Cat in Ideal Steel is sluggish now almost overnight.

Well my IS cat seems to all of a sudden turn very sluggish, vacuumed it 3 weeks ago and then today again, more ash on it this time, at first it seemed to help quite a bit but the stove is not working worth a crap right now.
Been going to order a new cat so I can just change it out but kept forgetting so doing that today.
Cat is just a touch over 1 year old so will a vinegar bath help in this situation, stove is not heating house very good at all.

 

Manual says the warranty is 3 years on the cat fwiw. Probably worth a call before you order another one.

 

I would recommend a vinegar bath, I have found it helps for me. Just make sure it's dry before reusing. I bought a second one for our progress hybrid that way I can just swap out and clean and dry at my convenience.

 

Not a 100% sure what the problem is, cant reduce the air like normal when I engage cat, stove is normal until I engage cat and then its sluggish, no smoke out of chimney and cat is up to temp according to probe. I thought at first it was due to warmer temps but cooled down now and just not letting me reduce air nothing like I could a week ago, all the same wood I have been using at 12% moisture.

 

On a follow-up, make sure to rinse with distilled water after the 30% vinegar and distilled water boil, Have done that and it will make a huge difference, Or did for my I.S. Good luck? Yes good to have an exchange and then get around to cleaning take out when you have time. BEST TO THE CLEANING and GET THE I.S. back in burning condition. I can go one season before the cleaning process.

 

Is the boiling of the mixture necessary, I saw a write up by oldhippie on cleaning a cat and unless I missed it he did not boil the solution, some other write ups did not mention the boiling either.

 

Sure sounds like a clogged CAT to me... But you said you vacuumed. I too have noticed what you are experiencing, but it is always obviously clogged. Make sure you take out the cat to vacuum the underside as well as the top side. Light air compression could also help. I have two cats and can swap them out. I find the vinegar solution and then a rinse work well. I have two CATS and I am over 8 years on them.

 

I don not boil, I just splash with vinegar and then rinse with tap and then rinse with distilled water.

 

I

I use the 50/50 vinegar/distilled water in a spray bottle technique. Then rinse with distilled water in the spray bottle.
Works fine for me but I’ve never done a boiling bath to compare the two.

 

Woodstove website has the cleaning process on it. I called and talked to them, I have a stainless steel pan that I had made just for cleaning and have always boiled the cat and also boiled with the distilled water. Seems to work as intended, Good luck and let us know how the cat works for you after cleaning, THANKS

 

I don't "boil" the vinegar and water, but I absolutely do put it on the range and elevate the temp. Distilled water and vinegar roughly 50/50 mix. I do this maybe twice during the heating season. I find it pulls a lot of junk out of the catalyst. Final rinse off with distilled water and then I use a little blower to run air through it, let it dry on the counter on some newspaper and I'm back in business later that day.

 

Just a quick update, the first fire after the vacuuming seemed to be sluggish but next one was normal and has been for the last couple of days.
Spare one is ordered.
Thanks for all the helpful tips, gonna give it a bath when new one gets here.

 

Yay!!!!

 

The method of boiling was the original way that was recommended. Then a year or two into that, messy, difficult, WIFE-unfriendly process, someone came up with the 50% white vinegar/50% distilled water just using a sprayer. This has worked well for me, but one discovery I had this year, was I purchased a 2-gallon electric sprayer. I bought it originally for garden and lawn spraying chores but then decided to use it for cleaning the CAT. What I found was it makes the chore MUCH easier and I think the added small increase in spray pressure really helped to clean my CAT much better.

I would strongly suggest getting one of these electric sprayers. Especially if you do spray your garden and lawn with all sorts of fertilizer and weed prevention/killer things. They have gone up in price, I bought one a few years ago and it wasn't priced as high as they are now. But... it might help. A manual sprayer works too, it's just a PITA.

 

Thanks oldhippie, i have a old pump sprayer (they are a pain) that i can try.
Second thought I'm buying that electric sprayer, did not know they made such a thing.

 

There's more than one way to clean a cat.

 

Punny

 

I use a sprayer a LOT, I've turned into a lawn/grass maintenance guy and I have a pretty good-sized veggie garden that I put a lot of work into. For all of these, I find I use a sprayer for 1 or 2-gallon spraying. My Cat is really the least of what I use it for. The Scott sprayer has been a great addition to my tool collection.

I can't remember when I bought a replacement CAT for my AS, I "think" I am still on the original. But I just looked up when I bought the AS and it was in the Fall of 2016! I just called Woodstock but went to their message center, and they will call me back. It's lunchtime, so not their fault. But I don't think I've bought a replacement yet. I will qualify this with I don't use that stove 24X7 like I do the upstairs Fireview. I do use it in the below 15'F and less weather, and probably more like 30% of the winter. So a 3-year 24X7 burner would be maybe my 9 years equivalent. So I am not the guy to do any comparisons with on CAT life.

 

The small electric sprayer will great around the yard, my atv sprayer is way too much for that.