Fireview Thoughts

I meant more seasoned/drier wood. I am on my first load with the cleaned cat. I noticed an immediate difference of quicker take off and then a cruise heat of 550'F . My early observations have got me thinking I need to do this maybe once or twice a year. I did a spray bottle thing with this unit. Gave me nice spray/pressure soaked it good, twice.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004XN8K0M?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00

 

You actually boil the 50/50 mix and then gave it a full blown bath? Yikes! I had heard about the bath but not the boiling.

I just did the spray and it did make a difference.

 

Dennis, if you come across them. No urgency.

 

OK, good to get some feedback that it's worth the time. Dennis, the first time when you did the bath, how many seasons do you figure you had been running the cat before you cleaned it? I have been doing mine every two years...that should be sufficient I think. I do the "full monty." Not really too much more involved than spraying but you need the right-sized stainless container to minimize the amount of solution needed, but still get the cat submerged. Not sure, maybe the spray-bottle routine is just as good.
http://www.condar.com/combustorcleaningmanual.pdf

 

Woody, all those Condor directions seem to depict a ceramic cat. I doubt I could get a cord of any kind through the tight openings of the steel cat that I have. I'm wondering if that site is tryng to cover just the ceramic cats?

Didin't read it end-to-end.

 

4.42 cu feet of 8" flue wood chewing machine! Glad you like that the stove and it's keeping you warm, would love to try one sometime.

 

Might be a good fit in Minnesota. It's a cold fighting machine. My wife was commenting today (cold and minus 15 F) that this the warmest she's been in this house. It depends on the house for sure and with a 22 foot straight up chimney with 13 feet of double wall it fits our needs quite well. We like the hybrid aspect as we get a nice flame show when the draft is opened enough to get slow secondary burn and on top of that the cat and the heat from it. It can get down near minus 40 at times and will sure be a blessing then. It's not too crazy wood consumption wise. Our previous stove probably used as much or more during extreme cold. Your stove is called a magnum so am guessing its pretty large also. I am no expert engineer or design critic but will attempt a fair and unbiased review one of these days. I want some real serious Northern Ontario cold first just so test it fully. Peace bro!

 

Ha don't let Magnum Countryside fool you its a local built corn/wood pellet stove. The true magnum in this house is the Woodstock Fireview, the little rock that could. I look forward to hearing a review post on the stove.

 

I just threw a stainless knife in the pan to hold the cat up off the bottom for better circulation, and used a couple of stainless spoons to handle the cat....no wire.

Yep, they say to rinse at least twice. As far as being completely dry, that is also probably an issue if you have a ceramic, maybe not so much for a steel. At any rate, it's easy enough to dry it in the oven.

 

Good idea with the spoons to hold the unit up. I just used a hair drier on a medium blower setting to dry mine and that worked well, also blowing out the residual water. Then just let it air dry overnight.

It really did make a big difference in the cats performance.

 

I reloaded this morning, and after charring the wood I settled down into cruise mode. Airdraft setting at 1, little to no flame in the wood, but just some orange coaling in progress. I love it when the cat is working like this.

 

You're not alone mine looks like that too only worse. I'm going to have to let the stove cool down and take some pics for Woodstock.

 

Likely not as rare after all. I too want to see what mine looks like once I get a chance to let the stove cool down. I will post a follow-up at that point.

 

Dennis thank for posting this.. if I understand you correctly you open pull it out and clean off f,I ash every cord and do the vinegar bath or spray once a season or is the vinegar done every cord?

shhhhhh don't tell anyone but I review all your "pearls of wisdom" so I can appear knowledgeable