Had to clean the PH again

It does in the fireview anyways.

 

P 16 of the Progress Manual, under ASH REMOVAL:
Leave some ash and hot coals in the bottom of the stove to help in rekindling a fire.

 

OK that makes sense - to rekindle a fire.

I seem to remember my old VC Resolute manual saying a layer of ash was necessary to act as an insulator and protect the bottom of the stove.

 

I need to find it and post verbatim, but my manual says to maintain 1/2in - 2 inches of ash for best performance.

 

I'd like to see that. My Progress is performing better now that I have an ashpan and I rake out the ash.

Maintaining a 1/2" - 2" ash bed seems to be in conflict with having an ashpan/Grate system.

 

It doesn't say anything about leaving a layer of ash in the PH anywhere. In one of there youtube video's on reloading a Woodstock soapstone stove, the woman in the video mentions in passing "You can leave some ash in the bottom, it works as an insulator". But it's just a passing comment. There is no need for ash in the PH, it burns much better with only coals in it.

 

Speaking of "Cleaning the PH". I removed my CAT and cleaned it real good, and gave it a quick vinegar bath a few days ago (just before this arctic freeze..). Man, what a difference that made! If you haven't given your cat a vinegar bath lately, DO IT!!

Takes 15 minutes, and makes a world of difference.

1. Remove cat from stove
2. Brush off and clean. I vacuum it out, and then blow thru it until no more dust comes out.
3. Fill a spray bottle with 50% vinegar, and 50% distilled water.
5. Spray entire cat liberally with mixture until soaking wet, shake out (lots of stuff comes out 1st couple of shakes....), then recoat with spray so it is dripping wet from boat sides.
6 Let sit 5 or 10 minutes with vinegar mixture in/on it.
7. Rinse under running water thoroughly.
8. Shake all water out.
9. Let dry! I use a blow dryer on it to dry out much quicker.....
10 Re-install, and you will get much more noticeable cat heat once again....

 

Hi Mach
I think my manual said to use distilled water to rinse so the impurities don't stick to the cat.
There is a lot of minerals in tap water

 

PH Manual does indeed say leave a small amount of ash and coals in the bottom of the firebox, to assist in relight.

 

Yes, distilled water. I should have specified that.... fixed it above.

 

But that is just for relight, meaning enough hot "stuff" in there to keep the fire going. I don't think it is for "insulating" anything....

 

I agree completely. No need to leave any ash at all - It's the hot coals that are needed.

 

Woke up to -20F this morning. Came back from the barn and saw the chimney was smoking quite a bit, but the stovetop was 450 and the flue was near 500. Wife thought I was just seeing steam. Anyway, she emailed me at work to let me know the outside temp had climbed to +28F and she had let the stove go out so we could clean it tonight. The flue was amazingly clean (probably 2.5 cord since the last sweep, got maybe 2 cups of powder from 32' of liner). The cat definitely needed some cleaning, and if I had distilled water on hand I would have done the vinegar treatment, but settled for the vacuum. Had to relight the fire (first time I couldn't restart off coals after cleaning since mid November). Scraped down all the ash, as usual, but used the few old cold coals to help with the restart. Darned pretty with the glass cleaned!

 

That practice has been around for a long time, its just a small amount of extra protection for the stove.