Fireview Cat Issue

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fireview2788

Minister of Fire
Apr 20, 2011
972
SW Ohio
Sunday I loaded the stove and got it running but it wasn't hot enough to engage the cat before I left to go duck hunting. I told my wife to let check it and when it was hot enough, engage the cat. Well, I came home from duck hunting I found the fire was lagging so I went to toss a couple of logs on it. I dis-engage the cat and then reach to open the damper and found it was already open full! The best I can figure is that it was run like this for about three hours but I don't know how hot it got.

Now I'm having major issues with the cat stalling. Like this morning I got the stove hot and ready, I engage the cat and listen to the metal pinging and check the cat to see it cherry red. I don't give it another thought until I am leaving for work and see smoke coming out of the stack. It was cold, -2F. Temps on the stove are still rising to about 475F.

I'm worried that the cat is now torched out. Wood is dry (two year old hickory) and zero sizzling and cat is three years old.

Cat fried? It's just so cold that there's gonna be smoke no matter what?

Thanks,
fv
 
It might have lost some of the materials on the cat with the high heat, if it goes over 1800-2000 for extended periods the materials will melt and not have the surface area that they once had.

That would explain why it still glows but is not catching all the smoke, that cat should still be pro-rated from Woodstock since it is only 3 years old.
 
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The other question is whether you are sure you saw smoke and not steam. Very cold out, early parts of the burn you may well see some steam. If it is team, it is white, not gray, and it dissipates before it gets past the edge of your roof...say after about ten or twelve feet it starts disappearing. Smoke stays much longer. If steam, don't worry.

Is you cat ceramic or steel? Steel is less likely to have been damaged from flame impingement.

Was your flue temp dropping while your stovetop was rising? If so, I'd suspect the cat was engaged and you are fine. Certainly, if you had the air closed down, the stove temp was rising to 475 and the cat was red, I believe the cat was working.
 
Smoke was dissipating, steel cat, and I don't have a pipe thermometer only stovetop.

This may seem odd but I can usually tell when the cat is working because of the smell. It's a "chemical" type of smell instead of the nice wood burning smell. I was pulling out of the driveway when I saw the stack so I have no idea about that this morning.

f v
 
Sounds like it still has some life if your seeing 475 STT but yes it could have been damaged by running full throttle.

I'd also check your bypass for warpage or other possible damage inside the fire box. Cast iron doesn't like temps much over 1400 degrees and running full bore can get it there.
 
Part of this might depend upon how much wood you had in the stove and what kind of wood it was.

I wouldn't get too excited just yet except that I'd for sure be checking the stove to make sure there were any warpage anywhere. It does sound like it was steam rather than smoke. Another thing you can keep in mind is that the older the cat is, the longer it will take before firing off. One more thing is that if you are running the draft, say, at 2 and the cat is not lighting off, we've found if you drop it to one, many times this will do the trick right away.

One more place to check for warping is the cat frame itself.
 
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When the stove cools off, do the dollar bill trick on the gasket between the bypass damper. If it did warp, it is not hard to replace and is very low cost. I have a spare damper on the shelf just incase the bypass would happen to be left open.

Also, the bypass damper has an adjustment on it if it is too loose.

Check all the cement seams inside the firebox for cracked or missing mortar and when you clean the cat double check the interam gasket that is wrapped around the stainless steel cat. Just visually check the gasket, if you take the frame apart you will be replacing it because it is quite fragile.

Thought I would point out some basic inspection and maintenance items, but it sounds like it is running pretty normal.

The good news is, the different inspection and maintenance checks I listed are available on the Woodstock library.
 
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I checked the stack last night right after I kicked in the cat and there was zero smoke and temps climbed nicely. This morning I did the same thing as yesterday except I went duck hunting instead of work. No smoke when I left or when I got home. I loaded it before I went to work, this time with ash, and she was cooking nicely at 550F when I left. Again no smoke and cat was purring a nice bright red.

I think BWS is right and the cat is getting a little older. I'm probably being a little spastic. I will be checking for warpage when we get a warm up and I can let the stove cool. Thanks for all the help!!

Another thing I did was to clean off the fly ash from the scoop. I couldn't get the entire thing cleared off because the stove was too hot, I also have less arm hair.

fv
 
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You need one of these for cleaning off that scoop as needed. It will save those arm hairs. image.jpg
 
Well, whatever the issue was....it's gone. She's been kicking in and staying lit since I posted it. I have been paying more attention to how the wood was stacked in the stove and allowing more space for better circulation.


fv
 
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