Fireview: Does Anyone use a cat thermometer?

[akennyd]

I purchased a cat thermometer to put in my fireview and have been using it since my recent stove installation. Does anybody else use one and what have been your findings/readings?

I've found that my cat thermo will go right up to the overfire temps sometimes with only a 1/2 to 2/3 load of wood in the stove even though the stove top thermo is well below the 700 deg overfire range. Nothing that I'm overly concerned about, yet, just curious what those that may have more experience might have noted on their cat thermos...

Thanks,

Kenny {

 

[raybonz]

I purchased a cat thermometer to put in my fireview and have been using it since my recent stove installation. Does anybody else use one and what have been your findings/readings?


I've found that my cat thermo will go right up to the overfire temps sometimes with only a 1/2 to 2/3 load of wood in the stove even though the stove top thermo is well below the 700 deg overfire range. Nothing that I'm overly concerned about, yet, just curious what those that may have more experience might have noted on their cat thermos...

Thanks,

Kenny {

Hi Ken,
My stove came with a cat temp probe located in the cooking plate directly above the cat and I use it all the time.. I wait until the probe reads 300-400 degrees then engage the cat.. I am so used to using it I wouldn't know when to engage the cat without it.. It also lets me know how the cat is performing and also lets me know when it is time for a new cat ..

Ray

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Kenny, I think Todd has one. Hopefully he'll chime in here.

 

[Todd]

I use to have one about 4 years ago and it stopped working so I tossed it. What are the temps you are seeing with it? Continous temps over 1800 can damage the cat and warp cast iron. 800-1600 is common operating temps. I don't like how the probe sticks in the back of the Fireview, it's hard to see unless you hang a mirror back there. I've been getting along fine for years watching the stack temps and stove top temps.

 

[Slow1]

I have sort of wanted one ever since learning that we could put one on there - that data junkie in me I suppose. However I keep talking myself out of it. At the open house I had planned to buy one but then after talking to the guys there the suggestion was to just go with the stack temp to engage. I wouldn't say that they discouraged the use; rather it was more of a "why would you want to bother" attitude. In any case I managed to walk away without one again... IF it were placed somewhere easier to read (I have the heat shield on the back to boot so I expect it will be very hard to see) then I likely would already have one.

Anyway - I do look forward to seeing how many folks do have experience with them and if any FV folks find them particularly valuable/useful.

 

[ColonialCity]

I'd like to get a cat therm, think it's a good idea to know what the temp is of secondary combustion. Being in school for electrical engineering, I like the data. Saw a post a while back about someone hooking up a arduino controller/thermocouple to an LCD display for real time monitoring. I might need to build one.

 

[Fsappo]

I tried to use a thermometer on my cat but she kept turnin around and clawin at me.

 

[akennyd]

I think it was just curiosity that led me to install a cat thermo (Franks, duct tape does wonders!! :^) ) to see what was happening in there. I have found that, apparently, the heat is there to light the cat very soon after lighting the stove but obviously I don't because I want the stove to heat up slowly and evenly. So, in that respect, I still observe and use the stovetop thermo and wait until it shows 250 F to engage the cat. Not gonna abuse my stove for no good reason.

 

[nojo]

I'd like to get a cat therm, think it's a good idea to know what the temp is of secondary combustion. Being in school for electrical engineering, I like the data. Saw a post a while back about someone hooking up a arduino controller/thermocouple to an LCD display for real time monitoring. I might need to build one.

I'd likt to build one to control my primary air on my stove.

 

[jetmech]

I use a condar digital thermometer on my intrepid,,, it is a usefull tool for monitoring cat temp through the burn, also for verifying cat engagement... my stove was designed with a port to insert the probe just downstream of the cat... i have posted a lot on this in a previous thread as far as cat temps and air into stove.

 

[sparki]

I too have a Condar digital thermometer in a Vermont Castings Defiant 1910. Just entirely rebuilt the stove, installed a steel cat and and new digital thermometer. Also lined 8" chimney with 6" SS insulated liner. I have thermometers on the stovetop and stove pipe that are really confusing me.

The flue pipe rarely gets over 200º and the stove top ranges nicely from 0-750º. In my naiveté, I assumed that with the cat temp near max, the stove top would be near max too. Tonight I had 1/2 load of wood in and can't seem to keep the cat temp below 1800º with the stove top barely at 500º. The cat is glowing red and the secondary air is shut completely with little to no flame visible. At other times this year I have had the air at 3/4 closed with surfac temps at 600-700 and cat temp in the 1200 range. Not sure what's up, any thoughts? Too much draft tonight maybe?

Thanks in advance,

John

 

[Todd]

I too have a Condar digital thermometer in a Vermont Castings Defiant 1910. Just entirely rebuilt the stove, installed a steel cat and and new digital thermometer. Also lined 8" chimney with 6" SS insulated liner. I have thermometers on the stovetop and stove pipe that are really confusing me.

The flue pipe rarely gets over 200º and the stove top ranges nicely from 0-750º. In my naiveté, I assumed that with the cat temp near max, the stove top would be near max too. Tonight I had 1/2 load of wood in and can't seem to keep the cat temp below 1800º with the stove top barely at 500º. The cat is glowing red and the secondary air is shut completely with little to no flame visible. At other times this year I have had the air at 3/4 closed with surfac temps at 600-700 and cat temp in the 1200 range. Not sure what's up, any thoughts? Too much draft tonight maybe?

Thanks in advance,

John

Does it stay or want to climb above that 1800? Short spikes up to 1800 are ok, but if it likes to burn for an hour or so over that you could have a leak somewhere or draft could be too strong. How tall is your chimney? Maybe a pipe damper would help?

 

[sparki]

Thanks very much Todd for the quick reply.

Leaks are certainly a possibility always, but in this case not very likely. I meticulously dismantled the stove entirely, cleaned every part, replaced those that were damaged or warped, replaced every gasket and cemented the parts that have no gaskets together with Hearthstone reinforced cement. I used to get backpuffing with smoke coming out of several joints after 12 years of service. I can turn the air down far enough to generate back puffing now and have watched for leaks; all we get is through the griddle. I am most certainly capable of mistakes, Lord knows I've made my share but I think the more likely cause is too much draft or another cause. As to the length of chimney, the insert that was just installed was 35' long.

It's an interesting phenomenon. I started to have the problem again last night where the surface temp on the stove was at 500 or so and I shut the back of the stove. The surface temp started to climb and the cat temp was at 1000 or so. When I began to shut the secondary air off, the cat temp pushed through 1600+ climbing pretty fast while the surface temp cooled to 450 and the flames went out. When I openened the secondary air, the flames came back, the surface temp eventually climbed to 600-700 and the cat temp backed back down to 1200-1300. Almost like when we close the air off, there are less particulates burned up in the primary burn and the secondary burn of the catalyst is overloaded....

 

[Todd]

I wonder if your tall 6" liner has something to do with it? Doesn't the Defiant exhaust 8"? Maybe the draft is a little too much and a pipe damper would help?

 

[sparki]

Defiant lists 8" or 6" as acceptable; with the 6" you can't use the stove with the doors open. I checked and the size of the liner we installed was actually 7", my bad. If we don't get a handle on it soon, we'll try your suggestion of a pipe damper.

 

[TX-L]

I replaced the factory supplied cat indicator with a Condar probe that has numbers on it for my Blaze King. With the thermostat dial setting anywhere above 2, I usually can't keep the temp below 16-1700 F, even with the fans on high speed. My cat glows a lot (not always), more often than not when I look at it. Often the stat setting will be at about 2 1/4 (that's typically where I run it all day), and the cat probe temp will be from 1700 to 2000 F, with stovetop temps varying from 450 - 600, depending on the stage of burn from the last loading. I understand that this may reduce the cat life, but it's how the stove operates. I can certainly dial it back on the stat, but then I may not get enough heat from the stove for my conditions when it's cold & windy. Time will tell how/if this reduces the effective life of the cat. I primarily burn well seasoned maple, oak, beach; with some ironwood and elm thrown in for variety.