Question

I've never been in the pellet room so don't be too hard on me.

The fellow I play guitar with installed a pellet stove a couple years ago, just before I met him. I was there a couple weeks ago and asked him how he liked it. He was happy with it except for one issue. When it's really cold out, of course it uses more pellets. He loads it up before he leaves for work but it shuts down before he gets home. He's gone for around 10 hrs. The reason; the pellets aren't sliding down the "hopper?" and into the "burner?" Forgive my ignorance. I know nothing about pellet stoves so I don't the terms for the parts of the stove. The "hopper" is an inverted pyramid and the pellets will drain down in the middle and leave quite a layer along the sides. I have no idea what the make or model is. Sorry.

Is this something that any of you experience? Can you make the sides more slippery with wax or silicon or is that a No-No?

 

graphite

 

I'll pass that along.

Thank you.

 

X 2
This has been an issue with several stoves over the years.

The reason, the hopper does not have enough declivity.
Many stoves are made with a more shallow decline to allow a larger hopper, and so the issue arises with the failure of the fuel to slide down into the auger.

Good luck

 

In my old stove, I would get this with one kind of pellets (heat'rs). They were a softwood blend and I guess weren't slippery enough to slide I, they would "tunnel". I fixed it by polishing the inside of the hopper with a scotch bright pad and spraying it with Pam (yep) and later graphite.

 

from what you wrote (and this is not in place of the other correct solution suggestions), it sounds like possibly he has some headroom where he can turn it down while he's gone. (uses more when it gets cold)
if this is the case, he might want to turn it down when he leaves. better to come home to a less warm house than a dead cold one.

 

No worries man we like to help people here

 

if he doesn't have a thermostat for it, he might want to look into that if the stove can use one.

this is an area i am not very knowledgeable in.
but i *think* thermostats are made than can be fitted to almost any pellet stove.
some are fancier than others. mine is very basic and not adjustable as far as set back, but there are some with other features like adjustable set back etc...

if he has to run continuously, that's gonna eat pellets for sure.

 

timer, servo, rubber mallet...

 

Better yet, have him join our friendly forum so we can show him a trick or two
Tell him we like music & beer

 

Or...your friend may consider having an extension fabed up...if feasible...

 

I thought of that. We're probably getting together this weekend so I'll pull it up on his computer and bookmark it if he's interested.

 

There is also some high temp tape that will help pellets slide a bit. It is important we find out the make and model so we know the size of the hopper. And also we need to know how they are running it and how close they are to making it home before it shuts down. If they only need a few more pounds to slide down some of these tricks may do the trick

If they need 10 or 20 they may be sol.
One of my stoves barely had enough to stay running until I got home. And even then it was under feeding for some time and the room was cold. I did some of the above mentioned tricks, but also set the temp back a bit while I was gone and had it reheat the room before I got home. Bought be a few more hours.

 

Have him join mention he knows you and he will be well taken care of

 

As usual, this incredible group at FHC is right there to help wherever they're needed.

Thanks everyone for all the info.

Time to go do more plowing.

 

Our pleasure hang out with us pellet heads more often ,we have tons of fun here Joe I know you from the music threads you'll fit right in here man

 

People have tried many things.....Pam spray, rubbing w/ wax paper, sanding super smooth with wet/dry sandpaper and then a coating, furniture polish, aluminum furnace tape, etc, etc. All seem to have some success to varying degrees.

I used the alum. foil tape in the hopper "corners", and sprayed Behold furn. polish on all surfaces & buffed it out. Seemed to help some.

Also, pellets that have a lot of "fines" seem to not slide as well. Pellets that are clean and also have a good hard, shiny surface seem to slide well too.


BTW, welcome to the pellet forum......we welcome visitors all the time, especially if you mention the secret password <beer>.