VC Intrepid II Cat Question

[nyokie]

been reading around the forum, lotta great info here for a new burner.
i have a vc intrepid II i just recently installed and i dont seem to be "quote quote" hearing the cat fire off i see people mentioning here?
i have a nice bed of coals going and added some wood because temp was down in low 300s, i opened bypass and open thermostat till i hit 450 then close bypass and reduce thermostat slowly and never really hear the cat fire or such?
it then seems to drop temp down to 400 or less pretty quickly with bypass closed and themostat at 1/4 to a 1/3, any idea what is goin on here or is it all correct and i read too much haha
only flaw ive noticed in the stove is 2 small spots at top of door seam where i can see fire through but otherwise seems air tight

 

[nyokie]

this is the small air leak i referred to it appears to be above and below the door latch

 

[BrowningBAR]

been reading around the forum, lotta great info here for a new burner.
i have a vc intrepid II i just recently installed and i dont seem to be "quote quote" hearing the cat fire off i see people mentioning here?
i have a nice bed of coals going and added some wood because temp was down in low 300s, i opened bypass and open thermostat till i hit 450 then close bypass and reduce thermostat slowly and never really hear the cat fire or such?
it then seems to drop temp down to 400 or less pretty quickly with bypass closed and themostat at 1/4 to a 1/3, any idea what is goin on here or is it all correct and i read too much haha
only flaw ive noticed in the stove is 2 small spots at top of door seam where i can see fire through but otherwise seems air tight

1. Sounds like your wood isn't as dry as it needs to be or you need to use smaller splits or both.

2. I don't get much of a sound from the stove. Just some ticking at times.

3. Replace the door gaskets so you can fix that air leak, which could be effecting how the stove burns.

 

[nyokie]

ok ill look into getting gaskets for it and may take the cat out and see if it needs replaced as well
it was seasoned/split 2 yrs but the guy stored it in the open so it had 6" of snow on it when i got it, will look into getting some dryer wood i do hear it sizzle every now and then

 

[North of 60]

There is NO sound for the CAT firing off. You must be mistaking your interpretation for the VC everburn system non cat. That has been mentioned as a rumbling sound. Nothing to hear on the cat model. Once your stove has been running and the CAT has initially been at 500F to light off, you should be good on your reloads down to 250 to 300f as thats the window the CAT will stay operational to. If your wood is marginally seasoned, it is good to do what you are doing, with the bypass being left open for awhile to drive some of the moisture out of the fresh load to ease the stress on the CAT combustor. If your wood is wet, IT WILL drop the temp of the CAT to re burn properly. Leave the bypass open longer and work on that dry firewood for next season.
Welcome to the forum by the way.
Cheers.

 

[Ithacan]

I also have that slight gap at the top of the doors, unfortunately, after spending friday morning regasketing the stove, it's still somewhat there. There isn't anything to glue a gasket to there because you have to be able to swing the latch.

Check the cat out, I had a bear of a time getting ours to work. Turned out that not only was the cat FUBAR and the refractory chamber shot, but there wasn't any secondary air mechanicals. Now, granted it's been in the 20s at night, I have been having great luck maintaining heat and have a much longer burn time.

And there is DEFINITELY a sound to my cat firing off (it's also brand new). A little bit of a rumble and a little bit of a ticking.

I have also read that some people have had trouble with airflow through the stove, the air channels (the three pieces on which the fire grate -the thing with the andirons in it- sits) when I just refreshed my stove, I made a point to reseal the bottom of them as there had been remnants of stove cement there.

I'm holding a steady griddle temp of ~500 and I'm doing all this burning with wood from standing dead harvested in the last month. I doubt it's your wood. Check that cat out!

Don't know if it'll be helpful or not, but you can see my thread here.

E: if your (presuming used here) stove was recently moved, there could very well be ash and creosote from the old chimney clogging the refractory chamber and cat. Get your shopvac handy.

 

[North of 60]

And there is DEFINITELY a sound to my cat firing off (it's also brand new).

My apologies. :red: It must be the model of stove? I have not heard the rumble from any VC CAT stoves from my friends homes that have one and we sit around them allot in the winter shining our fishing tackle, nor have I heard anything from the model of my stove. I have witnessed it from the Everburn system non-cat.
Cheers

 

[BrowningBAR]

And there is DEFINITELY a sound to my cat firing off (it's also brand new).

My apologies. :red: It must be the model of stove? I have not heard the rumble from any VC CAT stoves from my friends homes that have one and we sit around them allot in the winter shining our fishing tackle, nor have I heard anything from the model of my stove. I have witnessed it from the Everburn system non-cat.
Cheers

No realnoise from my cat either. Just a ticking that takes place sometimes when the stove heats up.

 

[BrowningBAR]

I also have that slight gap at the top of the doors, unfortunately, after spending friday morning regasketing the stove, it's still somewhat there. There isn't anything to glue a gasket to there because you have to be able to swing the latch.

Not sure what to tell you. It should not have a gap.

 

[Ithacan]

I also have that slight gap at the top of the doors, unfortunately, after spending friday morning regasketing the stove, it's still somewhat there. There isn't anything to glue a gasket to there because you have to be able to swing the latch.

Not sure what to tell you. It should not have a gap.

It's much less obvious then before I regasketed, but it's still there. I don't see where you'd even get a gasket there because of the latch.

 

[BrowningBAR]

I also have that slight gap at the top of the doors, unfortunately, after spending friday morning regasketing the stove, it's still somewhat there. There isn't anything to glue a gasket to there because you have to be able to swing the latch.

Not sure what to tell you. It should not have a gap.

It's much less obvious then before I regasketed, but it's still there. I don't see where you'd even get a gasket there because of the latch.

You need to wrap the gasket around the latch so the gasket loops around the entire outer area of the door.

 

[nyokie]

cool thanx guys i will def pull the cat out and take a look at it. it was barely used but some crap may have jostled back there horsing the stove around getting it in the house. i kinda see where a new gasket will help the old 1 doesnt look great.
and still trying to find a decent local source for short cut splits had to cut my last 1/2 cord all in half with a chain saw haha.
im in western ct danbury area