Production Woodstock IS

Just hit my target temp of 600° flue here are what all my temps are.

Cat. ................ Flue

Fire box. ............... Stove top
Cat temp dropped to 680° after engaging that cat for a few seconds and started climbing rapidly. You won't see the drop becase of how slow the "normal" thermometers react.

 

Great info, thanks. I do have a stove top thermometer, I know they can be slow to react to a cold start...thus the cat probe as well. When you reach 600* flue temps, what does your cat temp typically read before you engage it?

 

Hollywood are you sure? seems odd that 158.0 is inside fire box and stove top is 230 or am I mis- reading your led? I really like it by the way very informative...

 

The majority of the flame was on the opposite side of where my probe is located and at that point the majority of the heat is heading up and out of the stove creating greater heat transfer to what is directly above the fire and in the path of the exhaust. I can see the answer in my head but it doesn't seem like I am putting it to paper very well.

The flame was in the back left side of the box reading 158 and the catalyst probe read 1310 because it was in direct path of the heat no direct flame contact. Not sure if I made the attempted explanation worse with that last thought or not.

 

You sure about that? 500 on cat probe is where I engage the cat and usually don't have any problems. It even says right on the probe to operate catalyst at the 500 mark as well as in the Ideal Steel's owners manual.

Forester, 2 minutes doesn't sound like a very big deal to me. This is a big wood stove we're talking about here, not a microwave. Mechanical probes have lag in them too, sometimes I even engage at 450F if I'm trying to keep the burn low and it's picking up quickly, since it is likely at 500 by the time the probe is showing 450. Digital thermo would be much more precise without the lag. Waiting until 800 to engage might make it more difficult to dial back down for a low burn, but certainly fine for a high burn.

 

The problem is, I'm not sure if the probe rising after two minutes is my cat firing off, or if it's just the steady rise of the exhaust temp as the fire builds. When folks with a Condar or other non-digital probe engage...can you notice a steady rise? How quickly and want temp does it climb to? I know this will change as fire intensity increases & the stove warms up, but if you are engaging it at the low end of the cat (say 500*), does it climb above 1,000* within a few minutes, or does it level out at a lower temp?

 

OK so not a lot of flame in box.. for firebox is low and smoking... cat is throwing heat causing stove top Temps higher than actual firebox. . got it..

Just logically I was like OK firebox 158 stove top 230 and flue is 600 how's that work I guess the beauty of a cat..

 

If I mean for a high burn (else I try to keep it below 1,000F), I'm not sure if I ever have timed it but I'd say it probably goes from 500-1,000F in around 10-15 minutes for an average burn maybe? 20 minutes if it's being sluggish and outside temps are warmer. Depends on how much you load it too, a fully packed stove is going to tend to take off a bit quicker than just a few pieces. With modest fall temperatures now I usually try to keep it below 1,000F anyhow so I may not even hit that.

 

Just the info I was looking for, thanks! This forum has been a great source for info.

 

They do say that the catalyst will start to burn at 500° smoke temp but the reccomendation for cat engagement is for a surface temp of 250°. If your surface temp is 250° your temp via the catalyst port is likely to be higher than 500° and it will light off much better. Your milage may vary.

 

To those with cat probes. Have you sealed the hole with the probe? Woodstock worked to supply the cat with its own supply, I'm thinking the the air sneaking in might be detramental to performance since I'm seeing smoke with the probe showing clear cat engagement at 1000dF

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Smoke or steam? If you're seeing smoke check the bypass and cat gaskets. Make sure nothing is warped.

 

Fairly certain it's smoke. Steam from last year disappeared 3ft or so off the stack. This is a long blueish trail 15-20 ft off the stack

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I have a cat probe using the factory port, good tip on sealing it.

 

Sealing the cat probe doesn't really do anything to the cat. It is on the exhaust side so any air entering the probe hole would go right up the chimney.

 

I considered that, but in order to get up the flue that 60-80dF air is ushered right across the cat. Wouldn't it in theory cool at least a portion of the cat perhaps enough to go inactive in that spot and allow smoke through?

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I don't think it's a large enough volume of air to matter. It might even boost performance if you don't have enough air being supplied to the cat.

I might run my stove with the probe removed but the hole open just to see what happens. My guess is nothing.

 

Tomorrow will be mid 70s. I've been idling along for the last couple of days to keep chill off. I'll take it a art tomorrow and vac the cat again. Checking the gasket and flanges to make sure everyone's straight. Is there an accepted way of "refreshing" the gaskets if they are compressed from a season of not being used?

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The cat will work if you prop the lid open. As long as there is draft. That small amount of air shouldn't have any effect on the cat.

 

If you're seeing a 20 foot bluish trail of smoke it has nothing to do with the insignificant amount of leakage through the cat probe port that is on the exhaust side of the cat, especially if the cat is at 1,000F, maybe you need to rejuvenate the cat with one of those vinegar soaks (assuming its been cleaned normally first)?

Speaking of those vinegar soaks, since I heard many doing this prior to the new season, is there any reason to do it if the cat seems to be working fine? I've vacuumed my cat 2 or 3 times last season but have never done this soak. It seems fine though, should I wait until it's needed? Does the vinegar slightly harm the cat itself (like sharpening a chain also wears it down) or is it just meant to dissolve contaminants? With two stoves available plus the furnace I can shut the IS down most any time for cleaning so it's not like I need to take advantage of the warm weather right this second.

Hollywood I kinda figured they mentioned 250 just because it's a rule of thumb the external temp is half of the internal temp, which they even mentioned in that sentence. Since they don't supply a cat probe they convert the 500 internal to 250 external. But yes generally I have measured half and a little bit more on the ext versus int temps. But I have never waited until the cat hits 700+ unless I forgot about it. I admit though I do have occasional sluggish starts.