Cat Temp High?

[mfh1]

Been reading and looking for a while...I have a Regency wood insert (love it) and just acquired a Buck 91 stove for our second fireplace. Course the Buck isa cat and I ran it last night for the first time...everything appeared normal, but the cat temp guage went up to about 1700ish. I know 1600 is about the max - but since the stove is 12 years old, I wonder if the guage is a bit off.

Should I be worried? If so, how do I wlower the cat temperature while maintaining a low slow rolling fire?

Thanks,
Matt

 

[mfh1]

I should add...I had it dampened way down...the lower according to the manual. Definately did not have a blazing fire - it was slowly rolling and wisping about. Guage that came with the stove says "normal" until about 1600.

 

[Todd]

I wouldn't worry unless you constantly reached temps over 1800. Your going to get short spikes up to 1600-1700, but normal temps can be anywhere from 800-1600. If it continues try a new thermometer also check your stove for leaks.

 

[Chargerman]

Were you running the fan when it spiked that high?

 

[mfh1]

OK - thanks. Yes - I was running the fan on high...but its not too cold here in VA, so the room it was in was warm. The manual says keep both dampners open a tad (1/8 ianch). Tonight, I closed off the "shotgun" draft and just had the air wash open - I was maintaining temps around 1000. When I loaded, I opened both a tad and the temps rose steadily, but ince they hit 1500, I closed the "shotgun" and they dropped. As the wooded coaled, the temp dropped to 900ish...I let it go until 800sih and then open that one draft and it went up by 100 degrees and settled...

So, looks like things are in order - just that with my set-up the factory recommended settings burn a bit too hot. I have not detected any leaks and the fire does a lazy roll so I think I am good there. I am also buring very season oak that is split pretty thin...so that certainly is not helping.

Thanks again - will let you know how it goes!