Stove Woodstock AS. I didn't know how to title this. Conditions for CAT burn? I have only seen my CAT glowing 4 times since I had the stove. Tonight I had throttle down the air and was having great secondary burn and no cat burn. Good amount of heat. SST 500* I then reduced the air to 1.4. Secondary burn not happening, but CAT glowing red and massive amount of heat. SST rose to 570*. I have tried reducing air before to initiate cat burn but it hasn't worked. I don't know what is different this time.
I have no useful advice, just here to say your title made me think of... and Hope you get things figured out there Roger, despite me...
Just checked back on the stove. SST 470* Cat not glowing. What must I do to have sustained cat burn? I am under the impression that smoke causes cat burn so reducing incoming air should increase smoke.
I don't think you can necessarily see it. Look instead for a big reduction in temp between the cat and stack or just watch to see if there is smoke coming from the chimney. If it's a new cat just assume if it is over 500f it is burning the gases.
I find the cat on our IS to light almost immediately if it's "preheated" - that is to say loading on coals with a STT of 300+. Starting from a cold stove it takes longer. Any difference there in what you're seeing?
Yes. At the moment the cat probe reads 700* SST is running 425* Cat not glowing. Does the cat glow red when working?
A stack probe would tell you for sure but no- a new cat will activate by 400f and steel isn't going to glow red at that temp. I think you're fine. When you get it going and the secondaries and cat play off each other it'll glow. After that you start getting ghost flames at the cat so you have that to look forward to.
That cat is working fine, Roger. To answer your question, yes and no. If the cat is 600* it is working. It will glow pink at higher temps. Like about 1000* Its when you are seeing it glow that it is really going crazy. Cutting the air back is what really gets the cat going but I seldom do that. I've seen 800* STT by cutting the air back to 15%. And that's great but I want more heat than that most of the time. By more heat I mean flames and radiant heat out the entire stove rather than just the small area around the cat.
When I get the most radiant heat is when I have flame and good secondary's. Right now I have no flames SST 320 cat probe a little over 600. Maybe 625. I have no stack probe. The stack is double wall and I don't think a mag thermometer on it would give me much information. Just trying to learn this beast.
Yes, thats what I meant by "more heat". Although, with your stove being on the main floor you might not need more heat. Of course, Betty might have a different opinion... I put a stack probe in last year. It is pretty handy and not too expensive. I didn't have much luck with the cat probe. It was interesting to see it go to 1500* but it only lasted one month and I wasn't going to pay $25 for another one.
The CAT is up above the secondary plate and the airflow is over the secondary plate and then enters the CAT chamber from the rear of the stove, so I don't know what your seeing but I can't see the glow of the CAT at all on my AS. I do think the best way is simply to watch the STT temp with one gauge and the flu temp with a second gauge. I usually see secondary combustion during initial start-up when I'm running wide open pre CAT engagement, and then in the early stages of CAT ignition when I'm setting draft someplace in the mid-way settings, maybe 4 to 2. When I close down the draft for steady state burn I am setting about 1 to slightly less than 1. But unlike the Fireview where you can just look up through the front glass to look at the CAT and see it glow, I can not see my CAT tucked up above the secondary plate. I bought a cat probe from Woodstock and it's installation took 5 minutes. It's really that simple. But since I've done that I find I just use the technique I mentioned above and don't worry about it. Look at the stove Picture under the HYbrid description on the far right of this picture. That's the AS stove.
I can not see my cat also. When I talk about it glowing or not, I have lifted the lid to take a quick peek. I may have to get a probe and drill a hole in the flue pipe. I am running double wall so I don't know if a mag thermometer would give me much information. I have an extra thermometer and will stick on the pipe.
Ah, I would think it might be really difficult to tell if it's glowing/ignited where there is light in the room. I've never done it so I wouldn't know. My guess is your getting good STT temps so it's working just fine. But the CAT probe works pretty neat and isn't very expensive. Sorry I just reread your note and I guess you do have a cat probe.
I have turned lights off in a room and looked up through glass and seen a orange glow. I wouldn’t worry about seeing it. Just watch your temps. There are a lot of factors that dictate how the stove is going to run. I’m enjoying learning this stove. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
When the cat is even slightly glowing, you will be able to tell. But as has been said, the cat doesn't need to be glowing to be working.
Im going on year 4 with my cat and this year it seems more tempermental and doesnt lite off and glow like previous years or maybe I'll see a little smoke out the chimney from time to time but I feel its still producing enough heat to do the job I need it to do. I'll probably change it out once Woodstock has them back in stock. I have a digital cat probe from Auber that really is essential for me and pretty much all I watch. Usually with reload I run it wide open air for 10-15 min to get the chimney warmed up and probe up over 700° then engage and turn down the air by half. If the probe temp climbs up over 1000° and holds I know I have lite off and I'll adjust the air down further. If the probe temp drops I know I either need to give more air or disengage the cat and give the reload a little more time to char. Once everthing is up to temp and cruising along the probe temp is pretty close to double the STT. Glowing comes and goes depending on flames, air, weather and other variables. Your stove is a bit different and probably has a different learning curve, just thought I'd chime in on what I see with my Woodstock.
