did your cleaner outer thingy pan out?

 

[Ssyko]

Tried a couple times with 1/8” multi strand cable but it wont take the heat of welding and then spinning at 800 rpm. Got busy and to be honest it slipped my mind till now sorry.

 

[Lordtimothy200]

Just nice to see it is working almost like it should.

Not sure how your place is set up, but the guy I bought my Auburn off of had it in his basement. He had the stove being fed by a 10 bushel box on the side of his house. Worked quite well, So took the idea and modified it to fit my place.

If you have a truck or access to one, it is fairly easy to get a grain wagon and get 100-200 bushels of corn from the closest Elevator.

 

[Lordtimothy200]

I get 200 bushels at Fall time and that normally lasts me all winter.

 

[FirepotPete]

I get 200 bushels at Fall time and that normally lasts me all winter.

Holy moly! That's over 5 ton. I burn 100% corn and only one time in all the years have I ever gone over 3 ton. 1950's cape cod, old windows, some insulation. I blew some insulation in years ago from inside, as it has aluminum siding. 1800 sq ft. I guess it depends on what you are heating.
Here is how I store my corn, IBC totes, I think they are 275 gallon, I can get 1 to 1 1/2 ton in and it keeps the critters out of it.
I'm lucky that my corn comes from a large farm about 13 miles away so easy to go get more as needed and I don't have a lot more room to store it. Corn vac system to move the corn out of the truck into the secondary tank. When that is filled I open the blast gate and the corn falls into the tote. Put the vac head on a 55 gallon drum top and suck the corn out of the tote and into the 55 gallon drum and then I just haul what I need in 5 gallon buckets.

 

[Lordtimothy200]

Yes I do burn through a lot. House was built over 100 years ago and well insulated, now if we would not heat the back porch we would burn much less. We use the back porch for our business so need to keep that stove a cooking. It is our main source of heat (I don't count the tiny little electric furnace they shoehorned into a closet).
Using IBC totes work out well. Used them for the first two seasons then moved to a grain wagon I picked up at an auction for a C note. Then again upgraded last year to a gravity wagon. Pretty happy with the gravity wagon.
Like your setup.

 

[Rxwoman1961]

Tried a couple times with 1/8” multi strand cable but it wont take the heat of welding and then spinning at 800 rpm. Got busy and to be honest it slipped my mind till now sorry.

I was just curious if you had had any success.

 

[Rxwoman1961]

Just nice to see it is working almost like it should.

Not sure how your place is set up, but the guy I bought my Auburn off of had it in his basement. He had the stove being fed by a 10 bushel box on the side of his house. Worked quite well, So took the idea and modified it to fit my place.

If you have a truck or access to one, it is fairly easy to get a grain wagon and get 100-200 bushels of corn from the closest Elevator.

That's what I was thinking about.