VC Encore 2040-CAT-C, Overnight Burn Day Trial

[stoveliker]

I don't think the cracking is bad. But it does indicate something is not going as it should be.

I would be more concerned about the color; you're pushing gases through when it's not hot enough, leading to deposits rather than combustion.
And these deposits are covering the active (precious) metals, meaning it might not do its job now.

I suggest a cat wash is needed, and then you need to better get it up to temp before engaging it. (This may have gone wrong due to a bad cat probe, tho).
And you need to make sure you're not running too close to the minimum, and run into cat stalls (where it doesn't combust anymore, and deposits like this happen).

 

[Megunticook]

That's a ceramic cat, no? Cracks shouldn't matter as long as the pieces remain intact and in place.

A metal probe should last several seasons depending on how you burn. Maybe previous owner overfired?

 

[Pastachio619]

Thanks for the info Stoveliker. How do you clean a ceramic cat?

I tell you what. I know I do not have enough experience to have an educated opinion but so far the cat does not seem worth the effort.

I had a good bed of coals and placed a very large log in the stove the other day. I let it burn for 2-3 minutes then shut the primary all the way. Never engaged the cat and that log burned for 6-7 hours which is all I’m really looking for overnight.

Made me start to consider never engaging the cat and just running the stove with the primary air. I have found that if you shut it down early and don’t let the fire grow to full strength you can get long burns without the cat.

 

[stoveliker]

Search for vinegar wash on this forum.

I don't know your stove well, so I can't comment on how dirty you would make your flue if you run low without the cat.

 

[Megunticook]

FWIW, Condar no longer recommends the vinegar solution cleaning routine (which I used to do religiously). I didn't get a lot of details from them but basically sounded like it wasn't beneficial. Just gently blow it clean is what they're now saying.

Wouldn't give up on the cat just yet. If you can get it working right it gets you more heat, less smoke, less creosote, and in theory longer burns per amount of fuel than operating in bypass mode.

 

[VRB Farm]

Get it to fire it and it will clean itself with a good burn, next time you check the cat just flip it over and it will clean the other side if needed.

I would not recommend burning with open dampener at low temps, you are asking for creosote build up if the glue temps aren’t high enough, secondary combustion can and will still happen in the secondary chamber, just not at as low temps as when a cat is present.

 

[skb31]

Thanks for the info Stoveliker. How do you clean a ceramic cat?

I tell you what. I know I do not have enough experience to have an educated opinion but so far the cat does not seem worth the effort.

I had a good bed of coals and placed a very large log in the stove the other day. I let it burn for 2-3 minutes then shut the primary all the way. Never engaged the cat and that log burned for 6-7 hours which is all I’m really looking for overnight.

Made me start to consider never engaging the cat and just running the stove with the primary air. I have found that if you shut it down early and don’t let the fire grow to full strength you can get long burns without the cat.

Do you mean you’re not closing the damper?

 

[Pastachio619]

skb31 - correct. I will close the damper on overnight burns but a couple days ago I tried to see how long of a burn I could get with damper open and just adjusting the primary air and it was a longer burn than I have been getting with the cat.

I’m sure it’s cause I’m not running the cat correctly.

In other news. I had not seen the most recent posts until just now. Cleaned the cat with 50/50 white vinegar solution. Let it soak for an hour then dipped it in boiling water for 15 min. I lightly scrubbed it when it was soaking in the vinegar. Attached are the results. I don’t think it did much.

But either way it’s about to go back in the oven now! My son broke the thermostat today and I think the heat pump took a crap once he pulled his little stunt.

Glad I have a wood burner or I would be screwed. Supposed to be 6F tonight.

I installed the A100 yesterday and just attempted to clean the cat. Hoping for better results now.

 

[stoveliker]

Don't scrub the cat as you'll remove the precious metal atoms that do the job of the cat.

 

[Megunticook]

Don't scrub the cat as you'll remove the precious metal atoms that do the job of the cat.

Yes, And don't worry about discoloration too much, just make sure the honeycomb is clear for air to pass through.

 

[stoveliker]

Discoloration is not a problem. Coating a cat with black stuff means it wasn't hot enough when crap was fed thru it.
And coating a cat means it's inactive until heat from the firebox (and not produced by the cat itself) cleans it off, as the active metals are buried.

The cat was coated if you look at the images.(I zoomed in and took a screenshot).

 

[Pastachio619]

I have seen the light. I have seen the glow of the cat. I thought I may never see the day.

That was undoubtedly an amateur cat cleaning job. But something happened. Just needed a little TLC. Soft touch of a scrub daddy and distilled white vinegar and the kitty is roaring.

No flames going through. Just glowing bright red. I have the primary cranked all the way down and SHES SMOKIN HOT.

all I needed was the Auber set up to know what the hell was going on back there and to take the cat out for some 1v1 time.

 

[skb31]

Real time feedback is important when running this stove. You may see some high spikes in cat temp as you figure out your process but don’t panic. I hit 1600+ recently with the air cut all the way.

Did you take the ceramic panels on the face of the refractory off when you installed the probe? You just don’t want it touching a surface is why I ask. I marked my probe with a permanent marker so if I bumped it I knew where it needed to be.

*Also, I’m glad you’re on your way to better burning.

 

[Turbo89]

If you’re looking for what a “good” overnight burn looks like, I’ve been posting a lot of pics in the “what’s in your stove thread”, so you can see how I rake the coals and stuff the firebox to get 10-12+hr burns.

Glad you’re getting it figured out, happy burning.