Where do y'all get your cats?

  • Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.

    We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.

    We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil.

SonOfEru

Member
Jan 11, 2018
133
Sanbornton NH
I betray my southern heritage there with the y'all. It's the thing I miss most after moving to New Hampshire, saying y'all

Anyway, where do y'all shop for replacement catalytics? I see there are a variety of what I presume are after-market cats out there, are some good, some to be avoided? Is there such a thing as a true VC combustor? I dont think VC sells direct anymore.

Just look for best price?

Thanks
SonOfEru
 
That was pretty dumb of me, not to even tell you what my stove is. It's a Defiant Encore model 0028, bought somewhere around 1990 [I bought it used so I dont know exact date].
 
I went ahead and got a Condar cat. I saw them mentioned elsewhere, and Condar seems to be a going outfit, not a fly-by-night.

BTW - what would y'all consider the max temp for a cat? I have one of those Auber AT100's. I have seen different values given here and there on websites. From 1400 to even up to 1600.
 
Ask Condar, I've read 1500º.
 
Well, it's taken a long time to find the time. Finally getting into replacement, and I got the back plate off. Many many years ago, when I had one a bit older than this one (this one is an Encore 0028, made around 1990) I did a couple of replacements so I remember how to do it, and have the manual.
But - I find the ceramic honeycomb is a mess. All falling apart. And all along the length of the unit, chunks have sunk down in the metal casing, so they catch on the refractory and I cant get the unit out.

BTW, I got the stove used, it was burned for only about 5 years, then the owner got central heat and left the stove in place - it looked nice, after all. So it's not like the catalytic has been burned for 30 years, just 5 or so. Still, the ceramic is a mess.

The only thing I can think to do is to carefully knock and pry and pray and make the ceramic fall down inside. There is no way to fish the pieces up and out over the metal casing.

So - will I just be able to remove the broken pieces from down in there once I am able to get the unit itself out? I sure don't want to make the mess worse just because I havent faced this problem before
 
I thought the same thing at first since it was just Clear the Shelters weekend. All 5 of our pets (only 2 at a time) have come from shelters.
 
  • Like
Reactions: brenndatomu