Ive inherited a Katalyt "K ausführung" heater from a friend who bought it some 20 years ago in Germany. I don't know much on these - but the bottom is stamped 2720 CTR 11. Am I correct in understanding the CTR ceased to be used in 1945? Anyway, years ago when he got it he gave it to me to get to work. I knew nothing, so I filled it with Coleman fuel, poured some more Coleman fuel on top, lit it, and never got it to burn more than the priming fuel burning off. Today I discovered the operating instructions for them on a website, but I still havent tried priming with alcohol in the ring as the instructions say. Are there any fixable problems with these? Do they need some continuous wadding from the bottom to the dome? Can they be gotten apart? Ive probably poured fuel on top five or six times in an effort to get it to run, I cant imagine one dose of alcohol would work where that didnt...but you never know. Any advise?
I got one older Danish catalytic heater few years ago... I had similar problems to get it running. My guess was that stone wool (or what ever the material inside the heater is) that fills the whole heater had totally dried from the fuel. So heater won't work before filling has enough fuel in it. Also I was thinking that filling should have quite constant fuel content from the bottom to the top. What I did was I filled the tank with 2/3 of the fuel capacity of the heater. 1/3 of the fuel I poured to the top of the heater (around the dome). Then I put dome cover on and I left the heater to stand for day or two that wood would 'suck' the fuel in it and would get quite even fuel content across the filling. After couple of days when I took the heater for test I poured about double amount of meths that was instructed for lighting to the top dome. Left it to 'suck in' for 4-5 minutes. Then added a bit more meths and fired it up. First there was visible flames but after a while it settled and started to work in 'catalytic mode'. I used Heptane as a fuel and I think that pure gasoline/benzine works also ok. In my heater I didn't found anything to service. Only thing that I was able to see replaceable was filler cap seal.
The fuel must be unleaded, and the only english instruction I have seen says it should be completely filled but without visible fuel under the filler cap. This would be applicable to Katalyt, Thermix and all other burners of that pattern.
Hi @Fahnenschmied Here is a link which discusses German CTR marking of stoves: German CTR markings on Stoves Best Regards, Kerophile.
Coleman fuel on top should work in place of alcohol. Like mentioned above, use more than they recommend. Once these are "lit" it takes em quite a while---say 10 minutes---before they start producing good heat. So light em off, big flame show, then sit em somewhere for 10 minutes, then check em for heat. Don't expect too much.
Thanks for everybody's input! I might have been misled years ago into thinking it wasn't working, as I had probably misremembered a Coleman one with a visible orange glow. I'll give it another try in a day or two. I am curious now as to the letters on the CTR - I wonder what the numbers mean?
If CRT is some kind of standardization system then one number could mean f.ex. product category/type. Like DIN 338 is a DIN standard for normal length twist drill and DIN 1897 is a DIN standard for extra short twist drill. Other number could f.ex. be the branch office number of CRT that have approved the equipment.
I have a Coleman 413C and was having the same problems thinking this is easy to figure out on how to light. I tried all the examples in the previous posts to no success. I found a manual on how to light and it worked. In mine, there is a wick that extends from the tank to close proximity to the top of the dome approximate 2'' in diameter held in a wire cage. Instructions said to hold the heater upsidedown for 5 to 10 seconds until a wet spot appears on top of the dome. lite this spot and let it get started and just wait a few minutes until it is working. http://www.oldcolemanparts.com/resources/scans/512_2.htm
