Cat. cleaning already?

[bmwbj]

So I have only burned about 1 face cord of seasoned maple so far and I thing my cat needs to be cleaned
already. Is this normal? I have noticed that I have to get the fire hotter now that in the beginning of the new cat.
I have to empty the ash pan of my Intrepid every day, and I only burn on nights and full days on weekends.
It's not really hard to clean out the Cat. of flyash, but I'm just wondering if it is normal to have to do every face cord.
I'm using two magnetic thermometers, 1 on the stove grittle, and 1 24" up the single wall black stove-pipe. I always wait for the
stove to be over 550, and the pipe to be over 550, but lately I have to get the pipe over 600 to 650, for the
cat to light off. Just looking for some other input form every-one.

Thanks

 

[jpl1nh]

It's my understanding that initially there is a fairly quick but slight reduction of a cat's performance, then it stabalizes. It's possible that you do need to clean it though. Taking a closer look can help you determine that. General recommendation is about once per month under normal use. I've gon through about 1 and 1/4 full cords and haven't cleaned mine yet and it certainly still fires with no problem, but now that you mention it, I probably should clean it sometime soon.

 

[bmwbj]

Thanks jp, I'm going to let cool down than clean her up, I guess that is the only way to make sure.

 

[JimWalshin845]

So I have only burned about 1 face cord of seasoned maple so far and I thing my cat needs to be cleaned
already. Is this normal? I have noticed that I have to get the fire hotter now that in the beginning of the new cat.
I have to empty the ash pan of my Intrepid every day, and I only burn on nights and full days on weekends.
It's not really hard to clean out the Cat. of flyash, but I'm just wondering if it is normal to have to do every face cord....{snip/}

Welcome to the world of burning solid fuels. :coolcheese:

As per cleaning the cat... do not... I repeat DO NOT put it in the bathtub... it will bite and claw you to death! :snake:

 

[elmoleaf]

Use much paper to start the fire? Do you clean the ashes out with the damper open?
I've found that cutting down to minimal paper and keeping the damper open when cleaning out seems to have reduced my need to clean the cat as often. Perhaps less ash flying about to get into the cat? I dunno, maybe I'm just imagining it?

You have the oem cat or a Clear Skies replacement that looks like coral/a sea sponge? I think the straightforward square honeycomb oem cat clogged less often than the Clear Skies one I replaced it with. Though thinner, the CS cat has much denser structure that seems to clog up easier.

 

[bmwbj]

elmo, I have an oem replacement becaue my original cat was defective. I opened the stove last night and vaccumed out the cat. I did not seem to be too bad, I just noticed a decline in cat operations in the last
several weeks. I thought maybe the cat was dirty, but it really was not. I'm using the same wood from the same pile as prior burns. Ya know it could be because it has been much damper and warmer here, so the
stove is operating differently, I'm not sure, I'm just trying ti figure it out and get a logical exsplaination.

 

[ozarkjeep]

I blow mine out with a leaf blower about 4 times per face cord or rick.
mine happens to be VERY easy to remove, so its real easy.
Once mine is sooted up, or full of ash, if its too cold for me to want to let the fire die down, I can stack the splits in a certain way to have full on flames going into the cat, and generally a good hot burn like that will clean it out too.

elmo, I have an oem replacement becaue my original cat was defective. I opened the stove last night and vaccumed out the cat. I did not seem to be too bad, I just noticed a decline in cat operations in the last
several weeks. I thought maybe the cat was dirty, but it really was not. I'm using the same wood from the same pile as prior burns. Ya know it could be because it has been much damper and warmer here, so the
stove is operating differently, I'm not sure, I'm just trying ti figure it out and get a logical exsplaination.

 

[bmwbj]

Ok so I removed the cat for cleaning and it looks perfect (not dirty or covered with fly ash)
I guess it's fine. I reinstalled it and just ran the stove alittle hotter, and it seems ok. I guess the
new cat had to "break in". 600* on the grittle, and 650* on the pipe makes it light off perfectly.
SO BE IT. :smirk: