Yet another hair raising moment with my new stove. Plastic smell and tinging inside the pipe.

[GrumpyDad]

Does the manufacturer give specific instructions on how to operate the stove without the cat installed?

No not really. All it says is that you will have secondary burn at about half the temps with the cat installed.

What stove model is it?

VC Dauntless flexburn, built June of this year, 2022.

Is the stove VC Encore Flexburn?

Dauntless flexburn

 

[stoveliker]

The wood that I tested (twice) this weekend was taken outside to be split but was inside otherwise. When I split it is very obvious which is the freshly split side, but because it will get mixed up on the way in with all my other splits I drew a line with a marker to make sure I was measuring the fresh split.
Did you happen to see my pipe picture? The only area I see creosote is at the flue collar where I had to use a single wall stove adapter, then a double wall stove adapter because VC decided to build this stove with only single wall users in mind. (per their instructions.). Could be that everything else burned off when I had a full load of wood in there, was checking to see if it was burning ok (because not obvious through glass) and I let flames rush up over the wood and through the flue pipe. You have to imagine a blow torch about 8" across of flames, rushing up VERY quickly. I even thought to myself hey that looks like it's staying as wide as it enters the flue pipe and normally it looks a bit smaller from the wood area to the flue pipe as it rushes up there, then I smelled the plastic (likely the sticker) and then heard the ting ting ting, and saw smoke puff out of the pipe connector areas on the lower half. So maybe I burned off what creosote was in there, but to me it looks pretty damn clean.

Wood: ok. I'm just letting you know that anybody reading the latest posts and not seeing you note "I resplit the piece" will say "nah, not likely dry wood".

I don't have enough knowledge about chimney fires to comment on the second part - and I prefer to keep it that way

 

[Diabel]

Is there an option to replace the stove with a different brand from the same dealer?

 

[GrumpyDad]

The Dauntless just looks like a larger Intrepid. The secondary burn chamber looks very similar as well. Burning with a secondary burn temp of 400 is a cold burn. Trying to get a 8 hr burn with it running that low will definitely cause that creosote inside that stove. That downdraft design will not allow for a cleaner burn running that low. Without the cat in you need to run the combustion chamber temp above about 650. At 850 there is very little smoke out the chimney. The manual does specify wood size and loading. The other thing that causes that much creosote on the glass is a cold air wash which cools the glass and acts like a magnet for the formation of same.

Im following the cold start up, wood sizing, loading etc

 

[GrumpyDad]

Is there an option to replace the stove with a different brand from the same dealer?

They do not sell used stoves. No one around me sells used stoves that Im aware of. I did try to acquire used when the new market was backed up so far and couldnt find any dealers that sold used. "too much liability". I would need to sell this to a private party.

 

[Todd]

Is there an option to replace the stove with a different brand from the same dealer?

I’d try this first if not sell it and buy a different stove.

I almost bought one of these but a little voice inside my head kept reminding me of when VC came out with the new Everburn non cats. Many people here had a better name for them “Neverburn”. They were very finicky especially during the shoulder seasons. Now VC changes the name to flexburn where the stove can go either cat or non cat. Looks like the non cat mode burns better in colder temps or just has to burn hotter to keep that secondary going just like the old neverburn system. Maybe the stove would be a little easier to operate with a bunch of probe thermometers and a lot of babysitting and air adjustments but it doesn’t seem the OP really wants to go that route and I don’t blame him. I think he would be much happier with a simple medium sized non cat.

 

[Diabel]

I’d try this first if not sell it and buy a different stove.

I almost bought one of these but a little voice inside my head kept reminding me of when VC came out with the new Everburn non cats. Many people here had a better name for them “Neverburn”. They were very finicky especially during the shoulder seasons. Now VC changes the name to flexburn where the stove can go either cat or non cat. Looks like the non cat mode burns better in colder temps or just has to burn hotter to keep that secondary going just like the old neverburn system. Maybe the stove would be a little easier to operate with a bunch of probe thermometers and a lot of babysitting and air adjustments but it doesn’t seem the OP really wants to go that route and I don’t blame him. I think he would be much happier with a simple medium sized non cat.

^^^^^
Exactly what @Todd said!

 

[stoveliker]

I wonder if the non-cat mode of this stove just is too much stove for a small cabin - as it has to run hotter. Running a stove that is too high output often results in issues with creosote, unless the owner is experienced, and willing to do (more and) smaller fires.

 

[GrumpyDad]

I’d try this first if not sell it and buy a different stove.

I almost bought one of these but a little voice inside my head kept reminding me of when VC came out with the new Everburn non cats. Many people here had a better name for them “Neverburn”. They were very finicky especially during the shoulder seasons. Now VC changes the name to flexburn where the stove can go either cat or non cat. Looks like the non cat mode burns better in colder temps or just has to burn hotter to keep that secondary going just like the old neverburn system. Maybe the stove would be a little easier to operate with a bunch of probe thermometers and a lot of babysitting and air adjustments but it doesn’t seem the OP really wants to go that route and I don’t blame him. I think he would be much happier with a simple medium sized non cat.

Well, isnt that my luck. Well hopefully someone will learn NOT to buy VC from my thread. Hey, it could be all me....but ask my wife if you'd like, she watches me pissing with this thing non stop. Ah it's getting too high, lower it down halfway. AH it's still getting too hot, now we are slightly above 650...me lowering it didnt do much of anything. Ah, now it's too cool - raise it up to almost half way. Ok still just barely above 400, raise it up some more. Ok there, it looks good. I see fire, the doors are clearing up, it's at 550, awesome...now Im going to go work on my project.

Come back an hour later. WTF, it's at 675, blazing...gotta lower it some. Nope, didnt work, lower it some more. 15 minutes later, ok seems to be getting better. 15 minutes later, ok seems to be holding. 15 minutes later, ok now it's dropping...hmmm. 15 minutes later, still dropping. 15 minutes later ok now it's getting below 500, raise it up a notch. 15 minutes later, still dropping hit it another notch. 15 minutes later, ok seem ok ish. 15 minutes later, rising. 15 mins later, rising still. 20 minutes later, full blaze...gotta lower it.

AHhhhhHHHHhhHHhhhHHHhhhhhHHhhh
(insert guy bashing his head off his desk gif until eyeballs fly out of his head)

This stove operates at 400 or 600+. The temps in between are only the journey to either of those temperatures.

 

[GrumpyDad]

I wonder if the non-cat mode of this stove just is too much stove for a small cabin - as it has to run hotter. Running a stove that is too high output often results in issues with creosote, unless the owner is experienced, and willing to do (more and) smaller fires.

The stove room is 650 sqft cathedral ceiling, the room adjacent is 650 sq ft cathedral ceiling, the next room over is 500 sq ft, and there is also another 100 sqft room, and then an unheated sun porch that we leave the door closed during the winter.

 

[Diabel]

I recall, when I bought my first (beautiful looking) VC encore (famous “neverburn”). After a month of burning I knew I made a mistake buying it. Dealer refused to take it back. I fought with it all winter! Joined this forum because i needed help with how to operate it. Some times the secondary combustion would kick in (in the back chamber), then the stove would give off tons of heat (mainly from the back), to the point that the back would glow dark red😫. In these cases there would be zero smoke coming out the chimney. But in most cases the secondary would not kick in and i struggled with smoldering fire and smoke out the chimney. I cut my losses and sold the almost brand new looking stove for less that 1/2 what i paid for.

 

[stoveliker]

That does not seem very small in sq. ft. But yet you had noted the room (easily?) getting too warm - in the shoulder season.
A conclusion therefore could be (and here I amend my previous statement) that this stove is too much stove for this cabin in the shoulder season.

Hence, before you take drastic measures (as in getting rid of the thing one way or the other), I would suggest to consider keeping it, heating differently in the shoulder season, and see how it goes when it's cold outside. IF that works better, then you could consider buying a cat as that would help lower the output in a safe way for the shoulder season. If that does not work better, then this stove is not a useful appliance for your situation.

Just a thought.

 

[GrumpyDad]

That does not seem very small in sq. ft. But yet you had noted the room (easily?) getting too warm - in the shoulder season.
A conclusion therefore could be (and here I amend my previous statement) that this stove is too much stove for this cabin in the shoulder season.

Hence, before you take drastic measures (as in getting rid of the thing one way or the other), I would suggest to consider keeping it, heating differently in the shoulder season, and see how it goes when it's cold outside. IF that works better, then you could consider buying a cat as that would help lower the output in a safe way for the shoulder season. If that does not work better, then this stove is not a useful appliance for your situation.

Just a thought.

That is the most logical thing to do. Im not in a great position to make changes at this point, although thankfully I used telescopic pipe for the vert and angled runs of my stove pipe. I think Im going to wait until summer to pass complete judgement. And to be honest, I will probably not use this as much as I anticipated. I have oil heat now, and will likely extend my ductwork now into this area, and probably put baseboard heat under the windows. In fact, if things dont work out for this stove, when I rid myself of my furnace and put minisplits in, I will probably just get rid of the stove and hearthpad all together and put a chair there.

I am probably also going to get the cat. I will know for sure in the spring if this helps at all. Worst case I can advertise this as having the cat. @Jmorg has experience with this exact stove a season with and going into a season with the cat. Id love to know if he is finding it easier to control the stove with the cat.

 

[EbS-P]

More thoughts… where are you measuring temps?(I skimmed the thread but did not reread it, apologies if it’s been covered already). What are you measuring with? Has This thermometer been calibrated or checked against another thermometer?

Man the VCs look great! This is the time to cut your losses and sell it! Stove supply has never been tighter. Oil prices are way up! But I get not wanting to give up yet. Good to have a plan. Make one only costs time. Probably won’t make any money but might not loose a big chunk either

High Efficiency Wood Stove | Blackcomb II

The Blackcomb II is EPA certified at 1.26 g/h - 65,000 BTU/h to heat up to 1800 ft² - 6h max burn time -18 ”logs - Pedestal model - Made in Canada. Us.

www.drolet.ca

I would try this. Sort through my stacks finding a shell barrow load or two of the lightest hard woods or soft woods I could find. Oak is hard to light. And keep burning and once it’s hot enough it’s lots of heat. My light hardwoods light easy off gas early and the burn cycle needs less input on my part. I find myself needing to turn the air up at the end on a load of oak and that it needed more air during the burn on the lowest setting. (It could be it’s just bringing more mass up to temp).

So try a small hot soft wood fire. Or adopt the European method of feeding a split every 45 minutes. So many variables. You need reliable data to troubleshoot this in any systemic way. And there’s no guarantees it will work the way you want it to but you probably can get it working better.

 

[GrumpyDad]

More thoughts… where are you measuring temps?(I skimmed the thread but did not reread it, apologies if it’s been covered already). What are you measuring with? Has This thermometer been calibrated or checked against another thermometer?

Man the VCs look great! This is the time to cut your losses and sell it! Stove supply has never been tighter. Oil prices are way up! But I get not wanting to give up yet. Good to have a plan. Make one only costs time. Probably won’t make any money but might not loose a big chunk either

High Efficiency Wood Stove | Blackcomb II

The Blackcomb II is EPA certified at 1.26 g/h - 65,000 BTU/h to heat up to 1800 ft² - 6h max burn time -18 ”logs - Pedestal model - Made in Canada. Us.

www.drolet.ca

I would try this. Sort through my stacks finding a shell barrow load or two of the lightest hard woods or soft woods I could find. Oak is hard to light. And keep burning and once it’s hot enough it’s lots of heat. My light hardwoods light easy off gas early and the burn cycle needs less input on my part. I find myself needing to turn the air up at the end on a load of oak and that it needed more air during the burn on the lowest setting. (It could be it’s just bringing more mass up to temp).

So try a small hot soft wood fire. Or adopt the European method of feeding a split every 45 minutes. So many variables. You need reliable data to troubleshoot this in any systemic way. And there’s no guarantees it will work the way you want it to but you probably can get it working better.

I originally looked at a drolet. Wife really didnt like the look in comparison to the VC, and then a dealer had me convinced that cast iron was the way to go for longevity etc etc. Did some research on my own, ok alot of research, and was torn between the VC and the Jotul. Jotul wasnt available at the time that I wanted to commit to getting something, the VC was - and the VC had the top loader which I thought was great because I planned to put a child/pet gate up in front of the stove. All logical at the time decisions.

MC was read correctly. It has a self calibration cap, but it could be flawed though. Im waiting for a neighbor to show back up (this is a weekend camp area) so that I can test against his more higher end MM.

When I was researching I did read people talking about having to fiddle with their VC's too much, but I made the mistake of landing into a VC echo chamber and mentions of 'having to fiddle too much' landed with most saying, those people just didnt know what they were doing. Im now out of the VC echochamber and part of camp "these stoves require too much fiddling."

 

[Jmorg]

That is the most logical thing to do. Im not in a great position to make changes at this point, although thankfully I used telescopic pipe for the vert and angled runs of my stove pipe. I think Im going to wait until summer to pass complete judgement. And to be honest, I will probably not use this as much as I anticipated. I have oil heat now, and will likely extend my ductwork now into this area, and probably put baseboard heat under the windows. In fact, if things dont work out for this stove, when I rid myself of my furnace and put minisplits in, I will probably just get rid of the stove and hearthpad all together and put a chair there.

I am probably also going to get the cat. I will know for sure in the spring if this helps at all. Worst case I can advertise this as having the cat. @Jmorg has experience with this exact stove a season with and going into a season with the cat. Id love to know if he is finding it easier to control the stove with the cat.

@GrumpyDad, yes the stove is much easier to control with the cat. Temp is pretty much set it and forget it now...it will rise and fall a little, but no more crazy temp swings like it did sometimes w/o the cat. I had the thing going non stop last week from Tuesday to Sunday and it did great. I'd do my final load up at 10 pm and easily startup again at 6 am and then easily startup again at 5pm after work. It was a lot of low and slow so the glass did darken up a bit, but I'm also using up all my crap wood before winter so that could also be a contributing factor. Once I got the fire going really hot again it would burn off a lot of the mess. I really wish that VC would have thrown in the cat with it at the price point of the stove...I get the whole flexburn idea but it really is made to run with a cat. Do it man...make that investment...it's so much better!

 

[DonTee]

It is probably worth it to try the cat before you sell it. I sold my VC “never burn” stove and bought a Blaze King. I’m very happy with that decision.

Maybe the cat will fix some of your problems though. That wasn’t an option with my VC stove.

 

[Woodsplitter67]

Well, isnt that my luck. Well hopefully someone will learn NOT to buy VC from my thread. Hey, it could be all me....but ask my wife if you'd like, she watches me pissing with this thing non stop. Ah it's getting too high, lower it down halfway. AH it's still getting too hot, now we are slightly above 650...me lowering it didnt do much of anything. Ah, now it's too cool - raise it up to almost half way. Ok still just barely above 400, raise it up some more. Ok there, it looks good. I see fire, the doors are clearing up, it's at 550, awesome...now Im going to go work on my project.

Come back an hour later. WTF, it's at 675, blazing...gotta lower it some. Nope, didnt work, lower it some more. 15 minutes later, ok seems to be getting better. 15 minutes later, ok seems to be holding. 15 minutes later, ok now it's dropping...hmmm. 15 minutes later, still dropping. 15 minutes later ok now it's getting below 500, raise it up a notch. 15 minutes later, still dropping hit it another notch. 15 minutes later, ok seem ok ish. 15 minutes later, rising. 15 mins later, rising still. 20 minutes later, full blaze...gotta lower it.

AHhhhhHHHHhhHHhhhHHHhhhhhHHhhh
(insert guy bashing his head off his desk gif until eyeballs fly out of his head)

This stove operates at 400 or 600+. The temps in between are only the journey to either of those temperatures.

Fortunately... its not the stove..its the operator not being able or willing to figure it out.. your rooms most likely a little on the small.side and the warm air is unable to get into the adjacent rooms your convection loop.. probably poor.. You can operate the stove with or without a cat.. As atated above.. I have and do.. unfortunately you want to turn the stove way down because your overheating the room.. so you wnt to operate the stove more like a cat stove.. but with out the cat in it.. this
is not the stoves fault.. nor the manufacturer.. I know.. The dealer to get the cats far away.. man invented AMAZON.. and if your a prime member you can order a cat and have it delivered for free. If your room was large and had an open floor concept.. You wouldn't be have an issue.. because you would need to run it on the hotter side.. the way you run it now is for a small room with the air cut back wich is why your having an issue running it in a non cat mode... Its an extremely poor decision on your part to try to achieve an overnight burn and or turn the are down alot .. with out the cat in it.. your turning the stove all the way down.. The stoves not designed to be turned all the way down with out the cat in it.. Tha advantage of a cat stove is to be able to turn the stove down burn long periods of time, to control the heat output and to have it burn clean.. but to do this.. you have to put the cat in it.. YOUR NOT RUNNING THE STOVE THE WAY IT WAS DESIGNED TO BE RUN

 

[Crab]

@GrumpyDad, yes the stove is much easier to control with the cat. Temp is pretty much set it and forget it now...it will rise and fall a little, but no more crazy temp swings like it did sometimes w/o the cat. I had the thing going non stop last week from Tuesday to Sunday and it did great. I'd do my final load up at 10 pm and easily startup again at 6 am and then easily startup again at 5pm after work. It was a lot of low and slow so the glass did darken up a bit, but I'm also using up all my crap wood before winter so that could also be a contributing factor. Once I got the fire going really hot again it would burn off a lot of the mess. I really wish that VC would have thrown in the cat with it at the price point of the stove...I get the whole flexburn idea but it really is made to run with a cat. Do it man...make that investment...it's so much better!

Jmorg what is your chimney height?

 

[Woodsplitter67]

Wow this auberins thermocouple is like having a steering wheel for the stove.

Takes all the guess work out of this. Must have for this stove

The above is from the VC thread.. people with flexburns that are able to take the advice given.. The OP has not taken the advice given.. Myself and many others including begreen have said to him hes better off putting the cat in.. I personally have given him this advice also. He's burning the stove like a cat stove and wants the performance of a cat stove.. with out the cat.. There was a small discussion regarding burning low.. sunday was warmer then the past couple days but still wanted to take the chill off.. I lit the stove got it up to temp.. got the cat engaged and dialed the air all the way back and let it run that way for a number of hours.. STT was 370.. cat was 700 glass was clean.. attached are the pictures posted in the vc thread.. the last picture is of my glass this morning after that burn.. The difference between my stove and the OPs stove is the following.. my box is .5 cuft larger.. I have my cat in as well as a cat probe. I have experience in burning a stove. The OP wants to heat a home with wood.. he is not an occasional burner he is not taking advice. he is not putting the cat in and running it like a cat stove needs to be run. He plays with the stove to much and theres alot of operator error going on.. there is no way as stated above that he personally turned the air all the way back and had it up to 700 degrees.. someone turned the air up and walked away. When my stoves turnd back it runs as the pictures below.. 350 to 400.. If draft is an issue and the stove pipes high.. thats not the stove fault.. put a key damper in.. its a down draft stove.. you have to work to get this stove to overdraft..and thats not the manufacturers issue eather.. The OP has options.. hes just not using them or taking advice from people who use these stoves

 

[Jmorg]

Jmorg what is your chimney height?

It's about 22 ft

 

[GrumpyDad]

Fortunately... its not the stove..its the operator not being able or willing to figure it out.. your rooms most likely a little on the small.side and the warm air is unable to get into the adjacent rooms your convection loop.. probably poor.. You can operate the stove with or without a cat.. As atated above.. I have and do.. unfortunately you want to turn the stove way down because your overheating the room.. so you wnt to operate the stove more like a cat stove.. but with out the cat in it.. this
is not the stoves fault.. nor the manufacturer.. I know.. The dealer to get the cats far away.. man invented AMAZON.. and if your a prime member you can order a cat and have it delivered for free. If your room was large and had an open floor concept.. You wouldn't be have an issue.. because you would need to run it on the hotter side.. the way you run it now is for a small room with the air cut back wich is why your having an issue running it in a non cat mode... Its an extremely poor decision on your part to try to achieve an overnight burn and or turn the are down alot .. with out the cat in it.. your turning the stove all the way down.. The stoves not designed to be turned all the way down with out the cat in it.. Tha advantage of a cat stove is to be able to turn the stove down burn long periods of time, to control the heat output and to have it burn clean.. but to do this.. you have to put the cat in it.. YOUR NOT RUNNING THE STOVE THE WAY IT WAS DESIGNED TO BE RUN

It may be the operator, but no one around me seems to have done an ounce of research when they bought their stove. They just bought it (or inherited), They just toss wood into theirs and off they go skiing, for a hike, bake a cake or drink themselves to sleep. Mine, nah, never happening. Half of them I would bet $1000 they dont even know what they own.

It may be operator, but when the manufacturer states "Just set the stove for the heat output you want and let the thermostat do the rest. The result—longer, more even heat", one expects to not have to fiddle with the air control 900 times throughout a burn, having it teeter between too low and too hot.

Im not sure what you mean by I want to operate the stove like a cat stove. The stove advertises being able to run on the low end. It's one of the reasons I bought it, and one of the selling points the dealer pointed out. 12,250 - 49,430 (without catalyst) 14,520 - 41,940 (catalytic). If I run it above 400 degrees, it shouldnt be sooting up and creating a ton of creosote. I try very hard to keep it there when it was chilly in our place. Aka shoulder season.
On the flip side, 2 weekends ago, it was cold AF (not really but it was to me not being accustom to the lower temps) and we had no other heat source other than the fireplace. The stove took hours to bring the room to a livable temp as did the fireplace in the next room. I burned it around 550 and when I would try to go warmer it would take off too much so I had to constantly adjust the air control. Again refer to the ads "Just set the stove for the heat output you want and let the thermostat do the rest. The result—longer, more even heat"

That was the same weekend that in the morning I added 3 medium splits on top of the morning coals to take the edge off before it warmed up that day, and I heard "ew what is that smell" from my daughter and ran in to see the stove at 700 degrees. The splits where in there on medium/high air control for awhile before I turned it down, checked on the stove a bit later and noticed it going down, then suddenly the hour or so that I was gone just took off. It was a windy day out, and that's the only thing I can contribute to what happened.
Yes Im very much aware of the invention "amazon", I spend a 'sizable' amount of money via amazon for home and business. The Dauntless doesnt seem to have the cat available via amazon either factory or knock off. I would also require the bracket to hold the probe I would imagine. If you have any links please share. Hey I'm willing to try anything, Id stuff that full of the skulls of the mice I catch if it will allow me to use this stove. But right now, it is becoming more and more of a conversation piece rather than something I want to operate. If the cat makes it a magical transition to something other than an insurance liability and a giant cast iron turd taking up valuable real estate, Id be super happy.

 

[stoveliker]

This
12,250 - 49,430 (without catalyst) 14,520 - 41,940 (catalytic).

does not make sense to me.
The range with the catalyst should have a lower lower end.

So, you have a thermostat. Are you sure it's working? If you're running relatively hot, and you close the thermostat, can you hear something close? (clang - you'd have to close it "fast").

Can you see the self-regulating air flap? If so, if, coming down from a higher burn, you close it to a position where it's *just* closed, can you see it has open up a bit after an hour or so?

 

[Woodsplitter67]

It may be the operator, but no one around me seems to have done an ounce of research when they bought their stove. They just bought it (or inherited), They just toss wood into theirs and off they go skiing, for a hike, bake a cake or drink themselves to sleep. Mine, nah, never happening. Half of them I would bet $1000 they dont even know what they own.

It may be operator, but when the manufacturer states "Just set the stove for the heat output you want and let the thermostat do the rest. The result—longer, more even heat", one expects to not have to fiddle with the air control 900 times throughout a burn, having it teeter between too low and too hot.

Im not sure what you mean by I want to operate the stove like a cat stove. The stove advertises being able to run on the low end. It's one of the reasons I bought it, and one of the selling points the dealer pointed out. 12,250 - 49,430 (without catalyst) 14,520 - 41,940 (catalytic). If I run it above 400 degrees, it shouldnt be sooting up and creating a ton of creosote. I try very hard to keep it there when it was chilly in our place. Aka shoulder season.
On the flip side, 2 weekends ago, it was cold AF (not really but it was to me not being accustom to the lower temps) and we had no other heat source other than the fireplace. The stove took hours to bring the room to a livable temp as did the fireplace in the next room. I burned it around 550 and when I would try to go warmer it would take off too much so I had to constantly adjust the air control. Again refer to the ads "Just set the stove for the heat output you want and let the thermostat do the rest. The result—longer, more even heat"

That was the same weekend that in the morning I added 3 medium splits on top of the morning coals to take the edge off before it warmed up that day, and I heard "ew what is that smell" from my daughter and ran in to see the stove at 700 degrees. The splits where in there on medium/high air control for awhile before I turned it down, checked on the stove a bit later and noticed it going down, then suddenly the hour or so that I was gone just took off. It was a windy day out, and that's the only thing I can contribute to what happened.
Yes Im very much aware of the invention "amazon", I spend a 'sizable' amount of money via amazon for home and business. The Dauntless doesnt seem to have the cat available via amazon either factory or knock off. I would also require the bracket to hold the probe I would imagine. If you have any links please share. Hey I'm willing to try anything, Id stuff that full of the skulls of the mice I catch if it will allow me to use this stove. But right now, it is becoming more and more of a conversation piece rather than something I want to operate. If the cat makes it a magical transition to something other than an insurance liability and a giant cast iron turd taking up valuable real estate, Id be super happy.

I did a simple search of your stove using Google.. I didnt find any issues on locating a cat for your stove.. took me all of a minute

 

[GrumpyDad]

This
12,250 - 49,430 (without catalyst) 14,520 - 41,940 (catalytic).

does not make sense to me.
The range with the catalyst should have a lower lower end.

So, you have a thermostat. Are you sure it's working? If you're running relatively hot, and you close the thermostat, can you hear something close? (clang - you'd have to close it "fast").

Can you see the self-regulating air flap? If so, if, coming down from a higher burn, you close it to a position where it's *just* closed, can you see it has open up a bit after an hour or so?

I do not see the self regulating air flap. I will inspect and figure out what I can see before my next burn.
Yes I hear a clang at the lowest end, and there is positive tension when I adjust. One time it was stiff, which was odd to me. Not really stiff but I had to put more energy into moving it, and it wasnt cold.
The day I had the run away, I wasnt sure what to do. Cover the back air intake hole? piss on it? I did move the air control to high then low, then just kinda paced around for awhile frustrated, then I noticed the flames slowed down and it did cool down (not before the room was 83 degrees though and the walls were much warmer than I would like to the touch)