Steel burn pots vs cast iron?

[ChasesAces]

I have cast iron. The ignitor rod won't light the pellets in the 10 minute cycle when the air temp in the shop is below freezing. I'm guessing here, but I believe it's because the thick cast iron burn pot is taking too much time to bring up to high temp. Under more mild conditions the ignitor rod does the job in about 7 minutes. I installed a new rod just to be sure it wasn't the culprit, both were glowing cherry red. I got tired of running the start cycle more than once and have been lighting the pellets manually prior to turning the stove on when it's freezing or below and that's been working fine, just wondering if anyone with cast iron pot has come across this issue and found a simple fix? Steel burn pots are available for my stove, but I gather they aren't very long life.

 

[Mt Bob]

Many stoves will act that way, because they were not designed for the cold temperature ignition. They were expected to be in a home.
Also,be sure you are closing the damper to start it.

 

[jzm2cc]

Seen lighting issues on Breckwell cast iron firepots verses the steel units. Sometimes the igniter hole is quite small on cast iron part and making it the same as steel unit helps. However, cast iron will always sink more of the igniter heat due to its thermal mass compared to lighter steel unit.