My stove manual says that i should close the bypass damper when the top of the stove reaches a temp of 400 degrees. I have done that once and had the stove settle into some nice blue flames and the heat started to crank out. Now i am assuming that meant the cat lit off and all was well. Now my wood is questionable as far as being "seasoned".
Now recently i have been getting the stove up to 375-400 degrees and closing the damper and watching the flames just die out and the splits just glow. If i open the damper back up the splits light back up and burn fine. So i am assuming the cat did not light. So next i got the stove up to temp and closed the damper 3/4 of the way and the splits stay lit but i dont know if i should do this or if it is ok to kind of "preheat" the cat.
Also i have heard the term "cruise" alot when folks let the stove just burn nice and low for a long time. I read that the stove temps are around 250 when the stove is cruising. Now i dont know if that is applicable to my cat stove or not.
So....question 1 ....does my stove have to have flames to show that the cat is lit and working?
Question 2....once the cat is lit, can the stove top temp be as low as 250 degrees?
Question 3 ....if the cat is lit and i want to reload the stove and open the damper, once i reload should i wait for the temp to raise again before closing the damper and engaging the cat again?
Question 4....is there any real way to be sure the cat has lit? (I have a IR temp gauge and can read the back of the stove where the cat is ) so would being able to read the cat temp be the only sure way?
Sorry for all the questions,
Now recently i have been getting the stove up to 375-400 degrees and closing the damper and watching the flames just die out and the splits just glow. If i open the damper back up the splits light back up and burn fine. So i am assuming the cat did not light. So next i got the stove up to temp and closed the damper 3/4 of the way and the splits stay lit but i dont know if i should do this or if it is ok to kind of "preheat" the cat.
Also i have heard the term "cruise" alot when folks let the stove just burn nice and low for a long time. I read that the stove temps are around 250 when the stove is cruising. Now i dont know if that is applicable to my cat stove or not.
So....question 1 ....does my stove have to have flames to show that the cat is lit and working?
Question 2....once the cat is lit, can the stove top temp be as low as 250 degrees?
Question 3 ....if the cat is lit and i want to reload the stove and open the damper, once i reload should i wait for the temp to raise again before closing the damper and engaging the cat again?
Question 4....is there any real way to be sure the cat has lit? (I have a IR temp gauge and can read the back of the stove where the cat is ) so would being able to read the cat temp be the only sure way?
Sorry for all the questions,
