daffonce had recommended something but I have no memory anymore so I would love to hear from the people here on how they deal with funneling as I experienced it today with these Eastern White Pine pellets (Matras) I could google it but why do that when there is a wealth of information here and I trust what I hear here as I know it is from experience and heck can't find a better place to ask with the pellet freaks that reside here. So please let me know what has worked for you ! Thanks
I'll be the first to be stupid... Are you talking about all of your pellets not sliding into your feeder? Dan
X2 And a Luney, Have heard of some using corn starch or talcum powder, But I've never tried. Pledge and moly spray too. waxed paper rubbed on the hopper in the sticky area is yet another. Only thing that help in my case was mixing in some dusty pellets. 1/4 bag of dusty to 1/4 bag of sticky ones repeat until hopper is full. in my case its 2 1/2 bags. A pain, But does work to an extent. Seemed better to start with the dusty stuff. What may work, But never tried is something to shake or vibrate the hopper. And may make for some dandy jokes here too.....
It appears that is what I thought you meant. That said... I sanded my hopper with fine sandpaper to get it nice and shiny and smooth.. Then did a couple of coats of paste car wax... Worked better. Have also used spray silicone wax, and then let it set a minute, and wiped it completely off. But the bottom line is, sanding it smooth first.. Dan
X2 in my experience (and I have the same stove as you) there’s really little you can do. Pine pellets are inherently tacky due to the high resin content in them. You can try all the various published ways of making the hopper walls more slippery, but IMO none of them really work, at least not in my stove. Trouble is the pellets stick to themselves, so no matter how much you work on the hopper surface, the pellets will still stick to each other, causing the funnel effect. Your best bet is to always make sure the hopper is fully topped off before you go to bed, or otherwise can’t tend to the stove for a long time.
As far as getting every last pellet to slide, yes. But I noticed a "difference" by polishing the hopper walls, and getting rid of anything that would stop one, which can cause a backup.. Dan
Seems to be limited to Pine for me with the two pellet brands i have had this occur is Vermont's and now these Matra's. Granted a small price to pay for such a excellent burning pellet.
It is most pronounced with 100% pine pellets. The two you mentioned, AWF WP, EZB Softies, Logik-E Softies, etc. and the extent of the funneling varies by batch. At the extreme, the bottom of the funnel is the visible slide plate and the top is all the way up the vertical surface of the hopper walls, nearly up to the hopper lid. This is a situation that polishing the hopper walls won’t help. Like you said, in the case of Vermonts and Matras, the heat and ash performance far outweighs the funneling effect. Top it off and smile. Like this:
I have to admit, I have never used a 100% pine pellet... SO my suggestion may be worthless for those.. But I want to try some of the Matra, after hearing so many good things about them.. Going to CT for Christmas, I may check around that area.. Dan
Dan two stores carry them here this season - PD and Robbins (both in MA, but likely on your route through). If you cant get any at the store, I have plenty in the stash and happy to share. You know where to find me.
Totally agree TT pine loves to funnel , great pellets just be there to fondle them in the hopper or keep it topped off and all is good
LB, as an experiment - you could try opening up a few bags inside, and letting them 'air out' for a few days / a week prior to roasting, see if that further dries the resin on the fresh batches out any.. It's gonna smell like a Christmas tree though.
