Cat sourcing

[jetsam]

Hi guys-

I have a BK Princess Insert (PI-1010A) that I want to order a cat for. I had been planning on getting it from firecatcombustors.com, as I'd seen BKVP recommend them, but it seems like they're either out of business or operating in a completely different decade (their only contact email is dead, and they don't answer queries on their "contact" web form).

SO... where do you guys get your cats? Any place you've had a good or bad experience with? (I see a few Condar cats on Amazon even!)

On a different topic, does anyone have the exact dimensions of the PI-1010A cat handy? I would pull mine and measure it, but I don't want to ruin the gasket until I have the new cat in hand, and I won't have the gasket until I order the new cat...

Thanks!

 

[Charles1981]

I ordered a cat from them 3 weeks ago. It arrive 1 week later. Standard free shipping. No concerns. I never tried to contact them. The cat that came with my stove fell apart the first year. The replacement from VC was made by firecat. That cat lasted 3.5 seasons. So I just ordered another from them. The stove store wanted me to pay 195$ for the same cat and I was like wtf I can buy it directly from their website for 135. Stove shop guy just said "that was the price". He could give me 25% pro rate on the cat based on stove age but again I said WTF its still cheaper direct from stove cat and that was where the original free replacement cat came from. So I ordered direct from them. I don't like my stove store.

 

[tarzan]

You could order the cat from Condar, as I did. No problems with the process or product EXCEPT you get no gasket which likely leads you back to dealing with firecat.

 

[rdust]

I ordered a firecat last season with no issues. I think I found them on Amazon.

 

[Highbeam]

It is certainly a shame if firecat can't get their poop together. I had planned to use them for a cat as soon as the current one dies but if they are unresponsive then that could leave me in a bad situation. Ugh. I'm sure the product is good but if your company requires customers to use some sort of ridiculous, disfunctional, and non-standard communication method then the whole deal is suspect. Then there is the case of the broken up new firecat from a poster recently.

 

[jetsam]

I ordered from Condar tonight. They do answer emails. They try to steer you away from using gaskets, but you can still get them.

I ordered two (one for the old cat post-vinegar bath, one for the new cat).

I really didn't see firecat on amazon. Condar was there, but no gaskets, and the shipping was $15 more than ordering it from them directly.

I would have liked to use firecat (especially since they're more than $100 cheaper than condar), but I don't have much confidence in their ability to fufill orders on the internet if they can't even work an email account.


For future reference, the cat was 4x10.6x2. Condar parts were CS-526 (steel, $311 with shipping) and CC-526 (ceramic, $280 with shipping). I see a cat of that size in firecat's catalog, so I guess it's the right one... ACI-63C, $186, shipping costs unknown.

 

[jetsam]

Got the cat and gasket today. I hope to run 1 last year on my ceramic cat and 3 years on this steel one, so firecat has 4 years to figure out what email is.

I may run the steelcat this season just because I am itchy to try it...

 

[jetsam]

I am cooking the old ceramic cat right now. Man, boiling vinegar mixed with woodsmoke will definitely make you cry.

Also, a cinder block rocket stove runs on twigs and is pretty good to cook on. Throws a surprising amount of heat, but a pita to keep fueled. Ideal for frying stuff, dunno about slow cooking.

 

[WoodyIsGoody]

Also, a cinder block rocket stove runs on twigs and is pretty good to cook on. Throws a surprising amount of heat, but a pita to keep fueled. Ideal for frying stuff, dunno about slow cooking.

Looks more like a scene from "Mad Max, the Final Revenge" than an American backyard.

 

[Highbeam]

Neighbor: whatcha doing?

Jetsam: boiling my dead cat in vinegar, mind your own business.

 

[jetsam]

Neighbor: whatcha doing?

Jetsam: boiling my dead cat in vinegar, mind your own business.

I just posted a photo essay on that topic!

Not pictured: my (only) neighbor heard me yelling for the dog, which it turns out had gone over to see him, so I wound up over there explaining the vinegar bath to a guy who burns 15 cords of green wood a year in an outdoor boiler.

Got a couple looks.

 

[rdust]

Got the cat and gasket today. I hope to run 1 last year on my ceramic cat and 3 years on this steel one, so firecat has 4 years to figure out what email is.

I may run the steelcat this season just because I am itchy to try it...

Did you try to call them? What questions did you have? I ordered a cat and it showed up at my house. I guess I'm curious what questions need to be asked/answered. It's a ceramic cat and has a gasket. For 100 dollar difference I would've picked up the phone, it's still a common way to communicate.

 

[rdust]

I really didn't see firecat on amazon.

Not sure what changed, I looked at my order history and it's no longer available from Amazon.

 

[lsucet]

I just check the site now and everything looks like I can order a cat with no problem. I went all the way to checkout and looks like it is working and available. I don't know what's going on. When I ordered mine from them, I received one that it was damaged and I went thru hell to get a hold of somebody. The emails from their answer machine don't work.
After some search on the internet I found this one that works and he answered me quick and everything was handled with no problems.
[email protected]
I got my other one and it was undamaged. I contacted him to get the info and send the damaged one back and he answered me saying to keep it and that I can swap the other sections undamaged in the future if I need.

 

[Dix]

My cats are usually rescues.

Just saying

 

[jetsam]

Did you try to call them? What questions did you have?

No, I work during 'business hours' and very rarely make phone calls anyway. My question was "Do you have a cat that fits this stove, since the stove isn't listed on your website." (It turns out that they do, but I had to measure my old cat to learn this, and I didn't want to pull the old cat until I had new cat and gaskets in hand. I still haven't heard back from anyone at firecat.)

My cats are usually rescues.

Just saying

I found my cat quite literally in the middle of the intersection of route 25 and 347. It turns out that it wasn't really unlikely that he'd be there; that's just the level that his survival instincts operate at. He would probably also pay $100 to spite the no-email company.