I have a blazeking ashford 30.1. Recently it seems like the stove isn't getting air. With the thermostat tuned all the way to the 6 o'clock position the flames just seem lazy. Usually it is a nice rolling flame and really puts the heat out. It also seems to be going inactive with 3/4 of the load left in the stove. Could this be due to the cat starting to become plugged? I can hear the thermostat close but haven't taken the cover off to inspect anything.
Blazeking Ashford air question
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I don't get smoke when I reload. I inspected the chimney not to long ago. It seems fine when the bypass is open. That's what's leading me to think it's the cat.
Ashful
Minister of Fire
Clogged cat. I have had this happen 3x so far this season. It appears to be the Ashford's Achilles heel.
Let it cool, pull flame shield, and vacuum very gently with a dusting brush on your vacuum wand. Do not remove combustor from stove, unless you have a new gasket on-hand.
Let it cool, pull flame shield, and vacuum very gently with a dusting brush on your vacuum wand. Do not remove combustor from stove, unless you have a new gasket on-hand.
Your dealer should have the gasket, but you won't need one if the leave the cat in place. Last time mine clogged a vacuum wasn't enough. It also needed a little air blown through it. Get a canister of air that's used to clean computer keyboards. I run a small shop vac at the same time to collect the airborne dust.
When mine gets clogged a few swipes on the surface with a paint brush gets things back to normal again. I have the Princess though so maybe there are some different design influences at play.
I do give the cat a thorough vacuuming at the end of each burning season though.
I do give the cat a thorough vacuuming at the end of each burning season though.
Poindexter
Minister of Fire
I have had to vacuum the face of my cat twice this season. The soft bristle attachment is the one.
I do change the bag in the machine immediately after and treat the old-full vac bag like it has hot coals in it.
I do change the bag in the machine immediately after and treat the old-full vac bag like it has hot coals in it.
You can clog the cat with surface junk just on the face or you can really clog it throughout the full 2" depth. You can unclog it in both cases with a vacuum plus light pressure compressed air. You don't want to remove the cat unless the cleared cat still doesn't work. You can use a smartphone camera as a periscope to get a straight view into the cells and see through a clean cat.
New gasket and cats from firecats site.
You have a cerimac catalyst, the cells are much larger than the cells in the steel cat which the Ashford is equipped with.
I DID have a ceramic catalyst, I have a steel cat now. I swear, it's like you guys don't know me at all.
I've only had too clean the steel cat once since I started using it this burn season but brushing off the face of the cat worked.
IIRC, I did vacuum the cat shortly after brushing it off when I did an early cleaning of my flue in February.
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I see.I DID have a ceramic catalyst, I have a steel cat now. I swear, it's like you guys don't know me at all.
I've only had too clean the steel cat once since I started using it this burn season but brushing off the face of the cat worked.
IIRC, I did vacuum the cat shortly after brushing it off when I did an early cleaning of my flue in February.
My steel cat was fine with only brushing the first 3 seasons. The fourth, that was a different story. Vacuuming wasn't cutting it this time.
When I was trying to save my cat I was pretty aggressive with the shop vac. I took the hard plastic end off of the rubbery 1.25" tube so that I could actually get the end of the tube pressed squarely against the cat face and then I held the tip in place for a second before moving it over and repeating for the whole cat. The junk is way in there. I could feel it suck out and down the tube as I went along.
It's less important to scrub the face of the cat, actually that's bad, than it is to clear the depth of each cell exposing all of that nice catalyst within.
Then check with your periscope camera.
Started a fire. Nice rolling flames with bypass open. When I closed the bypass the flames get lazy. Maybe I'll try some compress air.
Your symptoms sound like my PH when the cat needs to be cleaned. If you were getting smoke spillage I would suspect the cap but sounds like cat cleaning time.
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15 feet with 2 offset 45s. But this is a new issue. I haven't had this issue before.
Ashful
Minister of Fire
Mine also gets lazy this time of year, as outside conditions conspire to reduce draft. But, if you know it burned well last year under similar conditions, it's time to check your cap for blockage. If it's clear, then a more aggressive cat cleaning is in order.
My continual cat clogging issues on one of my Ashfords (now partially plugged for the THIRD time this year) has me considering a change from Steelcat to ceramic. The only thing holding me back is my love of loading a stove full of cold wood from outdoors, and immediately closing the bypass, per BKVP instruction. I fear this will cause fracturing in the ceramic cat.
jetsam
Minister of Fire
Is there even a ceramic available for the 30 box? I plan to switch back to ceramic when this steel cat dies. Plugging is lame.
Yes, understood. I was wondering if the issue was being compounded by weak draft due to milder outside temps.
Nor me. I loaded fresh/cold wood and closed the bypass regularly. There is a pic of my ceramic cat burried somewhere in the 16/17 BK thread. I was surprised at how well the ceramic held up structurally.
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