Engaging the cat on the progress hybrid

[georgepds]

I’ve been reading up on the progress hybrid, prior to installation. My experience has been with an older stove, and I want to get the hang of what to do with a new one

One phrase that comes up often is “engage the cat’ By this I understand close the bypass damper to direct the flow through the catalytic converter.. Is that correct or does it mean something else ( like resetting the damper on the back of the stove)?

The other thing I note is that to check to see if the cat is running or not, they check the stove and flue temperature. I get the idea, an active cat means a hot stove top.. but a better way would be the temperature differential into and out of the cat. Anyone do this on a PH?

 

[Waulie]

Engaging the cat is simply closer the damper on the front of the stove like you said. Typically, I'll close the damper (engage the cat) with the draft half open or a little less. Once the cat is engaged and the fire stabilizes, I'll close the draft down more to where I want it for the long haul.

There was someone who was using thermocouples to measure directly upstream and downstream of the cat but I can't remember who. I'll try to find the thread.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

George, it will be somewhat like on our Fireview. When we engage the cat (close the bypass), the stove top temperature rises a lot faster. If it fails to rise, we know the cat did not start working. In that case, we simply open the bypass again and give it full draft. Then we watch the flue temperature along with stove top to know when to engage again. This does not happen often but it is nice to know it is an easy fix when it does happen.

 

[fox9988]

When I engage the cat, it usually starts glowing within a minute. Flue temps begin to drop off quickly, STT(stove top temp) begin to rise quickly. During later stages of the burn the cat may stop glowing, but I know it's active because the STT are about twice as high as the single wall pipe temps. This is my first year with a cat stove. At first I was worried to death about cat stalls, failing to light off, etc. but after a month of use it's very easy. I open the bypass, light the fire (or reload), set the draft fully open, cut the draft back to about half after I see lively flames, char the wood for 15-30 min while letting the single wall pipe temp climb to ~450, engage the cat (draft still about 50%), cat lights off, set draft according to heat/burn time needs.
It's actually much easier than it sounds written out.