BKVP
Minister of Fire
The major cleaning is a risky move as noted by those that have gone so far as to remove the combustor and dropped them or chipped them. (They still work, but just don't look great)
So here is what happens. When you burn wood, a bunch of VOC's are released as well as potassium magnate. In many older cat stoves, the potassium magnate attacked the substrate material, mullite or cooderite and caused the substrate to fall apart. (by the way, cat stoves destroy 100% of all VOC's when the cat is over 500F also called active.)
Combustion by products lay over the top of the surface area over time and the precious metals cannot make contact with the smoke. That in turn starts the plugging that can plague cat stoves when used improperly. (Wet wood, trash burning etc.) Under a magnifying glass you would see the surface area of the combustor looks like the surface of the moon, tons of craters. This vastly increases total surface area and allows for more complete burning of the smoke.
When you do the major cleaning, which involves the distilled water and vinegar, the acids remove the deposited materials and once again expose the precious metals to the smoke. In essence, you can definitely rejuvenate a combustor by this process. Not likely to 100% new, but quite a bit and get some extended life from the combustor. Many owners tell us they have two combustors. One in use and the other cleaned, wrapped with new gasket and stored in a zip lock bag and ready to go. Every 6-8 years, they swap them out, clean the dirty one, regasket and store away for a another few years.
I have a King in my home and I must tell you I have never removed the combustor, not in 10 years. It burns like the day it was new and I have gone so far as to thermocouple the unit in my home to check temps and other specs. Dry wood, hot fires one and week and no chemicals are the most important conditions to assure a long life. (Keep the door gasket tension snug at all times as well.)
When a combustor is on it's last leg you will know it. The stove just will not "breath" and the wood will not burn to completion. So how do you get them to last, burn 18% or lower moisture content fuel. Never throw in wood with ice and snow and cause huge temperature swings to the ceramic, leave the door cracked as little as necessary, room air hitting the face of the combustor can damage it over time. Clean it with a soft brush and maybe vacuum at the end of each season.
One last note and then back to selling, if you have fans on your Blaze King's and the fans are on, the air movement across the top can give the cat. thermometer a false reading. Simply turn off the fans, do nothing else and watch the needle climb! We are working on a solution for this and should have it in the very near future.
Merry Christmas to all you wood burners (even those that haven't come over to the dark side!)
Chris
So here is what happens. When you burn wood, a bunch of VOC's are released as well as potassium magnate. In many older cat stoves, the potassium magnate attacked the substrate material, mullite or cooderite and caused the substrate to fall apart. (by the way, cat stoves destroy 100% of all VOC's when the cat is over 500F also called active.)
Combustion by products lay over the top of the surface area over time and the precious metals cannot make contact with the smoke. That in turn starts the plugging that can plague cat stoves when used improperly. (Wet wood, trash burning etc.) Under a magnifying glass you would see the surface area of the combustor looks like the surface of the moon, tons of craters. This vastly increases total surface area and allows for more complete burning of the smoke.
When you do the major cleaning, which involves the distilled water and vinegar, the acids remove the deposited materials and once again expose the precious metals to the smoke. In essence, you can definitely rejuvenate a combustor by this process. Not likely to 100% new, but quite a bit and get some extended life from the combustor. Many owners tell us they have two combustors. One in use and the other cleaned, wrapped with new gasket and stored in a zip lock bag and ready to go. Every 6-8 years, they swap them out, clean the dirty one, regasket and store away for a another few years.
I have a King in my home and I must tell you I have never removed the combustor, not in 10 years. It burns like the day it was new and I have gone so far as to thermocouple the unit in my home to check temps and other specs. Dry wood, hot fires one and week and no chemicals are the most important conditions to assure a long life. (Keep the door gasket tension snug at all times as well.)
When a combustor is on it's last leg you will know it. The stove just will not "breath" and the wood will not burn to completion. So how do you get them to last, burn 18% or lower moisture content fuel. Never throw in wood with ice and snow and cause huge temperature swings to the ceramic, leave the door cracked as little as necessary, room air hitting the face of the combustor can damage it over time. Clean it with a soft brush and maybe vacuum at the end of each season.
One last note and then back to selling, if you have fans on your Blaze King's and the fans are on, the air movement across the top can give the cat. thermometer a false reading. Simply turn off the fans, do nothing else and watch the needle climb! We are working on a solution for this and should have it in the very near future.
Merry Christmas to all you wood burners (even those that haven't come over to the dark side!)
Chris
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