Hey, A couple combustor questions for my progress hybrid. This forum has always been such a help. I have 2 combustors. I switch them out every week or so. I've only cleaned them once this year in the vinegar and distilled water. I've noticed a drop in temp after engaging the cat. I've placed my cat not in use in the vinegar bath. Should I always use the bath every time I switch my cat around? How long should I soak it for? And can I damage it by soaking it for too long of a period of a time? I always either use a vacuum, or compressed air every time I switch the cats. I'm very thankful for this forum,rarely do I ever post but I read often. Thanks in advance. Steelcity
The vinegar bath does nothing other than simply cleaning ash deposits off the cat. It is mostly unneeded and may or may not remove bits of the coating over time. A lack of cat performance can be caused by poor draft (creosote buildup in chimney) , moisture content of the wood, or even poor door, ash pan, and cat gaskets. If you can shut the stove down, Do a full cleaning of everything and inspect the gaskets and wood.
That is way more cat maintenance than I do. I blew my ceramic cat out with lung power earlier in the season but I don't think I'll have to do it again until the off-season. I have another diesel-foil cat but haven't used it for a couple years. You are going easy with the compressed air, right? You can ruin the reactive coating if you blow through there very hard. If I use compressed air, it's maybe only a little more force than if I blew through it with lung power. I don't know if I would be soaking those cats, either. I simmer them out once every other year, and I didn't notice much of a difference when I did. I'm not sure, but I thought it could also remove some kinds of chemical masking that occurs from burning cordwood....potassium or something?
If you are using less the seasoned wood you will need to boil the cat occasionally. Maybe twice a year. With dry wood, once a year or two should do it
I only ask as I spoke to Woodstock today. They recommend that according to the phone call. The instruction manual never even mentions a bath. The wood is well seasoned. No oak and all is at least 2 years seasoned. I appreciate the responses.
How often do you soak the cat on your car in a vinegar bath? What about a diesel pickup? Never right? The reason a woodstove cat needs cleaned is ash buildup.
I've never heard of anyone doing a vinegar bath more than once a year. It's not necessary imho. X3 on being careful with compressed air, it can strip the coating. Without a probe, a lack of visible smoke and a clean chimney are the best indicators of an efficient cat burn. Exactly what do you mean by noticing a drop in temp after engaging the cat?
Here's my PH cat after 4 cord of wood since the last bath. I've vacuumed it, so what you see still on it isn't coming off easily. I'll do the vinegar spray method, rather than soak.
I generally vacuum the cat once every two weeks. Once it gets like it is in the picture above it gunks up more quickly; the symptoms are it is slower to catch (needs to be hotter stove temp to get it to catch). We finally bought a second cat so we can swap them and do a better job of cleaning without having the stove cooled down for too long. I've been a full season (8 cord for me) without needing vinegar on a new cat. I can't say for sure how many cord this cat (above) has seen - maybe 20.
Did it look like that before the last bath, and did it come off? I would have to see it in person, but that looks to me like the coating is peeling. I've seen it on both steel and ceramic cats, but that's about the worst I've seen. As long as that doesn't go all the way through, and the cat is still working well, it's not too big a deal, I guess.
Right away as I read this I'm thinking perhaps you are a bit too concerned about the cat and keeping it clean. Yet I know that fly ash can be a problem perhaps even more so with the Progress. Still, switching or cleaning every week or two just seems way too often. Remember that every time you handle the cat you take the chance of knocking more metals off the inside of the cat, especially if you bump it or drop it. Also I am not a fan of compressed air although I have used it for a time but have since stopped using that method (I used the compressed air in the can you get at office supply stores). I also would question soaking the cat in vinegar bath each time like that. Cleaning the cat with the vinegar bath, either hot or cold, once per year should be plenty. And again, even this over time will remove some of the metals that make the catalyst work. So why tease it? Cleaning is a good thing but just like with your body, you can do it too much. I would highly suggest cleaning the cat monthly but vinegar bath only on the annual summer cleaning. While on this I will also add that with the Fireview, we definitely noticed that since switching to the SS scoop that we get more fly ash so do need to brush the cat a bit more often (I use an old paint brush). Also, we don't let the stove get cold before cleaning the cat. We use heavy gloves, remove the cat, take it outdoors to clean and then quickly put it back in and fire up the stove immediately. It works and is done in just a very few minutes so the house does not get cold.
I'd think the screen would catch more ash, or did you switch from ceramic to steel cat at the same time. The steel cat sure does catch more ash...
No, did not switch at the same time. Been running steel cats for a few years now and yes, they do catch more ash than the ceramic. We did put a new one in this year and I have to say so far it is the best one we've had as it really fires off nicely and once again, we have to be careful to not over-fire the stove as the temperature will shoot up to 700 pretty fast if we're not careful.
Here is the PH cat cleaned up a bit. I didn't see any signs of the coating peeling, just ash accumulations. You might see a few spots where there is still some ash stuck on. I think next time, if I remember, I will try a soak/dip - the spray gets most but not all of it off.
Good deal. That stuff just looked a little different than the ash I usually see. Maybe it is deposited a little differently on the DuraFoil. I have one coming, so I'll see soon enough...
As mentioned something is amiss if the temp doesn't go up after engaging the cat. I know that if I engage too early the temp simply won't go up and I suspect it will quickly foul. If it doesn't go up within 10 minutes or so, I open it back up and open the air to supercharge. It's a fine line sometimes, and, upon taking the cat out to clean it at regular intervals, I notice sometimes I've basically wasted my time taking it out while other times it's totally powdered up. I don't vacuum, I hook the hose to the exhaust (outside of course) and along with a paint brush I gently blow it out. Only twice in 2 1/2 years have I used a vinegar spray, once when I was off sunbathing in Saudi Arabia, my girlfriend completely gummed it up with black creosote. Thought it was a goner. 50/50 vinegar spray and it was back in service.
