I have not asked this before so here goes is it safe to burn wood in a EPA wood stove that does not have a cat in it?
Is it safe to burn wood in a cat wood stove with out the Cat?
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Should be, yes, but to avoid substantial creosote formation be sure to burn it hot with extra air. Don't want to damper that one way down low without the catalyst present.
spirilis said:
This is of course assuming it is a stove designed to have a cat. Me personally I wouldn't do it.
Why? A stove that is supposed to have a cat, and does not have one, is sending creosote forming particulates up the chimney. As the smoke cools those gasses and particulates will form creosote. Since a stove is designed to have a controled burn, it creates quite a bit of smoke, without the cat the smoke and gasses can in turn create quite a bit of creosote.
Can it be done? Yes, you are essentially burning a "smoke dragon". Is it safe? That depends, how good you are about checking
that chimney and making sure it is clean. Also so you know without a cat you will burn quite a bit more wood for the same amount of heat, as opposed to getting a cat in there.
+1 on Shawneboys response.
You do have my curiosity piqued now as to why you would want to do this and why it's going to be a cold winter?
You do have my curiosity piqued now as to why you would want to do this and why it's going to be a cold winter?
certified106 said:
If I understand you on why it is gone to be a cold winter. It will take me 4 months to come up will around $400. to buy the cats with.
I am hoping to find it cheaper some where. I have to have 4 cats for my stove. I am wondering if I can get by with two and get the other two later?
I really feel I mass up this got $500 in stove got $500 in chimney and stove pipe. stove pipe and chimney is 8" and it is had to find a stove with an 8" flue ( used and new).
I really feel I mass up this got $500 in stove got $500 in chimney and stove pipe. stove pipe and chimney is 8" and it is had to find a stove with an 8" flue ( used and new).
AppalachianStan said:
FOUR CATS?!
You really need to post a pic of this so we can see how this system works.
There is a link to a site I found today that said my stove uses 4 cat how can this be. I have no cat in my stove to take pic of.
http://www.northlineexpress.com/Images/Pdf/09catalyst.pdf
What do you think?
http://www.northlineexpress.com/Images/Pdf/09catalyst.pdf
What do you think?
yeah i want to see pics 4 cats ? really. thats crazy. i wouldnt recommend buring with out the cat. like said earlier the stove creates a ton of smoke i think you could have a lot of creosote build up. but i guess you have to do what ya got to do? just dont know who safe it is.
Huh, indeed.
Are these the traditional looking cats with a honeycomb pattern? Are are these different? The dimensions are close to the cat that the Intrepid uses.
In the manual I noticed this had an odd cat configuration with the bypass rod passing right through them. Now it makes a bit more sense if they are in block like sections. Is your stove the WXL model?
BrowningBAR said:
I really do not know. I bought the stove used in 2009. I was use to burning the old smoking Dragons so it was and is all new to me. I though $500 for a $2000 stove was not bad and use less wood to, that is for me. I did not ask about if the cat was in there or not. I open the cat box up about two weeks a go and no cat. What I do know is I can not find this stove model any were. As for the cat it looks like two cats side by side with the damper rod running in between them. I will get the Pic of the cat box and measurements tomorrow. Then you guys can see for yourself. To me it looks like on one side is about 2" tall x 7" long X 3" deep.
I guess it is the WXL model but do not know. That is all you can find on the Internet to order the cat with. But on the back all it say is model# 52. So I not know. all so the new manual is close to my stove but not my stove. I wish I can find the manual for my stove. the newer stove has a bigger cat then mine. The newer stove cat Dimensions or 2.5†x 6.875†x 3â€BeGreen said:
Anyhow, to answer your original question, I would think it probably safe. The stove is just burning like most old smoke dragons when run without the cat.
BeGreen said:
I just not know about that. The old smoke dragons got a lot more air then this stove does and i geuss that is way I have all ways thought the stove was not getting enough air IMO. I mite burn if I had really dry wood. But it is to hard to fight to keep the thing burning some time. So until I have wood that is like kim-dry wood I mite not burn.
I had to replace my cat this fall and made a couple calls to Applied Ceramics, Mike was very helpful and seems to be very knowledgeable, returned calls, you get the idea. I would give him a call and see what kind of deal they can make you. Applied Ceramics 678-735-4937 ask for Mike in woodstoves. I have a App 4in1 xl mine was under warranty so I got a new cat, with gasket, and shipping for about 20 bucks.
timchuck said:
Hi Tim you are the only owner of Appalachian that has posted on my thread. How do you like your wood stove so far? I will do that 1st thing Monday.
Another vote to get the cat. As a catalytic stove it will not have any burn tubes, baffling or firebrick to encourage any secondary combustion without that cat. To get a clean burn without one will require burning it VERY hot with the damper side open. You will be sending as much heat up the chimney as into the room and probably overheat the house easily.
I don't really know but I would have figured that South Carolina had fairly mild winters.. Making a hard to control stove even more of a pain....
I don't really know but I would have figured that South Carolina had fairly mild winters.. Making a hard to control stove even more of a pain....
AppalachianStan said:
Stan, you can indeed burn that stove without the cat. You will not get as much heat from it and, depending upon your wood, you might get some creosote. Burn nothing but the best dry wood if you can; but then, that is all one should burn at any time anyway.
We have burned our stove without the cat when we just wanted a short fire to take the chill off and it is just like starting a fire with the cat not engaged. If the cat was out, then one could send the smoke through it to capture a bit more heat but then later you no doubt would have some heavy duty cleaning to do inside that stove.
If you can get this stove fixed up, then indeed you will burn less wood and get a lot more heat from it.
Good luck.
So some say burn it some say not to burn.
What do the Pro's say about the design of my wood stove. Just thinking about some of the post here.
How does a cat system work? Does it just heat up the cat and once the cat is hot enough then it burn off the gases.
Here is a pic of the newer cat system:
What do the Pro's say about the design of my wood stove. Just thinking about some of the post here.
How does a cat system work? Does it just heat up the cat and once the cat is hot enough then it burn off the gases.
Here is a pic of the newer cat system:
Attachments
Try calling Condar, they are showing 2 for your stove, from that pic it looks like 1 or 2, cant really see that being 4.
http://www.condar.com/cgi-bin/cart1/cgi/database.cgi?command=listitems&pos=0&type=search
I tried burning in my old Sierra with no cat for about a week, the people I bought it from had been burning it for a couple years with no cat and it showed, creosote all over the place and the glass was black, but that might have just been from them burning green wood. I do know that without the cat the stove exhaust was open due to missing the cat, you could try to damper it down but it still had a hole where the cats should have been. I found a used cat on ebay and the stove ran 1000x better.
http://www.condar.com/cgi-bin/cart1/cgi/database.cgi?command=listitems&pos=0&type=search
I tried burning in my old Sierra with no cat for about a week, the people I bought it from had been burning it for a couple years with no cat and it showed, creosote all over the place and the glass was black, but that might have just been from them burning green wood. I do know that without the cat the stove exhaust was open due to missing the cat, you could try to damper it down but it still had a hole where the cats should have been. I found a used cat on ebay and the stove ran 1000x better.
That is a current diagram. I would pull the cat tray from the old stove and make sure the design has not changed. The old design might be quite different. Take a good couple pictures and post them here. I'd also send them to Appalachian tech support for advice.
BeGreen, Yeah I know it is the current diagram, but the only thing I can see is a 1/2" taller difference. Appalachian really don't have tech support. I will get some pic up tomorrow I just did not feel like doing it today. I called them this past Monday. They did not offer much help and I ask about a manual for my stove and what I got was "We might have one laying around the shop.
1)Now if the measurements of my cat box is the same as the newer cat box would it be better to upgrade to the bigger cat? 2.5" X 7" X 3"
2)If it calls for a cat 2"x 7" x 3" for one side, why not make one that size instead of two cat one 2" x 7" x 2" and one 2" x 7" x 1" for one side?
1)Now if the measurements of my cat box is the same as the newer cat box would it be better to upgrade to the bigger cat? 2.5" X 7" X 3"
2)If it calls for a cat 2"x 7" x 3" for one side, why not make one that size instead of two cat one 2" x 7" x 2" and one 2" x 7" x 1" for one side?
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