So Ive been running a 36" Travis Industries Fireplace Xtrordinair. Ive replaced the combustor three times since 2013. Regardless of how much I try to keep the flames off it, it just crumbles. Well when the damper is closed and the heat is forced thru the combustor, it basically makes a zig zag like a reverse flow smoker, thus making the heat from the fire dwell in the box as it takes the route thru the combustor. So even without the $500 combustor, its a HOT firebox, and it would seem that perhaps Im only getting minor additional benefit from the combustor so Im just thinking about never replacing it again. What do you think of these combustor inserts and is the squeeze worth the juice?
Thats crazy! Time to get rid of that fireplace and get a free standing stove. A Woodstock soapstone IS stove would be $2400 and replacement cats are $2-300 I love my cat stoves!
Is the cat combustor a standard size so an off brand cat could be used? They do make stainless steel cats in most of the common sizes that would probably be more durable in your situation. Sent from my SM-S727VL using Tapatalk
At least the metal ones wouldn’t crumble. Then you can just run it until it plugs up with ash. I believe that at least some of the new cat designs are unofficially intended to be burned long after the cat fails. These were clean burning noncat stoves that added a catalyst to satisfy the somewhat arbitrary 2020 reductions in emissions. If no smoke from the stack, just keep running it.
If the fire is burning hot and completely, and not throwing a bunch of smoke and creosote up the chimney it should be fine. Most cat. stoves have a flame deflector or shield in front of the cat. to keep the firebox flame from getting to them, or at least keeping the flames from engulfing the cat. Maybe there is one for your stove but it is missing? If you take measurements of your existing cat. you may be able to match it to one from another company that is considerably less expensive. Even expensive cat.s are not $500, at least not from most suppliers. You can buy cat.s directly from the combustor manufacturers at more reasonable prices. If you take a photo of your existing cat. and give us the dimensions we might be able to help you track down one from another supplier. And as Highbeam already mentioned, a stainless steel cat. will not crumble as the ceramic ones sometimes do.
OP here. Never even HEARD of a stainless steel replacement. Thats a good tip. Ill search that out. I tried once to directly order one outside the local stove shop and the price was the same or higher so I gave up...but that was a few years ago Great responses. Thanks gents.
As an example, here is a photo of the last two cats I changed out of my stove. Metal cats are often an option.
I've bought stainless steel cats here. Fireplace Xtrordinair catalyst guide They don't give them away. Good luck.
The S.S. cat.s sold for wood stoves are made of diesel foil I believe. This is the formed and catalyst coated S.S. ribbon made for modern diesel engines used in road vehicles. We get the stuff for stoves as an after thought, after all, stove use must be the proverbial drop in the bucket compared to the number of diesel road vehicles that require catalysts now. As an aside, I believe these are ' two way' catalysts. Gasoline engines use three way catalysts that also convert oxides of nitrogen. Not sure why diesels do not use these but I suspect it is because diesels produce few nitrogen oxides as they are formed at very high temperatures not normally found in diesel engines. But that is just a guess on my part. ?? Anyway, the good news is that we get S.S. catalytic combustors (called converters in the vehicular world) as a byproduct to use in wood stoves. There are varying opinions on steel foil vs. ceramic combustors but I prefer the foil type and find them easier to light off and they flow much more air than the same sized ceramic combustor. I believe they are also more efficient due to the greatly increased area in that type of combustor. And of course stainless steel will not and can not crumble as ceramics do.
Condar Steelcat looks like nice option for our FPX44 Elite. Just refreshed with ceramic this year so 2025 may try a Steelcat.
“For Fireplace Xtrordinair models 36 Elite and 44 Elite by Travis Industries. Steel catalyst measures 18 inches long X 3.6 inches wide X 3 inches thick.” imagining your fireplace is one of those two models, with these measurements you can shop around. This one is still ceramic, but it’s about $130 less than you paid. Catalytic Combustor Lopi FPX Fireplace Xtrordinair Elite (3.6 This place has the steelcat listed but out of stock- might be worth an email to see when they expect to get them back in stock. https://www.woodstovecombustors.com/stove-brands.html#Fireplace-Xtrordinair
