Cat Question

[ohlongarm]

If the visible part of your cat on a King is showing all the honeycombs red and glowing and open,does that indicate that the non visible portion of the cat is in the same condition. Thanks still learning this cat thing.

 

[pgmr]

If the visible part of your cat on a King is showing all the honeycombs red and glowing and open,does that indicate that the non visible portion of the cat is in the same condition. Thanks still learning this cat thing.

I would imagine it's that way. You are likely seeing the inlet side of the cat, which should be the coolest part.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Not necessarily. There are times when our cat will glow red all over and at other times only part of the cat is red. I believe it is a case of which fuel you put in and how much of it.

 

[pgmr]

Not necessarily. There are times when our cat will glow red all over and at other times only part of the cat is red. I believe it is a case of which fuel you put in and how much of it.

I took it to mean that he could see the entire face of the cat and that it was all glowing and was asking if the entire depth/thickness of the cat was also glowing.

I've also seen the our catalyst have patchy areas of glowing/dark areas at times. As you said, that's probably common and normal.

 

[SolarAndWood]

The cat on the King is 2" deep. I would assume that what you see on the face is going on all the way through.

 

[ecocavalier02]

The cat on the King is 2" deep. I would assume that what you see on the face is going on all the way through.

Solar did you get the new cat from a bk dealer? just curious to see if that bad boy slides right in. not like the tight fitting one from condor i got. that was a pain.

 

[swestall]

Usually if it is glowing it is burning. Failures start as dead spots; and even with them the CAT operates OK until they become the majority of the CAT area.

 

[SolarAndWood]

The cat on the King is 2" deep. I would assume that what you see on the face is going on all the way through.

Solar did you get the new cat from a bk dealer? just curious to see if that bad boy slides right in. not like the tight fitting one from condor i got. that was a pain.

It is the vendor that Chris recommended a couple months ago http://www.firecatcombustors.com/. Came with the gasket on it, I'll let you know how it works out this weekend.

 

[ohlongarm]

Has anyone used a steel cat In A King?Also how difficult is it to change a cat.

 

[ecocavalier02]

Has anyone used a steel cat In A King?Also how difficult is it to change a cat.

bogydave has but had lots of problems with it clogging up.

 

[jeff_t]

Not necessarily. There are times when our cat will glow red all over and at other times only part of the cat is red. I believe it is a case of which fuel you put in and how much of it.

I took it to mean that he could see the entire face of the cat and that it was all glowing and was asking if the entire depth/thickness of the cat was also glowing.

I've also seen the our catalyst have patchy areas of glowing/dark areas at times. As you said, that's probably common and normal.

The cat on the king is actually pretty tall, but you can only see the bottom couple of inches through the flame shield. It is mounted in the stove just like it is sitting in Solar's pic. Like Dennis says, there are times when only a small part of it is actually glowing. For me, that is at the start of a fresh load, in a spot where the flames are starting to lick the flame shield but the whole load isn't rolling yet. I'm usually getting a fair amount of smoke out of the pipe at this point, even though the probe is in the middle of the active zone. It will diminish when the whole visible part of the cat is glowing, but still smokes a bit. After the load is good and charred, and the probe is over near the top of the active zone, the smoke goes away. I can then back the t-stat down to where I want, the cat will dim way down or not glow at all, and all I get is heat waves out of the pipe. Just because part of it is glowing doesn't mean the whole thing is hot enough to do it's job. Some smoke is still getting through. So all in all, I think the glow of the cat has nothin' to do with nothin'. It's all about what's coming out of the chimney.

 

[pgmr]

I'm usually getting a fair amount of smoke out of the pipe at this point, even though the probe is in the middle of the active zone. It will diminish when the whole visible part of the cat is glowing, but still smokes a bit. After the load is good and charred, and the probe is over near the top of the active zone, the smoke goes away. I can then back the t-stat down to where I want, the cat will dim way down or not glow at all, and all I get is heat waves out of the pipe. Just because part of it is glowing doesn't mean the whole thing is hot enough to do it's job. Some smoke is still getting through. So all in all, I think the glow of the cat has nothin' to do with nothin'. It's all about what's coming out of the chimney.

It's a common misconception to think that the catalyst will handle any amount of smoke coming through it at any velocity. If there is too much smoke (primary air cut back too quickly or wood too wet) or the exhaust is moving too quickly (primary open too much), a significant amount of smoke can pass through the cat w/o being burned.

The lack of dwell time of the smoke in the cat is the main reason catalytic stoves aren't quite as efficient as non-cats during high firing rate burns.

I would agree that the presence or absence of a glowing cat is not an indicator of a clean or dirty burn. A cat that is glowing anywhere, however, is plenty hot everywhere to be burning SOME amount of smoke...just not necessarily the amount that is being fed through it at a given time. Even a cat that is glowing all over cannot process an excessive amount of smoke.