BLazeKing Cat clogging

[bogydave]

We've had some "warm to us " weather, around & above 30°f for about a week.
I decided to burn some spruce to see how well it burned.
I started on high, got the stove pretty hot but the cat never went much over mid-range or just over.
(no temp markings on the cat probe,)
Well it finally got back to close to normal & in the single digits last night so I did the basics to get a hot fire burning.
The spruce lights off quick, the stove & flue get hot but the cat doesn't.
When I closed the bypass, the fire would go out, I tried several times, but fire kept going out.

I notice the cat not glowing like normal. Decided to put in some small pieces of birch to see if I could get
it hotter & glow red like it should. It took several tries but it finally lit off but took a while to
glow evenly across the whole cat.

What I learned: burning spruce on medium for a week had slowly clogged the catalytic honeycomb & when I closed
the bypass, I was not getting enough draft to burn. I don't know if the wood was too wet, maybe the pitch in the
wood, (combination of both) but it did not like to burn well except on higher settings
I notice after after a few days it kept getting worse until not enough opening on the cat to burn.
I do notice some creo on the chimney cap but the flu itself looks ok.

Burning the birch hot, got it hot enough to clean it out & is burning fine now.

I know Beetle-kill had similar issues, just trying to identify the problem so I can fix it.

I though my wood (spruce) was pretty dry, it burn with a vigorous flame, lights fast but slowly clogged the cat.
Any ideas?
I said to myself "It's the wood , stupid", but not sure why??

 

[SolarAndWood]

I bet the wood isn't dry. I get the gunk in the cap and the cat screen whenever I try to burn stuff low I know isn't ready. Seems counter-intuitive, but now I burn the not quite yet ready chunks when I can burn wide open and am around to keep an eye on it.

 

[Beetle-Kill]

I'm experimenting with smaller, hotter fires- but more frequent loadings. Seems to be working. That and leaving the by-pass open longer. I wasn't burning like I should have, but things are definitly getting better.

 

[bogydave]

I bet the wood isn't dry. I get the gunk in the cap and the cat screen whenever I try to burn stuff low I know isn't ready. Seems counter-intuitive, but now I burn the not quite yet ready chunks when I can burn wide open and am around to keep an eye on it.

I'm beginning to agree. 2 yr old stuff burning great today.
BUT THOUGHT I HAD THIS "SEASONING WOOD DOWN!" AAAARG

I used the
"it takes a year to season birch & spruce "method"."
Maybe it's more "good methods" used to season wood can season most wood in a 1year.
My methods needs to improve, for sure. I never had the wood in single rows, it was always stacked in
several rows close together, but off the ground.

I have some 2 yr old stuff, that is burning great with no issues, I "ASSUMED" 1+ year old wood was ready.

Method, time, weather, air circulation are all important, not just time. I got it, I hope.
Don't stack it in the shed until it's ready, I got it , I hope.

Still learning (many years from being a "fire god")

 

[bogydave]

I'm experimenting with smaller, hotter fires- but more frequent loadings. Seems to be working. That and leaving the by-pass open longer. I wasn't burning like I should have, but things are definitly getting better.

Yeh, I get in a hurry sometimes.
Get it hot for a while before closing the BP, then let it burn on high for a while before turning it down in steps.
But just as important "Its the wood, stupid", I need to put that on a sign by the stove in big letters.

Glad to here you got your problem fixed.

 

[summit]

damn catalysts!

 

[North of 60]

Bogy I am burning 3yr cut/split standing dead beetle kill spruce. I load it and turn it down even right after it catches a flame. I have two and one year pine. I always give that a run tim at the top end. The older the wood the better it preforms. I have never had to remove the cat nor plugging issues. Did you still run it on high for 30 minutes or more before turning it down with your less seasoned wood? The manual likes to suggest a minimum all the time on every reload. If the MC is above 18% I would stick to those instructions.
By the way, the cold temps are coming back. None of this -5f wimpy warm stuff. Good luck.

 

[bogydave]

Bogy I am burning 3yr cut/split standing dead beetle kill spruce. I load it and turn it down even right after it catches a flame. I have two and one year pine. I always give that a run tim at the top end. The older the wood the better it preforms. I have never had to remove the cat nor plugging issues. Did you still run it on high for 30 minutes or more before turning it down with your less seasoned wood? The manual likes to suggest a minimum all the time on every reload. If the MC is above 18% I would stick to those instructions.
By the way, the cold temps are coming back. None of this -5f wimpy warm stuff. Good luck.

Thanks. I'm pretty sure it's my 1 yr wood, as the older stuff burns well. Spruce just needs a little more drying time.
Yes, I ran it about 30 min, then would turn it down but I think still has a little too much moisture content & over time cooled down to much.
I have some 2 yr good dry birch, was going to save it for cold weather, now that's coming back, so I'm back to burning the good birch.
(& it' working good)

I see the "high pressure" area is building in over Central / E AK & Yukon T again. Sunny & cold here today .
Untill next storm, forecasted for late next week, 30s again
Maybe cooling off for a while, until the next storm pushes it out of AK & Canada to share with the N Mid-West * lower 48

Good hot fire burning now!

 

[burleymike]

With my old cat stove I had the cat clog a few times. We only have beetle killed lodgepole. That year we got a couple trees that had no green needles on them but when we started blocking them and loading them into the trucks we realized these trees must have recently died, the wood was not super dry yet. That was the only year I had cat clogging problems.

 

[oldspark]

Multiple rows will not get the wood dry the quickest, drying wood is no different than any thing else.

 

[bogydave]

Multiple rows will not get the wood dry the quickest, drying wood is no different than any thing else.

Yep, another lesson learned the hard way.
Next wood I cut will be single rows for at least a year, before it goes into the shed..

 

[nate379]

I have about 1/2 a cord of spruce and I have been mixing it in with my birch. I burned just spruce once and it didn't last very long, something like 10hrs I want to say. With birch I can go 20hrs without much trouble.