Pellets held up in hopper

[Polar Bear]

I am sure this has been discussed a lot, however I cannot find the thread.

My hopper holds 45 lbs of pellets, however without me physically moving them around with my hand, roughly only 25 lbs will make it to the auger. The remaining 20 lbs stay hung up on the side walls.

I have tried the furniture polish trick with no success. My next thought was some type of wax as long as I won't affect the burn in any way.

Anyone with a similar stove to mine find success?

 

[DAKSY]

Why not try the ole wax paper trick like we used on the slides in the play ground?
Simply scrunch up a wad of wax paper & rub it on the metal surfaces.
Sure helped reduce the friction on our butts back in the day...
Made the slide really slick & we flew down...

 

[Polar Bear]

Why not try the ole wax paper trick like we used on the slides in the play ground?
Simply scrunch up a wad of wax paper & rub it on the metal surfaces.
Sure helped reduce the friction on our butts back in the day...
Made the slide really slick & we flew down...

Should I be cleaning the hopper thoroughly first?

 

[DMKNLD]

Why not try the ole wax paper trick like we used on the slides in the play ground?
Simply scrunch up a wad of wax paper & rub it on the metal surfaces.

Wax paper idea is awesome - never would of thought of that! I've used Protect- All spray, available in the RV / auto section at Wally World, to lubricate the hopper on my stove, and also use it on my tractor snow blower auger chute, car windshield, dashboard vinyl, etc. It seems to last longer than other silicone and wax based sprays I've tried.

Make sure you vacuum out any pellet dust real well, or whatever you spray in there will adhere to any left over sawdust and hangup the pellets. Buff it in well and it shouldn't leave any appreciable residue to interfere with your burn.

 

[Polar Bear]

I will try the wax paper idea tonight, since I have that at the house.

I am guessing the Protect-All spray is different from furniture polish? I had no success with that, although I've read others have.

 

[DMKNLD]

I will try the wax paper idea tonight, since I have that at the house.

I am guessing the Protect-All spray is different from furniture polish? I had no success with that, although I've read others have.

Protect-All has a Carnuba wax base, which seems to give it more durability. Allot of it I believe is the type of pellet you're burning - when I burned the 1st generation MWP hardwood / softwood blend pellets when they first came out, (known non-affectionately as 'dirt in a bag'), no matter what I sprayed or rubbed into the hopper didn't work for squat in keeping pellets from hanging up. After burning 100% softwoods the past few winters I haven't had to spray mine more than once at the beginning of the burn season and again after I shut it down in the spring, as the pellets slide much easier down the hopper sides, for whatever reason. Yet another advantage of 100% softies, IMO.

 

[Polar Bear]

I've burnt a few different brands over my days and all have the same conclusion. I am now burning 100% softwood as well but they are still hanging up (granted not as bad, but still too much for my liking).

 

[Polar Bear]

The hopper design could've been a little more thought out

Although, it is my only issue so I shouldn't complain too much.

 

[Polar Bear]

After doing my monthly cleaning on Saturday, I emptied the hopper and cleaned it out. Then I tried the wax paper trick along with metal tapping my seams using the shingle pattern so there wouldn't be any seams to get caught on. Unfortunately, the pellets are still getting held up the sides with a cone shape being formed by the used pellets.

I am running out of ideas short of just wax papering the entire hopper

 

[kofkorn]

Some discussion here on the same thing:

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/25pdv-who-has-a-for-sure-fix.123792/

I used the aluminum heat resistant tape and lined the inside with just tiny overlaps. I've had it that way for 5 years now and never needed to do anything else.

Good Luck!

 

[Polar Bear]

Some discussion here on the same thing:

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/25pdv-who-has-a-for-sure-fix.123792/

I used the aluminum heat resistant tape and lined the inside with just tiny overlaps. I've had it that way for 5 years now and never needed to do anything else.

Good Luck!

You used aluminum heat tape for the seams or the entire hopper?

 

[kofkorn]

Entire Hopper. Just layed them down in strips from bottom to top with small overlaps between each strip. If I did it again, I wouldn't bother with the overlaps, just do my best to butt the edges of the tape together. I've never had a hang up since. I only get a handful or two that rests above the little adjusting gate.

 

[Polar Bear]

@kofkorn

Were you getting the cone look as well

 

[kofkorn]

Mine looked more like the picture in the first post that I linked to. It would clear out the back, but hang up on the sides. Sometimes, just opening the lid would make them slide down, it didn't take much. The aluminum tape makes it just a bit smoother, and it has held up really well to all of the pellets being dumped into the hopper (figure 3 tons a year for 5 years, 15 tons x 50 bags), so you're looking at 750 bags over that time. The only difference I see is that the printing has worn off of the aluminum where the pellets hit it.

 

[boo boo]

Yup I used the wax paper to clean the inside of the hopper and it worked great.
Is there any other use for the wax paper that's been in my pantry for years?