Production Woodstock IS

I actually think I might order another cat just in case I damaged mine. I like to know everything is optimized.

 

What does WS say about vinegar baths?

 

I was told that a good vacuuming is all it needs. If it looks clean , it is clean.

There are so many things that damage a catalyst I'm not doing anymore than that.

 

It's on the way!

 

love reading this thread and seeing everyone's pics. I'm glad I resisted the temptation to place an order during the spring sale as my house is still sitting on the market. Can't wait to get the move over with so I can order my own IS.

 

Are you picking it up at the terminal? Our Tommy lift made it easy peasy.

 

Hi Steph,

I had them deliver it to my dad's work. They have a loading dock there, and he happens to be the shipping manager. He'll use one of his fork trucks and load it on his truck and bring it home to me. I know, my life is so hard! Lol. (Btw, I just tracked it, and it's already in PA. They aren't messing around!)

 

When I called Woodstock last winter and described that the vacuuming didn't quite seem to bring the cat back to that "new cat hyperactive" reaction, he suggested a spray of 50/50 vinegar/water. Did that then rinsed it with clear water and dried it, re-installed into the stove. That did bring the cat to nearly new cat response for a couple of weeks. Vinegar, being acidic, could neitralize the tiny particles of alkali fly ash stuck inside the cat cells and wash 'em out. Yeah, I am WAY overthinking this thing. But the vinegar-water did improve cat reaction, in my mind anyway.

 

Do you think the 50/50 solution was enough to harm the cat in any way? I know WS said that was what their suggestion was but do you think the vinegar reacts to the precious metals enough to harm it? In your post you also mentioned you saw a decline in the cats effectiveness from when you gave it a bath, do you think it needs a cleaning that often?

 

I think these guys know about cleaning a catalyst. See page 6. I would not be too concerned.

http://www.condar.com/combustorcleaningmanual.pdf

 

Condars procedure on cleaning a SS cat was interesting. Ive never seen the boiling solution part before and I think the extremely hot solution may do the trick in getting all the fly ash off. 30 minutes total was also a surprise.
Since I haven't cleaned mine since the end of the season, I may give this a try. I also like Jeff's idea on having a second cat on hand for 'whatever' reason, Murphy is always lurking.

 

I'm not saying that a bath or two is going to kill it. What I mean is in the process of cleaning it, you could potentially rob it of a little coating each time. Maybe not that noticeable. That 50/ 50 mix isn't magically changing it to a new cat it is simply a temporary deep clean. We don't know how long the cat will last in this stove, maybe 5-10 years? My question is if it is worth the risk for the temporary performance gain?

 

Just a thought but I do not think a very mild acid, such as vinegar, will do much to a stainless steel material coated with ceramic and catalyst metals. Certainly not at room temperature. These things live at temps. high enough to make them glow for hours (900 F +) so a vinegar bath at less than boiling, 212F, just does not sound like much of a hardship. I have done this in the past with combustors out of other stoves and it does seem to restore their performance somewhat but of course only because it cleans the catalysts off and allows better contact with the stove flue gasses in the first place.

Cat. life is not so much a case of good / bad as it is a situation of deterioration. Sort of like the difference between a tungsten bulb (basically it is good and performing perfectly or it does not work) and a fluorescent lamp (which has a fairly steady loss of light output until it drops below 50% of its initial light output). A new cat. is somewhat hyperactive and performs amazingly well for the first 100 hours or so but then deteriorates all the way to the point where they simply no longer work. My own experience with cat. life is that they really drop off after 18 months or so but I am hoping for a bit longer with the Ideal Steel given the cat. is in the hottest part of the stove, which is the perfect design IMO.

Brian

 

More to come!

 

Dad sent me these from his work. Looks like it was delivered in good shape!

 

In my opinion you are getting your stove at a perfect time. There is no rush and you can take your time on the install, before long you'll be doing the break in fires then it's off to the races. When the shoulder season begins you will see alot more of the IS regulars in here, lots of good info and sharing of tips and tricks.

 

Brian, how do you clean your IS cat?

 

Thanks! This thread has already helped a whole bunch. This thread may be almost solely responsible for my buying decision! So thank you all. Looking forward to new posts...

Well, made it home! Ran into a storm, but the shrink wrap held up good. Will have to wait to unload, my grandmother had a bad spell at the nursing home. Headed over there.

 

Prayers for your gma

 

Well, having it only one season, I have cleaned it a couple of time with a vacuum cleaner and one time with a water rinse. Every cleaning resulted in a significant improvement but certainly only because it was dirty with fly- ash.

I will give it the vinegar / barbecue grill treatment (boiling vinegar is too insulting in the house) this summer before heating season starts.

Brian