Major Cleaning Procedure for Catalytic Combustors

Good luck finding a pot large enough to fit the PH cat. If you do that's going to be a large volume of solution to get boiling.

I've had some success with putting the 50/50 solution in a spray bottle, spraying down the cat with it and keeping wet fo 20-30 minutes, rinsing out with distilled water (I actually used tap water first then followed up with distilled) and then drying in the oven at 250-300F.

toddnic said:

I spoke with Woodstock last night about the catalytic combustor in my PH. Since I am burning some 'not as favorable' wood I have been struggling with the cat firing at lower temps. When I called, Jamie sent me the attached file on how to 'deep clean' the catalytic combustor on their stoves. I plan on doing the 'deep cleaning' sometime over the weekend when we get some warmer temps. I'll let you know how significant of a difference it makes.

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I did exactly what 3fordasho did minus the oven. It worked PERFECTLY and was easy.

Just wondering.. let's say the cat on the PH fails during a huge storm and there's no electricity. You are still able to use the stove because of the burn tubes, correct? I only ask because I might be looking at the PH for next season, but never really wanted a cat. I'd be comfortable knowing the stove is still operable w out the cat and if I ever needed to order a new one, I could still use the stove in the meantime. Thanks for any input.

I don't see why not. Even with the bypass open you will have secondary action. If it were me I'd leave the dead cat in place and bypass closed unless the cat was plugged and will not pass exhaust gases. More heat will stay in the stove if the bypass is closed and the exhaust flows through the cat. (dead or alive)

logger said:

Just wondering.. let's say the cat on the PH fails during a huge storm and there's no electricity. You are still able to use the stove because of the burn tubes, correct? I only ask because I might be looking at the PH for next season, but never really wanted a cat. I'd be comfortable knowing the stove is still operable w out the cat and if I ever needed to order a new one, I could still use the stove in the meantime. Thanks for any input.

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My cat plugged earlier this year and I had to run with the cat disengaged. It did not throw as much heat, but it was ok for "limp" mode until I got it cleaned.

fire_man said:

My cat plugged earlier this year and I had to run with the cat disengaged. It did not throw as much heat, but it was ok for "limp" mode until I got it cleaned.

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Holy smokes, so that's what a clogged cat looks like. I've never had anything accumulate on my cat after 7 or so cords of all sorts of wood. I thought maybe it would be fly ash but that looks like actual crust like what forms on the inside of the firebox on top.

toddnic said:

I would highly recommend the PH. It is an amazing stove. Even with my burning 'less than desirable' wood, the cat is firing at around 400 degrees. And, I have been burning 24/7 since November. Also, you can use the stove even if the cat is dead. For me, I just want to clean the cat so that it fires at 250 degrees again .

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Thanks for info. My Oslo has been our sole source of heat for years now and has been great. This winter was a rough one tho and I might need a little more than what the Oslo gives when it's below zero at night and single digit days. What kind of wood is it that you consider less than desirable? I usually have bucked rounds sit around for a few years and then split and stack for just a year. Wondering if I will need to do even more than that w a cat. Thanks again.

Highbeam said:

Holy smokes, so that's what a clogged cat looks like. I've never had anything accumulate on my cat after 7 or so cords of all sorts of wood. I thought maybe it would be fly ash but that looks like actual crust like what forms on the inside of the firebox on top.

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The day before it clogged I tried something unusual and reloaded the stove when it had 1/2 firebox full of hot coals, stovetop temp 400+ and I let it burn for only 1 minute before engaging cat. I don't think it ever lit off, but just clogged with unburned smoke.

It already was acting cranky the previous week and was not lighting quickly. That final load reload was the last straw and it just went into a death spiral.

I vacuumed and vinegar washed it, now it lights off great.

toddnic said:

Less than desirable wood for me is wood that is above 20% moisture. I've had some wood in the 25% range which is terrible. This is my first year burning so most of my wood is really wet. I've got about 9 cords C/S/S but most of it won't be ready until next year or the year after.

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If it's 25% on a fresh split when using a meter it should be fine, that is far from "really wet". I could get into dry vs wet but in the end 25% on a room temp split should burn fine. Anything from wood temp to wood type change a way the meter works. I'm pretty sure most meters are calibrated for Douglas Fir at 70*, there are correction tables for wood species and temps.

Just to stay on topic I have to ask does anyone know what causes the cat in these stoves to plug up like this? Is it due to the steel cats with small cells? These stoves also have a screen to catch fly ash that require regular cleanings too, correct? I've read similar posts about this in the past so it seems to be "common", at least in the small sample size of PH's on the forum.

rdust, I do think the smaller cells with the steel cats might be a problem but not sure. We have used both ceramic and steel but have never got any plugging as shown in the above pictures. All we get is fly ash which is easy to clean. It also appears the perhaps the Progress might give more fly ash than the Fireview but I can't be sure of this.

logger said:

Thanks for info. My Oslo has been our sole source of heat for years now and has been great. This winter was a rough one tho and I might need a little more than what the Oslo gives when it's below zero at night and single digit days. What kind of wood is it that you consider less than desirable? I usually have bucked rounds sit around for a few years and then split and stack for just a year. Wondering if I will need to do even more than that w a cat. Thanks again.

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logger, hopefully in the future you won't stack up the rounds but instead, get them split as soon as possible. Just to show what can happen, a years ago we received permission to scrounge some white and red oak rounds from a neighbor. These rounds had laid on the ground for 10-12 years (I thought 10 but neighbor said 12). On the wood that had been already cut to 16" length, the wood was very wet. However it did appear to dry well over last summer. We'll probably try to burn it next winter.

But the lesson here is that if you keep the wood in rounds, it just won't dry worth a hoot. Split and stack it and the moisture that is on the interior of the round will have a way to evaporate.

I find it amazing that a round laying outside for more than 10 years is even recognizable. Around here it would have turned to compost in less than half that time.

No wonder some folks need to cover their stacks and others have no idea why anybody would even bother.

Right on Tony. I will say that for most of the last 10 years we have been drier than normal but still, all of that wood was on the ground. We found very little punk and I think if it were in one log that log would measure perhaps 10' is all. We got over a cord of good wood there.

So you're saying a single 10 long log contains one cord of firewood. That must have been one thick log.

toddnic said:

Spent about three hours today cleaning the catalytic combustor, replacing a gasket and doing an overall cleaning. It really was not all that difficult cleaning the catalytic combustor. I got a 18" oval turkey roaster (make sure that it is 18". I ended up at Walmart twice today ). The PH catalytic combustor is 17" long. I followed the directions exactly as were specified and dried it in the oven at 300 degrees for about an hour. I plan on firing the stove back up this evening since it is going to be down in the low 20s. I'll let you know how it goes.

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so you heated the solution on the stove in the roaster pan?