In loving memory of Kenis D. Keathley 6/4/81 - 3/27/22 Loving father, husband, brother, friend and firewood hoarder Rest in peace, Dexterday

Replacement Cat

Discussion in 'Modern EPA Stoves and Fireplaces' started by Ddio39, Jul 24, 2022.

  1. Ddio39

    Ddio39

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    Hello everybody, relatively new to wood burning, boy I learned a lot this winter. I knew the cat was clogged, after two years I didn't even know there was one :( . I took it out and all of the ceramic literally fell out in hundreds of pieces, is that normal, was I wrong to lay it down?

    I can order a replacement but now steel or ceramic? I have a Travis Xtrordinair Hybrid Fyre, any suggestions would be great! Thank you.
     
  2. RGrant

    RGrant

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    I run steel and I like it, but that's all I've ever had in the stove.
     
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  3. BCB

    BCB

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    I've ran both in my Fireview. Stove wasn't picky. Right now I'm leaning towards sticking with the SS cats.
     
  4. moresnow

    moresnow

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    Ddio39 welcome to FHC. Can you explain your wood loading/tending routine?
     
  5. brenndatomu

    brenndatomu

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    Sounds like it was already roached.
    X2
     
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  6. Ddio39

    Ddio39

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    Hi, I think this is where we went wrong, we would simply would add wood with the flame blazing. Additionally, we didn't wait for the logs to burn for a while before turning on the combustor. I know we are doing something wrong, any advice would be appreciated.
    I just got off the phone with the stove place, they said I don't even need it??? I am not believing that.
     
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  7. brenndatomu

    brenndatomu

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    Me either...sounds like you need to find a different dealer
     
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  8. RGrant

    RGrant

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    First- from too many people I know that casually burn and have stoves with catalytic combusters they say its not needed or they were told they don't need to use it- I just disregard that, because that's not how the stove was engineered and designed to operate, so using the catalyst is the proper and appropriate way the stove was designed to function.
    I don't think you're doing something wrong, I just have a feeling that the wood you're burning isn't dry enough. That's an issue many of us, myself at the top of that list, have had to deal with.
    I have 3 recommendations- 2 are pretty popular and 1 is rather uncommon. The first- get your wood going for 3 years out. It's hard- it took me about 5 or 6 years to build up to that level. Second- Read through the wood burning primer that Dennis has posted in the resources tab on this site- lot's of good advice and a good explanation of moisture content- which leads me to my third suggestion- get some compressed wood bricks until your wood supply is dry enough to burn appropriately on its own. I'm also in Connecticut and we have a lot of hardwoods here- some of them take longer to dry than others and none of them dry in less than 6 months, so anything you get in the summer isn't going to be ready for the winter despite what you're told by (almost all) the sellers. My personal experience is that they work really well to help mitigate the moisture content in the total content of the burn chamber, especially when you're going for reloads- that's when the moisture content in the stove is going to be the highest.

    Hope my suggestions help- and if they don't, I'm sure you'll get good advice from others on here.
     
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  9. Ddio39

    Ddio39

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    Yes, thank you moisture content is challenging. Thank you for the advice.
     
  10. brenndatomu

    brenndatomu

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    One thing to keep in mind is to not ignore the "lesser" species of trees, at least until you get your 2-3 year supply CSS (cut, split, stacked)(and top covered) those woods do just fine in most homes to heat well in all but the coldest parts of the winter, and help to make the "good" firewood last longer...trees like pine, soft (silver) maple, poplar, boxelder, ash, and even beech can be cut early in the year and still be dry by winter.
     
  11. RGrant

    RGrant

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    This is very underrated advice.
    100%.
     
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  12. moresnow

    moresnow

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    Can't say I am familiar with your particular stove model but..... Generally speaking, its regarded as poor practice to open the loading door on a Cat equipped stove when the cat is active without opening the bypass first for a few minutes. What happens is the inrushing fresh room air (maybe 70F) that is considered cold, hits the super-heated Cat (maybe 1000F) and thermally shocks it. To much expansion/contraction. Crunch! You got trouble:eek:

    Tending a Cat equipped stove to often (adding a few splits here and there) is no longer considered the best practice by most Cat stove owners/manufacturers. Better off batch burning to reduce Catalyst exposure to extreme temp changes. Sure saves a bunch of beating feet back and forth to the stove as well.
     
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  13. Canadian border VT

    Canadian border VT

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    Yes replace CAT my stove has a cat and it throws most heat. Your in Connecticut get EAB killed ash cut and split now! Cats are great but need dry fuel!

    Get a moisture Meter; some say you don’t need one but until you know it’s wood is dry it will help.

    Keep asking questions
    Welcome to the FHC
     
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  14. Highbeam

    Highbeam

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    They don’t just fall apart unless they’re ruined from something else. I have a pile of worn out cats, few ceramics and one metal that are quite robust even after being replaced.
     
  15. Ralphie Boy

    Ralphie Boy

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    Do you monitor the cat temps? Over heating will cause your catalyst to denigrate into dust. Burning wood that's not properly seasoned will kill your cat as well. As others have said, your stove is designed to operate with a catalyst, if there is a steel cat available, get it. If not, get a new ceramic cat.
     
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  16. billb3

    billb3

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    Well, they're not totally wrong. You have a hybrid stove, so the tubes are burning off much of the wood gasses that would otherwise go straight up the chimney . The catalyst burns off another percentage of gasses and incinerates even more PM2.5 PLUS generates some more heat while doing so, so without the (working) catalyst you're not getting all you can out of the stove. So, without it, you'll very most likely make up the difference with more wood and possibly get a little less heat out of it to boot, plus you're not burning as clean as the stove was designed to, which is one of the purposes of all the hybrid system. It's not just to pass emissions so they can sell a stove, it's so people can burn wood more cleanly too.
    They probably mean well, you may live in an area not impacted greatly by wood smoke in the Winter, but they really should not be recommending running a stove half-assed.
    You paid a premium for a hybrid system - why defeat half of it, especially when you save some money in the long run by maintaining both halves.
     
    Last edited: Aug 22, 2022
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