Installed my new CAT yesterday

So, we took down the Christmas tree New Years day, and my wife packed up all the Christmas decorations that she puts on top of the Fireview the week-end before Christmas. We like a real tree and there's nice little tree farm across the street. $20 per tree, $21 after Massachusetts sales tax. So we shut down the Fireview for Christmas and it turns into a cute little Santa train display. (I've posted pics of it around here someplace)

So I decided just before that to replace the CAT. It has done 5 years duty and was having difficulty climbing past 600'F on a regular basis the last month or so. I decided to give it the 50/50 wash with white vinegar/distilled water and I discovered that the gasket around the cat had deteriorated significantly and the cat had warped slightly on one side and there was a major air leak due to the lack of a good seal around the cast iron CAT frame that mine has. (my understanding is the new version of stainless steel cats don't have a frame.or they have a built in frame so no need for the clunky cast iron frame I have)

So anyway, I learned that talking to Mike at Woodstock when I tried to order a new one. Unfortunately due to supplier issues the cat I needed was not available, and WS is gearing up to build their own, but it may be a bit longer (possibly a month or so) before they are in production of the one I need.

I knew I could order a ceramic cat from Applied Ceramics, and decided to order one. It's actually two 4 inch square cats to make the 8X4" cat needed for the Fireview. The have a kit you can build by ordering the 2 cats and they also have the gasket material. You need approximately 36" or slightly less, to do a complete wrap around the entire outside and I also ran the gasket material tightly between the two cat squares. It's more like a tape gasket than a rope gasket. That provided a nice tight unit to then fit snugly in cast iron frame and then install the who unit into the stove.

So she's lit up nice and bright and the ceramic appears to be very happy working with the Fireview. I'm getting 650'F cruise temps with my 2 year old oak, and 30'F outside temps.

The Cat is bright orange and I'm looking through the glass and there are no flames at all and only minor glowing of some splits. It's almost free heat at that efficiency. I had 25 years of ceramic cat experience with a Consolidated Dutch West that I ran in the basement from 85 to 2010 when it's cast iron parts pretty much refused to be the same shape and size needed to call the stove safe. I had really good luck with the ceramic cat all those years, maybe replaced it once. All I used to do was occasionally vacuum it simply tap out the ash dust once or twice a season.

So we'll see how long it lasts. Total cost was $200.

Happy New Year all!

 

Yes sir when those cats glow bright red, it's a purty sight.

 

What?? No pics???

 

That’s awesome when you see that orange glow from across the room .
The SS cat in mine sits into a gasket that stays with the frame. The lower lip of the cat sits into the gasket all the way around. I remove the 2 bolts and just lift the cat out. It’s light enough so the bolts need to be installed, but just finger tight, and they back right out easily by hand. I’ll try to remember to take a couple pictures next time I clean it with the cat out. Here’s a couple with it installed that I took before I fired it up the first time. Top view and from the front.

 

And I was down at Woodstock last year, they were waiting to get the power upgrade to be able to make their own cats. Apparently the amount of electricity that process uses was more than they had available at the factory.
I think it's going to be awesome that they're going to have an inventory of the cats for their stoves

 

Well, I have an inventory of cats and we are finding it a mixed blessing- they are cute as a button at times, at other times, they are hell- bent on destroying everything in the house.... and the house.

Then again, maybe Woodstock will have better luck with an inventory of cats, seeing as they have mostly iron / steel and rocks in stock. The cats will be hard on the cardboard though.



Brian

 

I just know that one day I am going to kill one of the many cats we have when I finally step on one that darts in front of my feet while carrying a load of wood into the house. Assuming that it doesn't kill me first.

My cats are apparently in a hurry to use up a few of those nine lives.

 

I've had the new ceramic CAT installed and working now for a full week. What I've found is that there doesn't seem to be any major difference in the heating capability of the ceramic over or under the stainless steel units. Although, and I'll chalk this up for now to the newness of the unit, the ceramic seems to light off an stay bright orange even longer. The other night, it was so bright orange that looking at the stove from across the room, the orange glow looked like a gorgeous sunset on the load of mildly smouldering splits below it.

So far I am liking the ceramic a lot, we'll see how it holds up over time.

 

Last Thursday it warmed up enough to let the fire die down enough to clean the cat and I took a couple shots to show how it sits in place.

How does that differ from yours Oldhippie?

 

Here's the old SS cat in the cast iron housing for the Fireview

 

My Fireview has the newer SS housing cat now

 

I had the same as this picture, with the cast iron frame, and a gasket around a CAT that is similar to yours. But with yours, they have come out with a tin frame of some sort that is less weight, works just as well, but just requires to be screwed down to hold it in place.

Now I have a ceramic CAT, which is in 2 4X4 sections, wrapped with a thin belt like gasket and housed in the cast iron frame. So far I am liking the ceramic. It's as functional in every way as the stainless steel, but I expect the ceramic does not oxidize like the SS do, at least that has been my previous experience with them. I'm at least glad I have a cat in there, given that I need one and Woodstock was unable to supply one at the time.

 

I would have bought the SS, had they had one in stock, but they didn't which is what brought me to the ceramic. But I did have a long history with a ceramic, that was in my CDW stove I had for at least 25 years. I used it heavily too and I think I replaced the CAT once (which was very easy to do) and only because it had started to crumble in some cells. I all that time I never had to do anything to it, except take it out and tap it slightly to get loose dust off it. It really worked quite well. I never had to give it a bath.

I do wonder what drove product manufacturing/engineering to move to SS. The reading I've done says most of the price of a cat is driven by the precious metals used and that can be equal in either type. From a performance perspective the application is important as there is "flow through" performance/resistance, and ignition performance. SS also are known to do better in very high heat applications so for instance when a CAT is very close to the exhaust header in a vehicle. They also handle vibration better which makes a difference in autos. I'm guessing that in wood stove applications the primary driver of ceramic versus SS is decided based on EPA driven clean air regulations as they have become more and more demanding, which would lean toward SS with a denser cell count, they may burn cleaner.

But, in any event, so far I've been impressed with the ceramic performance and haven't really noticed any difference in how the stove burns or the heat output. My take on it right now is they both work fine.

 

This has been a very educational thread! Thank you Oldhippie, and TurboDiesel and Backwoods Savage. It’s interesting to see the evolution of a product like the Fireview. It’s longevity in the market was an important factor for us. I know one of the reasons the automotive industry moved from ceramic to SS is steel isn’t as brittle, and another is weight. The older units were infamous for crumbling and plugging up, and being easy to clean out with a pry bar. Thin and light ceramic is available, but it’s even more expensive and brittle. Otherwise I think it would outlast SS if treated carefully. I have a ceramic knife that I use for almost everything and it stays sharp like no steel knife can but I can’t pry with it at all or it will snap. It’s not for everyone.
So far I’m really happy with the SS cat and I’d have no problem buying another in 5-6 years if necessary considering the price. I’m thinking of getting a spare around the 3-4 year timeframe just for a backup if and when the original fails. I do believe a well made ceramic cat that’s taken care of would outlast a SS one though. It’s just that dropping it once would probably destroy it and that’s pretty easy to do for some folks. The more foolproof the better sometimes.

 

Maina, you just added a whole new level of education to the thread! Thanks!!!

I'm also going to pic up an SS, I'm pretty sure WS uses what they think is best, so who am I to argue.

 

My parents got a ceramic dog way back.
The non ceramic cat did not like it for a while until he figured out it was not a non ceramic dog.

 

Yes, I believe they had a problem finding the proper balance between a thin ceramic honeycomb and longevity and that’s why they went to stainless, just like the automotive market. They could build a more durable one but it would be extremely expensive.

 

Here's what's happening tonight with the ceramic, (although I did get a SS from Woodstock USPS) on a cold very high wind night in Massachusetts.

Just cruisin' right along.