I have installed a new Dutchwest 2462 extra large Cat model and need advice on operation.

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zoomman

New Member
Dec 22, 2007
3
Middle Tennessee
Hello all and may I say it is great to have the info found here!!
I have just replaced my old 70's era VC Defiant with a new Dutchwest EX large Cat stove and I could use any info in getting comfortable with it! My old defiant was a bugger to burn as it would want to burn way too hot when in secondary combustion mode and way too slow when not using secondary combustion! I rebuilt the stove twice to eliminate any air leaks that might be causing the hot burning but no luck. My only recourse was to burn without secondary combustion and that was causing way too much creasote so the Defiant is being retired to the shop out back.

Now for the Dutchwest-- I purchased this model after much debate. I liked the model for the heat output, the fact that it has a cat and a big plus is the ease in cleaning the ash out after the flu is swept out. there are no hidden air spaces for the ash to fall in. I installed this stove on a stone hearth with a 15' single wall 18ga stack straight up from stove to class A thimble. I have a magnetic thermometer on the left door and an internal flu probe 16" up from the stove connector and of course the cat probe that came with the stove. I have completed my 3 break in burns and I am on my second "cat engaged burn" I can see right away that the more wood you put in the hotter the fire and heat output and the higher the cat temp!

My first cat burn was a little too fast and hot and when the cat probe reached 1200deg I got nervous and tried to close the damper a little too much not to mention it wasn't real cold outside and right away the stove responded with a smokey belch! Well with no experience with this stove and in fear of overfireing I just disengaged the cat and adjusted the fire with the prinary damper and things settled down and so did I. Now I did some homework on this site and some general study on cats and I am currently in my second cat burn.

This time I started off slower, I built a fire and let it build a medium bed of coals then I added a couple of 4" sticks of split hickory and then let the wood heat a little. When my door temp reached 400deg and my flu probe was at 600 and my cat probe was at 400deg I closed down the primary air inlet to about 1/2 and then I closed off the damper to divert heat through the cat. Then I opened the cat air flow 1/2 turn and closed the primary air flow to about 1/4 open and my cat temp probe slowly but surely climbed to a max temp of about 1000deg. The fire box stayed at around 450 the flue at around 600 this burn lasted about 2-3 hours and when all the gas was out of the wood the fire box dropped to about 400 the flue to 500 and the cat to 800 The wood sticks were still intact but chared black, just coals now so I opened the damper and added two 6" pieces of wood and let them warm and off any moisture for about 5-10 min then I closed the damper and back in to cat mode we went!

I had pretty much the same results except larger wood equals a hotter cat temp! This time it read fire box 450 flue 600 cat 1200deg. then after about 4 hours we are dropping all temps again and will soon need wood. I have noticed that the cat really likes the wood gasses to glow red but once the wood has off gassed the cat drops temp to around 700-800 and the box and flu drop also but the wood is still intact but chared black and will fall to coals if more wood is added. I have also noticed that when new wood is added the stove burns pretty steadly then right as the wood is giving up its last gasses the stove will get this erie blue/red glow in the fire box that will whisp from bottom to top the linger around the top. At this point in the burn the cat reaches it max temp of about 1200 deg in this case and I have noticed the interior cast iron ring around the cat will glow red?? Then after about 30-45 min the cat drops temp and all settles down until the next wood is added.

I am burning at pretty much the lowest setting I can and I am wondering what will happen if I load several large sticks of wood?? and what if I open the air flows a little more! Will I over fire the stove?? Am I overfireing the cat by the interior cast glowing red?? I really want to have a night burn of around 8 hours and I am not sure how to achieve this without loading a full box of wood but I am nervous about doing this right yet! Did I mention that I really like this stove! And I really like looking up at the stack and seeing only a little steam or nothing at all comming out of the stack! I really like knowing that no smoke equals no CREASOTE! Any advice or feedback would be greatly appriciated!!!
 
Sounds like you are right on! My old small DW catalytic got up to 1400 F in the catalyst, and at time 700 F on the door. I found that is was IMPOSSIBLE to overfire the stove with the catalyst engaged. You will notice in the top of the stove around the catalyst glowing red (the waffle looking round metal part) and the catalyst itself glows red. Those "ghost flames" will usually be present when you got it going good - there really isn't too much other fire in there. Just watch it the first couple burns as you get used to it. Again, it's perfectly normal for the catalyst probe temp on top of the stove to read 1200 - 1400, and a magnetic thermometer on the side load door can get up to 700. Isn't it amazing how low your chimney temp is through all of it!? I think you got yourself a really nice stove. that's the one I wanted to replace my small DW with, except I couldn't afford to replace the chimney with the required 8". You can cram that fire box full of wood - jus tdon't overdo it, because you can actually "smother" the fire if you get carried away. Then, it can be a real hassle to get it going again. Keep good air spaces between your splits. Good luck, and enjoy!!
 
Oh, yeah...you shouldn't need too much air once you get it going. Just make sure you're seeing a little flame in the box once the damper is closed, and you should be able to put it on "low burn" as described in the manual - it should go real good after that. You might find that you have to fuss around with it more than you'd like until you get used to it. Keep at it, you'll learn to love this stove!!
 
Thanks guys for all the info and fast too! Cant get that at the dealer! Theres nothing like talking with folks that have actually used one of these stoves!
So from what I am hearing and seeing this stove is like holding back a race horse! Just put in some fuel and let it adjust then close down the airlfow and watch it heat! I see that the more wood I put in the hotter the fire and heat output! I gather I would only need to open the primary air flow for starting and building a fire but will close it down when cat is engaged! My stove will easly reach 1150-1200deg cat temp and 500-550deg box temp with just a half load of wood with the airflows cut down to 1/8 to 1/4" on primary and 1/2 turn on the secondary! I cant imagine opening the airflows up much more!! I think the stove would over fire??? The instructions show low/medium and fast fire settings as 1/4 to 1/2 to 3/4 % open on the primary and the secondary cat air flow to match with 1/2 to 1-1/2 to 2 turns for low, med, fast burns, but I cant imagine running the stove at 1/2 primary and 1-1/2 turns on secondary?? Would the stove get too hot??


Thanks all!!

BTW I have had no backpuffs since that first one and I feel sure it was because of mild temps outside low pressure system in place which caused a lowered draft situation then insult to injury I got the stove hot then tried to close it back too quickly and then ca-puff I got what I asked for!! Colder weather is upon us now and I understand the stove better and I am becoming more and more happy with my decision every day!
 
Others may want to chime in here, but with my small DW cat, I never messed with the secondary air adjustment - I always left it about 1/8" open - I don't think I turned it for the full 3 years I used it. Definitely monitor your stove - i think you'll see that the door temp might get up to 650 - 700 F with a full load. At those temperatures, you will probably also see the cat up at 1300F and the chimney rather cool - like at the lower end of the "orange zone" if you have a thermometer that shows "too cool", "too hot" and "just right". On my probe thermometer, it would have been anywhere from 300 - 500. I actually have seen chimney temps at 200 (you can put your hand on it) and the stove is still blazing away!! it's an awesome, efficient stove.
 
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