Sigh---Another lesson learned about cats

[fireview2788]

Some may remember I posted about having issues with my cat stalling. Well it got better for a bit and then finally this weekend I had had enough. The symptoms were: stalling cat, low stove temps with well season hickory/ash (nothing over 450F), and fires that died when cat was engaged and damper reduced.

I was ready to buy a new cat when I decided I better check things a little more closely before I spend the money. So yesterday before church, with a fairly cool stove, I opened the hatch and pulled the cat. Well guess what I found....she was completely plugged with fly ash! You couldn't see through the combs it was so bad.

After a thorough cleaning of the cat and upper compartment I set another fire and sat back to watch. With four splits of ash going I engaged the cat and she quickly climbed to over 500F. Well, to say the least I danced a quick jig and then started kicking myself for not cleaning it sooner. I usually clean it during the January warmup but since we didn't warm up I didn't do it.

Hoping this will help someone else. If others say they only clean their cat once a year or never, I say good for them but I recommend cleaning it at least every so often.

A clean cat burns well but a dirty cat does not.


fv

 

[mark cline]

How do you clean it ?

 

[toddnic]

I clean the cat monthly. Thankfully it has not been clogged so far. It only takes a few minutes to clean it. I figure that an "ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."

 

[fireview2788]

On the Fireview you lift the lid and remove it. Once out I vacuum it and use a soft brush on it while vacuuming it. That simple.

fv

 

[fireview2788]

I clean the cat monthly. Thankfully it has not been clogged so far. It only takes a few minutes to clean it. I figure that an "ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."

That's the way I was until this year, yeah I feel pretty stupid.

 

[Woody Stover]

It's so easy on the Fv that whenever I got a day where I could let the stove burn down with out losing too much room temp, I'd clean the cat and glass. That happens pretty often at our latitude.

 

[Highbeam]

If others say they only clean their cat once a year or never, I say good for them but I recommend cleaning it at least every so often.

If it ever gets dirty. This seems to be a brand specific or design specific thing. I wanted to clean my cat but it never has anything on it, I looked, even used a light to try and look harder but nothing accumulates on my cat.

 

[imacheezhead]

Some may remember I posted about having issues with my cat stalling. Well it got better for a bit and then finally this weekend I had had enough. The symptoms were: stalling cat, low stove temps with well season hickory/ash (nothing over 450F), and fires that died when cat was engaged and damper reduced.

I was ready to buy a new cat when I decided I better check things a little more closely before I spend the money. So yesterday before church, with a fairly cool stove, I opened the hatch and pulled the cat. Well guess what I found....she was completely plugged with fly ash! You couldn't see through the combs it was so bad.

After a thorough cleaning of the cat and upper compartment I set another fire and sat back to watch. With four splits of ash going I engaged the cat and she quickly climbed to over 500F. Well, to say the least I danced a quick jig and then started kicking myself for not cleaning it sooner. I usually clean it during the January warmup but since we didn't warm up I didn't do it.

Hoping this will help someone else. If others say they only clean their cat once a year or never, I say good for them but I recommend cleaning it at least every so often.

A clean cat burns well but a dirty cat does not.


fv

What is the maximum temperature your CAT can achieve?

 

[fireview2788]

I don't have a cat probe but there have been several times I've had to open things up due to it heading to over firing. With the hickory and ash that I've got I usually get to 600F with no problems.

fv

 

[Woody Stover]

What is the maximum temperature your CAT can achieve?

I don't have a cat probe but there have been several times I've had to open things up due to it heading to over firing. With the hickory and ash that I've got I usually get to 600F with no problems.

The stock probe on the Fireview and Keystone don't extend over the cat so they measure the cat exhaust, not actual cat temp. Those probes probably last longer than the ones where the tip is over the cat like the Dutchwest and Buck, which erode eventually. I'm trying to make observations of smoke emitted at various temps, with cat engaged or bypassed, to see if I can correlate a certain exhaust temp with a burning cat. If the temps in or out of the cat are 500 it should be burning, theoretically. Guys like Todd and fox9988 who have installed probes that get actual cat temp readings have reported max temps of over 1500 on hot burns. The Buck 91 probe also extends over the cat, and I've seen over 1800 which I've read is where you can begin to see cat damage such as the catalyst coat peeling off of the substrate material (ceramic or stainless steel.)

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Some may remember I posted about having issues with my cat stalling. Well it got better for a bit and then finally this weekend I had had enough. The symptoms were: stalling cat, low stove temps with well season hickory/ash (nothing over 450F), and fires that died when cat was engaged and damper reduced.

I was ready to buy a new cat when I decided I better check things a little more closely before I spend the money. So yesterday before church, with a fairly cool stove, I opened the hatch and pulled the cat. Well guess what I found....she was completely plugged with fly ash! You couldn't see through the combs it was so bad.

After a thorough cleaning of the cat and upper compartment I set another fire and sat back to watch. With four splits of ash going I engaged the cat and she quickly climbed to over 500F. Well, to say the least I danced a quick jig and then started kicking myself for not cleaning it sooner. I usually clean it during the January warmup but since we didn't warm up I didn't do it.

Hoping this will help someone else. If others say they only clean their cat once a year or never, I say good for them but I recommend cleaning it at least every so often.

A clean cat burns well but a dirty cat does not.

fv

Good for you for checking and finding it was an easy fix.

On ours, we can normally go with cleaning only twice per year and there is usually not much at all; just a very thin layer of fly ash. This year though we have found a bit more than normal but I think this is because of the wood. I have posted before about an experiment that we did and will not be repeating. We did clean the cat, I think last week. Not much there but it really helped the cat fire off faster. We have rarely had any problems getting the stove top to over 600 degrees and that still holds.

 

[robbydanilow]

Hey thanks for the post! I am new to the fireview and have been experiencing what I think are draft issues when the cat is engaged. Stove needing more air before cat stalls, fewer secondaries, cat needing higher temps to light off... It's just been so cold the stove hasn't been without a coal bed in a month. Been worried about a creosote clogged liner but think I will let it burn down today and clean my cat first.

 

[fireview2788]

Hey thanks for the post! I am new to the fireview and have been experiencing what I think are draft issues when the cat is engaged. Stove needing more air before cat stalls, fewer secondaries, cat needing higher temps to light off... It's just been so cold the stove hasn't been without a coal bed in a month. Been worried about a creosote clogged liner but think I will let it burn down today and clean my cat first.

I bet you'll find the same, I hope it helps and then I can say I did it on purpose so I could help you out.

fv

 

[rideau]

I have a Progress Hybrid with a steel cat. It clogs.

I previously had for 7 years a Fireview, attached to the same chimney I am presently using for the PH, albeit the PH has a top vent and the Fireview was rear vent, so a 90 degree is removed. I have a strong draft, stronger with the top vent.

I never had to clean the ceramic cat the entire time I owned the Fireview. And the stove worked very well.

If I were still burning in the Fireview I would use a ceramic cat. Can't get one for the PH.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Not really sure why the Progress gets more fly ash than the Fireview but it appears to. Not a big problem so long as folks know they have to brush that stuff off on a regular basis. As for the ceramic vs steel in the Fireview, I'm still not sold that one is superior to the other. I'll probably be testing a new cat soon and I'm anxious to see if there is a difference.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Hey thanks for the post! I am new to the fireview and have been experiencing what I think are draft issues when the cat is engaged. Stove needing more air before cat stalls, fewer secondaries, cat needing higher temps to light off... It's just been so cold the stove hasn't been without a coal bed in a month. Been worried about a creosote clogged liner but think I will let it burn down today and clean my cat first.

Robby, you do have to experiment with the setting on the draft. Most of us find that somewhere around a setting of 1 works well. For us it is mostly around .75 but sometimes if it is really cold outside, .5 will work. A bit warmer, like up around 25 and above we may have to set it at 1 or 1.25. But this is just on our installation. Each installation can be different.

One more thing is that the drier the wood, the better the stove will operate.

 

[robbydanilow]

Well the cat had some build up not blocked as bad as the OPs' but enough. Seemed heavy in the center with maybe 15% of the cells blocked. started from cold and 2 hours later cruising at 550°. Cats cherry red and the fire box is darkish with secondaries. Good dry wood would be great but Im burning what I have. This year is all about experimentation! The cleaning definitely helped. The wood is questionable...