Hi everyone!
I had another post about buying a used Jotul stove, but I missed out on it, and I'm also stubbornly wanting to get my VC back in tip top shape since I love it so much when it's working properly.
I did a complete rebuild 4 years ago including new cat, refractory box and fireback. It ran perfect for one season with a condar steelcat. During the second season, the cat started clogging often. Condar generously exchanged the steel cat for a ceramic one. This improved the situation a little, but the problem persists and has gotten worse, to the point that I have to clean the catalyst weekly now. WIth my install this is a royal pain. The first season after rebuild I only cleaned the cat at the end of the season, even when I burned some greenish not so great stuff at the end of the season.
When I clean the cat it works perfect for about 2 days. Then the cat seems to clog with fly ash, making the stove slow and smoldery, once the cat chamber is engaged. I'm burning nice clean dry hard wood, and the same thing has happened with several different loads of wood, so I'm sure it's not a wood issue. I just ordered a gasket kit, and I'm about to tear it all down and do a full clean and inspection, plus regasketing everything. Have any of you had similar problems? Any specific spots that I should triple check? Could a worn out cat cause this? I love this stove so much when it's running properly... I would love to get another few seasons out of it while saving pennies to get the woostock progress hybrid of my dreams...
Thanks!
-j
I had another post about buying a used Jotul stove, but I missed out on it, and I'm also stubbornly wanting to get my VC back in tip top shape since I love it so much when it's working properly.
I did a complete rebuild 4 years ago including new cat, refractory box and fireback. It ran perfect for one season with a condar steelcat. During the second season, the cat started clogging often. Condar generously exchanged the steel cat for a ceramic one. This improved the situation a little, but the problem persists and has gotten worse, to the point that I have to clean the catalyst weekly now. WIth my install this is a royal pain. The first season after rebuild I only cleaned the cat at the end of the season, even when I burned some greenish not so great stuff at the end of the season.
When I clean the cat it works perfect for about 2 days. Then the cat seems to clog with fly ash, making the stove slow and smoldery, once the cat chamber is engaged. I'm burning nice clean dry hard wood, and the same thing has happened with several different loads of wood, so I'm sure it's not a wood issue. I just ordered a gasket kit, and I'm about to tear it all down and do a full clean and inspection, plus regasketing everything. Have any of you had similar problems? Any specific spots that I should triple check? Could a worn out cat cause this? I love this stove so much when it's running properly... I would love to get another few seasons out of it while saving pennies to get the woostock progress hybrid of my dreams...
Thanks!
-j
