catalytic combustor

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rbcss

New Member
Sep 15, 2007
25
Windsor, Ct
Hi all,
I have a Hearth Mate stove and was go to change out my combuster this year. I was looking on line and Hearth Mate seems to make a 6" round. I thought I would measure the hole to make sure of the size and it a little under 6".( it measures out to be like a 5 15/16 ) so it might be a real real tight 6". does anyone know if the combustors that are made under size or are they a true 6". the guy I used to buy all my stove products from is long out of business.
also when I was on line I found a web sight www.stovecombusters.com and there combusters are pretty cheep but they are not a honeycomb they are like a mesh type. does anyone know anything about these combusters.
Thanks
 
rbcss,

I, too, have a Hearthmate stove (5000 series). I replaced the combustor last year. I got the new one from Applied Ceramics in Atlanta as I have in the past. They have been making these things for 25 years and make them for every stove ever made. You do, indeed, need a slightly smaller than 6" combustor and you need to a gasket also. Check out their web site.

www.appliedceramics.com

Mailing Address:
P.O. Box 29664
Atlanta, Georgia 30359

Physical Address:
5555 Pleasantdale Road
Doraville, Georgia 30340

Fax Number: 770-368-8261
Phone Number: 770-448-6888
 
The manufacturer / seller of the cats should have an application chart that will tell you what size unit to order. If they don't have something on line, call their tech support folks and ask...

I haven't tried one yet, but the Stovecombustor.com units are supposed to be of good quality, at least as good if not better than the OEM units. When Elk and I went to VC last year, their engineer said the sc cats were actually better than what VC was using, but that they didn't switch because they couldn't reach a good pricepoint agreement with stovecombustors.

One of the advantages that stovecombustors claims is that their combustors light off at 350* instead of 500* like the OEM combustors. This means that one should be able to kick them in sooner, and that they will keep burning longer than the OEM type which means cleaner burning.

Gooserider
 
Trouble with the Clear Skies CS-200 catalytic combustor.

I purchased 2 of what should be the CS-200 catalytic combustors made by or for Clear Skies Unlimited Inc., 11208 Cochiti SE, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87123 (http://www.clearskiesunlimited.com/woodburningstoves.html) which have failed to perform. This sounds like the ones referred to in the previous post as found at http://www.stovecombusters.com but that link returns a server not found so I can’t check. Actually I purchased them through the linked web site http://catcombustor.mybsi.com and received order confirmation saying that it was from [email protected] identifying the purchase only as “6 inch round canned”. The package I received shows a return address of stovecombustors.com, 11208 Cochitti SE, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87123 and included “ Manufacturers instructions for the operation, care and maintenance of the CS-200 series wood stove catalytic combustor”. http://www.clearskiesunlimited.com/woodburningstoves.html says that they are “more efficient than the ‘old’ honeycomb combustors…Higher performance at a lower price…Guaranteed!”
On 1 Dec 2009 I started using one of the catalysts in the wood burning stove I bought used and have used for many years. When I first used the stove the original catalytic combustor was in good condition and last year it was not, so I have seen normal performance with the 6” diameter 3”thick ceramic with 4 partitions/inch and no gasket that came with it. Normally when the combustor is in good condition the viewport immediately above it stays clean. This was still true after I noticed substantially less heat being produced in the combustor. When the combustor is ineffective or absent the viewport becomes covered with soot. Before installing the CS-200 I cleaned the flue and viewport. I fired the stove and monitored the temperature directly above and almost touching the center of the catalyst and in the center of the flue as close as I could get to the stove using type K thermocouples. I tried cleaning the viewport and firing the stove twice, the second time with binder free fiberglass packing around it to prevent flue gas bypass. In 92 minutes during which the temperature was never below 235°C and not below 322°C for over 6 minutes the viewport became black. At the end of the burn, the catalyst was ash colored on the bottom and the thermocouple was clean. I then added the second CS-200 in series with the first. Over three hours when the temperature never fell below 325°C the viewport gradually blackened. About the only indication of catalytic combustion I have seen was as the fire burned down with the air inlet 1/8 open. As the temperature above the catalyst fell below 292°C , I started opening the air inlet and the temperature quickly fell to 200°C and could not be brought back. This suggests that the catalyst was working at 292 °C but quit as more air cooled it a bit, but not enough to fall below the operating temperature of 193°C specified by Clear Skies. As I remember the original, I could see that the central area was hotter than the top (probably due to radiative cooling). These are a more open foamed alumina fiber with much less surface area, which would result in less heat trapping, less catalyst and lower price (I paid $135 for the two) but they don’t work well enough for me to even know if they quit working. (I don’t have a thermocouple directly below the catalyst, with that addition I could detect an absolutely dead catalyst but it would be hard for me to tell much more.)

I did not get any response from the order confirmation folks or Clear Skies and am continuing to use two in series till I get a replacement in the form of the original. This turns out to be a difficult task. Http://www.catalyticcombustor.com says “In order for the catalytic combustor to engage the stove must reach an internal temperature of around 1100 degrees” (at that temperature you don’t need a catalyst!) so there must be a variety of catalysts. (Clear Skys says theirs starts at 380°F) If I have to worry about the type and amount of catalyst after I find the correct substrate form, this may be a hopeless proposition. I have seen one advertised as being a catalyst deposited on steel (http://www.woodstovecombustors.com/steel_advantages.html) but without specifying the type of steel it’s durability, or its effectiveness (other than saying it complies with EPA requirements, same as Clear Skies). I hope others with experiences with something that works over the long term will post.

To address the size question in the previous post, the canned (have a metal ring around them) combustor from Clear Skies is 6”+- very little. This is one of a few common sizes. The hole it needs to go in is 6.15” dia and www.woodstovecombustors.com has expanding non reusable high temperature gasket material to fill the gap.
 
I can't say for sure if it's working or not, and if it isn't working, whether the problem is totally with the cat, or other issues with the stove that I've described elsewhere, but I will say that I'm far from impressed with the stovecombustor cat that is currently in my VC.

Gooserider
 
kellog said:
rbcss,

I, too, have a Hearthmate stove (5000 series). I replaced the combustor last year. I got the new one from Applied Ceramics in Atlanta as I have in the past. They have been making these things for 25 years and make them for every stove ever made. You do, indeed, need a slightly smaller than 6" combustor and you need to a gasket also. Check out their web site.

www.appliedceramics.com

Mailing Address:
P.O. Box 29664
Atlanta, Georgia 30359

Physical Address:
5555 Pleasantdale Road
Doraville, Georgia 30340

Fax Number: 770-368-8261
Phone Number: 770-448-6888

I plan on getting mine there as well... I feel the honeycomb style lends itself to cleaning and inspection whereas the course looking coated mesh would get clogged and cannot be cleaned... My combustors last at least 10 yrs so no complaints on that design..

Ray
 
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