Woodstock stove Cat ?

http://www.sud-chemie.com/scmcms/web/page_en_7529.htm
This may help you decide. I'd go for the SS cat based on how easy it made take offs. It lit off at a lower temperature. Around 300 degrees less than my ceramic one. But the ceramic was older.
I'd also recommend a catalytic probe thermometer no matter what you go with.

Everything I've heard about the new cats has been favorable. I'll be putting one in ours in a couple weeks and will report on it.

So far so good with my SS cat replacement on my Keystone. I especially like the resistance to thermal shock.

Bill

I replaced the original ceramic with SS in my Fireview mid season last year. It burned hotter sooner and longer. I also moved from a Maple Cherry mix to Ash at about the same time, so, it may have been better fuel too. Either way, given a choice, I would go with Stainless. The SS also seems to be a little easier to clean, clearly more durable.

You may also want to consider the new stainless scoop as well. It will be less prone to warpage and let less fly ash into the cat than the old cast scoop.

63sportsman,

I just (last week) replaced my catalytic on my fireview with a SS unit. I've had 3 fires in it so far (not cold enough for 24/7 burning yet). So far, I agree with Flatbedford, earlier lightoffs and longer burn. My old one was the ceramic, that didn't show any of the physical signs of wear (crumbling, cracking, etc.) I'm adding the catalytic probe soon, but am waiting for more input from people on where to place the probe.

Get the new SS catalytic! You'll be glad you did.

As a fireview owner that is only averaging about 2.5years of use out of the original ceramic cats (2 stoves) I am looking for ways to extend the usable life.
Failure has been cracking and falling apart in the first stove, some cracking but no lighting off on the second. My latest replacement is the newer SS unit and it's working great, but so did the ceramic cats when they were new. So now my question - after installing the cat temp probe, how does one actually control the cat's temperature to keep it below the 1600F temp? If it's approaching the limit what do you do? open up the the inlet air to allow more flame in the box (less smoke to the cat)? I know closing down the air with a freshly chared load of wood on a good coal bed will result in a cat glowing orange and no flame in the firebox- so less air does not mean lower cat temps.
Flip the situation and open up the air a bunch so there is vigorous flame activity in the firebox and you can get cat damage from flame impingement... what to do?

VCBurner said:

http://www.sud-chemie.com/scmcms/web/page_en_7529.htm
This may help you decide. I'd go for the SS cat based on how easy it made take offs. It lit off at a lower temperature. Around 300 degrees less than my ceramic one. But the ceramic was older.
I'd also recommend a catalytic probe thermometer no matter what you go with.

Click to expand...

3fordasho said:

As a fireview owner that is only averaging about 2.5years of use out of the original ceramic cats (2 stoves) I am looking for ways to extend the usable life.
Failure has been cracking and falling apart in the first stove, some cracking but no lighting off on the second. My latest replacement is the newer SS unit and it's working great, but so did the ceramic cats when they were new. So now my question - after installing the cat temp probe, how does one actually control the cat's temperature to keep it below the 1600F temp? If it's approaching the limit what do you do? open up the the inlet air to allow more flame in the box (less smoke to the cat)? I know closing down the air with a freshly chared load of wood on a good coal bed will result in a cat glowing orange and no flame in the firebox- so less air does not mean lower cat temps.
Flip the situation and open up the air a bunch so there is vigorous flame activity in the firebox and you can get cat damage from flame impingement... what to do?

VCBurner said:

http://www.sud-chemie.com/scmcms/web/page_en_7529.htm
This may help you decide. I'd go for the SS cat based on how easy it made take offs. It lit off at a lower temperature. Around 300 degrees less than my ceramic one. But the ceramic was older.
I'd also recommend a catalytic probe thermometer no matter what you go with.

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Whenever I saw one of those run away cat burns I just opened up the bypass for a few minutes til she cooled down then egaged and readjusted the air to have some flame in the box. The new scoop should also keep flame impingment chances down as well since the screen has smaller holes and goes around the sides unlike the cast scoop.

63sportsman said:

Fire God,
I actually have one of the older Fireview 201 models. I don't think mine has the scoop on it. Thanks for the suggestion though.
The feedback so far has been favorable of the stainless steel CAT. Has anybody experienced any unusual problems with them?
At this point it sounds that besides being just a replacement, the stainless CAT will also be an upgrade.
Thanks....

Click to expand...

Ok, didn't notice you had the older stove. I have about a half a season under my belt with the new s/s cats and no complaint so far.

jdinspector said:

63sportsman,

I just (last week) replaced my catalytic on my fireview with a SS unit. I've had 3 fires in it so far (not cold enough for 24/7 burning yet). So far, I agree with Flatbedford, earlier lightoffs and longer burn. My old one was the ceramic, that didn't show any of the physical signs of wear (crumbling, cracking, etc.) I'm adding the catalytic probe soon, but am waiting for more input from people on where to place the probe.

Get the new SS catalytic! You'll be glad you did.

Click to expand...

Are you thinking of drilling through the top? If I still had my Fireview I'd remove the top, flip it over and drill a hole just aft of the heat shield so the probe sits about 1" away from the cat. I don't like the hole in the rear of the stove, the probe isn't close enough and I think it was placed there for the older 201 model where the cat was more on the left side above the baffle just like the Classic. I'm also thinking the Classic and 201 have a slightly larger fire box than the 205 due to the new baffle set up?

And which probe fits in this spot?

NM. I momentarily forgot that you foolishly dumped the FV. . .I guess I'll have to measure the depth myself.

3fordasho said:

As a fireview owner that is only averaging about 2.5years of use out of the original ceramic cats (2 stoves) I am looking for ways to extend the usable life.
Failure has been cracking and falling apart in the first stove, some cracking but no lighting off on the second. My latest replacement is the newer SS unit and it's working great, but so did the ceramic cats when they were new. So now my question - after installing the cat temp probe, how does one actually control the cat's temperature to keep it below the 1600F temp? If it's approaching the limit what do you do? open up the the inlet air to allow more flame in the box (less smoke to the cat)? I know closing down the air with a freshly chared load of wood on a good coal bed will result in a cat glowing orange and no flame in the firebox- so less air does not mean lower cat temps.
Flip the situation and open up the air a bunch so there is vigorous flame activity in the firebox and you can get cat damage from flame impingement... what to do?

VCBurner said:

http://www.sud-chemie.com/scmcms/web/page_en_7529.htm
This may help you decide. I'd go for the SS cat based on how easy it made take offs. It lit off at a lower temperature. Around 300 degrees less than my ceramic one. But the ceramic was older.
I'd also recommend a catalytic probe thermometer no matter what you go with.

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

On my Dutchwest there was a cat air intake which fed the cat only. Increase the air intake and you'd end up with a cooler cat. Another way to solve the problem was to turn the cat air all the way off and open up the bypass damper in order to lower cat temp. Primary air intake chocked all the way as well. This would mean all the smoke would be going directly into the flue without actually going into the cat. The cat would cool off to a lower temp and you can damper down again.

Did you see that there are actually two different types of ceramic cats Sud-chemie makes? They are actually made of two different substrates cordierite and mullite. One is susceptible to damages by potassium, crumbling with temps over 1350 (cordierite.) The other is not, but is still subject to crumbling (mullite.) SS cats, are not subject to crumbling and have superior durability against thermal shock and vibration. So maybe, according to them your new cat will last longer. But I'd certainly look into why those other cats degraded so quickly.

Another thing I learned from a Japanese video put out by Dutchwest Japan was always turn off the cat air when reloading your stove. This way it is less likely to suffer thermal shock from moisture in the fresh wood or colder air from outside the stove reaching the cat.

I hope this helps, good luck with the new Cat.

Den said:

And which probe fits in this spot?

Click to expand...

Get one that's a little long and you can cut them down to fit.

leeave96 said:

So far so good with my SS cat replacement on my Keystone. I especially like the resistance to thermal shock.

Bill

Click to expand...

Did you have to add anything to the stove for the new cat to fit? I just ordered one for my keystone and haven't received it yet!

No changes. Fits in same spot

jdinspector said:

No changes. Fits in same spot

Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply! Can't wait to try the new one out.

Log farmer said:

Did you have to add anything to the stove for the new cat to fit? I just ordered one for my keystone and haven't received it yet!

Click to expand...

You might want to order the new screen/scoop to keep fly ash out the SS cat. . .much smaller holes in the SS cat than in the ceramic.
https://store.woodstove.com/product.php?productid=16718&cat=268&page=1

Some people here have reported the steel cats fit a little loose in the cast iron bracket. I don't know if it really matters or not but maybe smoke a gas can find its way around the cat without a tight seal? I think someone wrapped extra gasket around their steel cat for a tighter fit.

Personally I'm sticking with ceramic. They seem to burn hotter for longer in my stoves.

Well I'm guessing I'm going to be getting the ss cat vs the ceramic. They didn't state on the phone which one i would be receiving and I didn't think to ask! But I will try anything I guess because their stoves are great!

Todd said:

Some people here have reported the steel cats fit a little loose in the cast iron bracket. . .l think someone wrapped extra gasket around their steel cat for a tighter fit. . .

Click to expand...

Yep, I did. I think they ship them wrapped extra(1.5x) now.

Log farmer said:

Well I'm guessing I'm going to be getting the ss cat vs the ceramic. They didn't state on the phone which one i would be receiving and I didn't think to ask. . .

Click to expand...

Doh!
I would call and ask. AFAIK, you're supposed to use the new cat screen, if you use the SS cat.

Well darn, I wish they would have mentioned it to me about the screen! I would have ordered it also.

Log farmer said:

Well darn, I wish they would have mentioned it to me about the screen! I would have ordered it also.

Click to expand...

Yeah, they probably should've asked you what year your stove is. I would call them back.