How to Solve Blockage Faults in Wood Chip Fuel Pellet Machines?

Dec 24, 2025

First, address the most urgent issue: safely clearing blockages. Regardless of the location of the blockage, the first step must be to stop the machine and disconnect the power. Wait until the electric wood pellet mill has completely stopped operating before proceeding. Never attempt to clear blockages by hand or with tools while the equipment is running to avoid accidents. Clearing blockages at the feed inlet: Use tools to remove clumps of material from the feed inlet. Then check if the feed auger is stuck. If it is, manually rotate the auger shaft to remove any tangled material (such as long-fiber wood chips). Clearing blockages in the pressing chamber: Open the inspection door of the pressing chamber and use specialized tools to thoroughly clean any clumps of material and any blocked die holes. Be careful not to scratch the pressure rollers and die surfaces during cleaning.

After cleaning, identify the cause of the blockage in the wood chip pellet machine to prevent recurrence. The first common cause is excessively high moisture content or excessively large particle size in the raw material. Wood chips with a moisture content exceeding 18% are prone to clumping and adhering at the feed inlet and in the pressing chamber; excessively large wood chips (over 5mm) cannot pass through the die holes smoothly and will clog the pressing chamber. Solutions: 1. Adjust the raw material moisture content to 12%-15%, and re-crush and screen any excessively large pieces. Feed evenly, avoiding adding too much material at once to prevent blockage. Some users experienced blockages in the feed inlet and pressing chamber due to adding too much high-moisture sawdust at once. After cleaning, controlling the feeding speed and drying the raw material resolved the blockage issue.

2. The second reason: The gap between the pressure roller and the die in the biomass wood pellet mill is too small, or the die holes are worn and narrowed. A small gap narrows the passage for raw material into the pressing chamber, making it prone to accumulation. Worn die holes prevent the processed pellets from being extruded smoothly, causing blockages. Solution: Adjust the gap between the pressure roller and the die to 0.1-0.3mm. Inspect the die holes; if they are worn or severely blocked, use a special drill bit to unclog them. Replace the die if the wear is too severe. Additionally, if the equipment has not been used for a long time, residual material can harden and clump, easily causing blockages upon restarting. Therefore, always thoroughly clean the inside of the equipment before long-term shutdown.

Here are a few tips to prevent clogging: First, ensure proper pretreatment of raw materials to guarantee acceptable moisture content and particle size. Second, maintain a uniform feeding speed; consider installing a variable frequency feeder to automatically adjust the feed rate. Third, clean the equipment regularly, cleaning the feed inlet and pressing chamber after each day's production. Fourth, avoid processing materials that easily stick together (such as excessively moist sawdust); if processing is unavoidable, reduce the feeding speed appropriately. Following these steps will significantly reduce the occurrence of clogging problems.

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