Steel combustor / catalyst ?

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JRP3

JRP3

Feeling the Heat
Sep 17, 2007
314
NYS
they have been discussed here a time or two.

supposed to be more durable against shock breakage, the steel wool for sure looks like it would clog easily.

are they the ones with the supposed lower ignition temp?

I have read a couple of reports here of other catalysts making the same claim, and in use they had lower PEAK temps to go along with the lower ignition temps.

I would be almost afraid to gamble at this point, the OEM type works well, I would hate to spend the $$$ and get LESS performance.
 
I've read some of the discussions but haven't seen anyone who actually used them, other than one person who used the non-honeycombed version that seemed to clog up. I don't know if slightly lower peak temps would be a bad thing even if that were to happen. I mean I've seen this stove head towards 2000 degrees when I wasn't paying attention, 100 degrees or so lower wouldn't be a problem. Frankly if the catalyst ignites the wood gas I'm not sure how it would burn any cooler than a stock cat, but maybe I'm missing something. I guess there might be less thermal mass in the metal than the ceramic so it doesn't hold the heat as long but also allows it to heat up more quickly?
 
How do I know if the catalysts are actually working on this stove. I took them out this summer and sprayed them down with a hose to clean them off. let them air dry and reinstalled them. I've had a few roaring fires and leaned down to try to see if a flame comes out the front of them, but it doesnt look like there is any burn coming out of them. Do these things end up wearing out? or breaking down? I can't see any kind of burn coming out from them. I'm burning only dry hardwood but I don't know what the former owners of the cabin used to burn. How do I know if they need replacing?
thx
 
I definitely do not get that kind of flame out of the top. I can't see anything coming from them. The stove still produces a great fire with the damper fully closed. If they are worn out, does the stove not operate as efficiently?
 
There is a proper procedure for cleaning them, and washing them down with a hose is definitely not it! Do a search for more on this.

You'll know the cat is working if the area around the cat gets significantly hotter after closing the bypass. You should see a drastic reduction in smoke outside as well. I don't know what you have for a stove, but a magnetic thermometer located directly above the cat (on top of the stove) should give you a good idea what's going on. You wont see flames coming out of it, but it might start glowing red if it's working fairly hard. Remember, the fuel will be going in the side you might be able to see, the other side where the burnt fuel exits should be the side facing the flue (which you cant see). I assume you know this, but the stove should be 500+ degrees before you engage the cat (close the bypass) for the cat to light off, anything lower and the cat might stall.
 
Just realized you have an Earth Stove, I know nothing about that stove. But no, the stove will not operate nearly as efficiently with a bad cat.
 
When I took the cat out, there was a white gasket around the square honeycomb insert that get inserted into another steel housing. then the entire assembly gets inserted into the top of the stove and cliped into place by a retaining clip. the white gasket was deteriorated and crumbling. I removed the worst parts and reassembled it. I didnt think the missing gasket type material would be too much of an issue as the housing is not airtite when it is in place at the top of the firebox. Sounds like that was wrong.
I'll try to take some pictures and post them next week.
 
You should replace that gasket, and possibly the cat if you find it's not working.
 
I will fire it up again this weekend and look for blue smoke. I don't have a thermometer on my stove, but maybe I can get an aftermarket one.
 
I've been using a steel cat about a week now. It does seem to light off a little sooner than the old one.I close the bypass about 100 degree lower and have had good light offs so far. High temps have reached as high as 1500 degrees. As I said on an earlier post I also had to change the cat thermometer because the steel cat is not as tall as the original. I like it so far, It makes manageing the fire a little easier.
 
mchristo said:
I will fire it up again this weekend and look for blue smoke. I don't have a thermometer on my stove, but maybe I can get an aftermarket one.
Click to expand...
My Earth stove has a thermometer that has a probe that sticks into the catalyst chamber right behind the cat to the right of the bypass handle. I engage the cat above 500 degrees and can usually see it start to glow. I wouldn't think the gasket is all that critical since as you mentioned the "can" is not exactly an airtight seal, but the tighter it is probably the better. I ended up getting a ceramic cat from Condar but it doesn't work as well as the one that was in it before. It did fall out once and cracked in a few places so it's not in great shape but after paying over 200 for it last year I'm not about to replace it again so soon. I'll definitely try a steel cat next time.
 
Pine Knot said:
I've been using a steel cat about a week now. It does seem to light off a little sooner than the old one.I close the bypass about 100 degree lower and have had good light offs so far. High temps have reached as high as 1500 degrees. As I said on an earlier post I also had to change the cat thermometer because the steel cat is not as tall as the original. I like it so far, It makes manageing the fire a little easier.
Click to expand...
Which steel cat did you get?
 
thanks, I youtube'd "secondary burn woodstove" and saw many videos showing actual flames coming from the catalytic. I think my stove used to do that too.

I'll get it ripping this weekend and hopefully be able to tell if it is working properly.
 
Yeah I was thinking that as well. Air should be flowing into the cat, not shooting out of it.
 
I have used both the stovecombustors cat and the honeycomb cat. both worked. My stovecombustors one was not steel wool....it was a mesh but it was hard like ceramic. I just went back to the honeycomb type and bought them straight from my stove manufacturere. One thing I didn't know before is that my stove was designed to use 2 sets of cats.....expensive to replace......But I did it before burn season last year...and this year when they stove/chimney was cleaned it appears to have worked very well. a clean chimney. They wear out somewhere between 4-7 years.
 
I saw the video with the flames right around the catalytis combuster. My take on it was this. Since the cat needs an air supply to work effectively some stove are designed with air tubes right before the cat. This leads to secondary combustion at the air tube and thats the flames you can see. The rest of the unburned smoke is burnt in the cat and it is glowing in the background. It appears that both types of secondary combustion are present in those videos. My insert uses the same air intake for both primary and secondary combustion and I do on occassion see secondary ghost flames dancing around in the stove along witht he glowing cat. i actually have a video that I will try and post of this.
 
mellow said:
You will see ghost flames, but I was just clarifying that you will not see them coming out from the cat, if anything they would be sucked in. The ghost flames ignite before they reach the cat from what I noticed on mine.
Click to expand...
What he said.
 
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