All things Woodstock Soapstone Absolute Steel

Flaking? My understanding is the radiator is that metal plate on the underside of the top where you access the cat? It's got fly ash dust on it, but that's about it. I think it may be bowed a tad just above the CAT, but no flaking? Is there a pic of this flaking I can look at?

 

I was under the assumption the radiator was above the cat that basically directs heat to front of the stove

 

The hood scoop? LOL,that's what I call it. I didn't see any flaking on it. I think it's maybe aluminum or stainless steel of something. What flakes off?

 

Go back to my picture on post #41 All things Woodstock Soapstone Absolute Steel you can see those spots in the hot steal that are parts that will flake off, called scaling. There was a flake of steel also sitting on the cat if you look down under the probe tip. Maybe with the angle (and maybe bigger gap) the heat will be directed out of under that scoop in the AS rather than right into it on the IS.

 

Hood scoop, radiator, I dunno lol. In the IS that thick metal channel above the cat gets cherry red and delaminates dropping small flakes of steel down on top of the cat as T-Stew linked. I was wondering if WS started using stainless in the AS to avoid this issue.

 

Ah, okay, I have not noticed anything like that yet. When the stove is off/cooled, what does it look like then? Do flakes actually brush off that haven't fallen off already? I'm going to let my stove go out and turn the hood-scoop over and see what it looks like. But I will say I haven't noticed any debris on the cat whenever I've looked at it. At little fly-ash at most.

 

Yes. It will look small and thin like fish scales

 

I though it looked like small flakes of rust.. mine were redish brown in color.. about 20 to 25 % size of dime...

 

I'll have to get some pics of i can lift lid and sneak my phone inside mine this evening

 

The wife had the cat at 800 when I got home, no pic tonight

 

Cold here in the Northeast right now and I'm doing refills, but will get a pic when I can.

 

Here's an old pic with some of the Ideal's flakes, showing up as darker flecks in the white ash, like the three on the left by the loop of small gasket material, with more over to the right. For those not familiar with the guts, the cat is pulled up out of position, and the heavy steel plate that sits over the cat (and flakes off oxidized steel) is out of the stove, probably sitting on the floor by my feet.

 

Here's another of the Ideal, with a few of the flakes on the top in the center (most flaking occurred underneath). This photo was to show Woodstock how the shield had shifted from the sled moving back and forth - I think they changed its "feet" a little after that.

 

The Absolute shield didn't flake. Here it is in February (sorry for the orientation)...


...and again in mid-April, now showing slight signs of warping.


{edit: This was a beta version. The Absolute's production version has different "feet" and the hole for the cat probe.}

 

I checked mine out last night, and there is no flaking at all. Just fly-ash residue on the hoodscoop and the good news is the hoodscoop seems to protect the cat from any of that fly-ash as a result of the air flow it sets up.

 

As you no doubt know from the Fv, most of the fly ash will be on the upstream side of the cat...

 

Any update info yet? You may be able to tell from my "cat probe" thread why I'm interested; When you said your cat probe was 8", then reported it was reading 950 when you checked, I wondered if my theory was holding up. That's also why I asked weather you could see the cat glowing, since I know from my other stoves about how brightly the cat glows at certain probe readings. I'd like to know what temps you are seeing at various stages in the burn. What is your max reading when you have the bypass open and are bringing the stove up to temp? What happens when you close the bypass? What readings are you seeing a half hour later? What about an hour later, when the cat is really cranking? If my theory is right, 8" is too long to transmit the true cat temp, which should be 1000-1500 when the cat is glowing.
Your probe setup on the AS is a bit different from what I have on the Ks. My probe comes in from the back of the stove and passes close to the exhaust stream. I use this info to get my stove up to temp on a reload. I run the cat probe to about 1000, the flue meter which I have sitting on the tee snout about 6" back to about 500, then I cut the air from 2.5 back to 1.5-2 to hold the meters at those temps. After about 10-15 min. I can close the bypass and get a solid light-off, even if the stove top is only 150-170. I can do that with either a steel or ceramic cat.

 

Well, I can tell you this, I am just starting to actually use the probe and I have been using more as a Cat Engagement trigger than an ongoing monitor, as it isn't in my prime living space and the box is so big I don't need to tend it much after I get the CAT engaged. I am thinking I need to give the CAT a bath, as it is typically cruising at about 900'F when it is steady state burn, but not into coaling mode. When it is at 900'F I have a STT of approximately 450'F on the bling on the top of the stove above the CAT, and a stack temp of approx. 225'F.

In my installation I note that the probe rests on the hole in the hoodscoop as it enters over the CAT. Knowing how heat syncs work in electronics, I wonder if it then "syncs" heat. I have to believe than some of that heat is "diverted" to be absorbed by the hoodscoop.

In any event I'll jot down numbers and post them up for you as I collect them.

 

Any way to see if the cat is glowing, other than opening the lid a hair and peeking?

 

No, but I will try to see if I can do this. I haven't done it before, but will give it a try. I'm not sure how much that proves, or how that coincides with a reading. I would think the accuracy of the probe is at best + or - 15%. Does Condar provide any spec on this?

This conversation reminds me a lot of HD Forums, discussions of PSI readings on tires. Seems the accuracy of PSI measurements doesn't have anything to do with how much a pressure gauge costs, who makes it, or any other feature. Even brand names don't make much difference and it is very difficult to find any kind of a standard to calibrate against.

Personal opinion, I wouldn't get to hung up on this. Same thing we've tried to tell Roger Goodell, but noooooooooooooooo.....