# Vermont Casting Intrepid II model 1308 catalytic wood stove OPINIONS??



## afptl (Dec 31, 2010)

Hi All!
   I might have found a very clean used Vermont Castings Intrepid II model 1308 wood stove.  I have measured and measured and it will fit where we need it to go, and will work with our home size.  I was a little skittish about the catalyst, but after listening to him explain it I feel a little better about it.  I was just worried about getting something that I have to keep spending $$ on.

Anyone have this stove? anyone reassure me a little that this is a good stove? talking around $600 to pay here 

I think it will work well in our home, 1300 sq. feet well insulated ranch style home. thanks for any input!


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## Nyquil Junkie (Feb 9, 2011)

Meh, I took my cat out and replaced it with a steel plate to duplicate the way the old non cats bypass worked. 

Cats are highly over rated.


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## afptl (Feb 9, 2011)

How did you do it?  does the smoke still go thru the place where the cat used to be, or do you just skip using that part?  Need some more details!  Do you have a thermometer on top of it?  what temps do you usually run it at? thanks ann


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## raybonz (Feb 9, 2011)

Nyquil Junkie said:
			
		

> Meh, I took my cat out and replaced it with a steel plate to duplicate the way the old non cats bypass worked.
> 
> Cats are highly over rated.



???

Ray


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## Woody Stover (Feb 9, 2011)

I would run the stove as it was designed to run. I don't like to see smoke coming out of the stack. I think that removing the cat would turn your stove into a smoke bomb.


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## Todd (Feb 9, 2011)

Nyquil Junkie said:
			
		

> Meh, I took my cat out and replaced it with a steel plate to duplicate the way the old non cats bypass worked.
> 
> Cats are highly over rated.



Waste of heat and fuel.


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## redhat (Feb 9, 2011)

I have a Intrepid II  1990, which is younger brother of the 1308.  This stove never fails to impress me, the amount of heat it puts out for it's diminutive size is amazing.  I run a Condar SteelCat in this stove and have had  great success with it.


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## Woody Stover (Feb 9, 2011)

redhat said:
			
		

> I run a Condar SteelCat in this stove and have had  great success with it.


Are you seeing lower light-off temps?


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## redhat (Feb 9, 2011)

Woody Stover said:
			
		

> Are you seeing lower light-off temps?



I never had a ceramic cat in the Intrepid to compare against but it appears to light off quicker than the ceramic cat in my Encore.


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## raybonz (Feb 9, 2011)

Woody Stover said:
			
		

> redhat said:
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Woody it made a tremendous difference in my stove! It lights off really fast, stays catalytic 8 hrs. later and is catalytic very quickly on reload.. This has been my experience.. This cat has exceeded all my expectations and it seems I get much more heat from my stove now.. I never expected a cat to make this much difference!

Ray


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## jetmech (Feb 9, 2011)

I agree with Redhat, i have a intrepid 1303 and its heat output to size makes it a bulldog.... although its on its last year, looking at a hampton h300


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## afptl (Feb 9, 2011)

Is the Condar SteelCat a brand of Cat?  what is the difference in them? thanks ann


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## Hardrockmaple (Feb 9, 2011)

Click the link below for the explanation. Do not get to deep into this, they (ceramic and steel) both do the job, I and others are liking the steel version best......for now. 

http://www.woodstovecombustors.com/Steel_Honeycomb.html


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## jetmech (Feb 9, 2011)

Ann, i have a Condor ceramic cat in my intrepid and it has work great.... how have you been doing with your stove ???


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## afptl (Feb 10, 2011)

HI jetmech 
    We are doing MUCH better with the stove.  We had a major turning point when we shined a flashlight behind the stove and saw some light.  So I got some furnace cement and filled it in.  I think that was the big problem with controlling the stove temps.

    I just got new gaskets for the glass in the mail and hopefully will install them tomorrow.  They seemed to be somewhat marginal, so I am just replacing them.  If it is a mild day, the stove keeps the house 70 degrees fine.  We have good insulation, and only 1300 sq. feet.  I kinda wish I had bought the next bigger stove, but live and learn I guess.  I just wasn't sure which way to go, so I ended up with the smaller one since the $$ worked out for us on it. 

         How much sq. footage are you heating with your stove?  is it an intrepid?


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## Nyquil Junkie (Feb 10, 2011)

The stove burns clean they way I have it, and it'll slow burn a load for a long time on the "cat" setting, sans cat. Not at all smokey. 

The old non cat interpids ( I have one of those too) have a simple brick baffle in the back so the smoke takes a longer path and heats up the back chamber of the stove more.

By putting a plate in the cat model, in the right way, you just convert it to a non cat model.  It heats up my 1000 sqft living area quite well. Its 11F outside and I'm sweating in here. I could turn on the ductwork fans and heat the other 1000sqft or so of the house too with no problem.

I used to use the cat in it, honestly it doesnt burn any more or less with or without it. I can pack it full and go to bed, it'll burn for a good 4 hours and stay hot with some coals a few hrs later enough to refire it in a few minutes.

Good dry wood. A good hot fire with the bypass open in the morning to keep the pipes clean. No problems.

The thing about the intrepids is the basic design is more or less the same between the old style brick baffle bypass and the newer cat block set up. If you mod it to work like the old style, it does.  Better really, as the backside of the cat models have a bigger box to accommodate the cat, so you heat up more metal on the way out.

It can burn far hotter than I normally run it, but it'll get it too warm in here and eat up wood. 

other makes of cat stoves I imagine are made so if you try this trick, you would have a smokey mess. But, the old non cat intrepid works great, and the intrepid 2's run just as well when you mod the cat box a little.

When I clean it out in the summer, I'll take some pics of it inside.


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## Nyquil Junkie (Feb 10, 2011)

Ann from KY said:
			
		

> How did you do it?  does the smoke still go thru the place where the cat used to be, or do you just skip using that part?  Need some more details!  Do you have a thermometer on top of it?  what temps do you usually run it at? thanks ann



The smoke takes the same path it would take with the cat in place. The soft white box the cat was in (which forms the core of the secondary combustion section) is partly replaced with a steel plate. 

Part of mine is falling apart so in the summer I'll have to actually duplicate that entire white cat housing from welded steel and put it in there with a small addition to channel the smoke out the same pathway.

The griddle temp stays about 600 or so, maybe a bit hotter if I give it more air to bake stuff on it.

I dont recommend you just yank the cat out and go about your day. if you have a good cat, and all you burn is good dry wood, leave it alone.

When the cat burns out or clogs, and you don't wanna spend an arm and a leg for a new one, there is an alternative to take that wont cost you that much efficiency lost.

You can burn these little stoves with the bypass wide open, and the air choked back and still get good heat from little wood from it.

It's an alternative to take when your cat is dead. If you have a good one, use it.


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## afptl (Feb 10, 2011)

HI Nyquil Junkie,
   That is really interesting!  I know what you mean about the parts costing an arm and a leg. sounds like what you did works, because 600 degrees on the griddle is a good place to run the stove.  I have been shooting to keep mine in the 550-600 range so it doesn't get too hot on mine. Please post some pics when you can, I would love to see what you did! Thanks ann


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## Nyquil Junkie (Feb 12, 2011)

When I fabricate a new cat housing I'll post the pics in a new thread..... summer sometime.
 I'll have to take the whole inside apart so I'll have pics of that process too.


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## HotCoals (Feb 16, 2011)

Nyquil Junkie said:
			
		

> Ann from KY said:
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You know you are spewing some of the craziest info I have ever heard.
Look..I burned a Bk non cat for 24 years.
Now I have the same stove ,at least it looks just like my old one,but with a cat.
Believe me when I tell you there is no comparison.
In the shoulder season I can go at least 3 times longer on the same load with the cat.
That is where a cat stove shines on the long and slow burns...clean burns by the way.
I would burn close to 15 face cords with the non cat Bk..I know I'll be around 10-11 face cords with the BK cat.
If even I only get 4 years off the cat and lets say it cost me 300 for a new one..well you do the math..if you can.
Btw ..figure in I pay 70 a face cord.
And it's not just the money..the fires are way more even and i never have to rip the stove to get the temp of the hose up in the morning now...and the fact that I'm not polluting as much is all good also.
Of course burning wood is carbon neutral.

Trust me I will buy a new cat when I kill this one..but with proper care and operation I expect to get six years out of it or more.
Dave


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## raybonz (Feb 16, 2011)

HotCoals said:
			
		

> Nyquil Junkie said:
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+1

Ray


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## elmoleaf (Feb 16, 2011)

A couple things about the Intrepid II:
1. The refractory chamber is about a $180 part....hopefully you only need to replace it once in a blue moon. It's very easy to damage accidentally if you're not forewarned about its fragility.
2. The cat is about a $120 part, depending on which brand you purchase. 

The Applied Ceramics cat I have is encased in a metal band, which in theory holds it all together if the ceramic cracks. This cat fits extremely snugly in the refractory box. If/when the cat gets old, cracks and the metal band warps and the overall package becomes distorted, it can push against the refractory box and start cracking it (at least that's what my previous cat did). Well, just don't abuse the cat, right? That's not always so easy. The distance from the throat hood opening in the firebox to the cat surface is actually quite short. If you have a lot of big flames going on in the firebox, it's very easy when closing the bypass to have them accidentally reach the catalyst because of the short distance. This obviously can damage the cat.  My last Applied Ceramics cat only lasted 2-1/2 seasons of burning nights and weekends. Aside from flame impingement, I also try to avoid engaging the bypass too quickly after reload to avoid shocking the cat with steam/cold load of wood.

I've also tried the ClearSkies/stovecombustors cermamic cat. It has a mesh-like ceramic that's not as tall as the OEM cat and is encased in heavier steel. However, the small openings tend to clog with ash quite easily. Just don't stir up ash, right? Well, after seeing how easy it clogged, I tried to be very careful when reloading etc, but it still clogged with fly-ash just as much.

I may try an all-metal cat in a few years, but am somewhat concerned about possible warping destroying my expensive refractory chamber.

I agree with someone that likened the Intrepid II to a sports car that requires constant tinkering to keep it in top running form. Heck, the stove looks real nice, but I could do with less tinkering. So, I understand why some would run it without a cat.


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## defiant3 (Feb 16, 2011)

Elmoleaf, you're right on.  The only thing I would add is that regardless of what brand of cat you use, remember to replace the 2ndary air probe at the same time.  Not doing this can easily result in premature catalyst burnout, AND stove owner "burnout" as well.  Takes the fun right out when stuff keeps goin' wrong.  Happy heatong


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## phil san (Feb 16, 2011)

jetmech said:
			
		

> I agree with Redhat, i have a intrepid 1303 and its heat output to size makes it a bulldog.... although its on its last year, looking at a hampton h300



Hi Jetmech;  My Intrepid is getting on also.  Have the Condor Cat, replaced the refactory couple of times. Stove has been great but needs a total overhaul again, which I'm not up to.

Was considering the Hampton 300 also, basicaly because of looks.  Just concerned about the burn without the Cat.  Use to slow long burns not needing a roaring fire.  Any thoughts?


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## jetmech (Feb 16, 2011)

Hey Phil, thanks for the note.. i have since started looking at PE alderlea t5... bigger firebox .  I have never replaced my refractory but have done about everything else. It has been a great stove but as i have said before it is what it is... requires reloading often and not a 24/7 stove. that being said for its size it does a great job. plus it looks good. I have seen the Hampton 300 up close looks very well built. Also there is one on ebay in the charcoal black in New York state... might be worth a look and a drive,,


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## phil san (Feb 17, 2011)

Like you been satisfied with the VC.  Just the enamel is chipped to heck and it's old.  If I didn't reard all the bad press on the board over the years I buy another in a se.

Like to try something else and all I;ve seen to meet my specs is the H300.  Think I'll look at them seriousely this summer.  Just trying to find if I can get that long slow burn the VC II did with a non cat and afterburn fire ( or whatever its called ).


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