Trying to Make Cat Burner Last Longer

[BC_Josh]

Hi.
I bought a new cat burner for my Scirroco small stove. It got a big separation between the edge of the honeycomb and it's frame (long crack).
It was under warranty and the dealer got me a new one which is great.
However, I went to my local dealer and was chatting about cats and he said that if they get too hot it can compromise them. I'd never heard this before. But, it kind of makes sense. The cat might be able to take high temps for long, but where they connect to a frame might be another issue.

Anyway, I've been watching my cat thermometer and not letting it go too hot for too long, and turning down the stove when the needle is at the end of the guage (hottest position) then, still doing a hot burn, but not at it's highest temp, for a good 20 min's or so. Since I'm using Douglas Fir smaller splits during the shoulder season, it heats up quickly. The glass gets cleaned off and the embers are glowing, so it's not like I'm circumventing the rules, just perhaps "bending" them (but the VP of BK did say it was OK to "relax" that hot burn time a bit in this forum too)

Was this dealer correct about the heat issue with a cat burner? If run too hot they can get compromised?

 

[Highbeam]

The design of the BK does not allow the cat to get too hot unless you have a failed door gasket or other air leak.

Your dealer was right about old school cat stoves from other brands. No need to manage cat temps on a BK with a thermostat.

Maybe when this metal cat fails you can try a ceramic cat. They don’t shrink.

 

[Duds13]

More and more instances of the metal cats failing. BK will warranty them, but they have yet to comment if they think there was a defective batch, if it's possible to even know that. Personally I dont think the metal cat separating from the frame should be counted as our one replacement, in my opinion they are defective.