Pellet heads!! What's up today?

If your EZB are anything like my batch, you will LOVE them!

 

The low ash on the matras is amazing. Weeks between cleaning.

 

I usually burn Vermonts but late last year I tried Wood and Sons and I loved them. Rather than buy a ton this year, I bought 20 bags first to see how they ran. Not the same as last year. I had to turn my feed rate down to 3 because they were not burning completely. They are a darker color too so something changed. Good thing I still have my stash of Vermonts. They have been consistently good.

 

GOOD LOOKING LOAD....

 

Worked on a Harman XXV yesterday that had lazy flame/dirty burns and finally 6 blink condition. Air flow issue and I know that they do a good job cleaning it best they could regularly including venting.
Was told of a damaged gasket in the ICC venting so picked up a few as well as a clean out gasket-Kudos to Nordic Stove in Dover who didnt charge me for the gaskets

• Pull the heavy beast from the wall and remove pipe with damaged gasket.
• Tore into the stove expecting to find a clogged comb blower as that hadnt been removed in years-they clean the stove well but was unaware that the blower needed to be removed for proper cleaning.
• Little dirty but not bad-crap, thats not the issue!!
• Start cleaning the back end from built up dust and crud- I know its not the issue but cleaning it anyway as some moving parts of the feed assembly are a bit gunked up
• Move to the other side and look at the fines box-was told all along that it was being cleaned but fingers crossed that it wasnt being cleaned as that is the last air flow area in question as the igniter area was clean
• BINGO!! Fines box was packed solid. Appears that whenever I asked about the fines box they thought I meant the igniter area so the fines hadnt been cleaned in at least 6 years
• Cleaned the hel l out of the fines box-its a wonder that the feed plate was moving at all.
• Did a quick vent cleaning since it was apart anyway-not bad but since its a horizontal vent thru gambrell roof I figured why not. Just used a gas powered backpack style leaf blower from inside and blew the heck out of it in 4 seconds- nice and clean now

Replaced bad gasket in pipe, put back together, taped up joints and let her rip. Flame hasnt been that good in a looooong time
In the end, I got fed as I too work for food ...oh and some advil for the 3 hours of contortion and heavy lifting while moving that monster out and back in place which my body made me me pay for later

Overall, they now know about removing the comb blower and where the fines box is and I got some awesome Thai take out

 

Oh, and older intermittent issue flared up again during testing. The stove wont shut down-it goes into maint burn as if its on manual mode but it was in Room Temp/Auto. This happens even if in Off position on the pot. Ive removed the board and cleaned the pots as well as connections in the past but it has not resolved this issue.

After at least an hour in OFF/Auto I tried switching to Off/Manual and then it shut down. May be a board issue but not worth replacing for that as the stove runs normally when firing and is on 24/7 most of the time anyway.

 

Nice stuff you got there...


Dan

 

My Matra samples were dropped off today... Thanks Joe! Bucks Pellets
Shoutout to Joe's brother-in-law for getting these to me!

 

G.....what or how did you clean the pots?

 

Sprayed a little contact cleaner and turned the heck out of them. Not sure if they are sealed or not but turning should have helped a bit as it has done on my P68 in the past.

Even still, I dont think its a pot issue as rotating between room temp and stove temp works and does what it should in all ranges of each area.

 

This is the chit I use... Seems to work pretty good but maybe not in your case

 

That stuff isnt cheap but I may pick up a can to have on hand

 

The good thing is a little seems to go a long way.... I have the contact cleaner DeOxit too....

 

Steve, allow me to introduce you to your new favorite pellet. For full appreciation, save them for a cold snap.

 

Agree...


Dan

 

Yeah, I'm not going to roast them yet... I feel it would be a waste.

 

Never a waste...
For my money, the all around cleanliness is worth it.
I see the biggest difference when you are using a low temp.
Anything burns pretty good on WOW...
But when you throttle your stove down,
is when you see the biggest difference.
(my opinion only)

Dan

 

Wish me luck getting home tonight Supposed to land in Manchester 11:30 tonight. Yeah, right in the middle of the snow and ice storm. Guessing I will be lucky if I actually make it that far. May be spending the night in the DC airport (ooh, what fun). Not sure if that would be better than the trying to drive home in the cr*p or not.