Are you kidding me? What have I done?

[RandyG]

I have been so particular about my stove, read the owners manual several times over as well as many posts on here about the operation, so tonight I finally decided to light my stove for the first time this season, made sure the damper was all the way open and loaded the stove with only about 4 splits, its not that cold tonight, started the stove. All seemed great, temp climbing, nice flames, waited 15 mins and closed down the damper to about 2 and waited till stove top gets up to temp to engage cat, all great so far, right? Thats what I thought, stove top reached 250 in about 45min so I engaged cat, or so I thought. Looked in the stove expecting to see a lit cat and nothing....Hmmm, went outside to check chimney and smoke rolling out so I know cat is not working, well, I went back inside to check again and that's when I realized what I did, the cat was engaged already, I don't know how it happened, been like that all summer, I overlooked it, something that important, I missed....I can't believe it...I wanted to do everything by the letter, I'm in shock. Well, I reengaged the cat again and it seems to be working fine, red glowing and no smoke. I hope I didn't damage my cat. I feel so stupid.... :grrr:

 

[leeave96]

It happens - don't worry about it.

Nice stove you got.

Good luck,
Bill

 

[ddddddden]

Probably just got gunked up a bit, then burned clean. Maybe hit it with some canned air to remove any residual ash. Don't beat yourself up about it. . .cat is under warranty for several years.

 

[pen]

Hehe, it happens.

I've filled the house with smoke on a shoulder season fire before cursing out everything under the sun just as I notice the stove pipe damper is still in the summer mode (closed position).

That's a minor mistake, one easily recovered from. We've all had them.

Happy burning.

pen

 

[bogydave]

Done that before. Took a while for me to figure out why I wasn't getting a good strong draft.
I should put the basic steps in big bold print on the wall by the stove, I be I'll do it again.

 

[soupy1957]

"Mr. Perfection" eh?! lol............me too............or at least I TRY to be. Life just ain't like that though. The only concern I have about getting things right, is that I don't screw up so bad that there is irreparable harm done.

-Soupy1957

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Not sure how it happened but once after cleaning the cat I thought I put it back in there right. It wasn't. Quick fix thought to set it back on there right and then we got more heat again!

 

[VCBurner]

I have been so particular about my stove, read the owners manual several times over as well as many posts on here about the operation, so tonight I finally decided to light my stove for the first time this season, made sure the damper was all the way open and loaded the stove with only about 4 splits, its not that cold tonight, started the stove. All seemed great, temp climbing, nice flames, waited 15 mins and closed down the damper to about 2 and waited till stove top gets up to temp to engage cat, all great so far, right? Thats what I thought, stove top reached 250 in about 45min so I engaged cat, or so I thought. Looked in the stove expecting to see a lit cat and nothing....Hmmm, went outside to check chimney and smoke rolling out so I know cat is not working, well, I went back inside to check again and that's when I realized what I did, the cat was engaged already, I don't know how it happened, been like that all summer, I overlooked it, something that important, I missed....I can't believe it...I wanted to do everything by the letter, I'm in shock. Well, I reengaged the cat again and it seems to be working fine, red glowing and no smoke. I hope I didn't damage my cat. I feel so stupid.... :grrr:

These things happen man, don't sweat it! Take a breath and enjoy the lit cat. No big deal, I wouldn't think it damaged your cat. Whatever you do the manufacturer of Condar Cats called Sud-Chemie says never to clean the cat with pressurized air. I wouldn't do it if they say not to.
(broken link removed to http://www.sud-chemie.com/scmcms/web/page_en_6345.htm)

I had two people who tried to reload my DW large cat without opening the damper, as you can imagine the results were not too good. When I got back home, the house stunk like smoke so badly. They didn't know how to operate the stove and were not familiar with cat stoves or EPA stoves for that matter. Their stove was easy to operate just open and load with a thermostatically controlled air intake, so they hardly ever touched anything but the top loading door, wood and ash pan. Not so with an EPA rated stove. Well, my stove was fine, though it got gummed up for about a cycle but burned everything out as soon as I got it cranking again after getting home.

 

[Todd]

These guys are just trying to make you feel good, nobody ever did that before, your the first, what the heck were you thinking! :lol:

Ok, just a jest, I've done it twice already this year. The cat is pretty much self cleaning, your fine.

 

[ddddddden]

Hmm. . .would "pressurized" include canned air? It's okay for delicate electronics, so I would think it's okay for cats, but maybe it's a problem because it comes out of the can cold as it decompresses. Maybe someone should ask Sud-Chemie. . .

 

[VCBurner]

Hmm. . .would "pressurized" include canned air? It's okay for delicate electronics, so I would think it's okay for cats, but maybe it's a problem because it comes out of the can cold as it decompresses. Maybe someone should ask Sud-Chemie. . .

Good question! It may be low enough pressure not to damage the cat. I believe most cat stove manufacturers recommend using a soft brosh to brush away any fly ash. I don't think there should be too much to take off of a combustor anyway. At least that was my experience. There was never too much caked up on it! I used a furniture tool on the end of a household vac. Just make sure you don't create too much suction.

 

[RandyG]

You guys sure know how to cheer someone up, much appreciated, I guess there a little tougher than I thought. Took my cat out today anyway and inspected it, seems fine, looks like it did before, no residue caked on it or anything, but I cleaned it anyway just in case. My question is I have never removed the shipping bolts that woodstock talks about. Please see the pic below and tell me if the right bolts are missing, if so I guess the cat just sits in place without anything holding it, is this correct?

 

[Todd]

Hmm. . .would "pressurized" include canned air? It's okay for delicate electronics, so I would think it's okay for cats, but maybe it's a problem because it comes out of the can cold as it decompresses. Maybe someone should ask Sud-Chemie. . .

Good question! It may be low enough pressure not to damage the cat. I believe most cat stove manufacturers recommend using a soft brosh to brush away any fly ash. I don't think there should be too much to take off of a combustor anyway. At least that was my experience. There was never too much caked up on it! I used a furniture tool on the end of a household vac. Just make sure you don't create too much suction.

I asked Applied Ceramics a couple years ago and they said air cans were ok, air compessors not ok. Probably not smart to use it on a hot cat since the air comes out cold like you said. I like to use the air can on my Keystones, much easier than removing the access plate and removing the cat, I save that for the end of the season.