Woodstocks cat cleaning instructions say NOT to blow thru it with compressor air, does anyone know why that it? Lately I find every 3 weeks or so my CAT has been getting clogged up a bit with a light brown very fine powdery substance. If I brush it off with a small paint brush (my normal method), it clears the top and bottom surface, but does not clean out anything stuck in the middle of it. I then blow with a swift breath thru it and see lots of this powder come out the other side, right where I directed the wind. I end up having to blow thru it 10 or 20 times to get it all cleaned out. So it got me thinking, what is the problem with doing the same with compressed air? Is it just a worry that they don't want 100PSI blown thru it from a full blast compressor? Or is there more behind this..... ?
From what I understand about Woodstock, the easiest way to get an answer to this question would be to call or email them and they will be happy to explain why their instructions say what they do.
I suspect your right that its the PSI that an air compressor is capable of that concerns Woodstcock. Maybe ask them about using a hairdryer instead?
Machria, The most effective way to clean the cat is to use a shop vac. Powerful enough to get in the cells but won't strip the wash coat. As far as the compressor is concerned lower pressure is okay. I find it easier with the vac so you don't have that fine dust all over the place or have to take the cat outside.
Yes, compressed air usually is too strong and will blow the good stuff out of the cat. However, low pressure is okay. We use "Dust Off" which is compressed air in the can for cleaning keyboards. That works okay. We know of some who use the Dust Off cans and don't even remove the catalyst from the stove but that just seems like it would make a nice mess of things. So why the extra fly ash? One thing we learned that can cause this is not covering the wood stacks. This is not referring to just the wood you use this year but after splitting and stacking. For example, a few years ago we did not cut a lot of wood and it had been a long, long time since I had not top covered our wood piles. After reading of so many not covering, especially oak, I just had to experiment again. I split and stacked then forgot the wood. Quite naturally it turned really dark but I could also tell it was different when I was moving it from the stack to the barn last fall. The two biggest things we found were that: 1. The wood did not hold fire as long. 2. We got almost double the amount of ash. Along with getting more ash in the stove, we also found we had to clean the cat more than we have before. In fact, just a week or two ago we cleaned it and it had not been all that long since we had done it before. For the very first time, we found a few clogged cells. They were not completely clogged but instead just a thin film blocking the cells that that film broke off very easy. I used the Dust off first then just used a punch and lightly touched those clogged cells and it was done. Of course we know that some types of wood will give more ash than others but now I am more of the opinion that it also greatly depends upon how you store your wood as to how much ash you will get. Also, quite naturally, if you have more ash in the stove, there will be more fly ash in the catalyst. Fortunately it is a very easy fix.
Might just be you, Dennis. I have never covered anything. I've been burning ash, elm, and oak exclusively the last three months or so. I ran the shop vac past the cat in January when I let it go out for a mid season sweep. The cat still looked good, and I really didn't need to clean the chimney. I pull the flame shield out now and then when the stove is relatively cool, and see no reason to mess with anything. The 6" deep belly of my stove holds a lot of ash. I guess I'm not sure what you mean by more ash in the stove, because I can fill the 17 gallon trash can I use for an ash bucket more than 2/3 when I do decide to shovel it out. Apples and oranges, I guess. Blaze King and Woodstock, your super dry wood and my super dry wood. Every situation is different.
I suspect higher draft settings, causing more air currents, will carry more fly ash into the cat. With my draft set on 2 (50%) the flames are whipping around.
Jeff, it is guys and posts like this that just might take me off the forums. Yes, it pizzed me off when I read it. It just might be you Dennis!!!!! Why of course, it could be me. It certainly could not be the wood or anything else but me causing excessive ash. Just think about this. A man causing ash and not the wood. So rather than trying to consider what might be happening, it is easier to pin something on the guy. Pin it on yourself and you know where you can go. Moderators, if you want to delete this, please feel free. It won't bother me in the least. Bye friends.
I'm sorry that I offended you, Dennis. I didn't mean to in any way. I thought we were here sharing our experiences. I didn't mean to imply anything negative.
I can say for sure that one time my screen clogged solid and I had just loaded well seasoned but uncovered rain dampened wood. Another time I engaged the cat way too early (before driving moisture out on seasoned but covered wood) and the cat clogged solid on that single load. I have been suspicious damp wood and fine screens/cats don't mix well together.
Very interesting, Dennis. Maybe if the wood is slightly damp, the ash clumps more coming off the wood, resulting in bigger ash particles and more clogging. Just taking a stab in the dark here... You say this uncovered wood (Ash, I'm assuming) was stacked for a couple of years, and I'm guessing you brought the wood into the barn only after it hadn't been rained on in a while. Then it sat in the barn for some length of time before you burned it, further allowing any surface moisture to dry. If the wood was still slightly damp to the point where it affected the burn, we might assume that wood is a sponge, and free moisture deeply penetrates the wood, or else that the wood often being wet with surface moisture prevented the cellular moisture from completely leaving. Still, a stack mostly sheds water to one side or the other and the further down in the stack the wood is, the less surface moisture to be deposited on it. I'm also baffled that the wood didn't last as long, and made more ash. If incomplete combustion led to more ash, it's still hard to believe it would make all that much of a difference in burn time. Hmmm.... I was thinking of leaving the wood uncovered if I can use a neighbor's windy spot to stack in, but in light of this I think I'll be covering it.
I think there is a major difference in CATS here between a ceramic and a steel cat. (I'm guessing Machria has a steel in the PH?) Cleaning a ceramic cat is a more delicate job, especially as they age a bit. Pieces of the ceramic can break off if they get handled too roughly. But the holes are bigger on a ceramic and they clean easier. I always found a few gentle taps of a cermaic on a flat surface dislodged all of the power and ash. The steel cats have much smaller openings, and really needs something to blow the fine powder through, and gentle taps do some good but maybe not enough. I think the hair dryer is a good idea for sure. It's hard for me to imagine that a shop vac could do any damage but I could see where a high pressure air nozzle could just plug and pack cells more than clear them if there's already a lot of ash and dust in them.
Yep that's what I thought too, just two guys sharing what works for them, I don't cover my wood while drying but cover what I might use that winter. I do have wood that sets in my garage all winter long to use in the spring and it burns the same as what I bring in from outside after a period of no rain.
Read through the posts again and it is NEVER a good idea to burn rain dampened wood, I only bring in dry wood to the house.
This is an awesome forum. We need to remember that things written down can be misunderstood by others or even worse some things could be intentionally written to hurt or mock others. Never the less, everyone please use discretion when posting and replying, re-read, and then submit.
