dam catalyst!!!

What kind of stove? How soon are you engaging the cat and at what temp?

Using paper to start the fires?

Too quick on the draw to blame the cat. More information is needed.

I think you are being asked at what temp to you first engage the cat? When you say it gets clogged/plugged, what does it look like. Can you see through it?

Please give us the additional information asked above, we can't tell from here whether it is plugging from fly ash (light ash that is being stirred up by the air in the firebox carrying it to the cat and then plugging the holes), or it is creosote depositing in the cat because it is not burning it off.

Either way, we should be able to help.

Have you read the manual on how to get the fire started and the cat lit properly and followed that procedure?

How are you cleaning it? I just bought a spare combustor so that I can take mine out and clean it as I am starting to see lazy light off. The vendor had some serious warnings about how to approach the cleaning and wanted to be involved once I pull it out even though he has little to gain by helping me other than good will.

So, what kind of stove is it?

Did you have this problem with the OEM cat?

Do you have an extremely strong draft? One that is causing the ash to fly or swirl around in the firebox, and then up into the cat when the bypass is closed. You may not want to leave the bypass open quite as long as you have, cut down on the air a bit earlier to reduce the airflow through the stove when you are bringing the cat up to temperature. Sounds like you are getting it plenty hot when you close the bypass.

How often are you having to clean the cat?

If you have one of the stainless steel cats, that seems to be an issue with them, as the holes are smaller and do trap more ash than the ceramic ones, but I still feel like something is going on that is causing it to plug more than normal.

daleeper said:

Do you have an extremely strong draft? One that is causing the ash to fly or swirl around in the firebox, and then up into the cat when the bypass is closed. You may not want to leave the bypass open quite as long as you have, cut down on the air a bit earlier to reduce the airflow through the stove when you are bringing the cat up to temperature. Sounds like you are getting it plenty hot when you close the bypass.

How often are you having to clean the cat?

If you have one of the stainless steel cats, that seems to be an issue with them, as the holes are smaller and do trap more ash than the ceramic ones, but I still feel like something is going on that is causing it to plug more than normal.

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There is no need to wait till 1700° to close the bypass. A ceramic cat should light off at 5-600, SS is supposed to be less than that. I was thinking about draft, too. What is your chimney like? Never heard of anybody having that kind of problem because of too much draft, but not many here have that stove, either.

Something is off... I'd be amazed if you could get to temps of 1700F with the bypass open. Your stove pipe would be glowing cherry red by then

Do you remove ashes from the firebox like daily or so?

1)How long have you operated the stove? How old is the stove?

2) is this a new problem, if so have you changed anything that may be causing it? Such as different wood, chimney, etc...

3) how often do you have the chimney cleaned?

It sounds like you are trying to do the right thing, but are having no success! It must be frustrating. I don't know that blaming the technology is the answer though. I operated a cat stove with great results, as many here do. I have heard that some of the original cat stoves were just slapped together to try to meet the new EPA restrictions. Some of those old designs are just not good and have given catalytic technology a bad name. Could yours be one of those? I have heard some complaints about Earthstoves on here before. I am not familiar with your particular stove and hope someone can assist you with it. Answering those questions I asked above may help in narrowing down the root of the problem. Good luck!

Occo370 said:

Cat temps are 1700. Stove pipe temps are550. No paper. Just starter logs. Small starter logs

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If it was me, I would take those out of the picture and see how it works. Too much crap in those starter logs.

i use the starter logs in my non cat...never in my cat stove...

If I recall you're not supposed to use any starter logs containing certain ingredients... I'd check your manual to make sure it's on the approved list. Probably can gum up a cat pretty quick

Could be that the stove is just an older poorly designed stove, how old is this stove? Does it have a screen or scoop in front of the cat to protect it from ash and flame?

Occo370 said:

The stove is quite old. I have had it for about 3 or 4 seasons. My chimney install is new when I got the stove. It meets the stoves requirements on draft. Wood is good. The cat temp is 1700. Not the stove pipe. The stove pipe temp is about 500. I am closing the bypass to activate at those temps according to mfr recommendations. It is a stainless cat. As I said before. When clean works great. When not. Doesn't. The chimney is cleaned every year by me. It's not a crazy setup so it's easy to do. Any help would be appreciated

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It looks like you are doing things right, but there must be something going on, as most cat burners have not had a big problem with this.

I agree with Hogwildz, start the stove with something other than that starter log and see if that extends the time period between cleaning the cat. That cat should not be plugging very often. From what I have been reading, most folks may brush the front of the cat every few weeks, and at the end of the season, or prior to the start of the season check it more closely and possibly clean it. Something is different about what you are doing to cause this, I would start by eliminating the starter log.

I hesitate to make this suggestion, as you need to be very careful, I would set a schedule of vacuuming out the front of the cat, when you catch the stove cool enough, maybe once a week. Take special precautions with the vacuum, in fact I would find a small handheld with an adapter hose and brush to dedicate to this operation, and take it outside when done and clean it out and store in a non combustible container outside or in the garage, you can suck enough hot ashes to burn it and your house up if you aren't careful with it. I have a vacuum designed for cleaning computer/electronic equipment that I have used last year, haven't done it this year though as we have burned better wood, and have not pushed the stove as hard and it hasn't built up as much ash on the front as it has in the past.

My question on draft was because I know when I open my bypass and air up full throttle at startup, and also when I clean the ash out, a lot of ash dust is flying around, and thought maybe an extra strong draft might be creating enough air movement to do the same.

When you clean the ash out of the stove are you opening the bypass up, so the free dust will go up the chimney instead of through the cat?

Hass said:

If I recall you're not supposed to use any starter logs containing certain ingredients... I'd check your manual to make sure it's on the approved list. Probably can gum up a cat pretty quick

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I bet that has something to do with the cat clogging up. Maybe the wax in the logs make the fly ash stick to the cat. I use The Ceadar fire starters. It has been approved and does a great job getting temps up for a start/ restart.

the cat on my CDW large started clogging and not engaging after many years of faithful service and i bought another cat. i bought a steel one to replace the old ceramic one thinking....newer technology.....gotta work. nope, had nothing but trouble with it and i'll never buy one again as a replacement. seemed never to light off and seemed to work only for a couple of days after pulling it back out and dusting it off (didn't soak it) and reinstalling it. What a pita to replace it. well, not as bad as a new englander i replaced for my daughter, but thats another story. anyway, i went back to a OEM ceramic one and didn't have a problem. since, i've gone to a non-cat that i'm burning for the third season.....not bad, but i think i like the cat. hope you solve whats ailing it, but sounds a little like something may be wrong with the stove. i think i'd try an oem cat again and see how that goes.....and find something else as a fire starter and see if that doesn't help.

casss