Winter is coming, time to start stove building...

Orders are starting to trickle in so it is time to get a few stoves modified in advance.
Here is 4 from this morning. We need to pull out the exhaust motor and put on rubber mounts to cut down on noise. Makes a big difference. We also add more holes to the cast stainless steel burn pot, add side wings and a spreader bar for the wheat. Tape on a choke washer to reduce airflow. Vacuum out pellets, load up wheat, reprogramme the pcb so we have lower set points on the thermocouples, and we are right to go. We will run each stove for a couple of hours to ensure the settings are correct then pack em and ship em...

 

It is so wrong to read that title from this side of the world

 

Isn't it? It must be opposites day.

 

All those changes sound just like home.

Spreader bars, program mods and air holes.

I added a stainless plate with rows of 1/8" holes to cover the standard pellet grate.

This stops the shells from falling through into the ash pan and of course, the spreader bar to distribute the shells across the fire instead of letting it pile up in the center.

The timer settings are also a biggy.

The low setting is a good medium low on the shells and the high setting will melt the stove.

The standard setting of 7 seconds off time is pretty close and the number 2 setting of 5 seconds off time is nearly too hot and will run the vent temp up to 160 F in a hurry (Vent skin temp)

A real fine balancing act for sure.

I always refer to the shells as like burning kindling wood as compared to much larger pieces.

Great heat, but too much is not controllable.

Does the pits and wheat leave much ash ???

The shells leave a larger quantity of GRAY ash

The horizontal vent tends to fill up within 2-3 weeks and needs the leaf blower trick done.
3 weeks of 24/7 burn will fill the outer portion of the vent to 1/2 full

No worries, just has to be dealt with.

 

The wheat burns to a clinker which needs to be tipped out once or twice daily depending on how hard you run the stove.
The pits burn to ash and yes more than pellets so the ash pan needs to be tipped out once per day. Messier than wheat as it is so light and fluffy, but like you say, you just deal with it. WE dont get the vent filling up the same but I would say that is more a reflection of the stove design, we have our exhaust low enough so that the fine ash does not go through the stove and stays in the firebox.

We find the SmartBurn is invaluable in keeping the airways of the stove clear so it keeps running properly. I got howled down on the other site for suggesting this product is anything but snake oil. I do not sell a stove without one as I know it cuts back aftersales calls by heaps. THey last at least a season so it is cheap piece of mind. Others claim burning aluminium cans do the same, well I have tried and it is bull. Running hot all the time will fix it but that kinda defeats the purpose of having a thermostat. Put in a SmartBurn and just run however you like.

When customers ask what is the best fuel I say for looks; wheat, for value and heat;pits, if money is no object; pellets.
Once pellets are within $100/ton of the others then pellets are the best. Till then pits for me.

 

The cleaning ritual is about the same with the shells.

Plus it depends on the stove design and the amount of draft like you mentioned.

Our little Whit (in my avatar) has the room air blower interconnected with fire pot via a shut tube and this adds an air feed into the bottom of the fire pot to aid combustion.

Sadly the little pot does not blow hard enough to toss the ash out and the clinker forms.

About every 7 hours max the pot needs to be "Swished" with a long putty knife to clear the junk.

I just run the unit with the fan on high and the feed off to burn the fire to a bed of coals then pop the door and clear the junk out, leaving enough coals to reignite the fire.

The big Whit is more forgiving and will run a day before needing it's fire cleaned.
I can and do run the draft fan a lot harder, with the voltage at around 100-112 volts instead of the 70 volts listed by the manuf.

This probably causes the ash to migrate into the vent more, but it keeps the pot cleaner.

We have had the Whitfields, some Earth stoves and a few others since starting with the shells, and the game is about the same, just the designs differ slightly and require slightly different approach to the issue.

The bottom feeding Earth Stove had what the mfg called "Natural fire" tray that was narrow and long with the idea being that the incoming fuel would push the burning materials out the ends.

Well, on pellets it was fairly good, but the shells would form the clinkers and clog the tray.

Bad part of those beasts was that they were positive pressure fire boxes and unless you had a strong drafting tall chimney the smoke would roll into the room during the pot clearing exercise.


All in a days work.

The little Whit will fill the pot with clinker in about 7 hours or so, then if not cleared the shells start piling up into the drop tube.

This makes clearing a tad tougher.

Just flip the beast on daft only and high blower and let the excess burn off before opening the door.

Opening the door too soon will stink up the place good.

My new controller for the big Whit has far better control of all the functions.

I can adjust the combustion fan all the way from 75 Volts to full line voltage and the feed rate in 1/2 second increments between 7.6 seconds to 1 second

The important settings being 7.6, 7.32, 7.15, 6.98, 6.34, 5.90, 5.36 and 4.99 seconds of off time.

Below 4.99 is too hot and the 3, 2 and 1 are basically useless except to prime the unit

I have tried a 1 meg pot that is linear, but am not crazy about it due to the ease of accidentally bumping it too high.

I like the individual settings on a rotary switch routed through a resistor.

Ahh well

The things we put up with for cheap heat.

 

You nearly got the slogan right.
WE do not have as many issues with the pits as we have more control over both the stove and the fuel. Plus we mostly just work with the one stove design which helps reduce the variables.
I'm not a greeny (though I do believe in global warming, being a farmer an all) but I reckon it make real good sense to utilize these waste streams. A fair bit of energy goes into the production and shipping of pellets. If folks can use local, unprocessed fuel for heat it just has to be better than jamming it into a pellet or pumping it out of the ground.

 

Amen on using the waste stream to heat with.

Again, I'm no greenie either and subscribe more to the weather being deliberately messed with by the HAARP gizmos that are located around the globe.

The idea of using a waste product just seems right, especially when it comes again next season.

Here in Oregon there is sooooooooooooooooooooooooo much waste wood from downed trees that are damaged by storms and such, and the greenies insist that much of this stuff be left lay in the forest.

This really adds fuel to forest fires that could have been cleaned up and used as fuel to heat homes.

Do you have any troubles getting customers "IN THE GROOVE" with tending to the pot cleaning ???

We just take it all in stride, and it's just part of the daily chores.

I got up late this morning and the little Whit had not had it's pot cleared since about 11 last night.

It was pretty well choked up and shells had backed up the drop tube a bit.
I just flip the feed off and go make a pot of coffee and let the stuff burn down a while.


Even with this little annoyance the penny and a half a pound looks mighty good.

Easy on the pocket book too.

 

No as most are coming from normal wood fires which are still far more work. I am always uncomfortable selling to people who only have gas or A/C experience as I know they will find the pellet stoves an effort. Coming from a wood stove with all the cleaning and tending required they are a doddle.

 

Yup.