Trashed my catalyst in two months!

They are coming over the weekend

 

I agree most of the time I am pretty with it...I watched this video by the dealer many times when I first got my stove this is exactly what my procedure was... the only difference is that I would leave my primary burn air supply open all the way most of the time I wouldn’t cut the air supply so that I would get maximum burn...however no where in the manual did it state to “choke” air supply or it may damage combuster. Interesting to see what they say. I don’t think there will be a “smoking gun” obvious answer... and I doubt they will admit to a factory defect. Seems like they will replace it under warranty anyways . I just don’t want it to happen again and I have learned a lot from this thread especially the pdf that was provided by Ralphie boy also ralphie’s anology about wanting your fire to look like a good smoldering cigar when it’s being puffed made total and logical sense... flames are pretty to look at but not really neccassary for max heat extraction
I’ll update once their service tech comes out this weekend.

 

Dealer came out and swapped my catalyst (combuster) it was trashed! Crumbling and plugged with fly ash. I only had the stove two months but I have already burned 2 cords through it. My dealer was great they came out replaced it, didn’t give me a hard time just honored the warranty no BS. Cat just popped out and the new one popped right back in, took the Technician 5 minutes (which means it would take me 2 hours). The combuster was crumbling and plugged pretty bad with fly ash... The tech said he believes a combination of thermal shock low temp burning and possibly a defective cat. No real smoking gun. Thanks to all who have replied I learned a lot from this thread. Pictures are of the trashed cat and a brand new cat.

 

You left the stove air wide open???!!!???

 

It sounds like you're burning the stove too hard!
The flames should move just lazily dance back and fourth. If the flames are being sucked up through the cat, you burning too hot.

 

Ceramic cats have a history of cracking in automotive applications...with a curious side effect They can disappear. Happened to me. My Saturn Vue failed emissions one year and it had been a few years past the emissions warranty.. I think that was 8 years... Anyway I had to replace it since it failed emissions and the code indicated that the cat was not working. The downstream sensor was replaced first and it had physical damage. Something had hit it repeatedly. When the sensor obviously didn't make a difference I pulled the headpipe and cat. Expecting to find it clogged, I was blown away by finding it completely empty! Not just no clog, no cat at all! Did a little digging and found that the Vue used a ceramic cat that had been known to crack if hit or was overheated. Well, I found some minor dents on the leading edge of the cat... Likely from going off roads up North...the thing must have cracked and broken down and blew out the exhaust over time.

 

I’ve seen more than a few that were cleaned out with a pry bar. Many of them ended up like that for the first few years of production