New to Cat Stoves - Is the Cat working?

[backpack09]

Bought a new house with a Massive Woodstock (soapstone) Fireview in it. Stainless Cat.

Now I am used to secondary burn units, (my previous stove was a morso). I am assuming the procedure is basically the same for a cat stove. Load it up, watch stove temps to hit 500 or so and engage the cat.


The previous owner of the house was a bit of a fool, burned a lot of unseasoned wood, and never cleaned a chimney. I pulled an entire wheelbarrow's worth of popcorn creosote out of the bottom of the woodstove chimney. Exterior masonry chimney about 15' tall.

Now I cannot tell if I am having poor draft issues that are due to a short creosoted up chimney (have not had a chance to brush the top half) or its a cat that is not lighting off. When I engage the cat, not much happens, stove temps hover about the same (thermometer is on soapstone, so I don't expect it to change much with or without a functioning cat) and I occasionally get back-puffing when it is windy.


After I clean the chimney should I just replace the cat? or am I just missing something entirely?


Thanks for your wisdom!

 

[Grisu]

Is the chimney lined?

 

[backpack09]

Clay Lined chimney.

 

[Grisu]

What are the inner dimensions? An insulated 6" liner may improve performance tremendously.

 

[mellow]

Alot of variables here.

One thing I will mention is that you should try first cleaning the cat: (broken link removed to http://www.woodstove.com/images/editorial_support/PDFs/fvcatalyticman.pdf)

 

[Tenn Dave]

Bought a new house with a Massive Woodstock (soapstone) Fireview in it. Stainless Cat.

Now I am used to secondary burn units, (my previous stove was a morso). I am assuming the procedure is basically the same for a cat stove. Load it up, watch stove temps to hit 500 or so and engage the cat.


The previous owner of the house was a bit of a fool, burned a lot of unseasoned wood, and never cleaned a chimney. I pulled an entire wheelbarrow's worth of popcorn creosote out of the bottom of the woodstove chimney. Exterior masonry chimney about 15' tall.

Now I cannot tell if I am having poor draft issues that are due to a short creosoted up chimney (have not had a chance to brush the top half) or its a cat that is not lighting off. When I engage the cat, not much happens, stove temps hover about the same (thermometer is on soapstone, so I don't expect it to change much with or without a functioning cat) and I occasionally get back-puffing when it is windy.


After I clean the chimney should I just replace the cat? or am I just missing something entirely?


Thanks for your wisdom!

Check to see if you have visible smoke coming out of the chimney. In almost all cases with a Woodstock Fireview the smoke will disappear when the cat is engaged and working properly.

 

[Charles1981]

You definitely want to sweep the rest of the chimney as well. A wheel barrow full is a frightening amount of creosote. Most measure theirs in cups or coffee cans. If that is only half the chimney you need a thorough cleaning asap. Then you want the entire chimney lined.

Then you want to get a first hand glance at the cat and make sure it isn't clogged with ash/soot/creosote, make sure it isn't cracked or crumbling.

Then re-assess the situation.

What kind of wood do you have? What is the moisture content? How long has it be CSS?

 

[NewStoveGuy]

I'm also new to cat stoves and have a new (to me) 2nd hand Fireview with a steel cat that I just put in it. Having had my first few days of burning, I'd say it's very obvious when the cat is working. First get the stove-top up to 250-300 as measured on the soapstone center by something more accurate than the coil thermometers, then engage the cat and turn down the airflow:

1. After 5 minutes or less, your flue temps will have dropped significantly and your stove-top temps will have risen significantly
2. If you angle your head to the look through the window at the very top of the firebox, the cat should be glowing orange with some intensity
3. Assuming that you restricted the airflow to 1.25 or less when you engaged the cat, flame intensity will have slackened on the wood and turned more bluish in color but you'll be getting killer secondary rolling from the top
4. If you step outside there won't be ANY SMOKE AT ALL coming out of the chimney and
5. Your stove will be kicking serious heat in short order

My freshly cleaned and inspected chimney is somewhere between 16'-19' from the thimble, about half of which is interior, with a clay tile lined 6"x6" ID. I'm burning maple, hickory, oak and pine at 22% and lower.

>

 

[TheRambler]

I am in agreement, dont even attempt to burn again until you clean the entire chimney and clean the stove itself and the cat. A liner will help tremendously, but you dont "have" to have one if the clay tiles are continuous through the entire chimney and they are in good condition.

 

[backpack09]

Ayup, I know the poor status of the chimney. When I get it hot and engage the cat I get some secondaries for a short while, but still plenty of smoke coming out of the chimney. My wood supply is mostly 100ish (yes i said 100) year old pine boards that i have removed from some serious home rehab. I have another cord of 5 year CSS seasoned mixed hardwood buried for the cold months.

I will be sending a brush up the chimney this weekend and hopefully that will help with my draft issue. I understand a SS lined chimney is the best route, but not feasable at this time. I have removed and brushed the ash off of the steel cat, but there was not much there.

New Guy, I follow this same procedure, but still get the same amount of smoke from the chimney with or without the cat engaged.


Thanks for the tips all,

 

[Dave Kuhfahl]

External masonry chimneys are notorious for operating at temperatures too cold to allow for good draft. The cold masonry causes the products of combustion to condense easily. If it is oversized (as most are) it compounds the problem. If you establish draft and keep it hot (keep the stove hot) it will work better. If you line it in stainless the improvement will be immediate. Also, look for leaks. A rotten or leaky clean out door, bad mortar etc.
As per the NFPA 211 (fire code) the total interior area of the (exterior) chimney can not be larger than 2 x that of the stove exit. So, a 6" exit (I am assuming 6, correct me if wrong) on your stove is 28 square inches. The largest your chimney may be is 56 square inches. So a square chimney larger than 7-1/2" is too big. Either way a liner will be better and an insulated one the best.

 

[ddddddden]

Bought a new house with a Massive Woodstock (soapstone) Fireview in it. Stainless Cat. . .

Congrats!

. . .watch stove temps to hit 500 or so and engage the cat.

Cat should light off at more like 300° stovetop temp.

Exterior masonry chimney about 15'. . .

What size? Something like 12" x 12" is too big and would be another reason to get a stainless liner for ~ $300.

After I clean the chimney should I just replace the cat? or am I just missing something entirely?

There were problems with the first batch of steelies. If you tell Woodstock the name of the previous owner, they can probably tell you what you have.