Catalytic Combustor

[katwillny]

I recently took out the Catalytic Combustor on my stove and cleaned it with compressed air to get rid of ash that was totally blocking the combs. My question is, Once I get a fire going do it have to totally close the damper all the way in order for Combustion to take place. Will I know visually that the combustor is engaged?
Thanks All...

Happy Burning!!

 

[BrotherBart]

Yep. You have to close the damper all the way. There should be a cat thermometer under that pot on top of your stove. You will know if the cat lights off if after you close the damper the temp on that thermo starts to rise. It should go up to a thousand degrees or so.

Wait until the stove top temp is around three hundred and close the damper and it should light off.

 

[katwillny]

Thanks Brother Bart. Indeed there is a thermostat under the rusted pot, which i threw out by the way. I have seen the Temp move on the thermostat but it doesnt really go past 500 degrees, but the damper wasnt all the way closed, in fact it was open all the way. I always thought that If i closed the damper all the way that the smoke would back up. Still learning this stuff.

 

[Todd]

Are you talking pipe damper? That's what it looks like in your picture? Your stove should have a bypass damper inside the stove that needs to be close when it's time to engage the cat. There should be a lever to operate the bypass on the side of the stove somewhere. A sure way to see if it works is the stove top temp should climb and there should also be little or no smoke out the chimney.

Using compressed air is a no no, you can blow the catalyst metals right of the ceramic honey comb. Use a paint brush and vacuume or one of those low pressure air cans used for computer keyboards.

 

[katwillny]

I guess I was. So the pipe damper needs to be somewhat opened?

 

[katwillny]

I guess I was. So the pipe damper needs to be somewhat opened?

 

[katwillny]

I guess I was. So the pipe damper needs to be somewhat opened?

 

[BrotherBart]

The pipe damper needs to be all the way open. What you close is the cat damper in the stove.

Good catch Todd.

 

[katwillny]

So the Pipe Damper is different then? Does that one need to be opened all the way? I just found a picture of my stove on which it doesnt show a combustor rod but rather a knob control or air control.

 

[Todd]

Leave the pipe damper open all the way unless you have a very cold windy day and stove seems to want to run away from you, then you can close it down. Above your side door where it says damper is what you want to close to engage the cat. Keep it open until stove gets a good bed off coals and up to lite off temp, then shut the bypass damper. You will also have to play with the air controls to find what works best for a good long burn. After the cat lites off you should be able to turn the air down more. Do you have a manual?

 

[BrotherBart]

Here is the manual for your stove.

On the old Dutchwest stoves the combustor is turned vertical for bypass and horizontal for engagement. This is done with that thing on the top left side.

Edit: Had a problem with the link and then my machine crashed:

http://tinyurl.com/ydk46c8

 

[katwillny]

Oh man guys thanks a lot. Life savers. Thanks for the manual.

 

[Highbeam]

The DW stoves are really funky. There are extra controls that normal cat stoves don't have and your flue damper is yet another thing to fiddle with.

So in your photo there is a "damper" indicated right above the combustor air control that you have arrowed. That damper must be either open or closed. Closed to engage the cat. The combustor air control is a set it and forget it deal and the primary air is the one you fiddle with. Right now I would set it at half way open unless you find better guidance in the owner's manual.

I would leave the flue damper in the fully open (handle vertical) position while you figure this out.

Replace the cat meter so that you know if you have light off.

 

[katwillny]

Thank you very much. By meter do you mean thermometer?

 

[BrotherBart]

Revisit my post above. I fixed the link to the manual.

 

[katwillny]

Thanks I will downlad it when I get home.
Now, I know that the combustor is the round ring right under where the pot sits however there is a grate right under the combustor is on the inside of the stove. Is that grate also part of the combustion system or is that grate independent of combustion ? If independent, then what is its function? Sorry I have tons of question about this stuff. Also fascinated by fire. Lol

 

[stockcarver]

Hopefully you didn't get too handy with the compressed air, Condar specifically warns NOT to use
compressed air to clean a combustor. On the other hand, if it is the original from 1983, it probably
hasn't much left to offer anyway.
I bought one of those stoves by mail order back in 1986 (pre-internet). You will want to carefully inspect the joints
and door seals and be prepared to reseal it. Especially pay attention to the seal on the cleanout door
under the shaker grates. I don't know who builds those now, but at the time they were imported from
China, and the parts were cast iron. The chinese were noted for mixing sand (and other things)
with the iron to save money, so it is possible to have blow holes in the iron. Warpage can compromise
the seals, there are a lot of parts and seals on that model stove.
It likely could be sealed, but be aware that
those stoves can be quite leaky and difficult to control the burn rate.

 

[cmonSTART]

It's highly unlikely you should ever have to have that pipe damper anything but full open. Open it and leave it open.

 

[katwillny]

Thanks Guys. I went home and followed the directions you guys gave me. First off i want to say think you, i have learned more about my stove over the last month than i did over the last 5 years. So I started the fire last night and closed the Combustor control all the way and to my surprise I had the hottest longest fire i have ever had on that stove. At one point, perhaps 30 minutes into it my wife pointed to the stove pipe and it was red hot, litterally it was red. I looked at the thermostat and it read well over 1000 degrees. The second thing i noticed was that the wood lasted alot longer. All the along i had been burning with the combustor contol fully open. Great suggestions all.

Franklin

 

[BrotherBart]

You need to cut the air back on that puppy. Keep the cat thermo somewhere between 800 and a thousand. If that pipe is glowing you are burning to hot.

 

[Highbeam]

He doesn't have a cat meter, so the 1000 degrees must have been stovepipe or stovetop. Time to cut back the primary air if you're getting red parts.

 

[BrotherBart]

He doesn't have a cat meter, so the 1000 degrees must have been stovepipe or stovetop. Time to cut back the primary air if you're getting red parts.

Yeah he does. What he threw out was the pot sitting on top of it. It is right in the center of the top of the cat chamber.

 

[katwillny]

Thats right BrotherBart, man you are on the money. You actually remember that. That pot was all rusted. I just went and bought another one. I will cut some of the air flow to keep the temp under control. Man that baby was hot last night. The wife is getting jelous, she's starting to complaint that I am spending more time fussin' with the stove that I do with her. LOL. she'll thank me come January. LOL.