On another site I heard that some combustors are out of stock at Woodstock, which is leaving a potential buyer skiddish. Any info on this?
The IS cat was back ordered from about thanksgiving to new years. I got mine after new years and picked up a spare. Woodstock is updating their facilities to make them in house, for the future.
Not sure if any are back ordered now or not. If in doubt, a simple call to them will answer that. Would that stop me and because I will soon need a new cat should I worry? Not! One thing I will say for Woodstock is that if there is a problem, they will be on it like flies get on...some things.
They last a few years. I wouldn't worry about a month or two back order. Burning season is almost over so I'm sure they will catch up quickly. Oddly enough the shoulder seasons are when you want the cat performing the best.
Absolutely right in my experience- a 'sluggish' cat. is no problem when it is 10F outside because the stove is booted in the pants to run pretty hard already. It is in secondary mode and even a fairly tired cat. will stay lit and working with Vulcan's forge in the firebox. It is when trying to do long, slow burns with low firebox temperatures that a 'fresh', nicely performing cat. really makes a difference. Especially the initial light- off of the cat. with a small fire. I was on the waiting list for a cat. from Woodstock and got it around the beginning of the year, so they were in stock then. Running out of combustors is not the usual, I think they just got caught short in supply so the back- order was a freak thing rather than a regular thing. Brian