another Woodstock FV question....

Manual says that the cat can be engaged when the stt reaches 250 and that the intake should be 1 or less when in cat mode.

When I engage in the 250 range I do not get reburn, stove continues to idle. I need to have the stt in the range of 350 in order to get the cat to start to glow. I know my wood supply is less than great and moisture levels are all over the place, could excess moisture account for the need for higher temps?
Also, should I be throttling back the draft before or after I engage the cat? I've had mixed results with both ways...

Thanks

Yes.

After.

Note: I am not a Fireview owner. But I have used several cat stoves.

Sailor,, I turn my stove draft down to one first,,,,wait a second for any big fire to die down a bit, then engage my cat...I don't like the idea of going from a big fire to suddenly cramming all that heat through the cat... I like things to last...just what I believe...and my cat fires off fine.

I've done both, cat or draft first, does not seem to make a difference. Cat is stainless, no longer ceramic, so I have little concern about damaging it with start up / reload temps.

The wood is your problem.

It's also possible your cat is choked and needs to be brushed off. Also your cruising temps may be a bit low - I am usually 500-650. The manual says you can, despite what Woodstock told me on the phone.

Try a bag of grocery store wood or some bio bricks (carefully) and see if you don't et better results (which will confirm for you that it's the wood).

Sailor, do yourself a big favor and call Woodstock. Order another stove thermometer and place it on the flue (if you can get to it). We have found many times that no matter what the stove temperature, we get best results if we let the flue get anywhere from 400-500, measured on single wall flue. If you can do this you will have better luck with the cat engagine. However, because your wood is less than desireable, I'd highly suggest when the stove top gets to temperature, wait another 10-15 minutes before engaging the cat. You will have to cut some draft; probably to 2. But by doing this you will get more moisture burned off before running that through the cat.

I agree with Dennis. Your fuel is probably not as dry as it should be. You need to let the stove run a little longer before you engage the cat. Wait until it looks like blazing hell in there before you engage the cat and reduce the air. You can also set the air around 1 1/4 for about ten minutes after you engage to help things along. Experiment with what works best, but basically you have to boil more water out of the wood before you can reduce the air and get a nice cat burn going. I hope you have some wood drying for next season already. Once you have some good wood you will have much better results.