For those who use probe thermometers for catalytic stoves, what kind of temps to you typically see? Do you worry if your getting close to 1600?
CAT probe temps
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With my VC, at 1600 i start to pay attention. At 1700 i am ready to open the bypass. However, if it reaches 1700, it only stays there for 3-5min and it starts to drop. I have no idea why on occasion a load does that.
It's been posted by BKVP that at >1600 the cat is starting to degrade. Best to keep it at 1400 or below given the potential inaccuracy of a dial type thermometer.
I think im over 1400 every burn that ive kept track of so far. Usually cruise around 1300-1500. Sometimes I go over 1600 if i close bypass too quick or do not back down fast enough. Usually never over 1700 but has happened.
lsucet
Minister of Fire
There is no way to control this. Think this way, when you load before go to bed and dial the stove to your overnight settings depending outside temperatures etc and you stay for 6 to 8 hrs away from the stove, nobody knows what temperature the cat reached through the night. All that is secondary. Just burn and don't worry about. The thermostat is suppose to control this. The probe in use should be question too if it is accurate at those high temperatures etc. I will not worry about it..
Yea same here. Still in the early stages of using the CAT probe, its shocking to see the difference of what the firebox and griddle temp is doing vs the CAT temp. Thanks for the help last season, feels like I was using the stove with blindfolds on before. Much easier now to understand what to do and when to do it. As to the CAT over firing on some loads, I've had that happen too. Was wondering if the size of the splits have anything to do with it? Excessive off gassing on load of smaller splits maybe. I know if I engage CAT too late it will happen to me. Hard to back down air fast enough when that happens then the momentum takes over. I figure I need to get a stack thermometer to solve that problem.
WoodBurnerInWI
Feeling the Heat
When I have observed the cat probe during a full burn cycle (can happen on weekends when I have time to watch the stove all day) I have seen the temp on the probe get as high as 1,600. For me, that is my comfort level and if I were to observe anything higher I would attempt to cool the cat down a bit. However, as others have pointed out, for the overnight burns no one really knows what is going on. Assuming it's colder at night vs during the day time then I would imagine your stove will be running a bit hotter as it would be working with a better draft then the day time hours. Plus other factors like wind speed, wood type and dryness, how fast you close your stove down after a reload, etc. Catalysts are made to handle some abuse temperature wise and of course there is the differences between cat materials and how they react to temperature swings but obviously I wouldn't make it a habit of running your cat hotter than 1,700 if you can avoid it (I don't see the need to do that, your stove is warming your house just as good if the cat temps are at 1,200 vs 1,700 plus). Damage to the cat can begin to happen at temps above 1,700 and if this is frequently reached on your stove, known or otherwise you will probably be replacing the cat more than you would like.
I was surprised too my first year using a cat stove when the I noticed the temp difference between the cat and my stove top every burn. When my stove temp reaches or exceeds 500 degrees, my cat temp will be at least 1,200 or maybe a bit over and that is when the secondaries will begin firing off in my stove.
I was surprised too my first year using a cat stove when the I noticed the temp difference between the cat and my stove top every burn. When my stove temp reaches or exceeds 500 degrees, my cat temp will be at least 1,200 or maybe a bit over and that is when the secondaries will begin firing off in my stove.
"There is no debate on threshold temperatures."
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