How do you cat guys clean your cat?

Condar says every other year or every year in high use conditions. So I guess it's not a last ditch effort, I know BK doesn't really "push" it but that could be due to increased risk of damage when handling it. Maybe the PH benefits from it more due to it needing a bit more attention to prevent ash build up/plugging. I read about the WS owners performing this more than the other cat stoves. Maybe they're just posting it more!

 

Machria's Post #9 is spot on. Spray with 50/50 vinegar/distilled water, let sit, rinse with distilled water. Makes a HUGE difference.

 

Ice owned both. Bk and now a PH, its much easier to remove the cat in the PH, clean and slide it back in. With the BK's you had to regasket if you take it out and it's harder to get at to remove.

 

I used the stainless steel sink in the kitchen when I cleaned mine a couple weeks ago. I boiled a combo of distilled and vinegar and sat the cat in it. Rinsed with distilled and gave it a good shake to get most of the water off.

Just out of curiosity does anyone know of a "botched" cleaning and what happened to the precious metals??

 

Not absolutely sure but I do not <believe> there is anything you can do with vinegar, water and boiling temps. that would damage the cat. Blasting high pressure water through, from something like a pressure washer, would be a bad idea as it may blow off some of the catalytic metals attached to the base metal (the stainless steel). I would also not mechanically clean one with anything aggressive- such as a pipe cleaner through the holes, etc. A soft brush of course is fine.

Brian

 

BDF has it right. A botched cleaning would probably involve using high pressure water or air. I use a low pressure kitchen sink sprayer and follow it up with distilled water from a spray bottle. I clean it twice a year.

 

Good thing you don't have to remove a BK cat often!

 

I would be interested in finding out what the vinegar removes exactly. It doesn't add anything. As far as I can tell it's simply cleaning ash off. When it's glowing red running I'm sure it's cleaning any chemical residue off then.

 

Excellent question. I am pretty sure it's removing mineral deposits from the burned wood.

 

Vinegar is a mild acid so I would assume it is reacting with the varnish that is coating the surface of the cat. and breaking it down chemically. Some varnishes are actually formed at very high temperatures, which is why things like combustion chambers in I.C. engines are dark and 'dirty'. The vinegar may also be removing any oxides formed from such high temperatures, again due to chemical interaction rather than an extreme environment. In the end, all it can really do is uncover or expose more of the catalyst already on the surface of the combustor from manufacture.

Brian

 

I agree, it must burn anything thats non harmful to the precious metals, including vinegar.

 

I have done the vinegar cleaning and will probably start doing it every other year this year I just brushed it off and used compressed air to blow out any excess ash I also used a pipe cleaner to get into some of the holes that had stuff in them that the air wouldn't get out. I talked to Woodstock about it and they said that there is nothing wrong with doing the vinegar bath just make sure that you rinse it off really well and let it dry completely before putting it back in the stove.

 

If using compressed air make sure it's low pressure. If it's from a compressor make sure you turn the regulator way down. Pipe cleaners can also remove the wash coat, a q-tip is probably a softer/safer choice.

 

I just used the canned air for keyboards not a compressor. I'm not sure if I could use a qtip though I think that would be to big I only used the pipe cleaner in a few spots there's way to much ground to cover on those things to clean every hole individually.

 

I use a low pressure kitchen faucet sprayer to rinse out the vinegar. It also gently cleans out any remaining soot. Then I use a spray bottle of distilled water to do a final rinse. I've been doing this for 2 years and had excellent results. Perks the cat right up.

 

I'm going to use The Matrix approach to catalyst cleaning ...

Catalyst boy: Do not try and clean the Catalyst. That's impossible. Instead... only try to realize the truth.
Neo: What truth?
Catalyst boy: There is no Catalyst.
Neo: There is no Catalyst?
Catalyst boy: Then you'll see, that it is not the Catalyst that is cleaned, it is only yourself.

 

I waited until the self cleaning cats went up for adoption.

 

Thats deep man really deep

 

My neighbor said Cats hate water even if it is distilled and will probably scratch the heck out of me, so I told her to clean her own cat. The full monty sounded like a really dangerous thing to do with a cat and how the cat would feel about it is unpredictable and may border on animal abuse.

 

good tip thanks. thanks all good discussion i must have missed the vinegar thing on the woodstock site.