Hastings stove or Barefoot Pellets?

My Hastings stove is 9 yrs old. I take good care of it, tear it down and clean each season, and replace parts as needed. This year started well, but recently the glass got dark, and clinks formed in the burn pot. I switched out the exhaust motor and gasket last year, it has a new door gasket, and the pipe is clean. I cleaned it again yesterday, pounding the hell out of the back wall with a wooden mallet, and getting a lot of ash to fall. After I vacuumed and started it back up, it seemed to be burning well, and the glass stayed clean. at the end of the day, I shut it down and still found clinks. Barefoot pellets maybe? I have used them in the past without a problem.

 

Welcome to the show BHags It might be the Barefoot ,this years batch formed some cakey ash in my burn pot and I think a few other folks here have had some issues too.

 

Thanks. Good to know, although I was hoping it was a simple stove fix. I'm sitting on 3 more tons of Barefoot!

 

Why don't you try a few different brands of pellets and see if you get the same issue , if not then maybe it is the pellet ,if you do maybe it's an issue with the stove .

 

Welcome to the FHC BHags
I agree with Will on being the pellets, try a few bags of another brand

 

Here's a link to Steve's test of the Barefoot
★★★☆☆ - Barefoot Wood Pellets (Review) | Firewood Hoarders Club

 

I think I have a bag left over from last year. When the hopper is empty, I'll reload. Thanks guys.

 

Welcome fellow hastings owner . I've only had mine since last fall so i don't have a ton of advice to offer. But i do know mine isn't very picky. Only pellets that tend to cake up on me are prestos but they still burn hot. I haven't burned any barefoots.

 

So a little more air might solve the ash build up in the pot?

 

I know nothing about your stove if you can adjust the air it maybe worth a shot to try .

 

Welcome to the forum! Like Will, I had the same issue with the Barefoot. I did get the sample bags from him but had the same results.

 

Or in the alternative a little less fuel, if you have any burn pot air bypasses you may not be able to control either in a manner that corrects the issue which is an improper air/fuel ratio unless the pellets are totally messed up.

 

OK. I just ran a brand of pellets I used last year. The ash build up, clinks, while not quite as bad, still exist. I'm at a loss to why the stove just suddenly stopped working well. All fans are running. pipe is clear, nothing has changed since the beginning of the season, when it was burning fine.

 

Do you use a leaf blower to clean out the vent? A partially blocked vent or plugged stove may be your airflow problem

 

Funny you say that. I'm on my way out right now to try it! I'll let you know.

 

I'm not gonna lie...the leafblower thing was friggin cool! The back of my house and half of the house next door is covered in ash, but... The flame looks sharp and bright, we'll see what happens.

 

Sounds like you may have found the problem

 

How many ash covers did you remove during your previous cleaning? And did you ream out that cavity between two of them real good (either with a suction hose or bottle washer)? If your answer was none, or that you didn't get the reaming tool so you could see the other end out the opposite ash door, that was the issue and the LBT got to all that crud back there.

 

Ash covered neighbor's house is never a problem...

 

I pulled off the ash cover cleanouts. I pushed wire into every access hole available. I vacuumed every where possible. I pounded with a wooden mallet. And still the leafblower thing brought out what looked liked a lot of ash. I'll let it burn out and check the results.