Had to clean the PH again

Good info to know thanks!

 

One thing I have noticed over the last 2 years. Almost always those that have issues with cat clogging like the pics in this thread, don't have the ash pan. I rarely have ash in my stove, it all falls thru the grate into the huge ash pan. Maybe that is the difference??

GET THE ASH PAN!!

 

What was the purpose of the screen?

 

It was made of a substance that was supposed to incinerate the fly ash before it got to the cat.

 

Sort of like a pre-cat-cat.

 

To bad it didn't work then.

Would this be considered a design change? Did they have to retest the stove with the epa?

 

Good questions. I do not believe they retested the stove for EPA- The screen is not really a "cat" but like sherwood said, it was meant to incinerate fly ash before it hit the cat.
The problem is it also tends to clog.

My Palladian has a screen with much larger openings and that screen never clogs. I have not looked at the SS cat yet this year so I don't know how clogged it might be.

 

I didn't know ash could be incinerated.

 

I think you may be onto something, I'd love to have an ash pan but I have a fireplace install with the short leg kit so it's a no go for me.

 

I posted quite a while ago...as in last year...that I felt it was a strong draft in the absence of the ash pan that usually caused the cat clog: ran a survey on the other site, and reached that conclusion from the responses. Discussed it with Woodstock last year. Spoke with them this Autumn, and that had since found that indeed at least one person who installed an ashpan got rid of his cat clogging problem. It was the one thing that made the most sense.

Fundamentally, it is usually an excessive draft that pulls the fly ash up into the smoke path. With an ashpan present, the fly ash drops below the firebox and is not pulled into the smoke stream.

Fly ash was very visible in my firebox before I installed my flue damper/ Now, I only see it when I have the air open all the way, or the flue damper open at all.
I have significant lessening of fly ash on the cat. I'm planning on installing an ashpan when my stove is redone by Woodstock. Esthetically I'd rather not, because I love the appearance of the stove without the ashpan. However, I have the stove to heat my home, and it makes sense to simplfy.

 

Sherwood,
I do understand the esthetic look differences with and without the ashpan. I'll admit they do look a tad bit better without them, it just looks sleeker I think without a "black box" below it. Having said that, I can also report depending on your hearth colors, the ashpan can disappear into the background and you don't even know it's there. That is is my case, with a very dark grey slate tile, the ashpan really does not show at all. BUT, I would not even think of owning this stove without it. I can't imagine having to dig ashes out of the stove, when instead I just take a few swipes with my rake and they just all disappear!

One thing I notice when people post pics of there PH burning or a re-load with the door open and they do not have the ashpan, I can't believe how much ash they have sitting in the bottom of the stove! I see 3 or 4" of nothing but ash in the stoves all the time in pics. When I reload, I have nothing left but some hot coals in my stove and I even rake those around and break them up/stoke them a bit and then rake them all forward. I usually end up with a 2" pile of hot coals filling the front 1/4 of the stove. The entire back 3/4's of the stove floor is just an empty grate with nothing on it. I always lay a large split of hardwood (Black locust usually) down on the floor in the back, a smaller one in front of it, and I have not even yet touched the hot coals. Now I lay a smaller sized split onto of the coals in the front and it usually immediately starts burning while I start filling up the rest of the load. The moral of the story is, I think I burn the stove down waaaaaay past what folks without the ahspan do, because they/you might need a deeper/bigger pile of hot coals to get the next load going. That is because you still have all that ash laying in there... I just can't image that the PH doesn't burn better with the ashpan. I wonder if Woodstock has ever tested or compared the burn times and heat output with and without an ashpan. Probably a hard thing to do...

Anyway, I think you will be happy with it. Besides all that, it just works so well, easy to use and large.

 

Machria,

I have to disagree about coal burndown being a problem in the PH without an ashpan. I have posted several pictures of my stove at the end of the coaling stage, immediately before relight. Here is a picture of tonight's box just before reload, and the new load ignited by the very small coal bed, without match or firestarte,r before I even have the door closed.

I prefer the appearance of the stove without the ashpan.
I believe the ashpan makes it very easy to keep from getting fly ash in the air when removing ash from the stove.
I believe the ashpan prevents cat clogging, in the rare instance when one has an extremely tall chimney and extremely strong draft because of climate/site.
I believe the ashpan is an excellent design and functions superbly.
I do not have a problem shoveling out ash, and do not get an unreasonable amount of ash on the hearth. I get much more debris from my wood than I ever get ash out the door when cleaning, so it is not an issue. I sweep the debris, the ash is swept up with it. We may be talking a teaspoon of ash, which may come off the shovel when I place it back on the tool rack.

For anyone with a normal draft and an average length chimney, I believe it is just fine to by guided by asthetics and get the stove without the ashpan if you prefer the appearance. Especially since, if you ever change your mind, it is very easy to add the ashpan.

 

Here is the picture of the coal bed before reload

 

I'll try again. Above were obviously the reload igniting.

 

To be clear,I didn't say anything about a problem burning down coals, or anything related to the coals. What I'm saying, and your picture above demonstrates it clearly, is without the ashpan, you end up with a lot more "ash" in the stove, mixed in with what coals are left. With the ashpan, I rarely ever end up with anything remotely close to the ash you show in that pic. Ash is an insulator, which means wood which is sitting in the ash will likely take longer to light and/or burn. If your loading on a really big an hot coal bed it's not going to matter, but, on a smaller coal bed I can see it making a difference.

 

That's about as small a coal bed as one can have and have any coals. Had two separate piles of maybe two cups each, very small coals, and the fire lit off before the door was closed. There was almost no ash in that stove: none of significance. I certainly could have removed the ash in the back far corner had I felt it in any way of importance, but I would not have raked that down through a grate either. The ash was so low that the ridges in the bottom were clearly visible. And Woodstock actually recommends leaving a bit of ash or coals in the bottom of the stove, so I usually leave about 1/4 inch or so. Shoveled that load down to the grill to show you it is easy to do, and to clearly demonstrate how small the coal bed is. Another 20 minutes burning and there would have been no coal bed, only ash. On that tiny coal bed, upon reload the stove lit before the door was closed.

I obviously agree that the ashpan is a functional stove enhancement. But, in my opinion, for over 90 % of potential owners, it's absence does not create a meaningful issue, and aesthetics can rule the day on the issue.

 

Does anyone know if the door on the PH is adjustable or do you just put a new gasket on every other year or so?

 

The door is not adjustable. You can replace the gasket as needed. It closes very tightly.

There is a retrofit to the original door gasket which includes a small plate on the hinge side of the door. If you haven't installed it already, I'd suggest contacting Woodstock for it. They call it the "Door gasket upgrade kit" or something like that. Worked very nicely for me.

 

I don't think I have that, I'll contact Loren, thanks

 

sherwood: did WS tell you this? I have never seen it in writing in any of their manuals or literature.