Real world cat life, Woodstock

Having just picked up my IS and gotten the lowdown a short seven days ago, the mantra I was taught is "welds up."

That said, from reading here I don't think five years is realistic. Not personal experience, just reading what's been posted by you itself and others. I thought five years sounded optimistic, and that seems to have been confirmed here. I bet if you make a call and discuss the pro rated piece you'll get further faster. In the future, I wouldn't be surprised to see the five year "guarantee" go away, or perhaps be qualified with a rate of hours per season in service.

 

I think it is more hours burning.. I start September and go to April anyway.. Probably lot less farther south., Heck low tonight in 30s with frost warnings away from valleys

 

None of the cats. in any of my cat. (or hybrid) stoves lasted three years. Well, they still worked but I had to have a fire like Vulcan's forge under them to light them and then run them far higher than needed to keep them lit- I consider that a 'failed combustor'.

Even backwards, the cat. should light although it might not be under the cat. temp. probe and therefore show low temps. while it is really quite hot.

The warranty on IS combustors is, or at least used to be, on their web page. Check there first. Also, you should have the warranty schedule in your owner's manual. Three years is a full replacement.

May I suggest not writing but calling next time- that tends to work better, at least for me, with many vendors.

Best of luck.

Brian

 

Sure, 5 years if you only burn on weekends!

 

How about 5 years...... but not Earth years, more like Mercury years?



Brian

 

I’d like to see some of the cats we think are bad tested by the cat manufactures. I’d be curious how they’re working. I’ve never had a problem with light off, they just stop making the heat they do when they’re new. I also notice more smoke for a bit until heat builds up again when the t-stat opens after it’s been closed for a while during the burn.

 

Agreed- a 'failed' cat. usually works to some degree (no pun intended). It is to what degree is the problem. And I believe you are also correct in that a stove with a thermostat may contribute to kicking the 'stove in the pants' hard enough to light and keep lit a weak combustor. But <most> stoves do not have thermostats. And even the ones that do must be used harder and consume more wood to generate the same heat, along with the periods of time when the combustor is NOT working that it will tend to burn dirty and inefficiently.

This is why I always use words such as 'fresh', 'responsive' and similar to describe the condition of a catalytic combustor. I believe they rarely fail outright, which is to the point they can no long function on any level. But they do become sluggish and weak, and for me, and I think most of us who tend to run our stoves in a similar fashion from day- to- day, that is what defines failed, at least in practical terms.

Brian

 

Good summary. I do believe that the thermostat helps to hide the cat failure at the beginning especially. I do notice that I need to use a higher thermostat setting to avoid smoke as the cat dies more. It’s kind of a spiral.