Catylic combustor light off

[Pine Knot]

Even though I have been burning wood for many years, I have no experience with Catylic Combustor equip-ted stoves, Dutchwest "large" new this year. When lighting or reloading my stove I watch the temp gauges on the pipe and on the left side door. When they approach 500 and 450 I close the bypass and close the draft to near cutoff.That usually results in combustor light-off but not always. My question. Is there a way to tell if the combustor is working with out waiting for the combustor temp gauge to make it's slow way up the scale? Is there anything that will give a more immediate indication that it's working?

Thanks,

Pine Knot

 

[bmwbj]

PINE KNOT, I recently installed a new combuster in my VC Intrepid because I never had "Light off" with
my old one which was only 4 years old. But I can tell you that I can hear a slight "rumble" from my stove
when my combuster is lit. You can also see the that there is a large reduction of smoke if any, coming
from the stack outside.
I do however notice that if I let my stove dip below 500* when the cat. is lit, I will start to notice a slight amount of smoke outside again, but if I keep it above 500* there is no smoke at all, and I mean "NO SMOKE".
You do have to give the smoke about 5 min. to clear up after engaging the cat. to know for sure
it is working properly. The smoke clearing is not instant, at least not for me anyway.

 

[jpl1nh]

As you probably already know, you need to achieve temps of about 500 degrees of the gas stream for the combustor to start working. With the stove temp and pipe temp you are reading, you probably are well beyond the flue gas temp you need for light off. I have a soapstone stove which in some wasy is a very different creature than your stove, but I do not automatically shut my air way down when I engage the combustor. Instead, I tend to bring it down in increments over the next half hour from a cool or cold start or the next 5-10 mns when its already hot. Generally when the wood is starting to coal a bit on the outside, you should be all set. For me, a pipe temp of 250 is plenty and the stove temps is somewhat irrelevant since soapstone is slow to react to what's happening in the fire box. After a while you'll just kind of know, yep, its ready. Once its engaged, if you can see it, it may start to glow orange. As bmwbj nicely indicated, the smoke from the chimney is really the big change, though I don't find smoke if my temps drop as he does. Remember, once the cats going, it keeps on goin as long as there is smoke to feed on and you do not need to disengage untill you load your next laod.

 

[Pine Knot]

Thanks for the replies.
My combustor seems to be a little more sensitive to light off temp. than what you described or I am retarding the draft a little too much too soon. I will work on that. An observation from an old wood burner, these new high efficiency stoves are a HUGH improvement over the Fisher Mama Bear I used for years.

 

[swestall]

Try 550-600 on the stack. I haven't seen this one, on the VC stoves, you can actually see the combustor glowing. Also, when it is in there should be NO SMOKE as previous post indicated.

 

[ozarkjeep]

I have a non contact IR temp gun, from harbour freight, they have been discussed on here.

once the cat is lit, you can watch the stove top temp rise in under a minute on mine.
my combustor two rectangular units directly under the top plate of the insert.

it goes from 400-600 in just a few minutes with moderate airflow and cat ignition.

 

[jpl1nh]

Thanks for the replies.
My combustor seems to be a little more sensitive to light off temp. than what you described or I am retarding the draft a little too much too soon. I will work on that. An observation from an old wood burner, these new high efficiency stoves are a HUGH improvement over the Fisher Mama Bear I used for years.

Why do you say your combustor seems to be a little more sensitive to light off temp? When the combustor is really working it can get hot enough to glow (a good thing) but just becasue it isn't glowing does not mean it's not working. The proof of whether it's working or not is primarily whether there is smoke coming out of the chimney.

 

[mikeathens]

Pine Knot, you have a really awesome stove. Great choice. I used to have a small dutchwest cat, and I loved it. It was just too small for my house, and I couldn't justify an extra $1200+ to put in a new 8" chimney on top of the cost of a new stove.

Anyhow, if the large operates like the small, I always got the chimney temp up to about 500 F (using a surface thermometer) and let the magnetic thermometer on the side load door climb to about 400 F or so (this also resulted in the catalyist thermometer gaining to 250 F + also). Then, I'd choke air control to about 1/2, and let the fire readjust for 10 minutes or so. Then, engage the damper. You should see the catalyst temp climb into the 1000 F + range, and you'll know it's working. The primary air can be adjusted a little bit after that. Other than an occasional back puff, it worked like a charm. One thing that might speed things up is to crack the ash pan door open during your initial start-up (BE SURE YOU ARE THERE WATCHING INTENTLY THE ENTIRE TIME Forgetting you left the ashpan door open can lead to major problems!) After 5 minutes or less, the fire should be roaring, and you can then get to temp with the primarys air control. Don't be surprised to have your door thermometer showing 500 - 600 F when it operating.

you'll get it figured out, and then you'll be able to go from a cold stove to catalytic combustor glowing red in 30-40 minutes.

Don't skimp on the kindling when you get 'er started, and, like every stove, don't smother things out by putting too much fresh wood or too large of splits on at once, and don't pack the fire box too densely. Those little gaps between logs are key to making this thing operate right. I found that placing splits on in a sort of "criss cross" pattern allowed for more gas flow between wood and allowed for hotter and more complete combustion. Just keep working with it, and before long, you'll be a pro.

 

[Pine Knot]

Yes, I can see the combustor glow when temps. are high,1000f or so. The question comes up when I am standing in front of the stove in my Barnyard boots ready to leave the house for a mornings work I have just closed the bypass and I'm thinking "is this thing going to light off"? My question is, has anyone noticed early clues as to whether it has lite off or not. Operating with proper temps and procedure may be the only answer.

 

[jpl1nh]

Yes, I can see the combustor glow when temps. are high,1000f or so. The question comes up when I am standing in front of the stove in my Barnyard boots ready to leave the house for a mornings work I have just closed the bypass and I'm thinking "is this thing going to light off"? My question is, has anyone noticed early clues as to whether it has lite off or not. Operating with proper temps and procedure may be the only answer.

I engage my combustor before I put my boots on so there's a little time to make sure its all set well before I leave

 

[stoveguy2esw]

is there a cat thermometer available for that unit ? condar makes a bunch of them , i personally believe its the best way to know. i have used one for years in my old 24-ac, and have had no problems when i shut down the bypass, cause i know the cat is active by temp taken right off the top of the cat. great investment as they usually arent brutally expensive. the ac-13 i use for my stove retails at about 35 bucks.

 

[elkimmeg]

Do not Do not use the ash pan door open to regulate your fire the sudden rush can cause you cast stove to suffer themo shock. They even warn not to do this in the manual and warn you can void your warranty in doing so. That is bad advice that should be disregarded