The point of my asking for those twin ports test results was two-fold. 1. I genuinely want to see them. The BTU and ASH ratings for Okies have to be some of the most widely varying reported values of any brand of pellets. Seems every website that lists them shows different values (sometimes significant), so I would like to know what modern lab test results really show, right from the horse's mouth. 2. It pertains to the conversation about the value of lab tests vs. the tests performed by FHC members. I agree with arguments from both sides, and personally see value in both kinds of tests. Probably even moreso from the testing done by folks here, because this is real life and will reveal some things that cannot be captured or reported on in lab tests (3" long pellets, or the pellets make my house smell like horse pucky for example). Anyway, the real problem with the lab tests is those test results are not always available to us as consumers. Some companies like MWP, La Crete, and North Country post them for all to see on their website. Other companies don't make them available at all, so all we have to go on are the wildly varying values posted all over the place, and that's not helpful. Anyway, the point is I was hoping Doug would not have a problem posting them here for us to see.
I don't think he wants them posted as other mills do have snoops spying on these forums. I got to see the Okies and the BHH(I think it was on wood pellet reviews IIRC). I haven't seen the golds anywhere. PM sent.
well, for better or worse, the lab results are available for any brand of pellets, just not to you...... Its somewhat closely held information, and the pellet co's own property, as they pay for the lab results. I wont sell a product we cant get results for, but almost all pellet co's are pretty forthcoming, Doug included. I wont make them available here, but an end-user can certainly contact the pellet co and ask for them!
Your such a meanie!! Maybe if tt contacted Doug and promised not to share in the open, Maybe he'd pass it on?
Nah, Just got some salt from the popcorn in my eyes. I'll be fine!! Washing it out with beer stings, But its all I had handy.
Looking to double it ....believe the market will support ....but it's a lot ....I mean A LOT of work to do that....
As my stove gets dirtier and dirtier (as it nears the 1 ton pipe cleaning/etc), I'm getting more and more hockey pucks in my burn pot. I usually don't notice any trends to this with other brands. Ready? I liked the stove chow's better. ~ the same heat output, $100 less a ton, and they didn't clinker. Sorry Doug, but the gold's are pretty bronze in my stove's eyes. Again, they aren't garbage, and i've certainly burned a LOT worse.... but i'll likely never buy these again.
Sorry to hear that Brian. Every stove burns every pellet just a bit different. You are the exception for the Gold's, but then again there are no perfect pellet. Again, sorry these didn't meet your expectations.
Understood and understandable. To re-iterate my point I made earlier, if these were in the , say, 250-270/ton price point, i'd be perfectly ok with them. But the price point I paid for them comes with the stigma that they NEED to be better than the others. And, well, they aren't. Again (too), most of that price point comes in from the shipping costs. I'll continue to burn these through the season, and i'll continue to stay warm. I'll just need a little more labor cleaning a little more often that I would with other brands.
I wish I saw this thread before I bought my Oakie Golds last weekend. They're only my second ton ever—I just got my first stove, a Quad Classic Bay 1200, last month. My first ton was PrestoLogs from The Home Depot and they were fine, a little too ashy and not as much heat as the Oakie Golds, but decent for the price. This Monday I did a one ton/one month cleaning of the stove and then started with the Oakies. My cleaning included verifying that the burn pot was totally empty by sticking my hand in there. I did that again today, after 5-6 bags, and this is what I found after not cleaning the pot out since Wednesday. The auger and everything else were cleaned, I carefully calibrated the pellet feed for the new pellets, & etc. Is anyone else seeing anything this bad? My PrestoLog clinkers had only a small number of small clinkers. Nothing else has changed with the stove except the cleaning and making sure the flame height (via the feed setting) is right.
Welcome to the forum! Was your one ton/month cleaning only of the burnpot? Did you pull anything else apart to clean...ash traps, blower, vent, etc.? Part of that "could" be the stove not "breathing" properly.
That looks more ash cake than clinker. Which would be more an indication of ash not getting blown out of the burn pot. is it hard?
I cleaned the ash pan, took off and cleaned the baffles, and cleaned the heat exchanger. I inspected the blower, stuck the vacuum in there just to see if it picked up anything, and completed all non-end-of-season maintenance according to the manual (which I don't have in front of me to consult unfortunately, I cleaned quite a lot, pulled the cleaning rods on the exchanger, and things I can't recall the terms for off the top of my head.).
Difficult to say. It's kind of sturdy, but I think if I applied torsion or a hammer it might easily crumble. Could the stove not be firing long enough? It's on a thermostat, although the cycle length was at .4 (what that means I don't know, it's not the swing I don't think. I just upped it to .8 today to see if that makes any difference. This is the thermostat that came with the stove. Any help in figuring out this problem is appreciated.
IMO...it's possibly air flow (lack of) or pellet or both. Typically you do a full and what I would consider end-of-season cleaning after burning a ton to ton and a half. That being said, we have a few posters that had similar issues with the Gold's as yours. Does your stove cycle a lot?
