Is this cat used up?

[JoPy]

I need your experienced eyes. I cant remember what it looked like when I installed it. It's a Condar Steelcat.

 

[begreen]

It's hard to tell visually. Is it not getting up to temperature? Roughly how many hours are on it?

Have you tried pickling it in a vinegar bath?

 

[JoPy]

I dont track the hours on it unfortunately. It's my garage stove. It gets used one day and two nights a week usually during the winter months. This is the first time I've done maintenance on this cat. I did do the vinegar bath last weekend. I was hopeful a visual was enough to get some type of diagnosis. I was trying to recall if the cat was that brownish color or not when new.

 

[begreen]

If it heats up properly and there's no smoke out of the flue then it's still good.

What stove is this for?

 

[Highbeam]

There’s no way to tell from photos. Really, they work until they don’t. My metal cat started brown, got grey during use, and turned brown again when it died. All of my dead cats look perfectly fine.

 

[JoPy]

It's a series 8 ap.
Thanks for the info guys I think it's still doing its thing, it was just a question I had while I had it out of the stove.

I appreciate your input!

 

[begreen]

A cat thermometer would help. Didn't Jotul have a catalyst probe accessory for these stoves? Is there a hole for a cat probe?