how long have you been a pellet roaster?

2 months!!!!

 

That's normal - the pellets dropping into the burn pot will cause the almost burnt pellets & ash below to dislodge from the burn pot -> and into the ash drawer.

The heavier embers should be lifting out, but settling down into the ash drawer below: if not, you may need to dial intake air down a little - so they don't get pulled into the Heat Exchange assembly.

As you scoop / empty the bag, grab either side and give it a 'shake' as you empty, to settle the fines down toward the bottom. Leave about 4" of pellets / fines in the bag (don't empty it) and start a new bag, try that: see how it goes.

 

Eric VW I'd like to see a video of that burn flame....it looks very long and stringy, not usually what you want. Shorter, more lively flames are better and produce less carbon deposits and more heat per lb of pellets.

 

Let me add my 2 cents to this. The sparks flying from pellet drops are normal, and it indicates airflow up & out of the pot, which is what is supposed to happen to the fine ash.....it's supposed to land around the fire pot. Heavier partially burned ones stay in to continue burning.
As for dumping bags of pellets into the stove, I used to sift my pellets with a homemade vacuum pellet cleaning device, but got tired of dumping the bags twice......so for the last 2 winters, I simply dumped the entire bag in.....it made no difference....it's all wood & burnable & produces BTU's.
I never had any issues doing that. Plus, the sparks look nice.

 

^^ That's true Pete, it may not matter at all in Eric's stove.

Thoughts were as it's a really small hopper, and he & his wife are brand new Pellet stove operators - depending on the amount of fines/dust in the pellets they are roasting - keeping those out of the Hopper while they are learning the stove / getting it setup to run properly would be one less thing to worry about, starting out.

We're still doing the "Pellet Vac" thing here, looking at (3) bags of 'sifters' that need to go through tomorrow.

 

Yup, all about the air intake. Start by cracking that damper open a little at a time. If it's at 1/4", go another 1/8" and see how that effects the flame.
Here's a video I found on YouTube that does a pretty good job of showing the effects of too little and too much air. The 2 beginning shots are what you're trying to achieve. The tall, lazy flame reminds me of what your flame pic looked like, but also why I asked for a video of it:

 

No ash pan on that stove, as far as I can see. Only cleaning that can be done is in the firebox, and inside those clean-out "ports" on the side after you open the side panels....that's it.