My Pellet Stove up in Flames

[OldHillcrestGuy]

Well they came today for the stove, Im back up and running to Tri County they did excellent job of cleaning the stove, Ive done a nice Harry Homeowner cleaning about every 2 days, but I was not aware that one of the air chambers behind the stove wall was vertical and not horizontal like the other two are so I never cleaned upward in that chamber and it was pretty clogged up causing very bad airflow.
They replaced the High Temp shutoff switch which is suppose to shut the stove down when it gets too hot and they replaced the air flow switch which was leaking air but still working.
The tech suggest you get a good cleaning like they did every 2 tons, thats about once a year. So for the the price $179 guess its worth it, heck I have my oil furnace cleaned every summer for somewhere around $150 and I hardly use it.
I got off for just under $250.00 so Im very pleased, it was a good learning experince,
Again two thumbs up for TriCounty, they proably could have socked it to me, but they didnt, excellent job.

 

[Vince]

Well they came today for the stove, Im back up and running to Tri County they did excellent job of cleaning the stove, Ive done a nice Harry Homeowner cleaning about every 2 days, but I was not aware that one of the air chambers behind the stove wall was vertical and not horizontal like the other two are so I never cleaned upward in that chamber and it was pretty clogged up causing very bad airflow.
They replaced the High Temp shutoff switch which is suppose to shut the stove down when it gets too hot and they replaced the air flow switch which was leaking air but still working.
The tech suggest you get a good cleaning like they did every 2 tons, thats about once a year. So for the the price $179 guess its worth it, heck I have my oil furnace cleaned every summer for somewhere around $150 and I hardly use it.
I got off for just under $250.00 so Im very pleased, it was a good learning experince,
Again two thumbs up for TriCounty, they proably could have socked it to me, but they didnt, excellent job.

I have Tri County come out every Spring when I'm done burning. They yank the stove out of the fireplace and clean everything. I went out and bought the same vacumm they use to clean with a heavy duty filter on it.

 

[GWguy]

Well they came today for the stove, Im back up and running to Tri County they did excellent job of cleaning the stove, Ive done a nice Harry Homeowner cleaning about every 2 days, but I was not aware that one of the air chambers behind the stove wall was vertical and not horizontal like the other two are so I never cleaned upward in that chamber and it was pretty clogged up causing very bad airflow.
They replaced the High Temp shutoff switch which is suppose to shut the stove down when it gets too hot and they replaced the air flow switch which was leaking air but still working.
The tech suggest you get a good cleaning like they did every 2 tons, thats about once a year. So for the the price $179 guess its worth it, heck I have my oil furnace cleaned every summer for somewhere around $150 and I hardly use it.
I got off for just under $250.00 so Im very pleased, it was a good learning experince,
Again two thumbs up for TriCounty, they proably could have socked it to me, but they didnt, excellent job.

!!! Good Deal! Glad it was easily fixed.

 

[OldHillcrestGuy]

!!! Good Deal! Glad it was easily fixed.

Me Too

 

[BBlack]

Pennington (Nature's Heat) Wood Pellets

Issues have been brought up in this forum about the quality of Pennington Wood Pellets. Concerns have ranged from how well they burn, the amount of ash and clinkers they produce, the presence of long pellets, and an excess of fines or dust in the bag. The fact that some of you have encountered problems with our pellets is very concerning to us and we would like to work with you to resolve them.

Some background - Pennington has five wood pellet plants in the East and Midwest of the US. The pellet mills in Missouri and Virginia have been in operation for many years and make an excellent product. In the last 12 months, three new pellet mills have been built to help alleviate the pellet shortages from previous years. We have experienced some quality problems from these plants as they were started up. Pennington Seed has high standards for all of their products, and we regularly test our wood pellets for ash, length, fines, and BTU. Despite these tests and our best efforts, it appears some sub-standard pellets from these new plants made it into the marketplace.

If you have recently purchased Pennington Wood Pellets and not satisfied with them, you can contact Customer Service at 1-800-658-0410 or email mauge@central.com. Please note the lot number on the bag (usually embossed near the top seal of the bag), where and when you bought them, and what the issues are with the product.

Below are some comments concerning other questions raised:

Pellet storage - When possible, store wood pellets inside, out of the weather. If kept dry pellets can be stored from season to season. If this is not possible and you must store outside, keep product off the ground to prevent moisture from wicking from below, and cover with a tarp to protect from rain, snow and sun.

Small holes in bags - The small holes along the top seal are added to assist bagging and palletizing of the product during the manufacturing process. These holes allow air to escape after sealing. In the absence of these holes, the trapped air would blow-out the seals when product is stacked on a pallet.

Brands - Bio Plus and Nature’s Heat are both manufactured by Pennington. Nature’s Heat is a new brand launched in 2007 and is meant to replace the older Bio-Plus brand.

Customer Service – Pennington Seed

 

[xadiganmay]

Pellet stove fire

GWguy and Vince my pellet stove caught fire tonight (Fri) and my wife had to call the fire department. I was at work but somehow the pellet hopper caught fire and it was burning along with fire in the burn pot, our smoke detector went off. Only thing I can think might have happened for the hopper to catch fire was the augar might have gotten stuck open with a jammed pellet allowing flames to get into the hopper.
The house is OK after the fire dept ventilated it, cause the smoke was really coming out just as the fire dept got here, but the stove maybe history Im going by the dealer tomorrow to have someone come and check it out, its pretty scorched up inside the hopper box and inside the normal burn area.
I cleaned it 2 days OK, but the burn pot did have quite bit of ash buildup and that may also contributed to the fire as the pellets that were dropping were burning higher up in the burnpot then normal. Wife was thankful she had just gotten home about 20 miuntes earlier and was here, no telling what may have happened if she hadnt come home when she did. It never bothered me to go somewhere for hours and have no one home with the stove running, Ill think twice now.

Hey Speedy I made some really good time from Marlboro to home after I got the call.

..........................
Wow! We had a similar incident with our New Englander pellet stove. We've used it for 2 winters and it runs 24 hours a day all winter. We never had a problem (other than replacing the motors). Friday night we noticed it seemed smokey on our second floor. It was very windy so we thought that was causing it - until we went to check on it. There was smoke pouring out of the hopper! Somehow the pellets caught fire in the auger tube and were smoldering. We had just filled it a few hours before so the hopper was almost full. We ran around like idiots for a few minutes not knowing what to do! I have a large bird whose cage is near the stove so I was freaking out that the smoke would kill him! (I moved his cage into another room). We tried to empty out the pellets but meanwhile the smoke alarms were blaring and there was smoke everywhere! We ran and got our shop vac to quickly suck out the hopper. When it was empty it kept smoking from all of the pellets still in the auger tube so we ended up pouring water in to put it out. What a nightmare.
A few hours later it was dried out - we turned it on and it's working fine. However, now I'm scared that it could happen again!! I don't know why or how it happened! We used to leave the stove running even if we were out. I'm afraid to do that now! Imagine if we hadn't been home! Anyone know WHY this happened?
Mary

 

[kom526]

Sawdust build up in the auger? My Quadra-Fire recommends a thorough cleaning (hopper, auger and firepot) for every ton of pellets burned. No matter what brand of pellets you burn you are going to get sawdust build up somewhere in your stove. Replacing motor(s) after 2 winters?

Clean the stove more often and maybe consider a change in pellets. You may also want to find a technician to come and check the stove to make sure all your safety switches are operating properly.

 

[Vince]

Sawdust build up in the auger? My Quadra-Fire recommends a thorough cleaning (hopper, auger and firepot) for every ton of pellets burned. No matter what brand of pellets you burn you are going to get sawdust build up somewhere in your stove. Replacing motor(s) after 2 winters?

Clean the stove more often and maybe consider a change in pellets. You may also want to find a technician to come and check the stove to make sure all your safety switches are operating properly.

I have mine done after every winter, but I go through about 2 ton of pellets before I have it done.

 

[morningbell]

GWguy and Vince my pellet stove caught fire tonight (Fri) and my wife had to call the fire department. I was at work but somehow the pellet hopper caught fire and it was burning along with fire in the burn pot, our smoke detector went off. Only thing I can think might have happened for the hopper to catch fire was the augar might have gotten stuck open with a jammed pellet allowing flames to get into the hopper.
The house is OK after the fire dept ventilated it, cause the smoke was really coming out just as the fire dept got here, but the stove maybe history Im going by the dealer tomorrow to have someone come and check it out, its pretty scorched up inside the hopper box and inside the normal burn area.
I cleaned it 2 days OK, but the burn pot did have quite bit of ash buildup and that may also contributed to the fire as the pellets that were dropping were burning higher up in the burnpot then normal. Wife was thankful she had just gotten home about 20 miuntes earlier and was here, no telling what may have happened if she hadnt come home when she did. It never bothered me to go somewhere for hours and have no one home with the stove running, Ill think twice now.

Hey Speedy I made some really good time from Marlboro to home after I got the call.

I didn't catch where is was but there was a fire in a shed due to a pellet stove, misuse or unattended? I heard it on 97.7, the second one I have heard of in 1 week.

 

[GWguy]

2 to 3 times during the season, I do a very complete vacuum job which includes the auger tube. At the end of the season, I pull the stove (QuadraFire insert) out from the fireplace, clean all the normal stuff, then open all access ports, motor covers, vents, and exhaust and give it a complete going over. I even clean the chimney tube. You'd be surprised how much ash gets caught in there and at the cap on the top.

 

[Vince]

2 to 3 times during the season, I do a very complete vacuum job which includes the auger tube. At the end of the season, I pull the stove (QuadraFire insert) out from the fireplace, clean all the normal stuff, then open all access ports, motor covers, vents, and exhaust and give it a complete going over. I even clean the chimney tube. You'd be surprised how much ash gets caught in there and at the cap on the top.

Yeah, I've got to get my chimney done along with the stove this year. I didn't think it produced enough ash to accumulate in the flue. :shrug:

 

[xadiganmay]

Sawdust build up in the auger? My Quadra-Fire recommends a thorough cleaning (hopper, auger and firepot) for every ton of pellets burned. No matter what brand of pellets you burn you are going to get sawdust build up somewhere in your stove. Replacing motor(s) after 2 winters?

Clean the stove more often and maybe consider a change in pellets. You may also want to find a technician to come and check the stove to make sure all your safety switches are operating properly.

I think you are right about the sawdust! As soon as I read your reply I remembered emptying a bag of pellets into the hopper and there was some sawdust that got poured in with the pellets at the bottom of the bag. I saw it go in but it disappeared into the pellets. I didn't think much of it - I should have!! We regularly vaccuum out the whole unit so I couldn't think of any other reason! Thanks! I'll be more careful!
Mary

 

[OldHillcrestGuy]

I think you are right about the sawdust! As soon as I read your reply I remembered emptying a bag of pellets into the hopper and there was some sawdust that got poured in with the pellets at the bottom of the bag. I saw it go in but it disappeared into the pellets. I didn't think much of it - I should have!! We regularly vaccuum out the whole unit so I couldn't think of any other reason! Thanks! I'll be more careful!
Mary

What brand of pellets are you using? All bags have some sawdust at the bottom.
When my stove caught fire in the hopper, my thoughts were that the fire burned up the pellet shoot and then caught the pellets in the augar, which then caught the hopper on fire, which was about 2/3rds full at the time, it was hot enough with fire in the hopper to melt the handle to the lid to the hopper.
I had Tri County come out after the fire and they checked out the stove and replaced a couple of sensors of which one had malfunctioned and should have shut down the stove before the fire spread to the hopper.
About 10 days ago I dumped a bag of pellets in the hopper and later the next day the stove shut down, thinking the augar got jammed with pellets I emptied out the hopper and I found what looked like rubber matting jammed in the augar about the size of those rubber squares that you can open a jar lid with, pulled it out and started up the stove again and it wouldnt feed any pellets, stuck a finger up the pellet shoot and felt more rubber had to get needle nose pliers and gently pulled on what I could get a hold of and was able to get it all out, stove is working fine now.
I have had a very interesting year with my stove, but I still stand by it, but after the fire we sometimes shut it off if we are going to be away for quite awhile.

 

[GWguy]

I have had a very interesting year with my stove,

Boy, you're not kidding !!!

There is a rubber gasket on the hopper door on mine. It managed to get loose and I found it wrapped around the auger too. Took a while to get it out.

 

[OldHillcrestGuy]

Boy, you're not kidding !!!

There is a rubber gasket on the hopper door on mine. It managed to get loose and I found it wrapped around the auger too. Took a while to get it out.

I thought maybe this piece of rubber might have come from the stove from somewhere, so I took it by Tri County and they said it wasnt anything from the stove, so it had to come from the pellet bag and it wasnt a Hamer or Lignestic bag I was using, it was the other brand that I have had issues with.