Backwoods Savage said:
Dennis: I expect any day now the phone will ring and the Woodstock guys will inform me I was the actual winner of their stove and they are sorry for the mistake. In fact - there goes the phone I gotta go.....
Stainless Steel Combustors - any opinions???
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Dennis: I expect any day now the phone will ring and the Woodstock guys will inform me I was the actual winner of their stove and they are sorry for the mistake. In fact - there goes the phone I gotta go.....
SITUATION:
My mom called me because she felt her BK Princess was not burning properly. With the thermostat setting on 2, the cat went to inactive, and the stove cooled off considerably. Turning the stat back up, the fire reestablished, but it did not burn like it has the rest of the season. I told her to let it go out, and I would look at it after work.
The surface of the STEEL cat had quite a bit of ash on the surface. I brushed it off with a soft bristle paint brush; it fell right off. Also vacuumed the surface of the cat, and cleaned the connector pipe, vacuumed out the loose ash by the bypass door, checked the bypass closure and front door with the dollar bill test, all good.
Started a new fire in the stove, it still does not work right. It was roaring with the bypass open, but when closed, the flames die right down to nearly nothing. I believe that a portion of the cat is plugged, and is blocking the passage of air. Parts of it turn red, other parts do not. This never happened previously on a high fire setting, it was all red. And high fire setting would really roll the flame like crazy in the firebox; but not now.
This stove has been running continuously since October, except for 1 shutdown for a cleaning in December. My King has the ceramic cat, and is performing flawlessly, the holes are much larger in this cat. The holes in the steel cat are so small, I suspect they are much more easily closed up with fly ash. I may try to clean each one with a toothpick, but don't really want to abrade the coating, and it would be a pain in the a$$ -- there might be 1,000 holes in that thing!
I have considered the distilled water/vinegar bath, but don't really want to buy distilled water and 2 gallons of vinegar, and find a pot large enough to hold it. And I think the bath reconditions the catalytic surface, which I don't suspect as the problem here.
I'm going to call the dealer today or stop and see him tomorrow. Will keep you informed. Anyone else have any issues/comments on this?
Oh, and the wood is dry, around 14-16% on a moisture meter. Seasoned for 2 years.
My mom called me because she felt her BK Princess was not burning properly. With the thermostat setting on 2, the cat went to inactive, and the stove cooled off considerably. Turning the stat back up, the fire reestablished, but it did not burn like it has the rest of the season. I told her to let it go out, and I would look at it after work.
The surface of the STEEL cat had quite a bit of ash on the surface. I brushed it off with a soft bristle paint brush; it fell right off. Also vacuumed the surface of the cat, and cleaned the connector pipe, vacuumed out the loose ash by the bypass door, checked the bypass closure and front door with the dollar bill test, all good.
Started a new fire in the stove, it still does not work right. It was roaring with the bypass open, but when closed, the flames die right down to nearly nothing. I believe that a portion of the cat is plugged, and is blocking the passage of air. Parts of it turn red, other parts do not. This never happened previously on a high fire setting, it was all red. And high fire setting would really roll the flame like crazy in the firebox; but not now.
This stove has been running continuously since October, except for 1 shutdown for a cleaning in December. My King has the ceramic cat, and is performing flawlessly, the holes are much larger in this cat. The holes in the steel cat are so small, I suspect they are much more easily closed up with fly ash. I may try to clean each one with a toothpick, but don't really want to abrade the coating, and it would be a pain in the a$$ -- there might be 1,000 holes in that thing!
I have considered the distilled water/vinegar bath, but don't really want to buy distilled water and 2 gallons of vinegar, and find a pot large enough to hold it. And I think the bath reconditions the catalytic surface, which I don't suspect as the problem here.
I'm going to call the dealer today or stop and see him tomorrow. Will keep you informed. Anyone else have any issues/comments on this?
Oh, and the wood is dry, around 14-16% on a moisture meter. Seasoned for 2 years.
That's one of the things I was afraid of, smaller holes can plug up with ash quicker than the larger holes in ceramic cats. You can use a pipe cleaner on the ceramic but I don't know with the steel. Try blowing it out with one of those low pressure air cans you use for computer key boards. I think this is why Blaze King switched back to ceramic. Wonder if the same thing will happen to Woodstock?
Just a thought. What kind of wood is she burning (other than *dry*)? I'm now in my 6th week with a Steelcat in DW small and have witnessed no sign of deterioration. I burn, on low, a mix of sugar maple and yellow birch (seasoned 8-10 months) exclusively, minimal softwood (cedar shingle ends), even on start up.
The wood is primarily ash, maple, and beech. There are a few elm and black cherry strays thrown in for flavor. All the wood was cut/split/stacked at about the same time, and have the same level of seasoning. The wood burned fine all year, until this week. The chimney is clean, and the connector pipes are clean. There is no other explanation, except that the draft cannot pull sufficient air/smoke/gas through the catalyst; it does just fine with the bypass open. I will try the computer keyboard air repair.
We switched to the steel cat mid season in our Fireview because we killed the ceramic one with some rookie mistakes last season. The stove burns hotter for longer than before and gets hot much faster. We still engage at the same temp. haven't tried engaging at a lower temp yet because we burn 24/7 the stove is usually still pretty hot on reload.
There is no old one. The steelcat is the one that came in the stove (new last fall), it's on it's first heating season.
Just tryin' to be helpful. Next call, Blazeking, ask 'em if others are having issues with the Steelcats. Someone else mentioned that Blazeking has made an official move back to the ceramics?
No problem, I like feedback.
I also thought I had read that BK was going back to ceramic, but haven't found anything concrete on that subject. Last time (only time) I called Blaze King I asked for technical help or design personnel, and was told there wasn't any, and had to talk to the girl on that answered. She didn't know anything about the nature of my questions regarding the backwards wound bimetal thermostat coil problem found on some of the Princess models. I expect the receptionist wouldn't have a great deal of knowledge about steelcats either, but I may give them a call if, after I try the computer compressed air can clean method, it still doesn't work. It's certainly under warranty, but I expect they will question the burning practices and wood quality after only 4 months of use (I would if I were them). I hope the dealer will get another one for me under warranty, or take one out of a floor model if he doesn't have a replacement ceramic in stock. I think I prefer the ceramic, as the holes are much larger.
I also thought I had read that BK was going back to ceramic, but haven't found anything concrete on that subject. Last time (only time) I called Blaze King I asked for technical help or design personnel, and was told there wasn't any, and had to talk to the girl on that answered. She didn't know anything about the nature of my questions regarding the backwards wound bimetal thermostat coil problem found on some of the Princess models. I expect the receptionist wouldn't have a great deal of knowledge about steelcats either, but I may give them a call if, after I try the computer compressed air can clean method, it still doesn't work. It's certainly under warranty, but I expect they will question the burning practices and wood quality after only 4 months of use (I would if I were them). I hope the dealer will get another one for me under warranty, or take one out of a floor model if he doesn't have a replacement ceramic in stock. I think I prefer the ceramic, as the holes are much larger.
Woodstock replaced my burnt up ceramic cat under warranty with no questions asked after 1 1/2 season. I did have to pay the shipping.
The free replacement for 2(or 3?) years is mandated by the EPA. . .probably based on the assumption that a lot of folks are going to fry the cat. I wouldn't think anyone would give you a hard time about it.
Thanks for posting the pic. It confirms that my Keystone, bought at the end of last year, shipped with a ceramic cat. I was a little disappointed when I first suspected that it wasn't an SS cat but after reading in this thread of some potential problems, I'm OK with the ceramic for now. I was going to replace a couple of cats on family members' stoves with SS but now I think I'll wait for more feedback before taking the plunge on those. My SILs don't seem to be as patient as I am in optimizing the burn. I think they tend to close the bypass too soon, which could end up being a maintenance hassle for me if the SS cats plug more easily.KevinG said:
I've cleaned my SS cat twice over the winter. Both times, holes in the corners were lightly plugged. I know, I should haven't taken a picture! Next time....
Cleaning was easy. Just brushed it off with an old paint brush and blew out the holes with my mouth. The collected ash wasn't gummy but very powder-like. It wasn't a big deal but I'm wonder how quickly those holes will close again.
How often do you clean the ceramic cats and do they look like this too?
Cleaning was easy. Just brushed it off with an old paint brush and blew out the holes with my mouth. The collected ash wasn't gummy but very powder-like. It wasn't a big deal but I'm wonder how quickly those holes will close again.
How often do you clean the ceramic cats and do they look like this too?
Woodstock usually does their homework on this sort of stuff, so we will have to see how the SS holds up in the new stove. I'm thinking that with the dual technology (burn tubes and cat) the new stove won't be hard on the cat. Much of the smoke should be burned before it hits the combustor, so clogging might be less of an issue compared to a cat-only stove. This cat might have two lives!
I just got an SS, put it in about a week ago. Lights off much quicker. Stove is easier to operate as a result. Don't know about durability yet. Oh, did I say it lights off sooner, way sooner.
Maybe some of the problem with fly ash clogging on the steel cats is from the screens or plates in front of the cat? Woodstock changed out the screen in the Fireview and it is a much smaller diameter that maybe doesn't allow as much ash through?
I had similar thoughts. The openings appear ~ 10x smaller. I wonder if this is the "mesh" for the new stove that someone(BK?) who attended the BBQ was talking about. . . Also, the new screen completely covers the cat's air scoop opening, so it seems like it would function as a filter for larger pieces of ash. (The old iron scoop is covered only on the front, with large gaps on L/R sides.)
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