Abandoning the Cat

[Garbanzo62]

I've pretty much decided to abandon the use of the Cat on my Insert. The Regency I2500 is basically an I2450 that has a Cat that slides over the flue opening. My experience based on the probe temps is that engaging the cat, causes an immediate reduction in the draft, the probe temps rise but come back down after a short period. I don't seem to get any extension on the burn times and my stove top temps don't go up. It looks to me that the cat's sole purpose is to burn enough residual partials to get the stove to qualify for the Tax Credit.
On top of needing to remember to engage/disengage the cat, I have had some trouble with it getting stuck or being difficult to engage when the stove is hot. Since it does not seem to be adding any heat going into the room, it seems to be more trouble than it is worth. I will probably engage it periodically to burn off anything that might accumulate on it, but I think I am done with using it on a daily basis.

 

[stoveliker]

Understandable, for that design

 

[Prometeo]

I would give the engine a good clean, the flue pipe

 

[Highbeam]

It’s a shame that many these stove manufacturers are unable or unwilling to fully utilize the catalyst to benefit the user. I suspect the end result will be catalysts that are fixed in the system with no bypass. Like a car.

 

[Raddler]

I've pretty much decided to abandon the use of the Cat on my Insert.

I have the same stove and have reached the same conclusion. I enjoyed it much more once I stopped worrying about engaging/disengaging as the temps rise and fall. The only difference I noticed was a very slight increase in the amount of hot coals if I had the Cat engaged over night, but not enough to make any real difference.

 

[bholler]

It’s a shame that many these stove manufacturers are unable or unwilling to fully utilize the catalyst to benefit the user. I suspect the end result will be catalysts that are fixed in the system with no bypass. Like a car.

Regency makes some very good hybrids as well. These unfortunately miss the mark though. You need a bypass on a woodstove cat the one company that tried without is having issues

 

[Ashful]

From what @Garbanzo62 says, it sounds like moving the cat is the bypass? Weird.

In any case, I've had exactly the same flame behavior you describe, from my Ashfords. In fact, that's how I know I've managed to clog the cat (again). Might be worth pulling that cat out and vacuuming it clean, and inspecting that the passages are not distorted and closed (overheated steelcat), before giving up on it completely. In my case, knocking the draft back with a key camper was the best way to avoid regularly clogging the cat with fly ash.