I'm still learning my Absolute Steel, and just switched over to burning more locust as it is getting colder out. Tonight once the stove got up to temp I peeked under the hood to see how it was going, and found that only one side of the cat was glowing, the other side had some radiation away from the center caused by the other side, but that is it. Any other time I have checked on it previously it has been glowing bright orange on both sides if its lit. Could it just be in need of a cleaning, or could it be failing prematurely?
A simple cleaning should do well. That could be either a brushing, some canned air (from office supply) but go very easy on the air and don't hold it too close else you can damage the cat by blowing off some of the metals. Or some 50/50 white vinegar and distilled water spray then spray again with just the water. We usually mix about a quart to a time.
Thanks for the suggestions Dennis! Figures that I notice a problem once the weather finally turns cold. I'll have to let it go cold this weekend.
Don't try this at home....or so goes the legal stuff. We don't let the stove go cold to do ours. After all, we have gloves to wear. Of course, you don't want the stove hot but we've never waited until it is cold. We just get it done quickly then add wood.
My cat doesn't always glow evenly from side to side, always been like that. And it doesn't favor either particular side. At other times its glowing edge to edge.
Dennis is the Woodstock cat guru... But instead of canned air on mine a light vacuum to get fly ash off works fine
I pulled it out and cleaned it today. Almost no ash in the fins at all. I sprayed it and then a rinse. It's back in the stove now. I just reloaded, we'll see what happens.
I pulled my cat out of the stove and did the Backwoods Savage Special on it this evening. I’m still bringing my stove up to temp. I hope it increases my temp output.
When I got home from work last night I did the 50/50 vinegar and distilled water, then distilled water rinse off. Dried it with a hair dryer then let it sit for awhile longer near a fan just to be sure. I brought the stove up to 400 degrees and turned down the air and engaged the catalyst. It went a touch over 400 degrees and has stayed there. I was hoping the temp would continue to climb some more. There have been times that the temp has increased when I engaged the cat. Maybe the cat is tired or the amount or type of wood makes a difference. Regardless, I’m getting 10-12 hour burns, great heat and the propane truck seldom darkens my driveway.
I don't get crazy with regular cleanings with the cat. I'll brush it once every month or two. Seems I only need a cat bath when I'm burning wood that's not perfectly seasoned.
I baked mine in the oven lol Confused the crap out of my step daughter when I took it out saying dinner was ready.
