No pics of the cleaning, was all fly ash in the newer stainless steel combuster from Woodstock-I knew stove wasnt cranking out when engaged---I also razor bladed the glass, polished the soapstone and man, is it cranking-I have windows open...Got into 50's today, after snowing yesterday in the 20's...It's snowing again now...Yo-Yo...
Beautiful stove and love the stone background. Tile or natural stone? Heck, dog's get front row seating. You spoil yours more than I do mine. (She can get a bit whiney when I hop onto the computer to come to the site, I'm not paying attention to her. Oh the humanity.) Chaz
No cats in this house brenndatomu - but seriously, I love all pets, they all deserve a home- Chaz, it's both-it has synthetic Eldorado stone and stone from my farm...they have this thing where you choose stone indigenous to your area. I have it elsewhere throughout my home-Some stone came from the creek on my farm and you cant tell the difference-Thank you to all for expressing condolences for my dear Savvy...We are hanging in there, I will not let her suffer...She ain't quittin yet...And Speck is so good to her, he's a linebacker in a kick returners body...Knows no fear!
OK, I have a question regarding cleaning cat's. (I know to be cautious of the claws ) How does on know when it needs cleaned? How often do most of you clean yours? I've seen posts where some say they can see their cat glowing, but when I shine a flashlight up at the tray that houses the cat, all I see is plate steel. Not to hijack the thread, just seemed relevant questions. Chaz
No concern for hijacking Chaz , when you have a question just ask. I personally check it 3-4 times during the season, cant see it on the Fireview, have to lift the top and of course it has to be cool to clean. I can just tell by how the stove is performing when it needs cleaned. Shop vac and toothbrush/toothpick and good to go. I really like the stainless steel way better than the ceramic.
Chaz if you want to see your IS cat glowing, pop the lid up a bit and you should see it glowing if your burning hot enough. It won't always glow though so don't be alarmed if its not. Another thing you can do is take the screw out where the cat probe would go and you should be able to see the cat through that hole too.
I wouldn't think opening the top would be advisable while burning. I realize you aren't saying to yank the thing open, just seems, strange.
I do it once in a while out of curiosity. It doesn't hurt if its just a couple inches for a few seconds.
Just to clarify, on the Fireview you can see the cat to see if it is glowing or not. But to really check to see if the cat needs cleaning, yes, then you just open the top lid...after the wood is all burned down. A few coals left in the stove is okay but you don't want many as things will still be hot. We will brush the cat 2 or 3 times per season and vinegar spray in summer.
It just does a complete cleaning and you can revive the cat a lot better and I think the cats also last longer. What we do is mix 50/50 white vinegar with distilled water. Important to use distilled water too! I put a quart of nearly a quart of this in a spray bottle then, setting the cat on a couple blocks, just spray the heck out of it. I'll usually use about 2/3 from one side then flip it for the other third. I then rinse the spray bottle and just put in distilled water and again, spray as before. Let it dry and re-install. So far we've had pretty good luck doing this. Occasionally you will get a couple of hard spots in a couple cells and a toothpick will pop them out. Important to not scrap the sides of the cells else you'll love the precious metals on the cat.
Over time, the vinegar "solution" will be needed. This is my 4th year with the original cat. Starting the season the stove (PH) cruised at 350 degrees even with regular "dry" cleaning. I was assuming that the cat was simply reaching the end of it's life. I had a break in the weather and went at it with exactly what Backwoods suggests and gave it plenty of time to soak. The result was plenty of black soot dribbling out of the honeycombs which means the soot was effectively blocking the catalytic coating. After the treatment the stove cruises at 425 degrees.
