Astria Montecito CAT troubleshooting

[Niblet]

Hello, I’m new to the high efficiency wood insert scene, just starting with my new Montecito. Having trouble getting the temp gauge into the catalyst operation range. Per the manual I’m supposed to only need to have the catalyst bypass open when starting from cold or during reloading. The manual warns not to operate the unit with the bypass open otherwise. However I can’t seem to get the catalyst bypass gauge into operation range despite having an extremely hot fire. It came up only once but then dropped during reloading and never came up again. The catalyst has even been red hot at times. Starting to worry that there’s something wrong with the temperature gauge and that I’ve over-fired the unit. Anyone have any experience or insights that may be helpful? The company is only available for help via phone mon-fri.

 

[begreen]

A defective thermometer is possible. If the cat is glowing red and stays glowing after the bypass is closed, then it is active. You can verify it is working also by checking the chimney outside. If no smoke, the cat is working.

How large is the fire? How many splits are being burned at one time? How well seasoned is the wood? Do you have an IR thermometer for measuring the temperature on the top of the fireplace door?

 

[Niblet]

A defective thermometer is possible. If the cat is glowing red and stays glowing after the bypass is closed, then it is active. You can verify it is working also by checking the chimney outside. If no smoke, the cat is working.

How large is the fire? How many splits are being burned at one time? How well seasoned is the wood? Do you have an IR thermometer for measuring the temperature on the top of the fireplace door?

I only briefly closed the bypass bc the gauge hasn’t been indicating that the cat would be active. The fire got quite large as I was attempting to get back up to temp. I had about 5-6 splits in there at one point. The wood was from a dead tree, hasn’t been cut a year yet but moisture meter ranges b/r 14-20%. No IR thermometer, maybe I should pick one up tho.

 

[stoveliker]

How did you measure the moisture? On a room temperature split that you resplit to measure on the freshly exposed surface?

Because the cat not getting hit could be (a broken thermometer or) wet wood.

 

[begreen]

5-6 splits is not a lot of wood in that big firebox unless the are big logs. It's hard for us to know whether things are working right or not without some visual verification or temp readings. But again, if the cat stays glowing and there is no smoke after the bypass damper is closed, then it could be ok. What happens to the fire when the bypass is closed? Does it remain actively flaming or die out? If still actively flaming, what happens if the air supply is reduced via the air control?

 

[Niblet]

Thank you all for taking the time to reply. I have basically started ignoring the temperature gauge and have been engaging the cat whenever the fire gets established. Included are the pics of my current burn. As you can see the fire is going strong with a red hot cat but the temp gauge still is not in the green.

 

[stoveliker]

I think your gauge is faulty. I'd contact the dealer or mfg for a replacement.

 

[stoveliker]

But while it looks ok, please do look at the chimney 10 mins after (preferably) the stove air has been turned down (so not a lot of flames) and the cat glows.

 

[begreen]

The fire and cat look good. Yes, call the dealer. The gauge may be ok if the probe fell out of place. Regardless, it needs to be fixed.

 

[Niblet]

Dealer is ordering a new gauge