Any way to clean the cat without shutting stove down?

[Dustin92]

We are using our Englander 28-jc insert 24/7 to supplement the furnace, and I am pretty sure the cat has plugged wity ash (again!). It is not putting out as much heat and the bypass has to be left open slightly for about an hour after a new fire or reload, or smoke comes in through the air intakes. The cat is lighting off fine, the chimney doesnt smoke after it is burning well. I am hoping somebody has a genius idea to remove the ash without shutting the stove down completely. I cleaned it before with a long, thin vacuum attachment, but the stove was completely cool. The attachment is plastic and would melt if I stuck it in there now lol... If not, I guess I will have to let it go out tonight and clean it tomorrow.

 

[mellow]

I always let mine cool off before I attempt to clean the cat, mainly because I use a fine brush on it and it would melt the bristles if I did it while it was hot. I don't know of any fail safe ways to clean a hot cat without damaging it.

 

[Dustin92]

Thats what I was afraid of... I guess I will just let it cool tomorrow.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Not sure how your cat is mounted so will just state what we do with our Fireview. We have never let the stove go cold but do let it cool some, that is, burn down the coals a lot. Then I lift the top lid and, wearing welders gloves, just reach in and pull out the cat. Take it out on the porch and brush it with an old paint brush. Put it back in and load it up with wood. Takes 2-3 minutes to do.

 

[HotCoals]

Sometimes burning her a little hotter will work..so I have read.

 

[Dustin92]

Ours is bolted in the back left corner with a 1/4" thick plate bolted over it,and only about 1" of clearance between the plate and cat. It is a pretty major project to actually remove the cat, so I just vacuumed it in place before.

 

[Flamestead]

I do the same as Dennis describes - it is a minor aggravation to let the stove cool down so much, but quick and simple to actually carry out. I do not disturb the coals prior to the cleaning. Once done with cleaning, a raking of the coals shakes off their ash blanket and a fire is restarted without any hassle. No slow-downs on the schedule for this week, with a high of 8 degrees expected on Wednesday (and Alaskan members role their eyes!).

 

[Dustin92]

I think our high tomorrow is 9, it is 5 right now. The stove isnt keeping up, even running it full tilt, the furnace is coming on a couple times an hour and it is 66 upstairs.

 

[ddddddden]

Maybe dust it off with canned air?
Thermal shock might be an issue with a warm cat though; the air coming out of the can is kinda cold.

 

[mellow]

http://www.woodstove.com/pages/pdffiles/Catalytic Combustor Tips.pdf

Q. Can I clean my combustor with my air compressor?

A. It is not a good idea to clean your combustor with an air
compressor unless you can ensure very low pressure.
Using high pressure air to blow the cell free of fly ash
build up can also blow off the precious metal coating
inside the cells. However, the compressed air that comes
in a can (for cleaning camera and computer parts) can be
used very effectively.


I just had to go re-read woodstocks cat tips and found this interesting, most here say do NOT use compressed air, but they say it is OK, hrmmm.

 

[pen]

I think our high tomorrow is 9, it is 5 right now. The stove isnt keeping up, even running it full tilt, the furnace is coming on a couple times an hour and it is 66 upstairs.

If it's not keeping up anyway, and it normally does just let it cool and do it right rather than prolonging the agony.

pen

 

[Slow1]

I do the same as Dennis describes - it is a minor aggravation to let the stove cool down so much, but quick and simple to actually carry out. I do not disturb the coals prior to the cleaning. Once done with cleaning, a raking of the coals shakes off their ash blanket and a fire is restarted without any hassle. No slow-downs on the schedule for this week, with a high of 8 degrees expected on Wednesday (and Alaskan members role their eyes!).

Same process here, I appreciate the design of the Woodstock stoves. PH is even easier than the FV in my opinion. My problem is that I find I like to close the cat damper to pull the cat out... not really an issue EXCEPT that twice now (out of 3 times?) I have forgotten to re-open it before loading the stove (duh!). Guess I need to adjust my process eh? ha. Funny thing is that both times I was able to get the stove burning just about the same as if the cat was disengaged and all went well... go figure.

 

[Highbeam]

The feature of WS stoves that allow gasketless, tool less, removal of the cat is a great thing. Always been fond of that system on the fireview.

 

[charly]

Not sure how your cat is mounted so will just state what we do with our Fireview. We have never let the stove go cold but do let it cool some, that is, burn down the coals a lot. Then I lift the top lid and, wearing welders gloves, just reach in and pull out the cat. Take it out on the porch and brush it with an old paint brush. Put it back in and load it up with wood. Takes 2-3 minutes to do.

Dennis , that's one feature that sold me on the Fireview,,, 3 minute cat maintenance Even if you had a failed cat that needed to be replaced,,lift out the old and set in the new after swapping the frames.

 

[Slow1]

Dennis , that's one feature that sold me on the Fireview,,, 3 minute cat maintenance Even if you had a failed cat that needed to be replaced,,lift out the old and set in the new after swapping the frames.

In the PH they eliminated the frame too! Now it is even faster, heh.

 

[charly]

In the PH they eliminated the frame too! Now it is even faster, heh.

Nice!

 

[Highbeam]

In the PH they eliminated the frame too! Now it is even faster, heh.

But is it sitting up on top right under a liftable cover?

 

[Slow1]

But is it sitting up on top right under a liftable cover?

It is in fact. However with the cooktop I do have to pull the three stones off first, then lift the cover as before. One more step (removing the stones) but not bad really as they just sit in place and no real tools required unless they are too hot to touch then I use their supplied "L" shaped tool to help lift the stone high enough to get my gloved hand under the stone.

 

[Highbeam]

Good job to WS on that feature.

 

[charly]

Good job to WS on that feature.

When I went to pick out my Fireview,, I couldn't believe when I asked about getting to the cat,, I figured taking something apart,,,, instead the top was lifted up and the cat was handed out to me....I was loving that. By pass adjustment,,,, bingo,,, just as easy as getting to the cat,, right there in the open behind the cat...well thought out...Thank You Woodstock!