Prolonging catalyst lifespan

[handsplitter]

If I don't want that hot of a fire, for example in the warmer spring and warmer fall rather than in the dead of winter, does it extend the lifespan of the catalyst to just be bypassed? Or is it better to always engage the catalyst and just open more windows if I want the house cooler?

Another situation that happened once, is I got non-ideal firewood, definitely not rotten but a little punked out from fungus or whatever, just not my preferred wood quality. So I want to burn this junkier wood in the warm season and bypass the catalyst so I don't risk having a lower quality wood gum up the catalyst, is that sound thinking?

What is the best way for a good hot fire, when the catalyst is engaged, that you intentionally wish to burn out completely to a cold stove? Do you leave the catalyst engaged, or when do you bypass it; does a certain method work best insofar as prolonging catalyst life span?

Thank you

 

[fire_man]

On warm days that still need a fire,the stove is naturally loaded with less wood. This often means the stove never even gets hot enough to engage the cat. My house gets plenty warm on those days just with that small load of wood and no cat involved.

I never heard of non-ideal wood causing problems with the cat. I have burned plenty of that and never associated it with a problem. Punky wood just has less BTUs.

THe cat only gets bypassed when starting up the stove. You want to get it up to temp and engage the catalyst and leave it engaged till the next burn cycle.

 

[bholler]

If I don't want that hot of a fire, for example in the warmer spring and warmer fall rather than in the dead of winter, does it extend the lifespan of the catalyst to just be bypassed? Or is it better to always engage the catalyst and just open more windows if I want the house cooler?

Another situation that happened once, is I got non-ideal firewood, definitely not rotten but a little punked out from fungus or whatever, just not my preferred wood quality. So I want to burn this junkier wood in the warm season and bypass the catalyst so I don't risk having a lower quality wood gum up the catalyst, is that sound thinking?

What is the best way for a good hot fire, when the catalyst is engaged, that you intentionally wish to burn out completely to a cold stove? Do you leave the catalyst engaged, or when do you bypass it; does a certain method work best insofar as prolonging catalyst life span?

Thank you

On most cat stove engaging the cat allows you to shut the stove down much further giving you less heatoutput. So you wouldnt gain anything by running with the bypass open and it may actually cause damage.

 

[handsplitter]

On most cat stove engaging the cat allows you to shut the stove down much further giving you less heatoutput. So you wouldnt gain anything by running with the bypass open and it may actually cause damage.

That is just what I was wondering !

Re " The cat only gets bypassed when starting up the stove. You want to get it up to temp and engage the catalyst and leave it engaged till the next burn cycle."
Am I correct that you don’t bypass the catalyst just because you see the fire has died down & so the probe/thermometer tells you that it is no longer at the temperature of the "active/engaged" range? In other words suppose you load your stove in the morning and you really don't like or need to load it again until 8 hours later, but you happen to walk by six hours later and you see that the thermometer reads it is now out of range, obviously because of fire is dying down, I should just leave it right, I do not bypass the catalyst right? Or do you guys try to keep it loaded more frequently so that almost never happens. Part of my ignorance is that I have just got a probe/thermometer for the very first time (not even used it yet) so I have not ever burned with a probe and so I really don't know how long my probe will reveal that I am in range or how often it becomes out of range

Thanks guys !

 

[fire_man]

You definitely do not need to disengage the cat when temps fall below the active range. There is no benefit to doing this. Its hard to time when exactly the cat stops burning the smoke and you definitely wont hurt it by leaving it engaged.

There is just no reason to think about it until you are ready to reload.

 

[Ashful]

In my opinion, you are putting way too much thought into this. Catalytic combustors, in general, are easy and inexpensive to replace. Use it as it was intended, to get the most out of your stove. When it’s depleted, which will take several years, then replace it and get on with your life. This is not something even worth considering, when comparing to the potential down-sides of running with a combustor bypassed.

 

[fire_man]

I'm guessing the OP might be an Engineer of some kind because (self included) we tend to overthink things to death as my wife loves to point out.

Who else would research Type N vs Type S cement while driving the mason supply house nuts

 

[bholler]

I'm guessing the OP might be an Engineer of some kind because (self included) we tend to overthink things to death as my wife loves to point out.

Who else would research Type N vs Type S cement while driving the mason supply house nuts

I reasearch but dont plan all that much. I know basically what i am going to do and figure the rest out along the way. My brother inlaw is an engeneer and when i help him with projects he has every step worked out. Which is fantastic till you come across something that makes you have to adjust.

 

[fire_man]

Overthinking can be a curse and a blessing.

My wife said I was overthinking when I insisted we relocate our cars from the driveway before a bad storm. Well a 10" diameter branch fell exaclty where one car would have been parked.

Bottom line for the OP - leave the Cat engaged during the entire burn cycle.

 

[Marshy]

Lots of things effect catalyst life however, you should know that if you have a Blaze King and you routinely operate the stove in bypass mode you could/will cause damage to the gasket retainers for the bypass door. So make sure you understand the consequences of operating the stove in bypass for normal heating first. Second, to achieve the best life of your catalyst, always burn wood at optimal moisture.

I doubt the following will cause a note worthy increase in catalyst life but operating the stove on the highest setting will cause less depletion of the catalyst. This has to do with the amount of dwell time the combustible gases have to interact with the catalysts given the velocity through it. Higher heat setting means higher velocity and less overall efficiency of the catalyst and less depletion. There are many scholarly articles on it and it makes excellent sleep material. You probably need a PHD in Chemistry to understand much any of it.
Otherwise, use the stove the way it's intended and in accordance with the manufactures recommendations to get the best life from it.

In the situation you described, if the cat falls into inactive zone after 6 hours and you do not plan to reload it for another hour or two there is likely no harm it putting it in bypass. There is also no harm in leaving it engaged and would expect no shortening of the catalyst life.

 

[Highbeam]

Lots of things effect catalyst life however, you should know that if you have a Blaze King and you routinely operate the stove in bypass mode you could/will cause damage to the gasket retainers for the bypass door. So make sure you understand the consequences of operating the stove in bypass for normal heating first. Second, to achieve the best life of your catalyst, always burn wood at optimal moisture.

I doubt the following will cause a note worthy increase in catalyst life but operating the stove on the highest setting will cause less depletion of the catalyst. This has to do with the amount of dwell time the combustible gases have to interact with the catalysts given the velocity through it. Higher heat setting means higher velocity and less overall efficiency of the catalyst and less depletion. There are many scholarly articles on it and it makes excellent sleep material. You probably need a PHD in Chemistry to understand much any of it.
Otherwise, use the stove the way it's intended and in accordance with the manufactures recommendations to get the best life from it.

In the situation you described, if the cat falls into inactive zone after 6 hours and you do not plan to reload it for another hour or two there is likely no harm it putting it in bypass. There is also no harm in leaving it engaged and would expect no shortening of the catalyst life.

You want to really get a head scratcher? A catalyst, by definition, is not depleted during the reaction. It's all still there even when the cat has become ineffective for some reason. I don't know exactly why but don't worry much about it since we get 10000 hours for 200$ and the wood savings alone pays for a new cat more often than it is needed.

 

[Woody Stover]

Another situation that happened once, is I got non-ideal firewood, definitely not rotten but a little punked out from fungus or whatever, just not my preferred wood quality. So I want to burn this junkier wood in the warm season and bypass the catalyst so I don't risk having a lower quality wood gum up the catalyst, is that sound thinking?

I, for one, enjoy thinking about the many aspects of stove operation. Some will call it over-thinking..I guess they have other stuff they'd rather think about. To each, his own.
Anyway, I've wondered about this punk/ fungus wood question. Could burning it produce by-products that would hasten the demise of the cat, known as "poisoning" the cat as would happen when burning painted or treated wood? My guess is that at worst, burning fungus, 'shrooms etc. might only "mask" the cat, and it could be remedied with a simmer in distilled water/distilled vinegar and a couple rinses.

What is the best way for a good hot fire, when the catalyst is engaged, that you intentionally wish to burn out completely to a cold stove? Do you leave the catalyst engaged, or when do you bypass it; does a certain method work best insofar as prolonging catalyst life span?

No need to bypass the cat later in the burn, it will just quit burning by itself when the load is down to coals and it runs out of smoke to burn. No detrimental effects from leaving the bypass closed..in fact you'll get more heat from the longer exit path of the exhaust from the stove.
Right now, it's about 50 outside and 70 in here. It's kind of damp, but I'm going to wait for room temp to drop another degree or two before I fire up. Then I'll toss in a partial load of River Birch and Black Cherry, less-dense woods that will burn up a bit quicker. This house has a lot of thermal mass in the wall covering, 1/2" of wallboard and 1/2" of concrete, so it will soak up quite a bit of heat and I'm not often in danger of roasting us out.

 

[Ashful]

You want to really get a head scratcher? A catalyst, by definition, is not depleted during the reaction. It's all still there even when the cat has become ineffective for some reason. I don't know exactly why but don't worry much about it since we get 10000 hours for 200$ and the wood savings alone pays for a new cat more often than it is needed.

Yes, a catalyst is theoretically an element or compound which aids in a reaction without being consumed by the reaction. But, that doesn't mean that heat or agitation can't be removing the catalyst by purely mechanical means, and also some material consumed at very low rates are considered catalysts, even though they don't meet the theoretical definition of the word.

 

[BKVP]

You want to really get a head scratcher? A catalyst, by definition, is not depleted during the reaction. It's all still there even when the cat has become ineffective for some reason. I don't know exactly why but don't worry much about it since we get 10000 hours for 200$ and the wood savings alone pays for a new cat more often than it is needed.

It's referred to as masking and deposits on top of the precious metals decreases exposure to gases in wood combustion.

 

[BKVP]

I'm guessing the OP might be an Engineer of some kind because (self included) we tend to overthink things to death as my wife loves to point out.

Who else would research Type N vs Type S cement while driving the mason supply house nuts

"Hello, may I help you?" "Yes, I'm and engineer and have burned wood my whole life" "Hold Please. Chris, phone call is for you."

 

[fire_man]

BKVP, Next time your in the Boston area I'll ask all my questions in person

 

[BKVP]

BKVP, Next time your in the Boston area I'll ask all my questions in person

Deal! We'll find a bottle of 30 year old bottle of Middleton Very Rare.

 

[Ashful]

I would be willing to bet a good number of our members are engineers. I would be willing to bet even more that those particular members favor BK, it is the true burning-geek’s stove.

 

[fire_man]

My understanding is Blaze King uses some kind of patented Alien Technology to get their wacky impressive burn times. I'm not sure the Engineers or Geekes have quite figured it out yet.

 

[BKVP]

My understanding is Blaze King uses some kind of patented Alien Technology to get their wacky impressive burn times. I'm not sure the Engineers or Geekes have quite figured it out yet.

Sorry, the pet photos contest is over....but your lab looks happy and warm!

 

[fire_man]

Unfortunately the happy looking Lab now disappears when the stove is lit because it backpuffed and scared her badly a couple times 3-4 years ago.

I finally figured out I needed a 2.5 foot flue extension to improve the draft and it solved the problem except this alleged Dog has a very good memory.

 

[fire_man]

Deal! We'll find a bottle of 30 year old bottle of Middleton Very Rare.

Your On. There were only 400 bottles of that ever made!

 

[BKVP]

Your On. There were only 400 bottles of that ever made!

I have a few bought in Ireland last year...along with some Jameson Gold Reserve and Bushmill 30 year old. And to keep this in stove speak, I will be burning NIELS this winter! Although I have cordwood, it's impossible to beat the convenience and performance of the NIELS.

 

[SD Golden]

I would be willing to bet a good number of our members are engineers. I would be willing to bet even more that those particular members favor BK, it is the true burning-geek’s stove.

As an engineer who just installed his first stove, a Blaze King, you hit the nail on the head...

 

[kennyp2339]

Wow all you engineers here, what transit system do you work for? I always wondered what the engineer was thinking when he / she was looking out the front window of the train, now I know.. woodstoves